Gibson Offices Raided

AlanRatcliffe · 2009-11-18T12:15:35+00:00

This is interesting, seeing how Gibson's Chairman and CEO both sit on the board of the Rainforest Alliance... (11/17/2009) While no charges have yet been filed, NashvillePost.com is reporting that earlier today, Federal agents and local police seized wood, guitars, computers and files from Gibson Guitar's Massman Road manufacturing facility in Nashville. Sources say the guitar manufacturer is being investigated for violating the Lacey Act, a key piece of environmental law, for importing endangered species of rosewood from Madagascar. Rosewood is widely used in the construction of guitars and sells for $5,000 per cubic meter, more than double the price of mahogany. The island nation off Africa's east coast is a key producer of the hardwood, the export of which has links to international criminal activity. Madagascar has struggled financially since a January coup and new President Andry Rajoelina issued an executive order in September legalizing the export of rosewood and ebony. The move was decried by environmental groups and political leaders worldwide, as hardwood forests are key to Madagascar's unique ecology and serve as a habitat for a dwindling lemur population. Sources have told NashvillePost.com that Gibson was involved in a scheme that shipped the wood from Madagascar to Germany and then to the United States.

Jack-Flash-Jr

I saw a Taylor at Marshall Music in CT that had a neck that looked like it was composite layers - I got a run down from one of the guys there but can't remember what he called it and can't seem to find info from Taylor...

Are you talking about 3 or 5 piece composite necks or an actual laminate? Martin already do the laminated neck thing on their budget models. Oddly they say it's more expensive to it this way than to have a solid neck.
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Bob fans away the mists of time... I think was was in fact a Martin laminate... they also say it's stronger than a solid neck?

Banditman

The point about renewable resources coupled with corporate AND personal responsibility is a very pertinent one.

It's only really been the last 5-8 years that has seen the start of a movement encouraging responsible use and guradianship of our planet's resources. To state the obvious that's hardly a surprise considering that most people don't think further than their own wants. I say WANTS, not NEEDS because the two rarely are the same thing.

It really must be asked that at what point did the guitar-makers wake up to the fact that trees don't grow overnight, and the rarer they are the worse the supply situation will become? The only way around it is to replant what you've cut down, and then suck it up & wait while nature takes its course - a wait that would be shorter if we used forward planning. Of course it eats into the profit margin, and then they still want to keep us customers happy because no big firm will survive on their Custom Shop instrument production alone. They're able to employ the staff because they're pumping out the beginner & intermediate stuff to keep the coffers full.

This is where we the rampant consumers need to also take a little look at ourselves. If wood X is endagered, then we can't hide behind the self-deception of "well I'm just getting one & then they should crack down, but only after me". While many of us are genuinely concerned and in favour of a better approach, you also can't change the fact that many people are simply selfish and couldn't care less for anything but their own desires.

Alternative materials and woods are one way around the short-term problem, but doing so to allow for what is still unsustainable consumption is not a solution either.

The only real solution is to stop acting like locusts, and to make sure that we're catering for the future while we responsibly use what's available. Hats off to Taylor for doing something about it, but in all honesty the larger companies should have gotten on to this bandwagon a long, long time ago.

RobK

Heard of the SASSI initiative - the South African Sustainable Seafood Initiative - you can sms the species name of fish you're about to buy/order at a restaurant, and they will SMS you back some info on the species and what it's status is (green (OK), orange (legal to sell/buy but vulnerable) and red (illegal to buy or sell) ) - so you can make an informed decision on whether to buy/order or not.

I know, not guitar/Gibson/tonewood related ?, but the point is if something like this sevice can be set up for fish, why not guitar tonewoods, and other natural resources too? That way we can say no to that guitar made of endangered/illegal species of tonewood and make a small contribution to saving the resources we have.

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