While my guitar gently weeps Cracking down on illegal use of ebony/rosewood in guitars.
(By the way, NPR needs +1 buttons to share to G+)
Recent Comments
While my guitar gently weeps Cracking down on illegal use of ebony/rosewood in guitars.
This entry was posted in Rajini Rao. Bookmark the permalink.
madame scientist's not-so-mad musings 
This is an interesting news article. But, I’m a bit confused. I saw a YouTube video two days ago in which the CEO of Gibson said he had approval from the Indian government to import the wood. Further, the Indian government had made no complaint against Gibson. The CEO said that the US Department of Justice had interpreted Indian labor law requiring that guitar parts be finished in India before export. So, he claimed, it’s a labor issue in India as interpreted by the US and not an issue of protecting endangered forests.
The story I heard did say that rosewood imports from India are legal. But the Justice Dept contends that illegal wood from Madagascar was purchased. Apparently, they have an email trail and evidence that Gibson sent reps to Malagasy to scope out the wood. It is a complicated ban because it applies retroactively, potentially even on vintage instruments..which seems quite unfair.