Weird Allegations Towards Peavey from George Lynch

Clockworkmike

Clockworkmike

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So this story is starting to gain some traction due to a video by KDH ( who I absolutely despise, but I'll post the link), despite the allegations dating back to a podcast in 2018. But apparently legendary guitarist George Lynch, who was a Peavey Artist during the 2000s, has made claims that Peavey has been using prison labor to complete their builds. He says that the town of Meridian, Mississippi exists based solely on Peavey and it's nearby prison and that he left the company as an endorsed artist due to their usage of inmates or as he puts it: slave labor. He also claims they tried to make him sign a Nondisclosure Agreement to not discuss this

Peavey has denied the allegations and the NDA. They did admit that there was a confidentiality clause in his contract that was set in place to protect information about the inner workings of the company, however.

This is a weird one!

www.guitarworld.com

Peavey denies using prison labor to build guitar amps following resurfaced George Lynch allegations

The Dokken guitarist and former Peavey artist first made the allegations while on a podcast in 2018
www.guitarworld.com www.guitarworld.com


 
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syscokid said:
Yes, it is weird. Apparently using slave labor from the incarcerated is legal. But even though Peavey has denied using prison slave labor, they haven’t officially accused George Lynch of slander… :hmmm:
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Exactly! There's definitely more to the story here
 
Clockworkmike said:
So this story is starting to gain some traction due to a video by KDH ( who I absolutely despise, but I'll post the link) despite the allegations dating back to a podcast in 2018. But apparently legendary guitarist George Lynch, who was a Peavey Artist during the 2000s, has made claims that Peavey has being using prison labor to complete their builds. He says that the town of Meridian, Mississippi exists based solely on Peavey and it's nearby prison and that he left the company as an endorsed artist due to their usage of inmates or as he puts it: slave labor. He also claims they tried to make him sign a Nondisclosure Agreement to not discuss this

Peavey has denied the allegations and the NDA. They did admit that there was a confidentiality clause in his contract that was set in place to protect information about the inner workings of the company, however.

This is a weird one!

www.guitarworld.com

Peavey denies using prison labor to build guitar amps following resurfaced George Lynch allegations

The Dokken guitarist and former Peavey artist first made the allegations while on a podcast in 2018
www.guitarworld.com www.guitarworld.com


Click to expand...

I saw that video. Pretty interesting.

Why don’t you like KDH?
 
syscokid said:
Yes, it is weird. Apparently using slave labor from the incarcerated is legal. But even though Peavey has denied using prison slave labor, they haven’t officially accused George Lynch of slander… :hmmm:
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The prison industrial system was made to replace slavery. We‘re the only country with “for profit“ prisons. And, in order to keep the profits up, you need more stupid laws aimed at certain demographics to keep prison populations high. One of the main reasons the “three strikes, and you’re out“ laws were passed. No matter how minor the law being broken, you’re going to jail, and for a long time. Peavey is based in chain gang central, and probably got a very sweet deal.
 
smitty_p said:
I saw that video. Pretty interesting.

Why don’t you like KDH?
Click to expand...
I just find that guy pretentious as hell, but I guess that's just me. He's like that Glenn Fricker guy if Glenn was a skinnier ginger on Xanax. Same angle though in that you rarely hear them play a guitar but they talk as nauseum about how much of an expert they both are on not just guitar knowledge but the music industry itself. In KDHs corner however, he's gained most his traction from what he calls "audits" of other famous faces in the music world in which he releases hit pieces on them. I just look at him like a bottom feeder, but again that may just be me but hey, you asked lol
 
The only thing I would ask is simple, was it FORCED labor? If so, that's a big problem. If not, then it is no problem at all.
 
jtees4 said:
The only thing I would ask is simple, was it FORCED labor? If so, that's a big problem. If not, then it is no problem at all.
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Good point! Experience I've had in the past working around prison jobs was that either state or federal prisons had jobs outside of the prison itself, such as federal prisons using labor at the nearby VA Hospital for groundskeeper work and light maintenance (such as painting or changing ceiling tiles), while state prisons had highway clean up or farm work. Apparently, all inmates must have a job while incarcerated unless they are physically unable. What jobs you get however, depends on the inmate's trustworthiness, their record inside the prison and risk level.

Basically a hardened murderer or sex offender would be confined to inside the prison grounds, but someone in an embezzlement or drug offense could apply for off-site work in one of thr jobs mentioned above. In the case of Mississippi and Peavey? Don't know honestly. Could be trustees that have shorter sentences and no violent offenses that signed up for the job if Peavey is indeed using the labor.

I guess legally speaking, they could be well within their rights to use that form of labor but morally and ethically, it's a bad look for a for-profit company to use mandated labor ( even if the labor signed up for the work, it would have been still somewhat forced). But, I should also mention that the US Bureau of Prisons has a program called UNICOR that is essentially a business in itself, that uses inmates for anything from office furniture building, to clothes/uniform manufacturing to even Telemarketing. So this is bigger than a lot of us would imagine

I figure there will be some heavy research and scrutiny going on into this now that it's out in the open
 
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Fun fact.

I was at an event in Sugar Land, Texas and was introduced to the warden at one of our finest correctional facilities. We chatted awhile about electrical maintenance and one of my clever employees thought it was a good time to ask who does the inside prison electrical work.

He laughed and said that his prison is full of electricians who gladly work for free. I laughed, he laughed, we all laughed.

So much for contract work there.
 
CoyotesGator said:
Fun fact.

I was at an event in Sugar Land, Texas and was introduced to the warden at one of our finest correctional facilities. We chatted awhile about electrical maintenance and one of my clever employees thought it was a good time to ask who does the inside prison electrical work.

He laughed and said that his prison is full of electricians who gladly work for free. I laughed, he laughed, we all laughed.

So much for contract work there.
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Yep! Pretty much has to be a large scale project to get any work in a prison as a contractor, because they tap inmates to do everything else and even have licensing classes for trade skills inside the walls. And that sucks for everyone else lol
 
Personally, if I was in prison and had opportunity to build guitar amplifiers, I would jump at the opportunity and be glad for it.

I do get the idea that prisons are supposed to be a punishment. I don't disagree with that aspect, but no value is done to society or anyone else if the only goal is to punish a prisoner in prison.

There should actually be some "correction" which is available to prisoners within the corrections system!

I also very much believe in the idea of redemption. If a prisoner can learn something useful that provides the prisoner some skill to be used outside of prison, I think that's a good idea. One problem with our prison system, and much of society's attitude in the US toward them, is that it has the effect of trapping a person in a cycle. People commit a crime and are justly sent to prison. But, when released, they don't have anything to offer society and no one wants to hire them, so they resort back to crime. Yes, there are some 'bad apples' who never seem to learn. But, there are others who really do want to break free and restart their lives.

No, I'm not advocating that prisoners get some "highrise Hilton" lifestyle (Shawshank Redemption reference!), but I do think opportunities should exist for those who recognize their crimes and who want to break out of that cycle into an honest life.

Personally, my attitude about the Peavey story (if true) is that I think it is great these prisoners are getting some marketable experience which they might be able to use when released.
 
smitty_p said:
Personally, if I was in prison and had opportunity to build guitar amplifiers, I would jump at the opportunity and be glad for it.

I do get the idea that prisons are supposed to be a punishment. I don't disagree with that aspect, but no value is done to society or anyone else if the only goal is to punish a prisoner in prison.

There should actually be some "correction" which is available to prisoners within the corrections system!

I also very much believe in the idea of redemption. If a prisoner can learn something useful that provides the prisoner some skill to be used outside of prison, I think that's a good idea. One problem with our prison system, and much of society's attitude in the US toward them, is that it has the effect of trapping a person in a cycle. People commit a crime and are justly sent to prison. But, when released, they don't have anything to offer society and no one wants to hire them, so they resort back to crime. Yes, there are some 'bad apples' who never seem to learn. But, there are others who really do want to break free and restart their lives.

No, I'm not advocating that prisoners get some "highrise Hilton" lifestyle (Shawshank Redemption reference!), but I do think opportunities should exist for those who recognize their crimes and who want to break out of that cycle into an honest life.

Personally, my attitude about the Peavey story (if true) is that I think it is great these prisoners are getting some marketable experience which they might be able to use when released.
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I think it's a far better work assignment than something like Kitchen duty, where you can learn a real skill and if you get out, perhaps use said skill and make some money. I mean if they're going to force you to work, you could do a lot worse. But I guess the outrage is Peavey isn't cheapening up their prices any and yet using labor that's making pennies on the hour. If they were making their gear at rock bottom prices, I suppose no one would bat an eye. But when you pan over to their valved amps, they can fetch anywhere from $1200 to $2000 which is on the same level as other big manufacturers who aren't using prison labor. I guess that's the outrage
 
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Even if George Lynch’s accusations of Peavey using nearby prison labor were true, that era according to Mr Lynch was 20 years ago. What were the prices of USA-made Peavey amps in those days? I bet they were very competitive against anything else they had to compete with, yet they were still made in the USA, and profitable. And now, AFAIK, Peavey completely stop building amps in the USA almost ten years ago… Hello China! The current prison labor rage against Peavey is totally unwarranted. Perhaps that rage should be redirected towards China, and how they enforce their brutal economic and social system upon their own people.

… Raging rant over!
 
syscokid said:
Even if George Lynch’s accusations of Peavey using nearby prison labor were true, that era according to Mr Lynch was 20 years ago. What were the prices of USA-made Peavey amps in those days? I bet they were very competitive against anything else they had to compete with, yet they were still made in the USA, and profitable. And now, AFAIK, Peavey completely stop building amps in the USA almost ten years ago… Hello China! The current prison labor rage against Peavey is totally unwarranted. Perhaps that rage should be redirected towards China, and how they enforce their brutal economic and social system upon their own people.

… Raging rant over!
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Touche'!

To my knowledge, there aren't any under Peavey's banner being built here. Pretty much all of the 6505 series, Classic Series and the Transtube combo series all in current production are from China. A lot of their popular models have been discontinued such as the Valve King and Blues Jr, while the Transtube combos have stepped down their speakers to Blue Marvels while previously using mostly Sheffields in the popular times.

So the situation there with Peavey has went from unethical to downright treacherous really
 
smitty_p said:
Personally, if I was in prison and had opportunity to build guitar amplifiers, I would jump at the opportunity and be glad for it.

I do get the idea that prisons are supposed to be a punishment. I don't disagree with that aspect, but no value is done to society or anyone else if the only goal is to punish a prisoner in prison.

There should actually be some "correction" which is available to prisoners within the corrections system!

I also very much believe in the idea of redemption. If a prisoner can learn something useful that provides the prisoner some skill to be used outside of prison, I think that's a good idea. One problem with our prison system, and much of society's attitude in the US toward them, is that it has the effect of trapping a person in a cycle. People commit a crime and are justly sent to prison. But, when released, they don't have anything to offer society and no one wants to hire them, so they resort back to crime. Yes, there are some 'bad apples' who never seem to learn. But, there are others who really do want to break free and restart their lives.

No, I'm not advocating that prisoners get some "highrise Hilton" lifestyle (Shawshank Redemption reference!), but I do think opportunities should exist for those who recognize their crimes and who want to break out of that cycle into an honest life.

Personally, my attitude about the Peavey story (if true) is that I think it is great these prisoners are getting some marketable experience which they might be able to use when released.
Click to expand...
If the inmates were getting paid, in means of a trust or other savings medium, I have no problem with the "slave" labor. Then, the money would be being banked for their release, and being able to secure some form of home (apt., trailer, whatever) and look for work and become a part of society again. If the money is going to the prison, then I have a major problem with that. Then, the prisoners are just being pimped out, and investors are making the prisoners payrolls. That makes them no better than China and other countries that violate many slavery and human trafficking laws.

Yes, they do get a chance to learn something, if they are selected with no skills. My guess is the most skilled were selected, and they were left to their own devices upon release, and probably soon to be back in jail because that is the whole nature of how things are done here.

The rest of my comments would be best presented in person, over a beer or three, and not posted here. Too many comments that would offend everyone. I'm not a fan of the prison industrial complex, and how many ridiculous laws we have to support it.
 
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