Gibson Guitars Versus US Government – What Is Going On?

What on earth is going on with the beef between Gibson guitars and the U.S. Government's Fish & Wildlife branch?

As a guitar player, I've been casually following this story for some time now. We all know that the Gibson plant in Memphis, Tennessee, was raided by government officials several weeks ago and various items and supplies of wood were confiscated.

As far as I can tell, no official charges have been filed so far, but the Justice Department has requested a meeting with Gibson's CEO sometime next week.

The August 24th, 2011, raid follows a similar raid in 2009 which is still in dispute in court. In fact, Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz said in a press conference in late August that their suit to reclaim their woods from the earlier raid or to be charged with something specific that they can contest in court has been put on hold by Federal authorities.

Again, what is going on?

At least part of this revolves around Gibson's use of Indian Rosewood for fretboard blanks. According to Indian law, this type of wood cannot be exported unless it is in its finished form. Gibson buys the partially finished blanks, mates them to necks, then finishes them out as part of the guitar build. India is apparently cool with the idea, but our government seems to have another opinion.

What confuses me, is that many other guitar manufacturers also use Indian Rosewood fretboards, and I'm pretty sure they do their own final assembly and finish work just as Gibson does, but I've not heard of any of them being raided.

Has Gibson actually broken a law? If so, which one? What is the specific charge? What happened to innocent until proven guilty? Or has Gibson simply done something to put a burr under someone's saddle in the federal government?

As I mentioned earlier, I've been trying to keep up with this story as it develops, and was recently clued in to Gibson guitar's website, where a great deal of information has been gathered, both in print and in video form.

Click here to visit Gibson's official website.

Click here to read a New York Times article on this story.

Today's news from the The Tennessean indicates that the Justice Department now wants to have a sit down with Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz next week.

Click here to read the latest update from The Tennessean.

Federal Marshals. Officers in full SWAT gear. Wood being confiscated. No charges being filed. Court case put on hold. Was the wood imported illegally? Is there a pattern of illegal shipments or was it just one shipment that the Feds are chasing? If illegal woods are being used, is Gibson alone in this activity?

Something is terribly out of tune in this scenario.

One way or another I really hope this gets resolved soon. Gibson is one of the premiere builders of both acoustic and electric guitars in the world, and this situation only hampers their ability to produce guitars, sell guitars, stock music store shelves, and enable musicians everywhere to create their art.

Dave D.