How environmental factors affect the price of the Jackson Warrior WRMG series guitar

Headstock Neck (with fret board) Body Tuning pegs Back Panels (Highlighted) Bolt on section A quick look at the parts of a guitar Hardware Front Back Pickups

This is the internal circuitry that the user has access to. If the user has access to it, it must be safe, and follow rules and regulations set out by the RoHS, which will be covered later. These are the springs which create the tension holding the strings and the bridge tight. These are actually wired to the earth, so must be made out of a material sufficient enough to withstand high levels of voltage without becoming distorted. These are the two larger back panels seen in the picture on the last slide. The smaller panel is a battery compartment.

The pickups (microphones) in the guitar obviously drain current. The style of pickups used in this guitar are manufactured by a company called EMG. The EMG pickups (specifically the EMG 81 and EMG 85) have been designed to have a low impedance output, as well as not using up a great deal of power. These two pickups can be run from one 9V battery, held within the guitar. With two EMG Pickups installed, the guitar draws about 160 micro Amps of current. Even if played eight hours a day, this small amount of current drain means that a battery will last up to a year. This means that a battery will not need to be replaced as often, protecting the environment. Although EMG pickups are better for the environment, this benefit results in a higher cost for them. Front Back

The wood used in the body of the Jackson Warrior WRMG is alder wood, as it is in most other high end guitars. Alder is an easily renewable wood material, but has suffered due to the mass use of it in many other products, meaning that sustainable foresting must be taken into account, but this is not cheap. Many Alder plots are now being managed, which on one side gives out a much better quality wood, but on the other side means increased labour, and therefore increased wages, ultimately leading to an increase in the cost of Alder wood, meaning Jackson have had to up the price of their guitars using this wood. Although the price of Alder has affected the price of the guitar, The fret board is where the environment really plays a part in upping the price. Alder is a temperate wood, rather then a tropical wood. Temperate woods adapt easier to new conditions, unlike tropical woods, which when moved from their habitat often fail to grow. The rising price of alder logs is testimony to the market’s recognition of its product value.

The Neck and Fret board All pictures courtesy of The fret board is made out of compound radius rosewood. However, this is only because of recent citations saying that the original wood, ‘Brazilian rosewood‘, was being over farmed and was added to the CITES list of endangered species in Fret board Neck This meant meaning Jackson were no longer allowed to continue using the wood. To continue using the wood would come at great cost to Jackson, which would be passed onto the consumer with expected mark ups of several thousand pounds! Genuine rosewood exports from South America are relatively few due to their short supply: imports of Brazilian rosewood require CITES-papers. The rosewood currently used is not a ‘real’ rosewood, but merely has similar properties. It is still however, a tropical wood meaning that it is far less sustainable and only a matter of time until the price will rise again. The neck is made out of maple, a much more sustainable temperate wood. The only reason rosewood is used in the fret board is because of the tonal qualities, and the fact that the fret board doesn’t cover a large surface area, so costs are at a minimum. Maple, being easily sustained as it is, is therefore cheaper to use on the larger neck of the guitar. It is also far cheaper to use then Mahogany, the other major wood used in necks for its tonal qualities. This means that Jackson can lower the price of their guitar compared to using mahogany.

Manufacturing workshops Many Jacksons are made in places such as North Korea, as labour is cheaper there. However, the location of these workshops is not a natural location for Alder or Rosewood to grow. This means that the raw materials have to be shipped over to the factories before work can begin. However, due to a new legislation ‘Shipping in Cleaner Air – Impact of Environmental Legislation on Shipping Operations’ Jackson have had to pay more in shipping fees, thus raising the price in the guitar, but by a less significant amount. On March 23-25, 2005, the University of Washington, College of Forest Resources hosted the fourth symposium on red alder. Previous symposiums were held in 1967, 1977, and The International Alder Symposium brought together regional experts for a critical examination of the economic, ecological, and social values of red alder. The conference was attended by more 170 people including representatives from educational and research institutions, government agencies, private industry and interested members of the public from the U. S. and Canada.

RoHS The RoHS Directive stands for "the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment". This Directive bans the placing on the EU market of new electrical and electronic equipment containing more than agreed levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants. As quoted from the website: ‘Can I continue to manufacture items I was manufacturing before 1 July 2006 without modification? No, the EC's 'Guide to the implementation of directives based on the New Approach and the Global Approach' (the 'blue book', available at ) states that, "the concept of placing on the market refers to each individual product, not to a type of product, and whether it was manufactured as an individual unit or in series." In other words any item of electrical or electronic equipment covered by the RoHS scope that is placed on the EU market from 1 July 2006 will have to comply, regardless of whether it is one of a line of products that existed before that date.’ This means that due to RoHS standards, which came into place July 2006, Jackson have had to modify all of the circuits in the guitar, having to modify and research alternative solders, and circuit components. They will also not be allowed to sell any of the guitars they made before July 2006, therefore meaning any stockpile becomes worthless. Therefore, prices of newer guitars will be pushed up to make up for wasted labour and materials.

WEEE The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive came into force in January 2007 and aims to both reduce the amount of WEEE being produced and encourage everyone to reuse, recycle and recover it. In order for Jackson to be allowed to treat WEEE, they must obtain a license, and must follow strict guidelines and rules. As the directive only recently came into effect, that means that Jackson will have had to pay for the license and provide appropriate facilities to deal with WEEE. This obviously comes at a cost, which is passed onto the consumer buying the product in the form of a price increase.

Conclusion Jackson guitars suffer from many environmental factors that affect the price they stamp onto the end product. I have discovered that before many new legislations and bills were passed, it was reasonably simple to make a high end guitar, but now that many raw materials are being used, the raw materials are either becoming protected (Brazilian Rosewood), or are being changed altogether to try an lower the price, although there is still a price increase due to the RoHS and WEEE regulations. Overall, the many environmental factors have resulted in Jackson having to increase the prices of their guitar, although it is only because they have had to take the necessary precautions to avoid prosecution, and the cost of all this has to be made up somewhere, which is unfortunately through the consumer.

Reference list Page 4 (Pickups): Page 5 (Alder Wood): Page 6 (Rosewood) : Page 7 (Alder wood): Page 7 (Shipping): Page 8 (RoHS) : Page 9 (WEEE):