Gibson guitars in big financial trouble

[CrystalWizard]

Aside from the Les Paul Studio pretty much all the American-made Gibsons are outside the reach of gigging musicians I know. A set-neck guitar is not easy to service if something happens to the neck (let alone customize) compared to Fender-style bolt-ons. And once you go north of $2K the competition is stiff and you'll get better ergonomics from a Paul Reed Smith or the like.

Beyond that, Gibson has bought (and run into the ground, or turned into ghostly shadows of their former selves) the Opcode, Echoplex, Cakewalk, Steinberger, Amplified Music Products bass amps, Tobias bass, and Trace Elliot brands. Whatever problems the main Gibson brand now has is due to years of greed, ineptitude, and ignorance of their core competencies.

Well said.

Gibson guitars have become trash under Henry's mis-management...

His prime motivation is profit,so it will be good or him to learn a few important lessons here....

If a private equity company does come along and bail the company out,I hope that they make Henry da Vandal walk the plank....

It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy

Yes.

[mumpcake]

None of this is new news.

This is:
https://mifocus.co.uk/2018/02/14/gibson ... l-guitars/

... and it seems to explain a lot.

[stratum]

Those were the days:)

[digitalboytn]

None of this is new news.

This is:
https://mifocus.co.uk/2018/02/14/gibson ... l-guitars/

... and it seems to explain a lot.

Gibson has announced five 70s-inspired Les Paul guitar finishes for its Custom series....

Each guitar features unique three-tone paint schemes, custom chrome hardware, a 1970s-style three-piece maple neck, underwound Super ’74 humbuckers, and a hot-stamped truss rod cover with “Boogie Van” artwork.

The Gibson Les Paul Custom Boogie Van range is available now for $4,999.



Wow...I wonder how long it took some of the experts at Gibson to come up with these inspired offerings ? So revolutionary,with a host of new design features !

They must be bored out of their brains at the Gibson corporate headquarters...

But they saved the most hilarious part for the punch line....

That price shows just how of touch the overpaid fat cats who suck all of the $$$ out of the company for their tiresome efforts really are....

It will be a blessing for us all if Henry da Vandal and Gibson go bankrupt because they are certainly bankrupt of any smart ideas....

The same old shxt served up over and over again

[fmr]

It will be a blessing for us all if Henry da Vandal and Gibson go bankrupt because they are certainly bankrupt of any smart ideas....

The same old shxt served up over and over again

Spot On.

[Bombadil]

I had a LP that was a total dog. Not one of the really expensive ones, but still. Sounded great (a P-90 model), but couldn't get the action down where I like it, even after a fret-dressing. Even went so far as to get it re-fretted, and it still didn't help. Luthier said it was a 'Monday guitar.' I ended up selling it for about 3/8 of what I paid for it and the refret. In 1999, I bought an SG Standard that would not hold its tuning, no matter what. Sold that for about ½ of what I paid for it. Every Gibson acoustic that I've played, with one exception, has sounded like they've had a blanket stuffed into them. Just... completely dead.

But: if you get a good one, they're really good. I have an SG Classic (double P-90s), and I would never sell it. I also have two Epi Casinos, and at least one of them I would never sell. I would hate to see Gibson go under, but it definitely needs new management. The electronically-tuned machine heads were an interesting idea on paper, but just another thing to go wrong and not cheap to replace. Their suspect sources of wood didn't inspire confidence, either.

As for the issue of guitars losing sales, I don't think Martin or Taylor are hurting, I have 3 of the former, and 2 of the latter, and they are great guitars. I would think that there is a saturation point with many guitarists having bought all the guitars of their dreams and then stopped buying them. That would probably account for at least some of the drop in sales. It has been a kind of 'golden era' for guitar nuts, and I have pretty much all the guitars I'm ever going to buy. Pac-Rim countries have yet to catch up in acoustic guitar quality to American/Canadian/European makers (unless you like Yamahas, which I don't).

[VariKusBrainZ]

How hard it must be it to have a legendary and universally recognised brand name and f**k it up.
They had to put their best minds on the Screw Things Up Project.

I vote conspiracy, Alien SJW Nasiz lizard Feminists are involved, they have to be

[fluffy_little_something]

For the price of a Gibson, I would expect a perfect guitar. A Monday guitar for thousands of dollars is unacceptable. Such a company deserves to go broke.
The quality of US-made products is often inconsistent, also with Fender and other brands. The Fender basses made in Japan (Marcus Miller) for instance have a better reputation than US-made ones, despite the lower price.

[kevvvvv]

They've prob bet the farm on the new flying vee.

https://www.musicradar.com/news/gibson- ... ent=375136

[Bombadil]

For the price of a Gibson, I would expect a perfect guitar. A Monday guitar for thousands of dollars is unacceptable. Such a company deserves to go broke.
The quality of US-made products is often inconsistent, also with Fender and other brands. The Fender basses made in Japan (Marcus Miller) for instance have a better reputation than US-made ones, despite the lower price.

I've never had issues with the Fenders I've had. I have a MiM Tele and Strat, and they're great guitars. I agree with you about Gibson, though my LP was less than €1,000. I can't see the point in spending more than, say, €1,500 for an electric guitar, regardless of make. I'd never own a €3,000 Gibson or PRS, or whatever.

I've had Thomann send me a couple of Martins with issues, they got sent back. I've also played a number of Lakewoods (German make) and they had issues, as well. The guitars I've played that had the least issues, at least for acoustics, have been Taylors. They, I think, have the most automation in their production process, so one Taylor is pretty much the same as another of the same model.

[don1thedon]

They've prob bet the farm on the new flying vee.

https://www.musicradar.com/news/gibson- ... ent=375136

Well based on that, they'd best start packing the flatbed ready to move out I reckon!

[kevvvvv]

my thought too

i have an ibanez classic flying vee just cos it looks cool, but it is difficult to play sitting down.

the new flying vee reminds me of "comfy car" looks rather than a scare-you-to-death shred bastard

[GaryG]

They must be bored out of their brains at the Gibson corporate headquarters...

I don't think things are much better at Fender, have you seen that jazzmaster/strat hybrid? (and I use the term hybrid in the same way scifi films do ie. a right ugly bastard that will only cause trouble... )

[VariKusBrainZ]

(and I use the term hybrid in the same way scifi films do ie. a right ugly bastard that will only cause trouble... )

And a couple of low budget follow ups

[JerGoertz]

u guys