Gibson Factory Raided for Illegally Sourced Wood

[Rick Turner]

There were two separate busts with two entirely separate issues. The first was regarding wood from Madagascar, known to have been illegally harvested...internal memos to that effect were found. That put Gibson in the spotlight. Then there was a load of fingerboards that had been incorrectly coded on export forms. Not a particularly legit bust, but there you are. The stash of Indian rosewood and ebony fingerboards they had is nothing that could not be found in every other guitar company in the US; even the Indian government said that it was OK stuff. The export/import code was interpreted as being for fingerboards with more work than had been done on them...they were blanks...no slots, no inlay cavities...and that should be no problem but some numbers on a form were wrong. Gibson essentially pleaded "no contest" to the first incident, and it's costing them less than they pay per year for the naming rights to the Gibson Amphitheater in LA... Go figure. I don't know if the whole case is done with at this point.

Have any of you on this forum ever worked for Gibson?

I have...it was interesting, to say the least...

This whole thing was triggered from within the company. There are more than a few disgruntled current and ex-employees, and someone (not me!) spilled the beans.

And it had nothing what so ever to do with anyone being a Republican, a Democrat, or a Communist.

'nuff said...

[Tennessee Jedi]

Rehab those old guitars .... and help cut down the strain on natural resources like Sitka Spruce and other coveted trees ...
My Ibby is a wonderful guitar that was destined for the trash heap until Brian (AKA Milo Bender here) rehab'b it up real sweet !
Nothing wrong getting something new but there is def a good feeling knowing that something old and beat up got new life.

[mgbills]

Sweet! T. Jedi. That is really sweet. A Ibanez rework like that is definately on my list.

Sorry if I offended anyone with my last post. My environmental views send me into a blind rage at times, and this is not the place.

Still...if it stinks...it's still likely to be Sh*&.
Peace to all.
M

[JonnyBoy]

And it had nothing what so ever to do with anyone being a Republican, a Democrat, or a Communist.
...

Greed is the #1 motivator behind this, not politics. Its easy to drag in the political soapbox over national news. I never saw this as political, other than breaking the law.

Never worked there (and would never try to) but I know a few people that have, one of which is in my band and 2 others very good friends. I live about 3 hours from Memphis. I believe my friends, they have nothing to gain telling stories from the past. Are there good people there? Sure. Did they break the law? Yup. Am I surprised? Not in the least.

The Rosewood situation is still debatable from what I understand. Finding a way to possibly explain it as legal is what lawyers are for IMO. I am not in the know nor a lawyer, but it would seem that if they have proof from their supplier of authenticity then that would be that, but maybe not.... Also,if they didn't find that hard proof of the madagascar stuff, I bet there would be an excuse too and probably very similar. My issue with that explanation, (and is speculation on my part), but I don't know of any company/supplier that would risk a container full of product over mislables if it happened to be searched at the port of entry. That is a huge oversight and LOTS of $ to risk. I also assume like most products, once in the country, they may or may not have the lables or could even be repackaged for resale from a distributor that imported them (again,I assume from my former mahogany door business). But, the company (Gibson) that did import them should have plenty of proof of their legality, stickers or not.

I dunno about guitar parts or these select species of wood, but I use to import mahogany doors from overseas 4 times a year. When I wholesaled/retailed products, I didn't have to ship the products within their original packaging. I am assuming Gibson imported those blanks in as Gibson, Inc. so they should have plenty of documentation of their authenticity, beyond stickers. Plus, after all their lies (and stories), its hard to think much about their word or give them the benefit of the doubt.

I am not arguing with you Rick. I think we are saying about the same thing. I believe big companies like this represent our nation in a way. Gibson is as American as Jack Daniels and Ford. Its embarassing to look so hypocritcal to the rest of the world and our children who will inherit this mess. We should be leading the worlds opinion on the Earth's preservation, and Gibson was a company spearheadding this reform through their nonprofit work, and getting their hand stuck in the jar at the same time. Karma is a bitch!

[mgbills]

Absolutely...
...Will we leave this place an empty stone?

[dleonard]

As Billy Walsh would say...it's the suits!