Where does one buy some nice bridge pins for a Guild dread?

[fronobulax]

Yeah, I get that, but you'd think he'd go out of his way to make that clear -- it's a concern.

I agree but it is also a way of saying "I don't want/need your business badly enough to explain".

 

[Br1ck]

I like to match pins to the aesthetic of the guitar. I put plain bone in my D 35. It goes with the simplicity of the guitar. For a D 55, bone with abalone inlay is the ticket. My Martin D 35 custom has the fancy abalone inlay and looks fabulous. I don't know if it came from the custom shop like that.

 

[Peter.scott]

Yikes, this dude's offering elephant ivory w/o a single mention of ethical sourcing, just a reminder that he's not allowed to ship it out of state.

you are right, I guess we should avoid elephant ivory because its a brutal business. I been to asia and africa those guys took it offensive if you talk about elephant ivory.

 

[dreadnut]

Yikes, this dude's offering elephant ivory w/o a single mention of ethical sourcing, just a reminder that he's not allowed to ship it out of state.

Actually, he has this disclaimer right below the ivory offerings:

Reminder.... I cannot legally ship Elephant Ivory outside of Georgia!

I also assume the ivory is pre-ban ivory. I have a pre-ban ivory pick I bought several years ago, unique, but nothing special in terms of tone, and it is a small pick, like A Dunlop Jazz mini.

 

[kakerlak]

Actually, he has this disclaimer right below the ivory offerings:

Reminder.... I cannot legally ship Elephant Ivory outside of Georgia!

I also assume the ivory is pre-ban ivory. I have a pre-ban ivory pick I bought several years ago, unique, but nothing special in terms of tone, and it is a small pick, like A Dunlop Jazz mini.

Yikes, this dude's offering elephant ivory w/o a single mention of ethical sourcing, just a reminder that he's not allowed to ship it out of state.

One would presume a lot, but it seems kind of iffy that he's not making it clear where it came from.

 

[dreadnut]

USFWS has put a regulation into place that took effect on July 6, 2016 and affects the sale of pre-ban African elephant ivory in the USA. The new regulation forbids the interstate sale of ivory in the US unless the item qualifies as an ESA (Endangered Species Act) antique OR if the item meets the "de minimis" exemption. Below are the requirements of these two exemptions:

1) To qualify for the ESA antiques exemption, an item must meet all of the following criteria [seller/importer/exporter must demonstrate]:

1. It is 100 years or older.
2. It is composed in whole or in part of an ESA-listed species;
3. It has not been repaired or modified with any such species after December 27, 1973; and
4. It is being or was imported through an endangered species “antique port.”

Under Director’s Order No. 210, as a matter of enforcement discretion, items imported prior to September 22, 1982, and items created in the United States and never imported must comply with elements A, B, and C above, but not element D.

2) To qualify for the de minimis exception, manufactured or handcrafted items must meet all of the following criteria:

1. If the item is located within the United States, the ivory was imported into the United States prior to January 18, 1990, or was imported into the United States under a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) pre-Convention certificate with no limitation on its commercial use;
2. If the item is located outside the United States, the ivory was removed from the wild prior to February 26, 1976;
3. The ivory is a fixed or integral component or components of a larger manufactured or handcrafted item and is not in its current form the primary source of the value of the item, that is, the ivory does not account for more than 50 percent of the value of the item;
4. The ivory is not raw;
5. The manufactured or handcrafted item is not made wholly or primarily of ivory, that is, the ivory component or components do not account for more than 50 percent of the item by volume;
6. The total weight of the ivory component or components is less than 200 grams; and
7. The item was manufactured or handcrafted before the effective date of this rule. (editor's note: July 6, 2016)

Here is a link to the full regulation:http://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/final-rule-african-elephant-4d.pdf

What this means for most of us is that items made with pre-ban ivory can only enter interstate commerce if they are small parts (cue stick parts, piano keys, gun grips , etc.) that are part of a larger item (such as a gun or cue stick) and the ivory was from pre-ban (pre-1990) tusks AND the item was made prior to July 6th, 2016. It appears that any ivory item can sell after July 6th within a state (intrastate commerce) so long as it was made from pre-ban (pre-1990) ivory.