Bedell Guitars – Seed to Song

I wanted to share a story about a very good friend of mine, Tom Bedell, who I had the pleasure of working for, on board the yacht Major Wager. Starting in 2008, for over 1 year, we cruised around the Pacific ocean’s, on the most incredible adventure.

Tom Bedell is the founder of Bedell Guitars, a company he first founded in 1964 and later relaunched in 2009. Bedell guitars are the manufacturers of some of the most beautiful sounding guitars in the world.

Bedell guitars are the manufacturers of some of the most beautiful sounding guitars in the world. Each master craftsman designed guitar uses only carefully selected woods, matched precisely to the style of guitar, providing the very specific sound unique to Bedell guitars. They offer an incredible range  of acoustic guitars which are played by some of the best musicians and songwriters in the world, such as Kaki King, Micheal Martin Murphey,  Bruce Watson and Kenny Logins .

But this is not the most incredible thing about Bedell guitars.

You see, at Bedell guitars,every single piece of wood used is not only sustainable but certified and personalised with its very own seed-to-song journal. Tom states quite clearly that no wood used on his guitars will be clear felled, but it is by developing the Tonewood Certification Project Principles, that Tom has managed to surpass all others.

Once a tree has passed the very stringent selection criteria, then this is where the story really begins. Each guitar series is accompanied by its very own story, from seed-to-song. These wonderfully detailed and descriptive stories chronicle the journey of your guitar. You will learn about the history and inspiration  for the guitar and stories about the trees as though they are part of the family. You will then be introduced to the craftspeople and team involved in the development and manufacture. Everything is certified , traced, almost revered. The story behind the guitar is almost as beautiful as the guitar itself.

Below is an excerpt from the Bedell Antiquity Milagro range of guitars.

“The Bedell Antiquity Milagro began as a dream, in anticipation of the miracle sound our parlour design would give us combined with the magical Milagro tree back and sides and the stunning Stika soundboard. We were not prepared for the result. 

This may be the finest guitar I have ever heard. The small body delivers full rich sound, filling the room with balance and beauty. To be candid, I called James at The Guitar Store and asked if I could keep the Milagro for my personal collection…. of course he did not oblige!” – Tom Bedell

Take a few minutes and listen to Tom speaking at the World Forestry Congress in South Africa speaking with the same passion and concern for the environment when  I first met him.


For more information about Bedell Guitars and the incredible story of Tim Bedell check out their website for more details.

www.bedellguitars.com


Disclaimer: One Brown Planet is not sponsored by Bedell guitars and receives no financial gains from this story and cannot be responsible in any way for any commercial transaction you make with Bedell guitars after reading this blog.  We just love Tom, that’s all!