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Then the U.S. would not allow them to be imported.
Stay in Nashville and Memphis I say.
The move from Kalamazoo was far enough.
Little known to a lot of people some former Gibson employees stayed in Michigan when the company moved to Nashville and started a guitar company called Heritage. Very good guitars, built by old-school Gibson people. Are they better than a real Gibson?, that is personal opinion because my two LP's are incredible, but they cost almost half of a Gibson and are very...very good guitars. Check my pic profile and you'll see my natural finished one.
I have a D-12-28 and an M-36 both about 40 years old.
But back to the thread, couldn't the Congressman in that particular district and or the Governor get the FEDS to LAY OFF?
I think all these raids of small businesses you hear about are really OVER THE TOP!
If ebony wood is available elsewhere and Gibson broke the rules with Madagascar then they were in the wrong. Those saying China can fill the void are wrong though, China isn't about quality, and when it comes to these guitars people want and are willing to pay for the quality.
How could they have illegally imported something? Are you saying our Feds have failed yet again? Don't they keep a lid on that stuff?
Exhibit A of how they are keeping a lid on it would be what it says they just did in the article.
I'm all for making it reasonably simple for businesses to operate. I am NOT for giving them a free pass to do whatever they want regardless of legality.
Exhibit A of how they are keeping a lid on it would be what it says they just did in the article.
I'm all for making it reasonably simple for businesses to operate. I am NOT for giving them a free pass to do whatever they want regardless of legality.
No, there should be other mechanisms in place for stopping illegal importation. If this was illegal, how did they get the other country to break their own law as well?
The company only employes about 500 people but still those are jobs that are needed in this economy. Also from the story the factory is a tourist attraction. How long will it be before Gibson has enough and is made in China with the same wood that the feds are so bent about?
Guess 0bama is putting those 100,000 new federal employees to work, harassing the people and wasting taxpayer money for nothing.
Little known to a lot of people some former Gibson employees stayed in Michigan when the company moved to Nashville and started a guitar company called Heritage. Very good guitars, built by old-school Gibson people. Are they better than a real Gibson?, that is personal opinion because my two LP's are incredible, but they cost almost half of a Gibson and are very...very good guitars. Check my pic profile and you'll see my natural finished one.
Never knew that. Thanks. Good enough for Adrian Belew.
Here is the response by Gibson that shines a new light on the subject :
Quote:
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.
That is what the latest raid was about and here is Gibson's response on the raid in 2009 :
Quote:
• Nearly two years later, no charges have been filed In 2009, more than a dozen agents with automatic weapons invaded the Gibson factory in Nashville. The Government seized guitars and a substantial amount of ebony fingerboard blanks from Madagascar. To date, 1 year and 9 months later, criminal charges have NOT been filed, yet the Government still holds Gibson’s property. Gibson has obtained sworn statements and documents from the Madagascar government and these materials, which have been filed in federal court, show that the wood seized in 2009 was legally exported under Madagascar law and that no law has been violated. Gibson is attempting to have its property returned in a civil proceeding that is pending in federal court.
Hmmm, Gibson has statements from the Madagascar gvt on legality, our gvt has been holding their personal property for 2 years, and no charges have been filed.
Here is the response by Gibson that shines a new light on the subject :
That is what the latest raid was about and here is Gibson's response on the raid in 2009 :
Hmmm, Gibson has statements from the Madagascar gvt on legality, our gvt has been holding their personal property for 2 years, and no charges have been filed.
If this is the case then the U.S.A government is being wrong. Just the idea of agents going through a guitar company with automatic weapons seems rediculous.
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