Report: Gibson Competitor is Dem Donor; Uses Same Wood, Experienced No Federal Raids
by John Nolte
Via Andrew Lawton at Landmark Report:
One of Gibson’s leading competitors is C.F. Martin & Company. The C.E.O., Chris Martin IV, is a long-time Democratic supporter, with $35,400 in contributions to Democratic candidates and the DNC over the past couple of elections (though, to be fair, he did donate a whopping $750 to Republican Congressmen in the 90s.) According to C.F. Martin’s catalog, several of their guitars contain “East Indian Rosewood.” In case you were wondering, that is the exact same wood in at least ten of Gibson’s guitars.
If true, it add another piece to an increasingly disturbing puzzle.
You can listen to Gibson CEO (and Republican supporter) Henry E. Juszkiewicz’s interview with Dana Loesch here.
You can listen to the collective music world’s outcry over this seemingly partisan witch hunt being conducted by The Man here.
Cowards all.
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132 Comments
Look at the issues law enforcement has been targeting lately; kids lemonade stands, Amish farmers selling unpasturized milk, organic whole-foods sellers out in California, and now guitar manufactures because of the potential use of some protected exotic wood.
Of all that is wrong in the US right now why is this stuff so high on the priority list? I get a sneaky feeling something bigger is in play and I just can't see it yet. Or it could be my paranoia is getting the better of me.
I don't know if I cant take another 18 mos of these Obammunist scum
Slowly, the underside of the Beast is exposed.
Hurricane Obama has done more harm to American workers than all of the tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunami's and hurricanes all put together.
Hurricane Obama will be 'downgraded' to a Tropical Depression come November of next year.
The music industry is saying nothing over this? Someone seriously needs to listen to Pastor Niemoller.
The wider population is beginning to realize what we in the gun business have long known: Those who work for the regulatory agencies under the Department of Justice are agents of tyranny. If you are reading this and you are a regulatory agent under the DOJ and you consider yourself to be a good American who supports liberty, please practice some serious introspection and realize what your work is really about.
Unacceptable. Eric Holder needs to be removed from office and prosecuted.
The anti-American president, is becoming a serious threat to economic freedom unlike EVER before……I can only pray that enough true Americans show up on 2012 and help us all fire this Huge arss mistake. Hopefully we can recover… but.. the entitlement mentality is a strong lure for the simple minded…..
Gotta go get a Les Paul today !! (If I could afford it that is….!)
Why doesn't this surprise me? Maybe because this is the change that "they" were all hoping for; letting the shackles loose on more and more intrusive government intervention in the lives of private citizens.
Gee, I wonder if there's going to be any concerted effort for another, better, change in ohhh, about another year?
The more I read about this story the more I just want to cry. I hope the members of Congress are watching this. First it was Boeing and now Gibson. I hope we can hold out until November 2012.
How much of this nonsense are we going to put up with?
It's pretty obvious by now that Richard Milhouse Obama is out to get all the enemies on his very long list.
When do the impeachment proceedings begin????
Attacking Gibson is like crapping on America. This is purposeful and deliberate and meant to hurt America by showing us that Obama knows exactly what he is doing – and he is mocking us. Laughing in our faces.
Nolte's on to something – Juszkiewicz supported Huckabee in 2008:
Just visit: http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributi....
Juszkiewicz, CatherineGibson Guitar Corp./VP of Community$2,30003/20/2007PHUCKABEE FOR PRESIDENT, INC. – Republican
Juszkiewicz, HenryGibson Guitar Corp./CEO$2,30003/20/2007PHUCKABEE FOR PRESIDENT, INC. – Republican
You forgot the Department of Education-run no-knock SWAT raid over possible student loan fraud.
(Which was done without even the basic preparation of ensuring the accused lived at the raided address.)
Damn…gonna trade my Martin….pork this Obama loving spitball…
This is a well-known psychological defense mechanism of people/managers/… who are way out of their depth: to avoid the serious issues that are beyond their ability or understanding by focusing on irrelevant little problems that they can "solve" so they can feel good about themselves. When you have a CEO that behaves like that (I've seen a couple in my lifetime) get him replaced or make an exit before the company crashes.
Eric Holder needs to be removed from office and disbared….
The part of the music industry that still involves actual musicians playing actual instruments, you mean, as distinct from the sampler+autotune "music" "production" industry?
This is such a blatant case of arbitrary regulatory torture that it would be twice as bad if they went after C. F. Martin too. But is it coincidence that they went only after Gibson? Let´s say it´s possible in the way a lightning strike is possible. Simply based on their past behavior I put nothing past this administration anymore. They politicize everything.
Looks like the democrats want to take over everything, how did Odumbo treat those in the republican party who happened to own GM car dealerships?
This looks like the way things are done these days. Somebody calls a democrat a name all hell breaks loose. But you can discriminate against any republican for any reason, that's OK.
I wonder if this story will finally convince my kook liberal brother, who builds & repairs guitars using many exotic hardwoods, that the government is just too damn big.
lbruf ; I use the campaign finance database to make decisions sometimes. It is nice to know about people you may come across. I try to avoid spending any of my hard earned money with people who make life bad in this country.
I'm referring to the former – but, then again, the silence must mean they don't exist any longer.
Criminal charges are going to have to be filed against those who practice selective law enforcement for political gain. Only then can we have any hope of having our country back.
this article says the issue is “East Indian Rosewood". The article on Big Gov says the wood seized was Ebony…
are “East Indian Rosewood" and Ebony the same thing?
If not, this article is incorrect and misleading.
I hope every conservative guitar player reads this and boycotts this joker's business. We don't want no stinkin' pervert progressive pansy left guitars.
Americans, no matter their persuasion, should not tolerate the corruption of this administration.
They can take my Gibson from my cold dead hands (Video)…
http://www.bluecollarphilosophy.com/2011/08/the-g...
I have a 1966 Martin. They are great guitars. Too bad politics spreads to something as simple as guitar manufacturing. The fault is with the government.
You are NOT paranoid, I wonder about the same things you posted about myself all the time.
….but wait, what if I'm….never mind!!
…to the fullest rigors of the law!
If she's a true Democrap Kook… she'll somehow find it to be Bush's fault…
This sort of thing is nothing new, just more obvious. Does anyone remember the GAO audits of government contractor during the mid to late 80's. They were fueled by democrats politics. The GAO, and the rest of Washington bureaucracy, has almost always been in the pockets of Marxist leaning Demoncrats. The Audits almost exclusively targeted Republican leaning corporations, such as Motorola, while extreme left firms, such as Ford Aerospace and Lorraine Space Systems got a pass( even after Berny Schwartz got caught selling secrets to the Chinese!) The other factor driving the witch hunts was a desire to prevent any space tech spin-offs from getting into commercial products, thus stimulating the economy, during a Republican administration. Lefties have always hated Motorola, and they love Intel (Democratic leaning). They eventually destroyed the company by taking over its board.
Count me in! I'll never buy any of their products.
How can anyone be surprised by this after the way Gm & chrysler bond-holders were screwed (co. Given to the union) then they forced all dealers who had donated to R's out of Business yet kept still the D-donors!
We're living in a banana republic, they're not even PRETENDING any more!
You're right, XR, it's almost spooky. Isn't there supposed to be a mature intermediary between the original impulse to purge the neighborhood of the seditious lemonade stands and the actual order to do so? Was it assigned to the 'idiots only' section of the bureaucracy?
I think a good question would be this; how many gibson guitars can be made from a single East Indian Rosewood tree. It's not like they were making beach party campfires out of the wood. I'm guessing maybe a tree every ten years for the entire acoustic guitar industry.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean people are not out to get you.
Gibson = American Exceptionalism! Therefore it must be destroyed, In Barry’s twisted mind.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't meant they aren't out to get you.
Great, now I have to regret owning a Martin and NOT owning a Gibson. Eh, I can't regret owning a Martin, it's too damned nice of a guitar. And the only reason I don't own a Gibson is because they cost more than my car. It's a rule I have
What we are watching B. Hussein O. Jr. perform are fascist moves to invoke a commie state. It is no more difficult than that, although at first it is hard to believe that is what you are looking at.
Yup!!!
Nixon actually had enemies, mostly on B. Hussein O. Jr.'s commie side of the aisle. BHO is trying to engineer a red takeover by destroying as many of the structures that reinforce democratic caplitolism as possible.
Punishing those that fail to sufficiently support the regime, ignoring ( or outright endorsing ) those that have paid sufficient tribute to The One and his minions.
This is not the USA I was hoping to inherit.
Uncle Joe ( Stalin ) and Bubby Benito ( Mussolini ) would be proud.
Odumbo? I really like the sound, but the pres is a jackass, not an elephant.
Just to add to your list (although you are probably already aware), almost everyone working at Google hates Republicans.
First they start small to see if there is any backlash then they amp it up a little more each time. Amazingly though, it never appears these political appointees ever seem to go after big donors and if they are forced to these are the ones who always have some type of investigation misstep and the case gets tossed. Right now it is really discouraging to see how corrupt this nation has become.
All of this is horrible. I seriously wonder how much of this damage can be undone even if we elect a strong conservative President and Congress in 2012. So much of this crap is put into place by bureaucrats who stick around until retirement regardless of the outcomes of elections.
The only way out that I see is the total dismantling of entire federal departments and the elimination of the rules and regulations put in place by them. The odds of this happening are slim and none, and slim just left town.
Rosewood is another wood that is under new control/scrutiny. Some musicians have had instruments confiscated and were fined when they couldn't document the source of the wood, including rosewood and ebony, or ivory in pre-ban instruments, after taking them out of the US and returning. This is not the first time that Gibson has been "raided" under this administration. There is another article that has more detail, including some professional musicians having ivory on their instruments replaced with plastic if they are performing outside of the US. But the whole issue is the application of so-called "fair-trade" standards to civil prosecution/confiscation by the US government under this administration. The point of the article is that Gibson is being selectively "policed" versus their major competitor who uses the same materials. This article is correct and not misleading.
Ack! We posted at basically the same time! How dare you steal my thunder!!
Which is why I quit using Google. Actually, it was D-Day (June 6) 2+ years ago. Google chose to honor the birthday of Tetris, the video game, in their cute little logo graphics rather than honor the heroes who sacrificed everything not only for OUR freedom but for the freedom of all of Europe and most of the rest of the world, too. Tried Bing, and sure enough, there was a beautiful tribue to D-Day and its heroes. Yes, I know Bing has its problems, too, but I'm choosing the lesser of two evils.
Muhamadd hated music anyway.
My last encounter was a few months ago when I was driving a limo. Picking up at Google headquarters here in the Bay Area, they were all depressed. Everybody was moping. I realized that it was the failure of B. Hussein O. Jr. that was bothering them.
I contrast that with Cisco, one of our other accounts. They were all a lot more normal – more focussed on business than politics I think Chambers, their CEO, gives cash to both parties. I did hear him once try to get a call through to Nancy Pelosi. I believe, though not sure, that he leans more Republican. Just telling you that probably violates some non-disclosure agreement that I signed, but I no longer work there.
Wow. Thanks for sharing. As for violating non-disclosure, (a) you no longer work there and (b) nobody really know who you are (unless they start poking around at your IP and all that….)
Yeah, it's both.
The Feds raided Gibson in 2009, took ebony woods, but no charges have ever been filed. Gibson has filed a civil suit to have their property returned, and the case goes to court next month. This raid last week was supposedly for investigating another wood. The DoJ has effectively shuttered Gibson's $1 million a day business, raided them twice, and never produced an ounce of proof, evidence of wrongdoing, or a criminal charge of any kind in over 2 years of investigation.
The music industry is too financially in bed with the Dems to say anything even if they wanted to. And I'm not entirely certain they're not the ones really behind this.
It happens.Next time you'll beat me.
Except for the call of the Muezzin, his favorite boyhood memory. No guitar involved.
So this is the issue that motivated me to create an account so I could comment. These clowns are doing this and getting away with it because there is absolutely no outcry from anyone and no mention in the dinosaur media. Complacency has settled in our society like a cancer and it allows tyrants such as these to do their filthy business, brazenly & out in the open.
What about Fender guitars? They would be more in line as a direct competitor of Gibson. Martin, not so much. Did a google search and yep, Indian rose wood.
Amen to that.
{can I say "amen" in Obama's secular or neo-Muslim America? I will anyway…}
My Martin {a "cheaper one"} is on a stand over there >>>>>
I just looked at in a different light – and I'm liking Gibson acoustics more than I used to suddenly – and they're awesome anyway…
There are several exotic woods that guitar makers use. Brazil rosewood was the industry standard used in professional/high end acoustic guitars for DECADES – until the "save the rain forrest" took hold – hence East Indian rosewood.
This a "dog and pony" show for the benefit of the WACKY left – and it's pissing off alot of us who love guitars – Gibson and otherwise. It's OBVIOUSLY POLITICAL.
So, who is next on the Fed "hit list?"
Yup. No Martin's – can't support a leftist millionaire.
It's the Chicago way. What it really boils down to is Gibson wouldn't pay the protection money, so he got a visit from the Feds.
Gibson's CEO said something to the effect of having to prove their innocence. Is it just me, or is that scary and disturbing? Guilty until proven innocent???
I checked out a music industry blog that I used to frequent, and there was very little comment on this. The most loquatius sheeple on the subject was most eager to take the regime's explanation at face value and adopt the appropriate level of outrage at those who displease the regime–and destroy the earth with their use of the eco-friendly, replenishable material, wood.
Needless to say, this blog reached peak levels of activity during the obamacare debate–all those unemployd musicians eager to have someone else pay for their medical care.
Also, to the extent that the sheeple hear gibson donates to republicans, they will instantly attain the requisite pavlovian level of hate for all things not socialist.
I have a gibson country western from either 62 or 68, as they re-used serial number ranges. Rosewood fingerboard–hope its the illegal kind.
I helped my son pick out a very nice and inexpensive canadian acoustic guitar with very nice woods (not plywoods). As with many things canadian, the government subsidizes the acoustic guitar industry and my son was proud to benefit from the nationalistic and collectivist canadian government.
Ebony is a really cool black wood–at least the old stuff was. So expensive they sold it by the pound even in the 70s. Its more of a premium fretboard wood than rosewood. Problem is, ebony sawdust is poisionous, so its even rarer in new guitars.
I have a 60s vintage D-20-12 Martin and am looking for a new guitar. Martin just got booted of the list of possibilities. They can join Costco in my list of never agains.
Yeah, that swat team takedown of an unpasturized dairy was a real blow against domestic terrorism…
Nomad: What wood gets used, when, and how in the guitar industry is a bit more complicated than chopping a tree down and carving it up; things like the wood curing (which can take years) and in the case of woods used for the backs and sides of acoustic instruments, testing it for desirable acoustic properties, etc…basically, a single rosewood wouldn't do for one large company, let alone the entire guitar industry.
With that said though, guitar builders use only a very tiny fraction of exotic woods compared to other industries that use rare lumber, so the FEDs choice to raid Gibson, as opposed to say a big furniture maker or flooring company, seem rather odd to say the least…
There was an FTC probe into the musical instrument business about 5 years ago. It cost several companies 7-figure amounts to defend themselves. The feds got nothing, but they weren't too subtle about announcing that they'd be back. This is likely linked to that threat. The entire guitar business isn't that big — $2-$3 billion tops. It's also one of the few products where "Made in USA" actually commands a premium price around the world. So it makes all the sense for a bunch of douchebag bureaucrats to try to knock it into the dirt.
I'm in the biz and many of my friends are proud liberals. The upside is that they are finally getting the message that the government will eventually come after you — no matter who you think you are.
If you have a big budget — Collings. If you have a workingman's budget — Takamine.
They are two very different woods.
Ebony is probably most commonly seen as a fingerboard for stringed instruments (cello, violin, upright bass, etc…) but can sometimes be found on higher end and/or boutique guitars/basses. It is a very hard and dense wood, with high quality pieces being completely black as the name suggests.
Various forms of rosewood are much more common with the fretboards of electric guitars/basses, and can even be found on lower end stuff, though some rosewoods, like Brazilian, are hard to come by, thus expensive. Rosewood is usually brown in color, sometimes with interesting streaks or patterns running through it.
There is a fair amount of competitive overlap between the three: Gibson is known for both their electric and acoustic instruments while Martin are mostly known for making acoustic guitars, and Fender is most known for their electric instruments (though they do make acoustics).
There are other guitars besides a Gibson?…..
DemocRats are dirty RATS!
The Federal Bureaucracy must be SLASHED. I mean decimated.
Reduced by 80% or more.
These power hungry political animals need to be sent their pink slips and be cut down to size.
Let them find out what it’s like to create value instead of wielding power.
If both the Pres and Congress go Republican in the next national election, many government agencies can be seriously reduced if not eliminated. We need the EPA, but probably not 90% of it. Same with education. Besides, if all those folks now sucking off the governmen were forced out, possibly some of them would create real businesses that hire.
The great grand-daddy of conservative thought was William F. Buckley. Unfortunately, the media has been going commie for decades now. Big Hollywood is one of the anedotes, but to be honest it is really the ones who are politically active like the Tea Party folks who will make the difference. The rest of us are comparitavely hold our dicks.
What don't I know about Costco?
I'm not so sure. I want to see a citation.
Well that is the real problem, isn't it? We as conservatives have let the parasites slowly drag this country into the gutter for ***decades***. We have been complacent for far too long and the end result is that we are literally teetering on the brink. So what the F should we be doing to stem this insanity? What *are* we doing??
A citation of what exactly…?
And when when the new president comes into office everyone involved in Fast & Furious needs to go to JAIL and sit there for 20 years. ATF…DOJ…and Executive Branch also.
Respectfully let me add–the fault is with the voters who voted for this field of idiots in Government.I wonder uf rolling Stone magaizine will cover this story for it's zonked out readers.
Musicians are going to start hiding guitars….don't want to have your possessions taken away. Guess they will know how gun owners feel now.
In Leftistland you can smuggle guns direct to Mexican drug lords but you better hide your guitar!
Got a visit from Obamatized Feds.
Yup. The job of being a Fed will go to China, soon, too! They will recruit and train the agents there and ship them over here. Fundamental change, you know.
In the next election we need to replace not only Dems, but also a whole bunch of RINOs to accomplish what needs to be done or else the whole exercise will one big circle jerk.
They are the unionized version of Sam's Club, so the lefties love them as much as they hate Sam's and Walmart.
whaddaya mean "what exactly?" Where have you been? It is the main issue in debate in governments around the world, armies are mobilizing. Everyone wants to know what the conversion ration is between East Indian Rosewood trees and Gibson guitars.
Before I abandon my initial estimate on what it is I'm going to have to see some data. So, when you make your "one tree, one company, one year" estimate, I would like to know how you arrived at it. Where did you get your data? It's called citing your sources.
I was thinking the same thing. They are testing us. That's why we need civil disobedience. That will show them we mean business without being violent.
we sure won't hold our breath will we
Their CEO is a Soros fan.
"one tree, one company, one year"…is not what I said. At all. Not even close.
If you are at all interested in how guitars are made as opposed to acting glib and why you can't just yukyuk!! cut down a single tree and use every last bit of it without producing waste to make the thousand upon thousands of guitars that are produced every year by many companies, Gibson has a nice "making of" page:
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/30...
No, I'm not in the least bit interested in how to make guitars. All I was doing was poking fun at the federal government using tax money to haunt the offices of the vile Gibson Guitar company. I for one feel much safer and that the country is in much less peril now that the malefactors are being brought before the close attention of the law, we were all in danger. However, the wooden stocks of the AK-47's that we allowed to be smuggled out of the US and into the hands of criminals who then used those weapons to murder American citizens apparently weren't made out of the precious tree and so can be ignored. Not to put too fine a point on it.
To the tune of the Beatles 'Norwegian Wood'.
I once had a guitar, that I liked to play, that they took from me
I strummed in my room, but it still wasn’t good, made of Indian wood
I asked if I could play it in here and they said “Not here and not any where.’
They kicked down my door and they stole the Gibson right from my sweet care.
I sat on my rug, crying my eyes, wondering why
We talked ‘til I was blue, and all that they said was ‘We’re from the Feds.’
Gibson didn’t donate to Obama the way Martin Guitars did
They gave all their cash to the Fascists at the G O P instead.'
And when after they spoke, I was alone, my Gibson was gone
Burned like a banned book, it wasn’t good, made of Indian wood.
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