The Leonardo Project is a very necessary iniciative in tonewood investigation.  The scarcity of some traditional tonewoods and the recent legislation means that we need to educate the guitarists to accept a different aesthetic.  Most makers already agree that we can use many other wood species and still get the sound we are looking for.  “The main goal for the Leonardo Guitar Research Project is to study, demonstrate and communicate the opportunities of building guitars with non-tropical woods.”  Among many other activities the Cordefactum festival this week in Puurs, Belgium will host an exhibition and demonstrations of guitars made with non-tropical woods.  The festival itself is very interesting:  Fernando Espí will play, Daniele Chiesa will give a talk and Thomas Holt will be displaying his guitars there and he will have a copy of the book “The Granada School of Guitar-makers”  which will very shortly be available through your sheet music seller.