Gibson Guitar becomes cause celebre for conservatives

[Liberal_in_LA]

Gibson Guitar becomes cause celebre for conservatives
Republicans see the seizure of imported ebony and rosewood parts at its factories as an illustration of the need to shrink federal government.

Reporting from Nashville—
Two dozen federal agents outfitted with side arms and bulletproof vests strode past a display of electric guitars signed by Joan Jett and Slash of Guns 'N' Roses and quickly seized control of the cavernous guitar factory.

Some workers were caught sanding guitar bodies. Others held newly painted guitars between their bellies and cloth-covered wax wheels, gently swaying and pushing as they buffed the instrument in some kind of tuneless dance.

Turn off your machines and go home, they were ordered. Some set down their future Les Paul and Joe Perry signature guitars and obeyed.

This was a raid on Gibson Guitar.

The feds were after contraband in Gibson's Tennessee factories that day — ebony and rosewood they suspected was illegally imported from India. But their actions against the company whose guitars have been strummed by B.B. King, Bob Dylan and John Lennon netted some unanticipated results: infamy on talk radio and from commentators on the right.

Weeks later, the raid has generated publicity worthy of a rock concert. Groups like the "tea party" and the GOP, and VIPs like House Speaker John A. Boehner and Rush Limbaugh, have grabbed ahold of it as an extreme example of how government regulations are strangling American enterprise.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gibson-guitar-20110928,0,5477567.story?track=rss

[hatrack]

1. Fenders are better, cooler and better looking anyway . . .

:hide:

[Johonny]

5. +1

[dionysus]

8. i dunno man, i love my strat, but i want an SG too..

[Zambero]

13. Ash, maple, basswood, alder

Fender uses the more common temperate zone hardwoods for most of their solid body guitars. And yes, if you like blues, country, surf, funk, or good old rock & roll, that glassy single coil pickup sound cannot be beat!

[Bacchus39]

34. rosewood and ebony used for fretboards which Fender uses as well, particularly rosewood

the woods you listed are for the guitar body with the exception of maple which is also used in necks and as a fretboard without a veneer.

[Zambero]

37. As a rule, fretboards don't comprise a large share of overall guitar weight

Most Strats, Fender basses, and a few Teles include rosewood fretboards, so yes, there is some use of tropical woods on Fender's part, but nowhere close to the extent that Gibson relies on them.

[Erose999]

42. And Fender surely has the proper documentation and is co-operating with the feds or they'd be in the

same boat as Gibson. I am sure they were probably asked to provide documentation as well. I highly doubt Gibson was singled out here.

I'm a big fan of tropical woods myself.



Here we have (top to bottom) Brazilian cherry, Bubinga, and Bocote

All will be made into fretboards eventually. I've also got a stockpile of Brazilian cherry and African mahogany. The places where I get my stuff all source their wood legally, of course.

[Erose999]

14. +1. I've lost my interests in Gibsons since I've re-discovered the Tele.

Gibsons are all full of gadgets and gee-gaws. Especially the new models... they're all hideous "NuMetal" inspired overpriced crap.

Meanwhile the greatest guitarist in rock n' roll only uses 5 strings and has one of his pickups mounted backwards...

[Zambero]

19. Once you've discovered the Tele

there's no going back. Deceptively simple, nothing rivals it for sheer versatility.

[Twinguard]

15. I'm a big fan of Fender.

They make a great instruments. The vintage ones are timeless and can fetch some serious coin if the right buyer is found. I saw a '52 telecaster this summer that was valued at $50,000 to $55,000. The newer American made ones, from about '08 to the present, are incredibly well built. There are some of the new ones that rival the custom shop line in terms of quality. Studio engineers and producers love it when a bass player pulls out a standard precision bass without all of the extra tone-shaping preamps and such. Why? Because it is the original electric bass and any producer worth his salt can make it sound like a million bucks -- plus, we all know that when the bass sounds good, the band sounds good. ;)

I'm a Fender guy!

Having said all of that, I am looking at buying my buddy's Les Paul when he gets ready to sell it. :fistbump:

[jdlh8894]

20. Fender Acoustics SUCK ! Compared to a Gibson hollow body!!

JMO After 40 plus years of touching almost every guitar that was ever made.

[Erose999]

22. Fender's acoustics do suck but so do Gibson's new ones compared to my dad's 1957 J45.

Martin, Taylor, Breedlove, etc are all offering great USA made acoustics at a reasonable price. Gibson's declining QC standards and myth-inflated pricing just don't do it for me.

[Zambero]

33. The words 'Fender' and acoustic should be oxymorons

The Fender line is renowned for its solid body guitars, basses, and amplifiers. Most anything else is a market-driven (mis)use of the brand name without an accompanying assurance of quality. And yes, their acoustics do in fact suck.

[Ignis]

30. +1

Good enough for Jimi, good enough for me. ;)

[Initech]

44. Fun fact: Leo Fender is from my hometown (Fullerton, CA)

[hifiguy]

2. Gibson should worry about their QC, which has been

spotty to outright horseshit for the last twenty years. Obviously their purchasing practices are as crappy as their quality standards. Funny how Martin, Taylor, Alembic and other high-end guitar builders aren't having these sort of problems.

[gratuitous]

3. If we can't denude the planet for guitars, is this really a world worth living in?

God bless conservatives and their cock-eyed sense of morals.

[librechik]

7. snark

[Bake]

23. I rather doubt the realtively small number of guitars is "denuding" the planet.

YOu're obviously not a player.

Bake

[Gin Blossom]

4. At least the LA Times put "tea party" in quotes. n/t

[G_j]

6. I agree with the search for contraband

however, there is no reason they needed to be armed like a swat team. :wtf:

[Lost-in-FL]

9. It makes them look cool, my guess. nt

[snooper2]

16. Always be prepared...pretty simple actually

Anything else would be foolish and ignorant

[G_j]

18. in this case

their approach was foolish and ignorant

[snooper2]

25. So you want them to start deciding when and when not to have guns, protection

who makes the call?

Who gets the 20" shaft when they raid a flower shop for a fairly mundane issue and discovery kiddie porn in the back room and a freak with a shotgun?

[blm]

26. Saw pics last month from the 'raid' and there wasn't one drawn gun to be seen. Cameras were aimed

but, that's about it.

[MedicalAdmin]

38. Do a little research. They weren't armed like a swat team...

Despite what rush limpballs claims.

[G_j]

39. I simply responded to what the LA-Times stated

bullet proof vests and sidearms.. maybe not quite a swat team...

[MineralMan]

10. DU has some Gibson supporters, too.

The history and legend seems to override the ecological violations. The Martin guitar company has some statements on its website about their care with these issues and their sourcing of materials. Gibson does not.

[Erose999]

17. Gibson's CEO is a rightwing dick. He's ruining the company (granted, its been circling the drain

for the past30 years or so).

[corkhead]

35. about when they left Kalamazoo

[RaleighNCDUer]

11. I hate this police state crap.

If they were using illegally imported wood, fine, shut them down.

But two dozen feds with side arms and body armor, to shut down a guitar factory? They were not going up against moonshiners, fer gawds sake. One man walking into the office with a court order would have accomplished the same thing.

This is a SICK society.

[EC]

12. Too bad..

but Gibson knew those woods were illegal before they got them. If the repubs want to change the law on the use of these woods from India, they should write the bills for that, but Gibson knew better.

[Erose999]

21. Also, it wasn't the use of foreign wood that was illegal, it was the failure to provide

documentation as to the source of the wood.

[Bake]

24. I resent the cons co-opting this issue re: Gibson.

They have no soul and can't play anyway. And besides, guitars are for those long-haired hippie-type freaks.

Bake

[Katashi_itto]

27. Damn and I was going to buy a Gibson Robot...nice guitar..not now though

[sinkingfeeling]

28. So it's impossible for Gibson to make a decent guitar without illegally imported woods?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

31. Far from clear it was illegally imported...

[immoderate]

29. An L-5 is still on my wish list....

I have a LP Firebrand from the 70s and an L-48 from the 60s. But an L-5 or a Wes Montgomery or equivalent arch top would be so nice. :)

--imm

[Erose999]

41. Buy vintage. Or for L-5 money you could get a Collings or Benedetto even.

http://www.collingsguitars.com/Instruments/?ID=57

http://www.collingsguitars.com/Instruments/?ID=55

http://benedettoguitars.com/guitars/professional-series/bambino-deluxe%E2%84%A2/

I've never even held one of these but I've seen them in the better shops in Atlanta and they look absolutely flawless. Very close tolerances and very fine fit and finish. I'm scared to even pick up something that costs 5 grand for fear of dropping it or scratching it, lol.

[immoderate]

45. Nice instruments.

No worry. Not am I likely to have 5 Gs for a guitar. Anyway, I can hardly play the ones I've got. :)

--imm

[Hoosier Daddy]

32. Gibson guitars are viciously anti-semitic

And can be used as lethal weapons.

[Fire Walk With Me]

36. If only the world's musicians had been able to muster support like that when Gibson bought

and summarily killed Opcode, forcing many, many computer savvy musicians to have to spend time and money on a new platform.

[dembotoz]

40. so they think smuggling wood is ok but smuggling weed not so much??

[mulsh]

43. It took long enough for someone inthe media to notice.

The first I heard of the raid was an email from a former band mate & r-wing watcher. He sent me a link the day after the raid. I noticed wingers piling on on any posts at very non political music sites like Mandolin Cafe shortly after that. It continues to happen on some sites.

Gibson's quality in the big stores has been crap for at least the past 5 years.Especiall the junk they ship to big sellers like Guitar Center. Most of the smaller and finer stores in my area (SF Bay Area) have either severed their relationship with Gibson or are doing every thing they can to end it. The consistent complaints are poor quality and no back up for their products with their dealers.

As for the other larger musical instrument manufacturers like Fender, Martin,Taylor,etc, they continue to produce instruments using exotic and endangered woods that are imported under strict controls and documentation. This in addition to making lots of instruments using "sustainable" tone woods. Most of the smaller, finer stores sell these companies instruments.

I own and play Gibsons and Fender electric guitars and each has its own intrinsic tonal values. I doubt I'll be buying any new guitars.

I now play mandolin mostly. I wouldn't buy a new Gibson mandolin, $4,000-25,000 for an instrument with crappy tonal properties and finishes that deteriorate with in a year (as one dealer said "they all do that")is insane. When I was able to afford a professional quality mandolin I bought a one from an individual American luthier.