Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on
There's an omission on the list. L Benito guitars, a high end guitar made in Santiago, Chile. I think they are not still in business, but when they were, they were making some fine instruments. Of most interest was the use of Alerce as a tonewood, for the tops on many of their guitars. Alerce is a 2,000 year old, plus, wood that L Benito salvaged from an unfortunate logging endeavor in the southern end of the country. Environmental groups in Chile have largely put a halt to logging of these old growth forests, but since some logs were down and available, what better use than for a tonewood for a fine guitar. Alerce probably is closest to cedar, in its tone chracteristics, and is a beautiful wood.