What Gibson Guitars Did with the Wood the Government Returned

Pearly Grapes · Feb 3, 2014

Our tax dollars at work, driving up the prices of American goods. :dang

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog...id_with_the_wood_the_government_returned.html

Pearly Grapes · Feb 3, 2014

Feb 2, 2014
In 2011, the Department of Justice conducted raids on the Tennessee facilities of the famed Gibson Guitar company and confiscated large quantities of tonewood that had been imported from India and Madagascar. The action included armed SWAT teams, with automatic weapons, who apparently feared being garroted with a guitar string by an enraged Gibson employee. These raids were conducted due to the Lacey Act, which bans the importing of certain woods. The issue at hand was not that the wood was endangered or illegally harvested, but that it was not of the proper thickness that would have meant that some labor had been performed on it by workers in India and Madagascar. This was the law in Madagascar and India as a nod to the unions in those countries. Gibson, who hand-makes its guitars, cannot guarantee the craftsmanship of its products if a portion of the work is done outside their facilities.

What raised many eyebrows about this governmental action was that the countries involved, India and Madagascar, indicated that they were not interested in pursuing the matter when contacted by the Department of Justice. Also, even if Gibson had been guilty, this would have been a civil, not a criminal matter. Finally, this same kind of tonewood is used by other guitar makers such as CF Martin and Company and Fender. Those other companies were not raided. The principle difference seems to be that those companies contributed to Democratic candidates, while Henry Juszkiewicz, the CEO of Gibson, gives openly to Republicans, and Gibson has plants in a right-to-work state.

After spending nearly two and half million dollars in legal fees and paying a $300,000 fine, the government has settled with Gibson and has finally returned the confiscated tonewood. Normally that would be the end of the story, with a victory scored for partisan government bullying of political opponents, however, that is not the end.

Gibson took that wood and made it into the Government Series II Les Paul. These special edition guitars are hot stamped in gold with the Government Series graphic, which is an American bald eagle holding a Gibson guitar neck. It is an admirable statement of defiance of an abusive government and a refusal of a historic American company to be intimidated.

Victor Keith writes from Burbank, California and can be contacted at victorakeith.com.

Pearly Grapes · Feb 3, 2014

Big Al · Feb 3, 2014

REALLY??? We need this Right Wing propaganda bullshit here why???
WTF!!!:bigal

zoommutt · Feb 3, 2014

Looking forward to seeing them.

frenchphil · Feb 3, 2014

Pearly Grapes said:
Feb 2, 2014
In 2011, the Department of Justice conducted raids on the Tennessee facilities of the famed Gibson Guitar company and confiscated large quantities of tonewood that had been imported from India and Madagascar. The action included armed SWAT teams, with automatic weapons, who apparently feared being garroted with a guitar string by an enraged Gibson employee. These raids were conducted due to the Lacey Act, which bans the importing of certain woods. The issue at hand was not that the wood was endangered or illegally harvested, but that it was not of the proper thickness that would have meant that some labor had been performed on it by workers in India and Madagascar. This was the law in Madagascar and India as a nod to the unions in those countries. Gibson, who hand-makes its guitars, cannot guarantee the craftsmanship of its products if a portion of the work is done outside their facilities.

What raised many eyebrows about this governmental action was that the countries involved, India and Madagascar, indicated that they were not interested in pursuing the matter when contacted by the Department of Justice. Also, even if Gibson had been guilty, this would have been a civil, not a criminal matter. Finally, this same kind of tonewood is used by other guitar makers such as CF Martin and Company and Fender. Those other companies were not raided. The principle difference seems to be that those companies contributed to Democratic candidates, while Henry Juszkiewicz, the CEO of Gibson, gives openly to Republicans, and Gibson has plants in a right-to-work state.

After spending nearly two and half million dollars in legal fees and paying a $300,000 fine, the government has settled with Gibson and has finally returned the confiscated tonewood. Normally that would be the end of the story, with a victory scored for partisan government bullying of political opponents, however, that is not the end.

Gibson took that wood and made it into the Government Series II Les Paul. These special edition guitars are hot stamped in gold with the Government Series graphic, which is an American bald eagle holding a Gibson guitar neck. It is an admirable statement of defiance of an abusive government and a refusal of a historic American company to be intimidated.

Victor Keith writes from Burbank, California and can be contacted at victorakeith.com.

excellent!! lol

58Lover · Feb 3, 2014

This idiotic, sophomoric concept makes about as much sense as......

Henry.

Which means it don't. God he's a jackass.

Pearly Grapes · Feb 3, 2014

Big Al said:
REALLY??? We need this Right Wing propaganda bullshit here why???
WTF!!!:bigal

Hey Al; I hear ya, but it relates to Les Pauls. It is also a topic that would typically be discussed in a 'Pub'. And it's kinda funny.
Whether it constitutes propaganda depends on your definition. It contains no false or exaggerated statements, but that's my definition. This situation has been written about in Vintage Guitar mag articles several times, as well as other forums, so it's obviously of interest to us geetar pickers.
However it IS somewhat connected to politics, so I'll leave it up to the Mods to determine if it should be deleted.
Don

Pat Boyack · Feb 3, 2014

Pearly Grapes said:
Hey Al; I hear ya, but it relates to Les Pauls. It is also a topic that would typically be discussed in a 'Pub'. And it's kinda funny.
Whether it constitutes propaganda depends on your definition. It contains no false or exaggerated statements, but that's my definition. This situation has been written about in Vintage Guitar mag articles several times, as well as other forums, so it's obviously of interest to us geetar pickers.
However it IS somewhat connected to politics, so I'll leave it up to the Mods to determine if it should be deleted.
Don

It's Right Wing rhetoric no matter what color you paint it.

zombiwoof · Feb 3, 2014

Why did they make those Government series guitars in such ugly colors?. Other than that they are pretty good looking guitars. Ugly grey and some kind of tan. They could have at least made them in black (ebony) or something similar that isn't that ugly.

Al

DanD · Feb 3, 2014

Drab colors are to the point. Cold war Soviet Union=drab colors+oppressive govt... :ha

moonweasel · Feb 3, 2014

Pearly Grapes said:
It contains no false or exaggerated statements, but that's my definition.

" Finally, this same kind of tonewood is used by other guitar makers such as CF Martin and Company and Fender. Those other companies were not raided. The principle difference seems to be that those companies contributed to Democratic candidates, while Henry Juszkiewicz, the CEO of Gibson, gives openly to Republicans, and Gibson has plants in a right-to-work state."

So, they used the same precise supplier, purchased in the same precise manner logistically and bureaucratically? We are sure of that? Or do some of us just WANT to believe that? Have any of us actually done any research on this, or do we just take Henry's word for it? Or the Feds word for it?

There is nothing more depressing about our country than Republicans or Democrats each blaming the other EXCLUSIVELY for our country's issues. Just breeds a culture of misconception, prejudgement, and horse s$%t.

I hate political crap on guitar forums. :dude:

Pearly Grapes · Feb 3, 2014

Pat Boyack said:
It's Right Wing rhetoric no matter what color you paint it.

The fact that Gibson is making 'response' Les Pauls from the returned wood is funny!

And yes, I'm more Right than Left, but not far Right. I was a Dem until several years ago when I felt the Dem party changed from being 'for the people' to being 'for themselves'. And I still have several Left beliefs & tendencies (environment, charities, community service, etc.).
But I don't agree with what -any- party in DC is doing right now. It's a Mell of a Hess!

But using public tax dollars & public forces to punish political opponents is a huge, huge abuse, no matter if you're the Prez or the Gov of NJ.

I haven't read one article in the last three years that felt the raid was justified. Not one. All basically said it was using an armored tank to squash a mosquito and that the Feds were totally out of their depth of expertise. And totally out of proportion to the alleged abuse. Not that I'm defending Henry, AAMOF I don't even like him or his business model. But that doesn't mean I have to like gov. abuse either.

Don

Reverend David · Feb 3, 2014

moonweasel said:
I hate political crap on guitar forums. :dude:

Me too.

Pearly Grapes · Feb 3, 2014

moonweasel said:
" Finally, this same kind of tonewood is used by other guitar makers such as CF Martin and Company and Fender. Those other companies were not raided. The principle difference seems to be that those companies contributed to Democratic candidates, while Henry Juszkiewicz, the CEO of Gibson, gives openly to Republicans, and Gibson has plants in a right-to-work state."

So, they used the same precise supplier, purchased in the same precise manner logistically and bureaucratically? We are sure of that? Or do some of us just WANT to believe that? Have any of us actually done any research on this, or do we just take Henry's word for it? Or the Feds word for it?

There is nothing more depressing about our country than Republicans or Democrats each blaming the other EXCLUSIVELY for our country's issues. Just breeds a culture of misconception, prejudgement, and horse s$%t.

I hate political crap on guitar forums. :dude:

Moon, you're right & I apologize to you & others for posting this. It -is- more political than guitar-oriented. This is probably better suited to Backstage; but I'm no longer a paid member so can't post there & probably shouldn't have posted it here.
Anywho, I'm usually a 'live & let live' kinda guy. But I saw the humor in the story, so posted it. But if it gets too political (I've been the worst offender) I'll do my best to delete it, or maybe the Mods will do me that favor.

There really are no winners in this situation; The Feds couldn't prove their case. So the Feds lose, Gibson loses, Taxpayers lose, & purchasers of Gibson products lose.
And to top it off we end up arguing between ourselves. A Mucked up Fess.
Les Pauls Forever!!!
Don

lanman · Feb 3, 2014

I don't like political threads either as all of us are so un-informed (by design) that our "opinions" are meaningless as they are engineered to be polarizing by our faceless owners. The "truth" is merely shaped into an illusion that both Parties actually represent us when the truth in plain sight is that the real power is way beyond the puppets paraded on the almighty rectangle. We'd be wise to find our common ground really soon as Greed has no political affiliations.

Wiggy · Feb 3, 2014

Big Al said:
REALLY??? We need this Right Wing propaganda bullshit here why???
WTF!!!:bigal

That's right!!
Only Left Wing propaganda bullshit will be tolerated!!! :spabout

MikeSlub · Feb 3, 2014

moonweasel said:
So, they used the same precise supplier, purchased in the same precise manner logistically and bureaucratically? We are sure of that? Or do some of us just WANT to believe that? Have any of us actually done any research on this, or do we just take Henry's word for it? Or the Feds word for it?

Politics aside, because I have no clue whether this was politically motivated or not, I did read all the legal documents in the settlement of this case, and posted on this extensively at that time after the settlement. The wood supplier is actually a well-known company that does supply several guitar manufacturers. I concluded after reading the material that it did not appear to me that Gibson did anything illegal. There was one mis-coded shipment in terms of the thickness of the wood, but that appeared to be how the supplier handled it. And, as the article says, the Lacey Act says we need to enforce the laws of the country that the wood is shipped from, but India didn't wish to enforce its own laws and was okay with the fretboards being shipped a bit thicker than their law says. The Feds slapped their hands, saying they should have been more careful in tracking chain of custody of wood to make sure it is compliant with the Lacey Act, but did not indicate that Gibson broke any laws. Gibson settled the matter to move on. Having some experience with Federal investigations, this did not seem out of the ordinary (settling to avoid further legal costs and bureaucracy). :hank

What Gibson Guitars Did with the Wood the Government Returned

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