Gibson??!?!?

[Dr. Stein]

Peavey/Gibson would be a behemoth of a manufacturer, I don't especially like Gibson anyway but it'd be interesting to watch them bought out by a smaller company - anyone got $2 on them?  :lol:

The 'back to basics' approach certainly seems the obvious direction for them - people buy Gibsons because they're classics, because of the heritage. A cheap ripoff 'holy' V or this dusk tiger thing doesn't have any heritage, so the brand ceases to mean anything. At that point (disastrously for Gibson) people start looking at the quality of the instruments themselves to see if they're worth buying.

[nfe]

I'd actually love to work at Gibson currently. You'll likely be on a good wage, you obviously get to take endless quantities  of recreational drugs and all you need to do is carry through all those chain-smoking and wine-fuelled cr@p ideas you have at 4.00am when there's only two of you left at a party listening to Magma.

[Afghan Dave]

You've probably seen this before ...

http://www.gearwire.com/gibson-lowestrankedemployer.html

[MDV]

You've probably seen this before ...

http://www.gearwire.com/gibson-lowestrankedemployer.html

Nope.

Adds up though. Unhappy people dont do good work. Demented leaders dont help, to say the least.

[Matt77]

Going bust will do the brand a favour.
It's too big to die, it would just be sold off to someone to rebuild it.

[gingataff]

It does sound like the mess Fender were in when CBS were in control, low quality product with the highest possible profit margins and poorly managed staff.

Gibson need their own 'Dan Smith' to sort things out.

Basically our goal was initially to restore the confidence of the dealers and the players in Fender. The only way we could achieve that was to raise the quality levels back up!   [ ... ] 
 We Basically shut the plant down and retaught everyone how to make Fender guitars the way people wanted them

[broken cord]

It does sound like the mess Fender were in when CBS were in control, low quality product with the highest possible profit margins and poorly managed staff.

Gibson need their own 'Dan Smith' to sort things out.

Basically our goal was initially to restore the confidence of the dealers and the players in Fender. The only way we could achieve that was to raise the quality levels back up!   [ ... ] 
 We Basically shut the plant down and retaught everyone how to make Fender guitars the way people wanted them

Novel idea!

[Johnny Mac]

Isn't corporate bollocks destructive. Orville must be turning in his grave.

[Frank]

If there's any truth in the rumours then obviously from a purely historical point of view, the loss of the Gibson brand would be a very sad day indeed but the fact is no one wants their crazy designs, plywood Hendrix strat clones and Les Pauls that plug into a USB socket. The "customer review" section of the Gibson website is often filled with bitter criticism of their new guitar designs but the company seems determined to ignore the customer and plough on regardless with guitars that don't really appeal to anyone except the designers and marketing men.

Peavey takeover? Probably the best thing that could happen to Gibson right now, it would certainly ensure that they start listening to what musicians want from a guitar company.

I wonder if Fender would put a bid in? £65 Squier Les Pauls made in Indonesia with bolt on necks, those would sell like hot cakes.

[Sifu Ben]

I wonder if Fender would put a bid in? £65 Squier Les Pauls made in Indonesia with bolt on necks, those would sell like hot cakes.

Another case that highlights Gibson's problems. When I started playing guitar the quality of Epiphones was substantially higher than Squires, whereas now they've levelled out, and indeed there are many £250 Squires that are substantially better than £450 Epiphones. Typical of Gibson's strategy though, they moved production to China (way Cheaper than Korea and with less experience) and retail prices have gone UP!

[WezV]

hmm.   the 'classic vibe' approach, quality and price on a few gibson designs would be very nice to see

[AndyR]

hmm.   the 'classic vibe' approach, quality and price on a few gibson designs would be very nice to see

+1
Don't give them ideas though, I've already got too many guitars :lol: