this is over the top!

hope this is the correct forum,please move if not.

if your a musician,like i am,this will make you shake your head!
the gibson guitar company has had 2 of their factories raided by the fish & game police for using ebony & rosewood for the fretboards on their amazingly fine guitars!!!
armed police stormed the factories and brought production to a halt,while the wood was confiscated!!!
WTF!!!!!
this company has been making fine instuments forever in america,employs many americans,pays taxes in america, and i find it really hard to believe the gibson corp. is some kind of 'criminal' organization to deserve this!!!
couldn't tptb just set up a meeting with the ceo of gibson and question them???
not raid the place like its some kinda meth lab!!!???
whats with all the guns? were they afraid the employees were gonna come at them weilding guitars???
in my opinion,i wouldn't wast a beautiful les paul to wack a cop!
the gutar is worth more!!!
any way,i just heard about this and thought i'd share. i'll try to put up a link,if that don't work, go to

Textgibsonguitar.com

www2.gibson.com...

The feds were obviously concerned about axe wielding maniacs.

Press Release from Gibson: The Federal Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. has suggested that the use of wood from India that is not finished by Indian workers is illegal, not because of U.S. law, but because it is the Justice Department’s interpretation of a law in India. (If the same wood from the same tree was finished by Indian workers, the material would be legal.) This action was taken without the support and consent of the government in India.

Source

Yeah, this whole situation is complete and utter nonsense.

reply to post by watchitburn


axe weilding maniacs! --- thats funny!
i should of thought of that,but i was just so pissed

reply to post by reficul


I read the OP and the article, but I still am not sure what they were there for?

Why?

Man that's bizarre. Hope someone can tell me, because it's not making any sense to me at this point.

The wood?? I dont get it.

God the cops cannot find more inane things to waste time on these days.. god almightyl...

just a quick add on to shed a bit more light on this insanity.

reply to post by reficul


HEY just back off, these are GMD's Guitars of mass distraction!!
The government is here to help!
/sarcasm
But seriously I had thought it was a rare/semi extinct/protected wood.
I have been wrong before.

reply to post by g146541


na,not even! watch the vid i just posted

reply to post by mainidh


its an obscure law stating if you import a product (wood) from another country (india) it has to follow the laws of the exporting country to make the product legal in the u.s.
the law from india says it has to be finished to a degree by indian workers.
because the wood wasn't finished by indians with a stain or such,the american govt deemed it illigal!
but the indian govt deemed it was finished enough,by their own law,to be exported.
the wood is imported pre cut to size and shape,so it was legal to export.
this is NOT about the enviroment,or sustainable forestry in the least!
its about the govt being able to do whatever they want while hiding behind weak,out dated laws.
watch the video,it explais it better than i can

Originally posted by reficul
reply to post by g146541

 

na,not even! watch the vid i just posted

I see, plain and simple.
Gibson broke a law and the US is enforcing it.
Are you comfortable with using ivory too?
Laws are laws if we do not like, we can change them.

reply to post by g146541


THEY DIDN'T BREAK THE LAW!!!! they weren't even charged!!!
just raided.
ebony and rosewood are a sustainable resources. elephants are not!
read the whole article and or watch the whole video before you post your ultra-intelligent response!
maybe the next time you spit on the sidewalk,or j-walk,you can get arrested at gunpoint!
that stuff is illegal too

Originally posted by reficul
reply to post by g146541

 

THEY DIDN'T BREAK THE LAW!!!! they weren't even charged!!!
just raided.
ebony and rosewood are a sustainable resources. elephants are not!
read the whole article and or watch the whole video before you post your ultra-intelligent response!

maybe the next time you spit on the sidewalk,or j-walk,you can get arrested at gunpoint!
that stuff is illegal too

It states it plain and simple in your own video, they broke a foreign law and possibly fixed paperwork on said wood.
ANY plant can go extinct just like any species of animal, this may not be the case here but I figured I'd just point that out for you.
The US is just keeping good relationships in place by helping enforce foreign law.
There were no arrests here as the folks on this end may have not commited a crime.
However, someone on the other side surely did.

(Edit)
Maybe this will help, imagine buying a stolen bike from the kid down the street and he gives you a bill of sale.
When the cops take your bike, you show the bill of sale and they go pick up the neighbor kid.
That's what happened here.
Just another corporation making a buck by any means is what I see.

reply to post by watchitburn


Wow. Just wow. Either the douchebag that organized this raid was very, very bored... or just plain stupid. Or... perhaps both. If India hadn't even complained, how did anyone even know there was an Indian law being broken? And since when can you get freakin arrested for breaking a foreign law??

reply to post by Rockpuck


As the OP pointed out, there were no arrests, just confiscated illegally obtained property.

reply to post by g146541

man i get what yer sayin, but if it was india's law they were breaking,why wouldn't india file a complaint,or stop export altogether?
why raid the place with weapons?
i think gibson is far too reputable a company to pull something like this.
they have been around for 110 years! why wreck their good rep. on something as silly as this?
if indeed they did break the law,how come after 2 raids-one in 2009,and the other in 2011,there still is no charges!!!
doesn't make any sense.
the us govt even said they dont have a problem with the actual wood,its the fact they didnt think indian workers worked on it enough!!!! BUT,india didn't have a problem! they are the ones who have to file the grievance,not the us govt, blasting in with guns at the ready!!!
ya every company in the world cut corners some how,some way.
bp oil got away with their oil spill,which was pretty 'slick'!!!
what if your workplace got raided in the same manner for using paper that wasn't bleached enough in china by chinese workers?
that is my point.
go after the real corporate gangsters like fender guitars that moved to mexico for cheap labour!!!
i guess fender wont have to worry about this silly law because they can use all the wood they want there!!!

reply to post by reficul


I understand and even partially agree with you.
India cannot simply stop the export, that would be harder than real true gun control, it just can't happen.
Wood is so much more mainstream and many people cannot tell pine from oak!
(true story)
To come into Gibson guns drawn was just the "American law enforcement" thing.
They all wanna wear tactical gear and shoot non firing gun wielding "suspects".
These are the kids who grew up watching all of the tough guy shows and see how cool combat is, then come home from Iraq and all other conquested countries with PTSD.
Maybe knowing the wood is illegal from where they are getting it from, they could find a legal means of obtaining this wood.
Or just maybe there is a real reason why India has banned the confiscated wood.

(Edit)
I will not refute that Gibson puts out some fine equipment, there is a reason why they are top dog in the industry but, they are a corporation too.
Star to ya.

reply to post by g146541


Confiscated ... under a foreign law?

Originally posted by Rockpuck
reply to post by g146541

 

Confiscated ... under a foreign law?

Don't go there Brother!
There are so many laws on the books that specialty lawyers still don't know all of the law in their arena.
I would assume it is part of some cooperative interpol treaty of some sort.
But I truly don't know.
(Edit)
Like I said above, ivory is confiscated.
Albeit it is much different because one is a breathing animated creature and the other is a plant but still.

reply to post by g146541


ah we can go on and on no!
we agree to disagree!
good debate though
i tend to rant alot,so i look forward to our next encounter! your a worthy opponent!

reply to post by Rockpuck


here here!!!
big brother flexin muscle & and showing what they are capable of doing!
just google alternative tentacles raided, and the same stuff happened then too

Originally posted by reficul
reply to post by g146541

 

i tend to rant alot,so i look forward to our next encounter! your a worthy opponent!

Then I win as I have you fully fooled!
/sarcasm
I won nothing.
I'm just saying what they are using is illegal from their source, maybe they could find another or make it legal through the proper channels.
There are many laws throughout the world that are actually for the good of the environment, or were started with that in mind.
Maybe there is a reason why India has outlawed such wood.
I learn something or some things every day.
I used to be young and dumb, I am not young anymore!