Is Your Guitar “Breaking the Law?” [VIDEO]

United State Federal agents payed Gibson Guitars in Memphis and Nashville recently checking in to offices and factory locations seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. Officials are keeping quiet, but in a statement made by Gibson's CEO Henry Juskiewicz, the company's manufacturing policies were defended and he accused the Justice department of bullying the company. "The wood the government seized is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier," he said, suggesting the Government is using the aggressive enforcement of overly broad laws to make the company cry uncle. This wasn't the first visit from the Feds. In the first raid, Gibson was accused of buying illegally harvested hardwoods from protected forests, such as the Madagascar ebony that makes for such lovely fretboards. And if Gibson did knowingly import illegally harvested ebony from Madagascar, that wouldn't be a negligible offense. The Madagascar ebony wood trade has been called the "equivalent of Africa's blood diamonds." Now with the new raid, the government seems to question whether some wood sourced from India met every regulatory standard.
It isn’t just Gibson that is sweating. Musicians who play vintage guitars and other instruments made of environmentally protected materials are worried the authorities may be coming for them next.