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Sad, but not surprising. That Henry Juszkiewitcz has a lot to answer for.
Damn.. That's a shame for such an iconic guitar maker.
Quality has varied over the years but they've always been up there with Martin in terms of acoustic guitars. And up there with fender with electrics..
I'm calling cooperate mismanagement of the product/brand on this one.
That's messed up.
I blame Drill.
Generally.
No surprise. The route they've taken in recent years has been abysmal. For some reason they thought they could be Apple.
Once was an awesome brand and some stunning guitars.
Yet, where did they go after the 58’ Soap Bar Les Paul Gold Top ? Or the plum red 335 ?
Sad as it is, they’ve certainly carved out a niche in “all time” brands.
But my oh my, wasn’t the Les Paul a heavy old beast..
I can't quite get my head around this.
I'm a martin fan and owner of one of the cheaper Martins, but having played lots of Gibson acoustic guitars, and a couple of thier electrics, this is just insane.
It's a product that sells itself as long as you don't **** up the product quality.
A very sad day.
Doug Aldrich (ya, Dio, Whitesnake fame) of Dead Daisy’s has always been a Gibbo/Marshall boy, so let’s hear him rip..
It’s a product that sells itself as long as you don’t **** up the product quality.
It’s not the guitars or their quality that’s the problem, if you read the article it’s the ill-advised move into consumer electronics that brought a bunch of dept that’s been the issue.
Sad times.
Glad I've gots me a '78 Les Paul (a year that has meaning to me) in tobacco sunburst. 😎
It’s not the guitars or their quality that’s the problem
It may not be the main reason but it's certainly contributed; people have been moving away from new Gibson guitars for a while. They have suffered from over pricing and poor quality control for a number of years. Even professional musicians have been going elsewhere, with the likes of ESP offering better customer service, better quality and more reasonable pricing.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy isn't like what we'd think of as going into administration.
I believe*** (I may be a bit wrong on the details), but it's to allow internal restructuring.
I'm assuming they will sell off Onkyo etc and go back to just doing guitars.
Doesn't mean the company has gone bankrupt and is shutting down.
I've played many nice Gibsons, but the brand image has gone a little bit "Harley Davidson" over the last few years
Spot on description of gone “Harley Davidson”.
There’s lots of smaller brands doing better looking and better spec guitars for a lot less nowadays ... glad I kept the 1971 J45
I saw this. About 10-12 years ago I was desperate for a gold top LP standard. But it would have been a special order and I just wasn’t willing to pony up over £1.6k as there was no way you could guarantee what would come (I saw an unfinished bottom of a fretboard on a 335, all jagged like it had been broken<i> </i>off...). In the end I bought a MIJ tokai for £650 and stuck in a set of BKP mules and oil paper caps. I borrowed my mates ‘89 LP to compare and I was happy to hand his back and keep the tokai!
yeah, the HD reference is bang on 🤣
and wtf was all that self tuning peg shit?
'but they’ve always been up there with Martin in terms of acoustic guitars. And up there with fender with electrics'
both of those would have me avoiding Gibson.....................................................
Its simple
Gibson as brand will continue - there's no doubt about that - Gibson has been sold and mismanaged over the decades - Norlin era anyone
Gibson now don't have anything to do with the company that made the iconic 50s guitars (that were a failure at the time) other than holding the trademarks
Heritage have more of a claim to being the true 50s successor but they are also going through very tough disputes as well.
HEADLINE GRABBING NONSENSE
Chapter 11 bankruptcy isn’t like what we’d think of as going into administration.
I believe*** (I may be a bit wrong on the details), but it’s to allow internal restructuring.
Pretty much, yes - a number of companies have done this and then successfully continued. NTL did this before merging with Telewest and ultimately becoming Virgin Media.
As an aside, isn't Chapter 11 bankruptcy the flavour of bankruptcy that Niner filed for late last year?
problem was that they had oversupply issues and expensive overheads (they've been trying to relocate out of the massive Kalamazoo factory that is largely unused) so the foray into consumer electronics with Gibson brands on them should have waited until their core business was in better shape to fund it
Guitar players are a conservative bunch tho, if you get too creative with the core product they just don't sell because they are associated with the old 70s rockers, the new players don't necessarily associate with Jimmy page et al so they'll buy epi or squier classic vibe - Gibson don't have high profile supported artists that appeal to the youth market, PRS did a very smart bit of business getting John Mayer
I've just heard an as yet unsubstantiated rumour that Joe Bonamassa is looking to take them over.
Guitar players are a conservative bunch tho, if you get too creative with the core product they just don’t sell because they are associated with the old 70s rocker
So, nothing to do with the extortionate pricing and poor quality control that sees other, cheaper brands surpass them in almost every way, then?
the pricing and the QC are a sizeable factor yes as others have pointed out
Well PRS built thier reputation on out classing build quality of Gibson, it’s done them absolutely no harm at all.. and they have picked up endorsements from some damn fine guitarists..
I wish Gibson well, they’ve still got an excellent range of guitars and I hope they channel that into some emerging artists because let’s face it.. most rockers are old gits.. and most new rockers play some other brand.
If Joe is taking over, or possibly investing, then that’s a start.
I’ve played a couple of Les Pauls. An old standard that was well worn in. It had a nice tone and was well set up. The last one was a modern standard that had sharp frets and a bridge that was miles out. My far eastern built ESP Ltd VF401 DM is much better built than the one I tried, cheaper and holds its tune far better. (Don’t mention the neck joint either!)
I bought an Epiphone ES-333 in March for a fraction of the price of a Gibson. The quality is great and very happy with it for what is my first proper guitar.
We need MOAR Gibson’s..
Bankruptcy mean diff things in UK and US, it looks like Gibson are just restructuring and carrying on as before
Two of the greats, the man himself and Larry Carlton on his 335..
Wish I had more time to play my SG, the kids, work and generally getting older seem to take all my time and keep me off it.
Well whatever is said about recent Gibson guitar quality or whatever it is still sad to see them in this state. I have a cherry red ES345 1964 reissue I bought new a few years ago. Beautiful guitar, great guality and sound. No complaints from me (it did cost a bit though).
I've played a few Gibsons but never bought one because they felt lousy. Poorly finished frets, poorly finished binding, in need of a set up, odd shaped necks (recent SGs). Pick up an Squier Classic Vibe or a made-in-Mexico Fender and the neck feels really nice. Even the Epiphone neck feels better than the Gibson, and has a slacker angle on the head stock which doesn't bind or break so easily. Put some Duncan Pearly Gates pickups in an Epiphone or a Fender Black Top Telecaster and you have a guitar that sounds as good as the best Les Pauls, plays better and costs between a third and half the price. Or as someone said above, buy the ESP.
Too many gimmicks, sacking luthiers and replacing them with inexperienced staff and a CEO who is certifiable haven't helped.
Oddly, the quality on SOME Gibbos has been excellent recently. Tried a 2016 Firebird and SG, both were spot on.
Photographing broken guitars for the website and a refusal to dump those silly tuners haven't done them any favours either.
ATM I'd rather buy a Burney than an SG and a Tokai or Cort CR than a Les Paul.
Shame.
I'd suggest it the price of them that's too much, start at what about 7 or 800 quid? They put too much value on their name.
As previously posted - they are the Harley Davidson of guitars ... only people who don’t know much buying them, and based purely on the name and perceived status.