[koine2002]

Iconic brands like Taylor (the new kid on the block, relatively speaking), Martin, and Gibson always release limited edition models that are ridiculously priced. Martin put out some models with way too much inlaying into the top (which messes with the sound). It’s a marketing thing to sell some museum guitars and display guitars as well as make some bling from folks who are willing to spend that much (and there are plenty).

The use of reclaimed wood (like urban eucalyptus) is a reality in today’s world. Urban eucalyptus is all over San Diego County and is often a nuisance tree, and they’ve been working with the San Diego city/county folks to reclaim wood from the removed trees. Traditional tonewoods are in very high demand for instruments (violins, pianos, guitars, etc.) in addition to non-musical uses like furniture and building (spruce is often used as construction lumber, too!). In fact, affordable (to most middle class households) pianos with a solid Sitka Spruce soundboard (as opposed to laminate) are going the way of the dodo bird. A maker has to be cost-effective to have wood that is not only a good tone wood but also meets the quality standards (knots, density, etc.). Unless one manages their own forests a la Godin, it gets hard and expensive. They even use wild cherry, which grows in Canada like mesquite in the US Southwest, in many of their guitars The marbling on ebony fretboards is due to how hard it is (think cost) to find non-marbled ebony. So, they turn it into a selling point. Furthermore, those companies also have a stated commitment to not being involved in clear cutting nor labor exploitation in their supply chain. That adds another complication.