Yes, couldn't agree more. Ivo's information on materials has allways been a model IMO: http://www.floxflorum.com/materials.php
Mathias Von: Lex van Sante <[email protected]> An: lute mailing list list <[email protected]> Betreff: [LUTE] Re: An article from today's Wall Street Journal Datum: Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:50:23 +0200 > I for one would like to think that especially lute players would be > people who have the capacity to think and consequently have due > respect for our environment. > Of course there are existing lutes which were being built using > expensive materials like ebony, ivory and such. > These materials did not necessarily produce a better instrument, just > a more expensive one. In ordinary terms a show off. > The funny thing is that of the 20 odd lutes that I own and of the 52 > lutes I have constructed myself The best ones were always made out of > locally grown woods such as maple, cherry, prune, yew, spruce, apple, > pear, and spruce and even elm which are neither scarce nor > expensive.(perhaps nowadays excepting yew) I have used various > Brazilian rosewoods for the backs in the past and I have found them to > produce good lutes but nowhere near the pliable, adaptable sound of > simple lutes made of good quality home grown materials. With my > preferred lutes I would not have had any problems whatsoever crossing > whatever border. > Lucky me. > Op 27 aug 2011, om 22:59 heeft [email protected] het volgende > geschreven: > > > Howard, David, Stephen, > > One would hope that overzealous- "draconian, inflexible > > enforcement..." doesn't impact any of our beloved & highly esteemed > > luthiers. Gibson Guitars may have deeper- much deeper- pockets than > > the average luthier-so I thought this article was of some concern; ( > > "United Breaks Guitars", - it also breaks lutes.) But as a lute > > list, we are of course well advised not to veer too far off topic- > > especially if discussions are in danger of falling into the hopeless > > deep end of politics. > > Apologies if my link led to any of that. (Can't be too careful these > > days.) -Dan > > __________________________________________________________________ > > From: "David Smith" > > To: "howard posner" > > Cc: "Lute List" > > Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2011 12:04:11 PM > > Subject: [LUTE] Re: An article from today's Wall Street Journal > > Thank you! > > regards > > David > > Sent from my iPhone > > On Aug 27, 2011, at 10:10 AM, howard posner > > wrote: > > > >> On Aug 27, 2011, at 7:12 AM, Stephen Stubbs wrote: > >> > >>> Just another example of the Social Justice experiment still going > on > > in USA. > >>> > >>> Basically, > >>> > >>> Corporations are Bad. > >>> Social Justice is Good. > >>> > >>> The last major Social Justice experiment made it all the way into > > the USA Constitution as the 18th Amendment, (the Prohibition > > Amendment making it very difficult to obtain alcoholic beverages > > legally) on January 17, 1920. > > > >>> > >>> It took the 21st Amendment on December 5, 1933 to repeal the 18th > > Amendment. > >>> > >>> I don't expect the irrational experiments being done by the > current > > Attorney General of the USA (Eric Holder) to continue after the next > > President and Congress take office in January 2013. > > > >>> "The Other" Stephen Stubbs > >>> Champaign, IL > >> > >> > >> I hate to burst your bubble when you've obviously been saving up > this > > little Republican bumper sticker for the right moment to plaster it > > on the lute list, but you got the subject wrong: this is about > > actions to enforce an international treaty by the U. S. Fish and > > Wildlife Service (Interior Department) and Immigration and Customs > > Enforcement (Department of Homeland Security). It's the second time > > in a couple of years that Gibson has been raided on suspicion of > > using wood from protected species. > > > >> > >> It has nothing to do with the Attorney General, the Democratic > Party, > > corporations, or social justice (neither did Prohibition, which was > > an attempt to enforce morality; social justice legislation would be > > something like the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which is still in effect, > > even in rural Illinois, regardless of whether it's considered > > untoward government interference to tell a business that it can't > > exclude customers because of their skin color). > > > >> > >> The documentation issue is a difficult one. On the one hand, > > draconian, inflexible enforcement is unfair. On the other hand, if > > enforcement authorities don't demand rigorous documentation it's far > > too easy to smuggle illegal substances. This would defeat the > > purpose of environmental protection treaties, which are understood > > to be important by everyone in the world except members of the > > Republican Party in the USA. I have owned pre-CITES instruments > > made of woods that have since been protected (my charango made of > > elephant-tusk ivory, strung with Barbary Sheep gut, in an > > rhinoceros-skin case lined with otter fur, comes to mind). In the > > course of trying to sell a rosewood instrument a few months ago I > > made a point of telling potential buyers there could be problems > > taking it across borders. A couple of overseas buyers expressed > > interest and then disappeared; I don't whether the CITES problems > > scared them away. Sometimes we are inconvenienced by concerns (such > > as biod! > > iv! > > > >> ersity and deforestation) more important than our own little > > problems. > >> > >> Anyway, if you really needed to offer an off-topic political rant, > > you should have saved it for a time when it was actually a propos of > > the subject. I'm going back to my morning coffee. You enjoy your > > tea party. > > > >> > >> > >> > >> To get on or off this list see list information at > >> http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html > > > > -- > > > > > >
