A lot has been made of the recent federal investigation of the illegal importation of rare wood, particularly a raid of Gibson Guitars' office and manufacturing headquarters. Whether or not the raid was Constitutionally viable, well, that's up for you -- or more accurately, the supreme court -- to decide.
That said, Guitar Aficionado has just posted a story from their archive which tackles the tough questions about the Lacey Act and the future of guitar manufacturing. You can check out an excerpt below, and read the full article here.
The excerpt begins with the first raid on Gibson's guitar factory back in 2009...
On November 17, 2009 agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) raided the Gibson guitar factory in Nashville. Based on allegations made in a sealed affidavit, the FWS was convinced that Gibson was using rosewood and ebony harvested illegally from Madagascar. The agents seized company computers as well as guitars and wood. The event sent shockwaves through the guitar manufacturing industry, not least because of Gibson’s reputation as an environmentally responsible and conscientious producer of guitars that steadfastly adhered to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification and requirements. Gibson Guitar Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz even served on the board of the Rainforest Alliance, an organization dedicated to the preservation of tropical forests.
Chris is the co-author of Eruption - Conversations with Eddie Van Halen. He is a 40-year music industry veteran who started at Boardwalk Entertainment (Joan Jett, Night Ranger) and Roland US before becoming a guitar journalist in 1991. He has interviewed more than 600 artists, written more than 1,400 product reviews and contributed to Jeff Beck’s Beck 01: Hot Rods and Rock & Roll and Eric Clapton’s Six String Stories.
