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SurfGuitar101 Forums » The Shallow End »

Permalink Gibson Guitars Made with Illegal Wood?

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Gibson Guitar Factories Raided

https://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=9353f9155b5ff32e14c998495fd00da4&#!/rich.derksen.7

The price of Gibson guitars is gonna go up, huh?

Fast Cars & Loud Guitars!

the federal raids on Gibson are why i play fenders and squiers!!! and gibsons are too expensive now anyway. Shock last one i had was a nighthawk in the mid 90's. No heard 'Scalped" on the radio late one night and went back to my roots Big Grin !!! thank you Dr. Fender Cool Cool Cool

The preceding were the ravings of a madman. sorry..

Enjoying the surf,sun and sand!!

This is a big shit-storm that could put all US guitar manufacturers in dire straits.. The law, as written, is almost un-obeyable for manufacturers. It's been a while since I read about it, but essentially you're guilty until you prove your innocence, and I think it is retroactive. If a manufacturer buys wood from a supplier who certifies that it is in compliance, the manufacturer is responsible if the wood ends up being not compliant. Typical "government drafting vague laws" causing a tsunami of grief for those effected. All the US guitar manufacturers are scared shitless over this law.

(That's my interpretation of what I read a few months ago. I may have a few things wrong, but I'm pretty sure that most-if-not-all of this is correct.)

Bob

Bob

The best alternative to Gibson is "The Heritage." Damn good guitars made by ex-Gibson guys in Michigan (who split off when Gibson moved all production to TN).

Unfortunately, The Heritage guitars don't hold their value as much as Gibson simply because of the name. One can pick a great guitar up on eBay or CL for a great price as long as you don't try to re-sell it. These are Gibsons in style, standards, and sound, but without the headstock and name. I'd even say they're better than Gibson guitars...

Matt "tha Kat" Lentz
Skippy and the Skipjacks: 2018-
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The Surfside IV: 2002-2005, 2008-2009
the Del-Vamps: 1992-1999, 2006-2007
http://www.dblcrown.com/delvamps.html

That's old news, and Gibson can probably prove that the wood comes from legitimate sources. I'm not a Gibson fan (except their acoustics) but this is just typical tree-hugger B. S.

Matt22 wrote:

The best alternative to Gibson is "The Heritage." Damn
good guitars made by ex-Gibson guys in Michigan (who
split off when Gibson moved all production to TN).

Unfortunately, The Heritage guitars don't hold their
value as much as Gibson simply because of the name.
One can pick a great guitar up on eBay or CL for a
great price as long as you don't try to re-sell it.
These are Gibsons in style, standards, and sound, but
without the headstock and name. I'd even say they're
better than Gibson guitars...

My PRS has kept me happy, lo these past 16 years. I love Gibsons, but they are way too expensive. And Les Pauls are too heavy for my scoliosis-ridden back. Love the sound, though.

Ted James
Deep Eddy Records http://www.deepeddy.net
The Nematoads http://www.nematoads.com

I'm sure the answer to this is extremely technical, but what constitutes "illegal" wood?

The Mystery Men?
El Capitan and The Reluctant Sadists
SSS Agent #31

Wood that may have been imported from a country (or countries), that is on a designated list or "lists" of particular woods that are supposedly endangered (or on an "endangered species") list in that particular country.... These lists are unique to each individual country. We can ourseleves look back to 1990-93 (or 94), when alder wood was on these NW American lists &, as a result, most all American made Fender Stratocasters (& most likely, Telecasters as well), were made out of poplar. My 91' Strat Plus is made of poplar (as is a friends 93" American Standard Strat). Some of these subjects are well documented in Tom Wheeler's recent "Stratocaser" book....by the "founders" of the "Bill Schultz" era Fender company (FMIC). Hope this helps.

Last edited: Aug 26, 2011 10:10:13

After seeing Insect Dave snap the neck of his SG with a minor knee knock, I think Gibsons might be made of balsa wood.

Radio Free Bakersfield--60 Minutes of TWANG, CRUNCH, OOMPH.
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http://www.sandiegojoe.com/rfb.htm

Gibsons are very well constructed guitars, I'm a huge fan.

Fender... not so much. But I'm a fan. Fender's get one of "THEE" sounds out there and they allows you to get interesting tones. Gibsons do as well, but you can't thin them out as well. Gibson does do the thick/full tone much better though. Two very different guitars, two different construction ethos, two different tonal machines.

I've seen several Les Paul's with snapped necks and am aware of neck snapping on Gibsons (and Epiphone's that copy Gibsons) generally enough not to be surprised, but it isn't completely common. I am told by people who 'ought to know that it's because of how thin are the necks under the nut, just at the angle to the headstock. It's very thin.

For this reason, and because I've lost two set-neck guitars to bent necks in the last two years, I am a huge fan of Fender. That, and, if you get tired of your neck length/contour/width, or just want all your guitars to have exactly the same necks, with Fenders, or anything with bolt-on necks, you just change them. With set-neck guitars, fixing any kind of neck problem is very expensive. Even a good reset is expensive.

They may not be the height of master luthier art, but Fender guitars are perfectly usable music makers, and easy to alter when you want to change anything.

As for the reason for the raid (and the thread), was Gibson guilty of poor paperwork, the victim of entrapment by a Federal Agency, or were people at Gibson really trying to use wood that no longer may be imported at all? We'll see.

But wait, there's more. Be careful if you travel across international borders with an old guitar. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904787404576530520471223268.html

WhorehayRFB wrote:

After seeing Insect Dave snap the neck of his SG with a
minor knee knock, I think Gibsons might be made of
balsa wood.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Last edited: Aug 26, 2011 14:02:49

WhorehayRFB wrote:

After seeing Insect Dave snap the neck of his SG with a
minor knee knock, I think Gibsons might be made of
balsa wood.

I believe Dave broke his white Epi Custom SG. I had messaged him a few days ago and he said he has a video of it.

Shawn Martin
http://www.drummerman.net
http://www.youtube.com/GKacedrummerman
http://www.facebook.com/drumuitar

Yeah, found the video and it was the Epi. It breaks at 3:54

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4iSAbCohJ4&feature=share

Shawn Martin
http://www.drummerman.net
http://www.youtube.com/GKacedrummerman
http://www.facebook.com/drumuitar

drumuitar wrote:

Yeah, found the video and it was the Epi. It breaks at
3:54

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4iSAbCohJ4&feature=share

I've seen videos of Townshend smacking the hell out of his SGs with both knees with no breakage. Dave hardly sems to be touching his at all.

Radio Free Bakersfield--60 Minutes of TWANG, CRUNCH, OOMPH.
http://radiofreebakersfield.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Radio-Free-Bakersfield/172410279636
http://www.sandiegojoe.com/rfb.htm

Here ya go...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30ktWPrWPDc

Radio Free Bakersfield--60 Minutes of TWANG, CRUNCH, OOMPH.
http://radiofreebakersfield.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Radio-Free-Bakersfield/172410279636
http://www.sandiegojoe.com/rfb.htm

Glue failure of the set-neck?

WhorehayRFB wrote:

drumuitar wrote:

Yeah, found the video and it was the Epi. It breaks
at
3:54

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4iSAbCohJ4&feature=share

I've seen videos of Townshend smacking the hell out of
his SGs with both knees with no breakage. Dave hardly
sems to be touching his at all.

This is Noel. Reverb's at maximum an' I'm givin' 'er all she's got.

Last edited: Aug 26, 2011 14:45:30

It seems that SGs are made of paper nowadays... That would have never happened with a tele Big Grin

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Noel wrote:

Glue failure of the set-neck?

I imagine, considering that it was a pretty clean break. I've got one of the limited edition Epis with a vibrato from 3-4 years ago. With the weak neck joint that any SG technically has, I'd be nervous as hell doing what Townshend did with his.

Shawn Martin
http://www.drummerman.net
http://www.youtube.com/GKacedrummerman
http://www.facebook.com/drumuitar

Noel wrote:

Glue failure of the set-neck?

WhorehayRFB wrote:

drumuitar wrote:

Yeah, found the video and it was the Epi. It
breaks
at
3:54

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4iSAbCohJ4&feature=share

I've seen videos of Townshend smacking the hell out
of
his SGs with both knees with no breakage. Dave
hardly
sems to be touching his at all.

Dave's SG is a Custom with 3 Humbuckers which do not leave much wood for the neck/body joint. Townshend's was a Special with 2 P-90's and the neck body joint-although not "robust"-has a much greater surface area for glue. The Gibson neck/headstock joint is tilted at an angle and is highly succeptible to breakage (see Townshend's Woodstock footage).

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