Gibson guitars in big financial trouble

[akeia]

The quality of Gibson guitars in the last 20 years has been a joke. Every Korean and Japanese manufacturer makes better quality guitars for a lot less money. Currently interest rates go straight up and Gibson has about $500 millions of debt. I estimate that they currently have to pay around 6%-8% for their junk level refinancing. They need a Steve Jobs level guy to turn that ship around. And I hear their CEO is more the Homer Simpson type.

[fmr]

I could not imagine that someone who would do what he did to OpCode and Cakewalk could be anything less than a douche.

It's bizarre that one company took out two class A DAWs...

Opcode also made some nice hardware. I have what should be a perfectly fine rack-mount, multi-port MIDI interface and MIDI patchbay, the Opcode Studio64X. Gibson killed Opcode close to the time I bought this, and when Windows evolved to its next incarnation, it would no longer work on my computer. Of course, Gibson didn't bother to update the driver software for the interface after they killed Opcode. I really wish someone would reverse engineer some software for the Studio64X, so I could still use it!

Apple did the same with the Emagic hardware. I have a pair of amt8 MIDI interfaces that are still in perfect condition, but since there are no drivers for Windows 7, I was forced to "retire" them and replace them by MOTU interfaces.

And although Apple didn't bury the software, they killed the Windows versions too.

Two of a kind.

[McLilith]

That's a nice 8x8 interface! I'd be really sad about that. I hate it when a company gets bought out, and the new parent company doesn't offer proper support to the existing user base.

My Opcode was a 4x4 interface and patchbay, with SMPTE support. At one point, I was able to tweak the "compatibility" settings of Windows to get the driver to work. However, later versions of Windows would not let me set a compatibility mode for a DLL file, only an EXE file. The previous version of Windows would actually let me set the compatibility mode for a DLL. I wish I knew a way to force Windows to use this DLL in compatibility mode!

Apple did the same with the Emagic hardware. I have a pair of amt8 MIDI interfaces that are still in perfect condition, but since there are no drivers for Windows 7, I was forced to "retire" them and replace them by MOTU interfaces.

And although Apple didn't bury the software, they killed the Windows versions too.

Two of a kind.

[vurt]

if they don't abandon stuff that works, they cant force you in to buying new shiny stuff.
the problem is "we" give individual companies that power.

as much as i like gibson guitars (sg over lp personally) i hate the cult that goes with them and fender, obviously not all, but often youll see some kid starting out in his first band, some cheap guitar (we all started somewhere) and maybe a line6 amp, some dickhead always has to be that guy that puts down the gear "oh, now i could never play on anything but the real thing..."

yeah, maybe so, well f**k you, that kids passion and his bands energy pissed all over your sweat free performance, you don't feel it, neither do we!

[rp314]

My Opcode was a 4x4 interface and patchbay, with SMPTE support. At one point, I was able to tweak the "compatibility" settings of Windows to get the driver to work. However, later versions of Windows would not let me set a compatibility mode for a DLL file, only an EXE file. The previous version of Windows would actually let me set the compatibility mode for a DLL. I wish I knew a way to force Windows to use this DLL in compatibility mode!

I still have an Opcode midi interface in some box with other PC/Mac stuff sitting not far from my trusty old ES-335 that is still compatible and playable over 50 years after it was manufactured.

So it goes...

[deastman]

I took a look at Heritage. They don’t seem to have anything available right now, but they say their 2018 production line is coming soon. They’re kind of evasive on details though... no product list, no price list, no dealer list. I signed up for their mailing list and they sent me a link to their online store which is all sold out and not otherwise linked from their main site. Kind of sketchy, really. And if I’m going to spend over $3,700 on a Les Paul clone, I’d damn well better be able to try it in person before buying.

Any other good alternatives?

[Jace-BeOS]

I could not imagine that someone who would do what he did to OpCode and Cakewalk could be anything less than a douche.

It's bizarre that one company took out two class A DAWs...

Opcode also made some nice hardware. I have what should be a perfectly fine rack-mount, multi-port MIDI interface and MIDI patchbay, the Opcode Studio64X. Gibson killed Opcode close to the time I bought this, and when Windows evolved to its next incarnation, it would no longer work on my computer. Of course, Gibson didn't bother to update the driver software for the interface after they killed Opcode. I really wish someone would reverse engineer some software for the Studio64X, so I could still use it!

Apple did the same with the Emagic hardware. I have a pair of amt8 MIDI interfaces that are still in perfect condition, but since there are no drivers for Windows 7, I was forced to "retire" them and replace them by MOTU interfaces.

And although Apple didn't bury the software, they killed the Windows versions too.

Two of a kind.

InMusic and Avid (selling M-Audio to InMusic) screwed M-Audio-branded FireWire audio interface owners the same way. I wish someone would reverse engineer a third-party driver on Mac OS. One that works without the foolish risks of getting the last driver working on modern Mac OS (there is a user-modified installer that works somewhat if you disable SIP, but the system will have a kernel panic if you disconnect the device, which is utterly unacceptable usage).

Expensive hardware is quickly turned into useless garbage when it depends on operating systems and drivers.

[Bombadil]

One reason why my current interface is an RME FF 802. It is practically bulletproof as far as OSes are concerned, and the drivers are rock solid.

I was only peripherally aware of Gibson's non-guitar acquisitions, but reading this stuff...the level of ncompetence/greed is breathtaking.

[machinesworking]

One thing that kind of blows me away is Microsoft could easily have bought Cakewalk when this all first happened. I have a friend in the audio/visual department at Microsoft, and she's talked about their desire to stay relevant with the music community, they did a lot of work with Bitwig to get proper touch screen support going for instance. Cakewalk even helped them come up with the Windows only plug in format Dxi from what I remember? back in the day, but not a peep.

So you have Apple killing off the Windows versions after purchasing Emagic, and you have Microsoft who don't seem to have a clue about how to "stay relevant in the music community", and let their most trusted DAW developer that's Windows only die off. It's possible Gibson refused offers to buy Cakewalk or demanded ridiculous sums for it, but my guess it it's just incompetence at Microsoft in terms of this. I'm definitely mentioning it to her next time I see her. I don't use Windows really, but it's weird that this went down the way it did.

[fmr]

DUPLICATED

[fmr]

One thing that kind of blows me away is Microsoft could easily have bought Cakewalk when this all first happened. I have a friend in the audio/visual department at Microsoft, and she's talked about their desire to stay relevant with the music community, they did a lot of work with Bitwig to get proper touch screen support going for instance. Cakewalk even helped them come up with the Windows only plug in format Dxi from what I remember? back in the day, but not a peep.

So you have Apple killing off the Windows versions after purchasing Emagic, and you have Microsoft who don't seem to have a clue about how to "stay relevant in the music community", and let their most trusted DAW developer that's Windows only die off. It's possible Gibson refused offers to buy Cakewalk or demanded ridiculous sums for it, but my guess it it's just incompetence at Microsoft in terms of this. I'm definitely mentioning it to her next time I see her. I don't use Windows really, but it's weird that this went down the way it did.

I already said in another thread a couple of months ago (when the closing of Cakewalk was first known) that this could be a good oportunity for Microsoft to enter the music business. I don't know what better deal they could have. Gibson is probably desperate...

[Hink]

maybe they read our host forum

[machinesworking]

I already said in another thread a couple of months ago (when the closing of Cakewalk was first known) that this could be a good oportunity for Microsoft to enter the music business. I don't know what better deal they could have. Gibson is probably desperate...

I wish they would for sure. I've used Macs since the 80's but I'm not totally invested in the OS, I could easily switch if it became worth it to me, and Microsoft would do nothing but good owning Cakewalk. The biggest advantage Logic has being owned by Apple is the stability issues are down to the coders, not the coders plus the OS. Cakewalk would have that same advantage.

In a perfect capitalist world no OS would own any applications that compete with third party developers, but Microsoft always has had a stranglehold on office products, and Apple pretty much forced MOTU's hand towards DP being a cross platform DAW when they bought Logic.

[fmr]

maybe they read our host forum

Someone from Microsoft came here a while ago, to recruit developers for music oriented apps, if I remember well

[samsam]

Jesus wept

I was responding to some of the posts before mine. Why do you quote me with the sad face? I thought I was being pretty measured.