California Trippin' Part 1; Prequel to Guitars

In-N-Out Burgers; a CA tradition

One of the more exciting aspects of creating this blog has been touring the facilities of different guitar builders. My wife & I recently loaded up our car and drove to Southern California to visit Carvin, and Taylor guitars in San Diego, and Fender in Corona.  On our way we drove through some of the world’s most beautiful forested land. 

Willits CA in Redwood country

It was a great opportunity to put things into the proper context— guitars are made from trees—and not just any trees; many are built from those found in old-growth forests, 350 – 400-years old. Getting to stand beneath, smell, touch & breath in the majestic NW spruce, and the incredible California Redwoods for example, is something every guitar player should seek to do at least once. Doing so enhances my appreciation for the guitars I have, and forces me to view guitars through a completely different perspective; my favorite guitar was built from trees like these, so I better darn well treat it well, and use it for its intended purpose— to make music! Anything less would be squandering something that has survived storms, fires, droughts, wars, and humans… for hundreds of years. Now it has been used to create an instrument capable of healing people, crossing political and cultural barriers, and creating social change; it has become a guitar. 

Redwood highway 199, and excellent milkshakes!

Consider this; that Sitka Spruce top on your favorite acoustic guitar, or the mahogany neck and back on your new electric is from a tree roughly 400 years old. What significant events have those trees lived through during that time? To put this into context, subtract 400 years from 2013 and our Sitka Spruce timeline begins in the year 1613:

1613
- Galileo observes Neptune but fails to recognize what he sees
- Russian Empire elects Mikhail Romanov Tsar of Russia, and establishes the Romanov Dynasty, ending the Time of Troubles
1623- 11 Dutch Ships depart for the conquest of Peru
1633- Astronomer Galileo arrived in Rome for trial before Inquisition for professing belief that Earth revolves around the Sun
- Charter for Maryland is given to Lord Cecil Baltimore
1643- First recorded tornado in US (Essex County, Mass)
- Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut & New Harbor form United Colonies of New England
1653- New Amsterdam becomes a city (later renamed New York City)
- German Parliament selects Ferdinand II king of Austria

1663- Great earthquake in New England
- King Charles II of England grants a charter to Rhode Island
1673- Regular mail delivery begins between NY & Boston
- Dutch battle fleet of 23 ships demands surrender of NYC
1683- First settlers from Germany to US, leave aboard Concord/ 13 Mennonite families found Germantown PA.
- Austro-Ottoman War: Battle of Vienna— the Ottoman Empire defeated
1693- Dom Perignon invents Champagne
- NYC authorizes 1^st police uniforms in American colonies
1703- St Petersburg (Leningrad) founded by Peter the Great
- Great storm hits Southern England, 1000s killed, Royal Navy losses 13 ships & 1500 seamen
- Tokyo Earthquake; about 37,000 die

1713
- French residents of Acadia are given one year to declare allegiance to Britain or leave Nova Scotia, Canada
- King Frederik Willem declares war on Brandenburg-Prussia
1723- After a lasting siege and bombardment by cannons, Baku surrenders to the Russians
1733- Georgia founded by James Oglethorpe, at site of Savannah
- Joseph Priestly invents carbonated water (seltzer)
- France declares war on emperor Charles VI
1743- Comet C/1743 C1 approaches within 0.0390 AUs of Earth
- Coordinated scientific observations of the transit of Mercury were organized by Joseph Nicolas Delisle 
1753- 1^st official St Patrick’s Day
- English parliament grants Jewish English citizenship
- George Washington becomes a master mason
- 1^st steam engine arrives in US colonies

1763- Treaty of Paris ends French-Indian War, surrendering Canada to England
- Charles Mason & Jeremiah Dixon begin surveying Mason-Dixon Line between Pennsylvania & Maryland
1773- Big tea party in Boston harbor (Boston Tea Party) 
- Scottish settlers arrive at Pictou, Nova Scotia (Canada)
1776 - US congress proclaims the Declaration of Independence and independence from Britain 
1783
- Hostilities cease in Revolutionary War/Treaty of Paris signed ending the war
- Earthquake in Calabria, Italy kills 50,000
- W.A. Mozart’s Symphony No.36 is premiered in Linz, Austria
1793- 1^st US fugitive slave law passed; requires return of escaped slaves
- Volcano Unsen on Japan erupts killing about 53,000

1803- Ohio becomes 17^th state / US Senate ratifies Louisiana Purchase
- 1^st performance of Beethoven’s 2^nd Symphony in D
1813 – 1^st pineapples planted in Hawaii
- Battle of Thames in Canada; Americans defeat British
- Battle of Dresden-Napoleon defeats Austrians
1823– R.J. Tylers patents roller skates
- “Home Sweet Home” 1^st sung 
1833– Re-establishment of British rule on the Falklands
- Boston Academy of Music, 1^st US music school established
1843– Mt Rainier in Washington State erupts
- “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens published; 6,000 copies sold

1853– Transcontinental railroad survey is authorized by Congress
- Olympia forms as capital of Washington Territory
1863- US Civil War continues 
- Emancipation Proclamation (ending slavery) issued by Lincoln
- 1^st military draft by US (exemptions cost $100)
1873- 1^st US postal card issued
- Indian Wars: Col Custer clashes for the first time with the Sioux. Only one man per side is killed.
- San Francisco Cable Car service begins on Clay Street 
1883- Buffalo Bill Cody’s 1^st Wild West show premieres in Omaha
- Brooklyn Bridge opened by Pres Arthur & gob Cleveland
- US Supreme Court decides Native Americans can’t be Americans
1893- Gandhi’s first act of civil disobedience
- 3^rd worst hurricane in US history kills 1,800 (Mississippi)
- Great stock crash on NY stock exchange
- Tchaikovsky conducted 1^st performance of “Symphony Number Six in B minor

1903- Pres T Roosevelt shuts down post office in Indianola Miss, for refusing to accept its appointed postmistress because she was black
- Two New Yorkers buy Baltimore baseball franchise for $18,000 and moved it to New York
- New bicycle race “Tour de France” announced
1913- British House of Commons accepts Home-Rule for Ireland
- Brooklyn Dodger’s Ebbets Field opens
- The US introduces an income tax
1918 - World War 1 ends/ Armistice Day (11am on the Western Front)
1923– Union of Socialist Soviet Republics established
- 1^st “Reichs Party” the National Socialist German Workers Party (NSDAP) forms in Munich 
1933– Work on Golden Gate Bridge begins
- “Lone Ranger begins a 21-year run on ABC radio
- Adolph Hitler named German Chancellor

1943- Canadian Army troops arrive in North Africa
- Hitler declares “Total War”
- 1^st transport of Jews from Amsterdam to concentration camp Vught
- 1^st US air attack on Germany (Wilhelmshaven) 
1953- 9 “Jewish” physicians arrested for “terrorist activities” in Moscow
- Flooding in Netherlands, kills 1,835
- Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses. He dies four days later
- North Korea & UN sign armistice
1963- CIA Domestic Operations Division created (pretty scary!)
- USSR launches Luna 4; missed Moon by 8,500 km
- Beatles meet Rolling Stones for 1^st time
1973

- George Steinbrenner III buys Yankees from CBS for $12M

- President Nixon signs Endangered Species Act into law
- OPEC oil embargo begins
1983- Wayne Gretzky sets NHL all star record of 4 goals in 1 period
- Final episode of M*A*S*H airs; record 125 million watch

1993- Sears announces it is closing its catalog sales dept after 97-years
- Gun battle erupts at Waco Texas between FBI & Branch Dravidians
2003- Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on Re-entry
- The US Department of Homeland Security officially begins operations
2013- Canadian power-trio Rush finally inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

- Sealaska sends their harvested old-growth Sitka Spruce to a PNW lumber mill that supplies the builder. The tree then becomes a guitar and starts a new life, with a new purpose.

Trees of Mystery
Klamath, 35 miles south of the OR boarder on the 199

So you can see that the trees used to make quality guitars such as those from American builders, Taylor, Gibson, Carvin, PRS, etc. have a long and rich history before they are harvested. If you have one of these guitars, play it! Use it for its intended purpose-- to make music. Anything less would be squandering precious resources.

We visited the California guitar builders within days of spending time among the giant trees, and our fresh perspectives gave the tours unique meaning. Over the next several days I will post our experience touring the builders facilities and all the things learned along the way. 

Stay tuned & in tune!