What’s Up at Gurian Instruments
Gurian Instruments Rosewood Update April 2017
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) helps to ensure that international trade does not threaten species with extinction, and is protecting of species of animals and plants. This international regulatory body enacted a new requirement which took effect on January 2, 2017, which calls for documentation when shipping instruments or instrument parts internationally that contain any amount of any kind of Dalbergia spp. This includes the Indian Rosewood, Cocobolo, and Bubinga that we sell.
This regulation does not apply to instruments or wood components being shipped within the United States, or being carried for personal use while traveling internationally unless they contain more than 22 lbs. (10 kg) of the regulated woods.
We have completed the process of filing for our Master File Permit and have obtained our CITES certification to import and export Indian Rosewood and Cocobolo.
For our customers in the U.S. who will not be exporting outside the country, we will continue to sell both Rosewood and Cocobolo as we always have. Even though there are no permits required, these woods are CITES pre-convention documented.
International customers will need to comply with the CITES regulations within their own country. We have the ability to export Rosewood and Cocobolo to you, but you are responsible for obtaining the permits you need to import the wood products.
For our customers in the U.S. who plan to export their products internationally, you will need to obtain your own Protected Plant Permit “To engage in the business of importing, exporting, or re-exporting terrestrial plants or plant products…” from the APHIS division (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) of the USDA. That permit is relatively easy to obtain and is valid for 2 years. Here is a link to that application:
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/library/forms/pdf/ppqform621.pdf
In addition, for each shipment exported you would need your own CITES permit issued by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife service. The application can be found here:
https://www.fws.gov/forms/3-200-32.pdf
Our ultimate goal at Gurian Instruments is to procure wood that is sustainably certified by internationally recognized organizations such as the Forest Stewardship Council, Smartwood, The Forest Trust, the Rainforest Alliance, and Scientific Certification Systems. While this is an ongoing project, we have done our due diligence to ensure all of our wood is Lacey Act compliant to the best of our knowledge.
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January 16, 2017
Greetings Folks and Happy New Year,
As this New Year begins, we’d like to take a moment to let everyone know the transition in ownership from Michael to myself and my wife Gail has been completed and we are grateful and excited to begin this new chapter at Gurian Instruments. Things here in the shop are business as usual. We are still producing the components we’ve become known for: marquetry, rosettes, shell and composite inlay, bridge and end pins, laser production, fret files and CNC production of kerfing, guitar necks, fretboards and other instrument parts. We look forward to working with you to explore new and custom projects in the future..
I’d also like to let everyone know Michael, Gail and I will be attending the upcoming NAMM show later this week in California. If you are also attending and would like to meet with us, please let us know as soon as possible so we can schedule a time and place that is convenient for everyone. Please call the office to arrange for an appointment.
Best Regards,
Kevin Almeida and Gail Murphy
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September 27, 2016
To All My Friends and Associates,
In the many years associated with music, I have developed relationships which are most important to me. As such, the dilemma of moving on and not creating problems for anyone associated with Gurian Instruments was one in which I pondered for a while.My goal was to keep the company intact for two reasons, first, to not disappoint the people who have worked with me for many years and second, to continue supporting the music industry in which I love.
The company as a whole, I believe, is unique in servicing the different aspects of producing musical instrument parts ( a one stop custom house) and most likely the only one of its kind producing marquetry, shell, composite inlay, bridge pins, end pins, laser production, CNC production of guitar necks, archtop parts, kerfing, etc., and fret files.
In the last letter I informed everyone about two parts of the company being taken over by Todd Taylor and Kevin Almeida. As it stands now all of Gurian Instruments will be taken over by Kevin Almeida and all of the services which we accommodated will remain intact.I will be remaining for a while to make this transition as smooth as possible and I know that you will have the same great service as in the past.
With Fond Regards,
Michael Gurian
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September 9, 2016
To all my Friends and Customers,
I know that you have been wondering these past few weeks regarding Gurian Instruments future and that some of you are concerned about where to get materials.
My goal was to keep the company completely intact, however, this has proved to be more difficult to accomplish. That is the bad news, but the good news is: Gurian Instruments Inlay and Marquetry will be taken over by Todd Taylor one of my associates who have worked with me for over 18 years. The Pearl Inlay and Laser production will be taken over by Kevin Almeida who also has been involved with instrument production and inlay for 40 years of which he has worked with me for 9 years. I am currently talking with other parties having to do with bridge pins and Gurian fret files as well as CNC production.
I wish to thank you for your patience in this matter and will gladly answer any questions that may occur.
Regards,
Michael
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July 20, 2016
To All My Valued Friends and Customers,
AN UPDATE
Well it certainly has been an interesting week. I wish to thank you for all the positive responses having to do with my retirement. It seems there is interest by some parties to either acquire the whole company or parts thereof. As parts, the Laser and Shell inlay, the Fret Files, and Bridge Pins have had a good deal of interest, the decorative wood inlay and large format CNC (kerfing, necks, fingerboards, etc.) are still unspoken for. I certainly will keep all of you posted on what is going on.
At this time for book keeping sanity, all existing orders as well as new orders will be shipped on a pre-payment basis only as of August 1, 2016 unless otherwise arranged with Cynthia.
Best Regards,
Michael
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July 13, 2016
To my friends, associates and customers,
I wish to thank you for the many years of associations and joy in an industry that I regard as privilege to be a part of. I have always considered this occupation to be an essential and creative hobby and hope to continue being involved in it for as long as I am capable. However, at this time in my life, I need to downsize and continue in a different way other than making parts for the industry.
I plan to go back to my roots, which was building instruments. While I have had some interest in parts of the business I am continuing to search for someone to take over the entire company and welcome any serious inquiries that might succeed to that end. However, I need to advise you that Gurian Instruments will be closing as of January 1, 2017 if other arrangements can’t be made.
We plan to continue to take orders up until the middle of December; the exact date will depend upon the backlog and our ability to fill accepted orders by January 1. Please get your orders in the queue as early as planning allows. I will also keep you apprised of any progress for the continuation of Gurian Instruments.
Again I wish to thank you for the many, many years of having the privilege of being associated with you.
Regards,
Michael Gurian, President
Gurian Instruments Inc.