Jatoba is not cherry; not even close!
It is also not endangered- again, not even close!
Endiandra globosa is not "walnut"- it's "black walnut"- a total misnomer, anyway.
If you had used the species names, or even taken the time to type the word "black", I would have understood the references (at least the "walnut" one). Instead you used the common vernacular for common trees in the U.S.- to what end I'm not sure. Maybe it was just laziness.
Let's not forget 2000 fellow countrymen of yours newly laid-off by another short-sighted, politically motivated imperial edict. I happen to think they're more important than any tree, but I've noticed that most environmentalists seem to be pretty "down" on their fellow humans (well, at least the ones who too-closely resemble the image in the mirror). Your sacrifice (?) is playing a goofy-looking instrument; their sacrifice is losing their livelihood. How you thought you could bootstrap your belief system on the misery of others in a public forum and somehow avoid a political discussion is beyond me.
Then you need to wean yourself from semantic sleight-of-hand (or sloppiness) like I referred to in the beginning of this post. I get too strong of a BS odor from it. The very title of this thread comes off as scolding, which nobody wants to hear and you don't have any sort of moral standing to do, anyway. The language of your previous two threads was much more neutral and didn't involve a link to a news story which is obviously very emotional and dramatic (and political) in nature. Reviving one of those threads, or starting a new one with the same premise would have been a better way to go. Standing at the scene of a tragedy and saying "See? I told you so!" is a good way to get punched in the face, and for no good reason. "In light of the Gibson Raid", I want to trade in my basses for a Gibson guitar, and maybe put another on a credit card
how's that?
So Austrailia, India and Brazil are "third world nations"? Please. Let's remember that no Gibson employees cut down any of these trees. You can take your righteous indignation straight into the rainforest, to the guys who are doing the cutting. Maybe they'll do you the signal honor of laughing in your face before shooting you (OTOH, you'll emit less CO2). The local authorities there, who subsist on the bribes, know better. The local authorities here, who subsist on tax dollars and seizures, DON'T know any better, they just follow orders.
Listen, dude, I obviously don't share alot of your views, but I do own a non-wood instrument (which I love) and recycle wood in my own projects whenever possible. I've always wondered why nobody uses american Cherry in basses. I've always enjoyed working with it (love that smell!) and it looks killer. Until I try it myself I'll just have to assume there's a good reason for not using it that I just haven't discovered yet
.
And despite my comment about buying some Gibson guitars, I also realize that it would be almost impossible to support a local retailer if I did so. (yes, that is important to me)
If this (or anything else) indeed spells the end of the company, they might wish they had treated their smaller vendors more fairly instead of putting all their eggs in the Guitar Center/
Musicians Friend basket.:scowl:
