Gibson frets over illegal wood allegation
Looks like Gibson is going to fight the Feds on this.
GIBSON, the legendary guitar-maker endorsed by the likes of Jimmy Page and Chuck Berry, is the target of a federal investigation in the US, amid allegations that endangered tropical hardwoods were illegally plundered to make its instruments.
Federal agents raided Gibson’s factories in Nashville and Memphis last week, seizing several pallets of wood, computer hard drives and dozens of guitars.
Authorities indicate they may charge the company for illegally importing ebony from India in defiance of laws that ban the use of endangered plants and timber.
Gibson, which makes the SG electric guitar used by Angus Young of AC/DC and produced the J-160E acoustic-electric played by John Lennon, has denied any wrongdoing.
…The search warrant filed by federal agents for the Gibson raid alleged that 1250 pieces of Indian ebony that arrived by air in Dallas on June 22 were imported illegally because India does not allow the export of sawn ebony.
It is not the first time Gibson has been involved with the authorities. Federal officers also seized guitars and pallets of wood from a Gibson factory in 2009. The seized material that time allegedly included ebony from Madagascar.
Juszkiewicz complains the raids have disrupted production, causing a loss of productivity and sales, adding that the rare woods used to craft the best instruments are being depleted at such a rate that the traditional guitar could become endangered.