GIBSON TO MOVE TO MADAGASCAR!!!!!!!!

[alewis41]

Well Well Well. After all that outrage...

From Associated Press: NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Federal prosecutors on Monday announced a deal to drop a criminal case against Gibson Guitar Corp. after the instrument maker acknowledged its importations of exotic wood violated environmental laws. Nashville-based Gibson agreed to pay a $300,000 penalty, forfeit claims to about $262,000 worth of wood seized by federal agents and contribute $50,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to promote the conservation of protected tree species...

That's what you get for listening to Fox News. Glenn Beck - Someone who tells it like it isn't.

[John M]

So what are the feds going to do with262,000 dollars of wood?

[Paulps]

So what are the feds going to do with262,000 dollars of wood?

Sell it to Fender to make cheap Strats?

[Mike Honey]

Bit of old news . gibson have agreed to pay a fine and stop using the wood. end of?

[JimN]

Bit of old news . gibson have agreed to pay a fine and stop using the wood. end of?

They can hardly stop using mahogany, rosewood and ebony. At least one of those three will be found on any famous Gibson guitar. The other main ingredient is maple. It isn't used on every guitar, but is certainly in use for some necks and for body laminations. However, maple is plentiful and can be domestically-sourced.

Would a Gibson L-5C or Les Paul Custom be worth the name without an ebony fretboard? Would a J-200 seem as attractive with a fretboard made of "torrefied" (ie, scorched) maple instead of rosewood?

Anywhere this issue is discussed on-line (especially on usenet), the argument soon breaks down into two opposing political viewpoints. For Democrat supporters of Barack Obama, the federal government can currently do no wrong and Gibson... well... it bloody well has it coming - as much for making donations to the Republican Party and for running a non-union operation as for anything else. For Obama's opponents, the arguments work the opposite way round.

My fear is that among the party political stuff in an election year, the interests of the American guitar-building industry - an absolute world-beater and foreign currency spinner if left to its own devices - are being ignored by those in power in the USA.

Laws which prevent Gibson from using imported tropical hardwoods such as ebony and rosewood might just as well be re-written and simplified as the "American Guitars - Who Needs Them?" Bill 2012.

[roninnes]

Politicians the world over have no interest in such things as guitars.
But hang on does this industry not provide jobs in the wonderful US of A.
Does Gibson not pay taxes to the government in this wonderful US of A.
If the current government got their way and shut down Gibson would that not put a whole load of people out of work and onto benefit, or whatever they call it.
Like I said politicians don't care about anything except their small minded agenda which rarely do any good for their country.

Ron

[roninnes]

Andrew
Yes all that outrage, mainly because in a free society which I believe the USA still is, there is not a level playing field.
Why does one company get raided and has wood, which is also used by a competitor, confiscated and fines levied etc., and the other company doesn't ?
When I lived in Canada, some 20 years, I always believed that the American always supported free enterprise.
However I also believe that politicians of all persuasion are on a mission to prove their usefulness or should that be uselessness. To that end when a company such as Gibson makes a donation to the other party they are going to become subject to some rather unpleasant treatment..
I only hope that if and when the Republicans put a President back in the White House you feel the same about Fender when they get a good stuffing.
Ron
A Glenn Beck fan, yes I am

[Iain Purdon]

I'm glad this one's in the lounge!

The President can be whoever, it's Congress that matters here surely?

Iain

[alewis41]

Andrew
Yes all that outrage, mainly because in a free society which I believe the USA still is, there is not a level playing field.
Why does one company get raided and has wood, which is also used by a competitor, confiscated and fines levied etc., and the other company doesn't ?
When I lived in Canada, some 20 years, I always believed that the American always supported free enterprise.
However I also believe that politicians of all persuasion are on a mission to prove their usefulness or should that be uselessness. To that end when a company such as Gibson makes a donation to the other party they are going to become subject to some rather unpleasant treatment..
I only hope that if and when the Republicans put a President back in the White House you feel the same about Fender when they get a good stuffing.
Ron
A Glenn Beck fan, yes I am

You're just trotting out the same nonsense as when the story first broke. Free Enterprise has never meant a license to operate illegally and the penalties confirm that Gibson acted illegally. Gibson tried to hide behind right-wing outrage but it turns out they were using protected timber after all. They got caught and paid a huge fine. However there is never any point arguing with Glenn Beck fans - They wouldn't be fans if they had any concept of the truth - so this is my last comment on the topic. Justice is served and we can expect to see the Gibson CEO quietly resign a few months from now...

[Geoff Alderton LH]

Hi all. This is old utube but it still very interesting.
I beleve Gibson agreed to settle to save the USA tax payer several million $ and keep a lot of workers in employment.
Regards Geoff. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RNqJPN0DjI