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[Dave Pluke]

As far as I understand and comprehend it, Henry is walking out with a shit eating grin. He gets a severance package and a " contract " that will keep him set up pretty nicely for what many of us will take a lifetime to make. So much for punishing a bad business man.....

To quote the sages, Tyler and Perry: "It's the same old story, same old song and dance, my friend".

This scene has been played out all over corporate America.  I observed a CEO who "brilliantly" led a company from nearly $1B annual revenue down to barely $100M - and get richly rewarded for the disaster.

My only question will be; Behringer or Samsung? (as future owners of the Gibson brand)

Dave

[Bradford "BJ" James]

Can’t say that I feel sorry for the stupid idiots.
Anyone familiar with the Canadian company Garrison Guitars? Gibson fucked us over good on that one.

[Tim McCulloch]

To quote the sages, Tyler and Perry: "It's the same old story, same old song and dance, my friend".

This scene has been played out all over corporate America.  I observed a CEO who "brilliantly" led a company from nearly $1B annual revenue down to barely $100M - and get richly rewarded for the disaster.

My only question will be; Behringer or Samsung? (as future owners of the Gibson brand)

Dave

I will see your Tyler Perry and raise you a Todd Rundgren:

"Oh the names have been changed
but the story's the same
History will will repeat;
Add it all up and divide it by zero
'cause you're back on the street."

[Luke Geis]

Something can said about cheap guitars these days. I own several bottom of the heap models and the two standouts that I have play better than anything high dollar I have ever picked up. I have played many, many Gibson Les Paul's ( among other models ) from varying generations. I am pretty sure I even got to play a 60's model at one point. The long and short of it is that I have never picked up a Gibson guitar that felt, played and sounded so good that I had to have it. LOVE the way they look, but it better play for me at the prices they demand. One of my vintage guitars is a Cameo Deluxe. This is an original " law suite guitar " made in either 68 or 69 as best as I can tell and it has some very unique attributes. It is made of plywood, looks like an Gibson SG and is a bolt on neck. The neck is worth its weight in gold! It has a volute, edge binding and a 16" radius with a zero fret ( the nut is only there to guide the strings ). The neck is straight as an arrow and it plays with about 1mm of action like a dream. Sounds unique and good at that. How can you beat a guitar that plays that good with those features that even today only demands about what it cost when it was new. My Ovation Preacher doesn't play as well as the Cameo does and it can pull roughly 7X as much money. The biggest ball buster of them all is a 90's model Squire II that I own. This is a plywood model that was as low as it got for fender in this era. It has the best neck I have ever laid hands upon. You put your finder down and it will play the note for you. It sounds amazing and plays even better. This is a $200 guitar that I would put up against anything. Truly a special piece. I have a Mexican made Strat that can't compete in playablitly and sound with even the same components.

Interestingly enough, the last couple guitars I have built have shown to be of better play and sound than many of the high dollar Gibson's and others I have picked up. The only other guitar I have picked up that gave me the " I want and must have this " feeling is a PRS Custom 22 that a neighbor of mine has. He paid really good money to have it set up, and it was set up well. It sounded amazing and played perfectly. Not every guitar  can be made to play perfectly for someone who has been playing for 27+ years and is no slouch at it. I have played 1,000's of guitars in my lifetime and There have only been a very select few that inspire me, sing to me and make me feel like I need this. There has not been a Gibson yet that has done that. PRS is on the top of my interest list right now as that is one of the only high dollar models that has given me that feeling. Ibanez, ESP, some Fenders and even a Daisy Rock guitar regularly feel just right to me. I will pay $5k for a hand made Les Paul copy that plays like I expect it to. I would just rather a real " standard " model does first.

[David Allred]

My brother-in-law (guitar player and long time musical instrument store salesman) said he heard a rumor that Joe Bonamassa is considering buying.  Anyone heard this?

[John Roberts {JR}]

My brother-in-law (guitar player and long time musical instrument store salesman) said he heard a rumor that Joe Bonamassa is considering buying.  Anyone heard this?

Reportedly KKR is the largest creditor and will take over as debtor in possession. Is that Joe's day job? 

JR

[Bob Leonard]

This thread is a clone of every other thread on the web. I.E. Gibson's cost too much, Gibson's are junk, no quality control, yada yada yada. same shit different day. Fact is that the majority of the people who shit on Gibson, maybe 99%, are people who don't own or can't afford one.

I'll buy into some quality issues from time to time just like any other manufacturer, but I won't buy into " my plywood guitar plays better and sounds better than any Gibson on the planet", etc.. It's all bullshit, and I don't really care who's spewing it. You get what you pay for.

[Stephen Kirby]

My brother-in-law (guitar player and long time musical instrument store salesman) said he heard a rumor that Joe Bonamassa is considering buying.  Anyone heard this?

There is a tweet out in circulation saying the Joe is looking at putting together a group to take over the debt.  This was reportedly within hours of the Chapter 11 announcement and probably more emotional than thought out.  Haven't seen any more about it.
There's some serious business finagling that needs to be done to separate the MI group from the rest of the debt.  The Philips consumer electronics name has some value but probably not equal to the debt, so there needs to be a profitable write off in it for someone who can then make use of it.  The IP on several Gibson designs and trademarks were also mortgaged and need to be repurchased by the MI group for the brand name to have any real value to an investor.
I own one Nashville post Norlin Gibson and have owned other Kalamazoo Gibsons.  I chose them because they were good instruments.  But my experience finding them is that the name or vintage is irrelevant.  People are forever asking me what year my 335 is.  I tell them that it doesn't make any difference, you just have to find a good one.  I bought and sold 3 and played countless others to find this one.  People who buy them sight unseen (un-played) on the web slay me.

[Dave Pluke]

Fact is that the majority of the people who shit on Gibson, maybe 99%, are people who don't own or can't afford one.

I hear ya, Bob.  Wouldn't call myself a Gibson basher, but I'm not a (new) Gibson buyer, either.  Not since their prices skyrocketed beyond the point of being defensible.

I've got a couple pre-Norlin and a few post-Norlin era Gibsons and like them all.  One of the few guitars I ever purchased NEW was a 20th Anniversary Les Paul Custom (74-ish).  It served me well, but I wound up trading it off a few years ago for a '56 Historic LP.

Back in the 90's, I pursued an IT job at Gibson (they were just opening the Memphis facility).  The person interviewing me cautioned me about Henry's penchant for changing direction on a moment's notice.  The only thing that surprises me about the insolvency is that it took so long to come to a head.

Dave

[John Roberts {JR}]

An old peavey days friend of mine (Jim DeCola) is now master luthier (whatever that means :-) ) at Gibson in Nashville.

I haven't asked him for the inside poop because I don't really care.

JR 

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