guitar owners as CRIMINALS!?!?

if it can happen to GIBSON..............this story gits my dander up!

https://youtu.be/O_-taqM5Sk0

It has been a very interesting story to follow online. Apparently all of the other major (and some minor) manufacturers use the same "questionable" sources or buyers for ebony, rosewood and the like, yet Gibson is the only one being singled out by all sources I have seen. Sumpthin's up at the DOJ.

It has been postulated that even private citizens who travel with their guitars (out of country, commercial flight, etc.) may be required to have paperwork attesting to the source of the wood in their LP, SG, MM or the like or face CONFISCATION of said instrument.

What a waste of time, effort and tax dollars... but hey, it is our Federal Government after all.

What sort of fresh stupidity is this now? I just heard of this earlier today too.
I can cite several other manufacturers whose products are built with far rarer wood than the rubbish I've seen from Gibson lately. Indian Rosewood and Ebony? They gotta be kidding. They're not axing the Brazilian rainforest here! Total nonsense.

A couple of the guys over at Electra have some not so outlandish fears concerning their x910's. Jarcaranda is certainly rarer than what the Fish & Wildlife Service raided Gibson over.

Yeah, the FWS did the dirty work. You cannot make it up fast enough.

Wonder if paduak is on their radar yet?

here's a little more on the subject w/out the jet noise.

https://youtu.be/n829Au1y_s8

I've been watching this one for a wee while now and I'm a little surprised at the FWS zealous approach. I realise that mahogany, rosewood and a host of other timbers are all on the CITES list but you gotta think that Gibson are easy targets and not likely to club or shoot the FWS officers, which smugglers of other endangered species may be prone to do!

However, realise, too, fellas, that all of those cute Georgian half-timbered houses are half timbered because of the lack of wood in England in the 16 and 1700's: they'd used just about all of the native timber that was easily felled and transported even by that early date. And that the golden years of furniture making - Chippendale et al - were only golden because of the then new use of mahogany, recently discovered in the Caribbean and made extinct on one of those islands - I cannot remember which one right now! - within 50 years of discovery.

There's gotta be a middle ground, eh....

Bang goes my idea for building myself a custom axe out of Rhino horn!!

I reckon, though a visit to a Chinese apothecary would probably get you some!!

hoax wrote:Bang goes my idea for building myself a custom axe out of Rhino horn!!

Back to elephant tusks then, eh Graham? Perhaps that form fitted gig bag best not be baby harp seal skin either then I suppose .

(I most certainly AM JOKING here boys..... we all know bald eagle skin makes for the best gig bags...)

If you have been keeping track of this you know by now that the conspiracy theorists are in a wee bit of a titter as well. Apparently something to do with Gibson the corporation, right to work states, our current administration sending signals of some sort to organized labor, oh...and yes, elections are on the way as well.

I am in no way advocating any position or actions that are leading to the destruction or extinction of any species. It remains quite obvious some other shoe will drop in this given the singular nature of this attention falling on Gibson and not others as well. Perhaps that is on the way...

What a state of affairs!!! Who's the criminals in this ??

Here's two lumps of Jakaranda I brought back from SA on my last visit.
Just wrapped them up in black plastic and sent them with my luggage, no permit to import wood, no certificate whatsoever. Straight through customs no problem. Probably come around to my house now and arrest me.LOL.

well.....sure!.......now that they've seen the evidence!

Only tongue in cheek,, They had the evidence when I came through customs, in their own hands.
Guilty as charged y'ronha.

One possible motive is that the Gibson CEO has been a pretty big GOP donor in the past. Conversely, Martin has donated to the dems.

I live in Nashville. Word is (though I have no photos to show this) that some of the agents were carrying machine guns during the raid. Now that's just excessive and honestly sad. I doubt the stoners that work on the Gibson line would have said 'take this LP over my dead body!' What threat could the employees have posed to law enforcement?

There's MUCH more to this story than meets the eye.

The FWS cites its interpretation of Indian law, yet India was not involved and did not lodge a complaint. Gibson has not been charged with any crime. No court has authority for Gibson to seek relief. I guess they're just going to have to sue FWS in US district court.

Westbone wrote:What a state of affairs!!! Who's the criminals in this ??

Here's two lumps of Jakaranda I brought back from SA on my last visit.
Just wrapped them up in black plastic and sent them with my luggage, no permit to import wood, no certificate whatsoever. Straight through customs no problem. Probably come around to my house now and arrest me.LOL.

How does a jacaranda built guitar sound - I've heard of the tree, but never heard a guitar made with it

sarcaster wrote:How does a jacaranda built guitar sound - I've heard of the tree, but never heard a guitar made with it

Spectacular!

More government watse of tax money! It seems lately the US government is going a little overboard with rules, laws etc......... I am a general contractor and the DEQ is getting ridiculous with their new lead laws in construction. Seems you can't do anything these days without paying for permits etc.
I've followed this since it came out last week and i gotta admit i got a chuckle at first because i don't really like modern Gibbys. Alot of the guitars they produce these days are inconsistent and don't hold a candle to our beloved Matts. This is a ridiculous though, whats next, Westbones house being raided? Seriously guys, this is kinda scary. Hold onto your vintage axes, one of the reasons they are so great is the wood they are made of, and modern day guitars are being produced from crappier wood each year.

if i didn't know better......i'd say it looks like sabotage from the inside...............'course...."that could NEVER happen"..........right?

Barry wrote:

sarcaster wrote:How does a jacaranda built guitar sound - I've heard of the tree, but never heard a guitar made with it

Spectacular!

Took a SA friend fishing today, perhaps he could repay in some family sending me some then.

sarcaster wrote:

Barry wrote:

sarcaster wrote:How does a jacaranda built guitar sound - I've heard of the tree, but never heard a guitar made with it

Spectacular!

Took a SA friend fishing today, perhaps he could repay in some family sending me some then.

Good luck if you get some stock. And, you do realize that it has to be made into a guitar first before you can actually play it?

I'm a fan of a Canadian white label brand from the 70's called el Degas, many of which appear to have been Mats made. There were a number of top end acoustic models which I have seen and heard whose sides and back were made of Jacaranda. I can tell you, the clarity and volume from these things is startling apparent. Can't find them too often though, the owners won't part with them!

What a bunch of crap, I had no idea!

I seriously doubt that the private sector at large will need to worry about this. I agree, there's got to be a much deeper story going on than what appears.

Check out this interview: Interview with Gibson CEO