Can we get a new video called "Fish & Wildlife Raids Guitars"?

The Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Is it beer:30 yet?

A simple Google search will give you tons of information about Gibson's quality issues when it comes to the Les Paul models. Depending on when you bought your Gibson, it might have been before this started happening. But believe me, Gibson's hit and miss quality is the stuff of legends.

That being said, man how I want a Gibby Flying V. Cherry red. White pickguard. Just not sure I want to fork over $1400 for it.

Or something like that. Sorry Geddy.

The Taylor is much the same, in that I have had one issue with the pre-amp. So going by my witness, Gibson has actually given me a better quality instrument between the two.

Now, if you'd like to pick and choose what to bitch about, that's fine, but misconstruing something like the quality of guitars from me talking about each of the companies refusing to sell Rosewood is horseshit.

If I remember correctly, rosewood is what the frets are slotted into in the neck of the guitar.
They use rosewood because ???

(to borrow from MP here)

"it floats?"
"precisely"
"so, we throw her into the water and if she floats, she is..."
"A WITCH. SHE'S A WITCH."

sorry. couldn't help it.

@H3ion: The point was, Gibson might have been lying, the person they were importing from may have been lying - and someone has to think of the lemurs. A chain of custody does nothing if someone's covering something up.

@Smshvll_s flng dsmvld:

I know what an investigation is, the question is, does tuhe federal government? They seized the guitars, but no arrests. I know they're entitled to, but in my book, that gets the presumptions just a bit backward. "No point in having a court system"? What are you talking about--I'm simply suggesting that if there isn't enoughh evidence to charge someone, then don't seize their property. You can still have a court system that abides by that--heck, until recently, we did.
Moreover, the jumping to concusions to which I was referring was other commentors, but, come to think of it, it applies to the feds, too.

To even use Gibson in the same sentence as Taylor and Martin is an affront to those two great companies. While I think Les Pauls are awesome and gorgeous guitars, their rampant quality control issues are what has kept me from even considering purchasing one.

The law enforcement agency in question had probable cause to believe that Gibson was breaking the law. They demonstrated this probable cause to a judge and got a search warrant. Then they executed the aforementioned warrant. They didn't take ALL the wood/computers/guitars that Gibson had at the factory. There would be no point in taking samples of mahogany when you're investigating rosewood. It is also worth noting that Gibson does not use rosewood in all of their guitars. Your post give me the impression that just because Gibson is an American company, you believe they should not be investigated for possible wrongdoing.

That fucking disgusts me.

@crashman2600: Lemurs like to Move it Move it.

/Doesn'tHaveKids

Conflict alert - I have a Gibson but it's not rosewood. It's made out of lemurs.

Nice job.

@NeverLetMeDown:

oops, link: [www.animallaw.info]

@pecan 3.14159265:

You should probably read this then, and, depending on where you live, consider moving to another state.

That being said, this investigation WILL put a large hit on Gibson, and being such a large factor, the rest of the declining music industry. These companies are hemorrhaging money as it is. To declare an investigation that puts this American company's reputation at stake is abhorrent.

The company prides itself on utmost quality, similar to Martin and Taylor. Even certain disclaimers are up on the websites (when having custom guitars made) preventing one from selecting Brazilian or Madagascar Rosewood due to the implications of government red-tape.

This disgusts me.

@treimel: An investigation isn't an assumption of guilt. It's just that - an investigation. Someone has to find out whether or not there's any truth to an accusation, otherwise, there'd be absolutely no point in having a court system or law enforcement.

I make my own lemurs at home.

@Cant_stop_the_rock:
"just seized some stuff"?!?!? You mean, seized the actual materials Gibson uses to make its high-end products, right? I can see you've never owned or run a business.

Way for everybody to assume Gibson did something wrong here--I would bet a shiny quarter no conviction fiollows this.

(It's a cartoon now on Nickelodeon.)

@Rachacha: No such luck.

@pecan 3.14159265: Worked for the banking/mortgage industry.

@wrjohnston91283: Ugh. Awful, wasn't it? The first was good, the second...not so much.

All hail the New York Giants!

I build my own guitars from lemur-free rosewood that I grow organically in my zero-carbon-footprint rainforest in Idaho which is possible thanks to global warming.

Censor that pic! You can see the lemur's scrotum.

@NatalieErin: Not just that, but if you're a drug kingpin you have to have a badass cane with a diamond-encrusted knob. The feds will be hurting the cane makers too!

@Coralvillain: Let's just hope that Gibson doesn't shred any documents.

@Smashville_Flippin the Bird Before Bud Adams: Oh, I'm sure if US Fish & Wildlife had ignored this, halcyondays would be whining about ineffective government branches that can't even do their jobs.

I think I'm going to be a drug kingpin. If the Feds bust me, they're just putting my soldiers out of work, right halcyondays?

@halcyondays: Yeah...damn the law enforcement branch of the government for enforcing the law.

@Necroscope: Can't we just import the lemurs to America and have them run free?

@RecordStoreToughGuy_IsBeing(pur)SuedByAMonster: This is a common refrain that the man is riffing on the band. If the truth comes out in the mix, and the government asks for treble damages, they'll be singing a different tune.

They didn't shut the company down, they just searched their facility and seized some stuff.

Should we stop enforcing laws because of the recession?

So did the Federal investigators fly United Airlines with the guitars and other evidence back to their office?

@crashman2600: I have 2 kids and I had no clue what you are talking about (but Google is my friend) so now it makes sense because I never saw the movie, and my kids did not like it enough to play over, and over, and over, and...

@halcyondays: So it's okay that Gibson might have been doing something illegal, so long as people have jobs?

@Smashville_Flippin the Bird Before Bud Adams: They do if they're up to their necks in notes incriminating them.

I was like, damn, I got pwned by a 5-year-old. Also, my pop culture knowledge is currently appalling.

Save the lemurs!!!

@Smashville_Flippin the Bird Before Bud Adams: Need to tune this one up. It is a bit flat.

...cause the feds break guitars.

@Ninjastorm66:

I'm 26, no kids and just returned Escape to Africa to netflix.

"Henry Juszkiewicz] sits on the board of the Rainforest Alliance and takes the issue of certification very seriously."

Need to add this to the list of Taking It Seriously.

@VidaBlueBalls: Indeed. Gibson has nothing to fret.

Try the chicken!

Then they proceeded to rock.

That's what Kyle Busch has been trying to tell you!