Gibson Guitars Files for Bankruptcy

[tortfeasor]

personally when i think "Gibson"  I think of the hardest to hack computers... but some people associate it with guitars.  and the guitar Gibson has filed for bankruptcy.

thought this was interesting because it seems like everything that led to their downfall (leaving core consumers in the dust to become a "lifestyle brand", charging a premium price for continuously lesser product, resting on laurels, and over leveraging) seem to be the same mistakes more than a few big name skateboarding companies are making.

https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2018/05/01/607373593/gibson-guitars-files-for-bankruptcy-protection


also will you guys watch my chair while im gone....

[JB]

Less and less people are playing guitar music and gibsons price point is just too high to have the sales volume they need.

[shit_for_brains]

Less and less people are playing guitar music and gibsons price point is just too high to have the sales volume they need.

They've been trying to sell $4k+ guitars to beginners and largely ignoring their customer base for years. People who can play don't want expensive self tuning robot guitars, and people who need self tuning robot guitars aren't going to spend that much on one. Some new company buys the name every 10 years and they crank out new bullshit anyway. I'm glad my SG and 335 are 30+ years old.

[straight]

damn shit those must be pretty sweet guitars

[Willie]

Gibson only makes 2 different guitar models and I don't like either one.


I'm kidding, it just feels that way. I'd take an Epi Casino or ES-335/355 but yeah, they are stupid expensive and I basically never think about getting a Gibson because my immediate thought is "I don't want a Les Paul or SG."

[I sniff Jim Gagne's butthole all the time]

were they once cheap? or did slash have secret funds? cause somehow that's pretty ill that a squatter/alkie would have a multi thousand dollar guitar. down on the sunset strip.

[Grind King Rims]

hey guys what's up? Is anyone sitting here?

[iKobrakai]

Ok, what the fuck is a "lifestyle brand"? Nothing, I assume?

[shit_for_brains]

Ok, what the fuck is a "lifestyle brand"? Nothing, I assume?

Are you for real or doing a "I don't give a fukk" thing

[Dwyck]

skate companies dont have the same excuse because guitars dont go razored and soggy in 4 weeks to 3 months

[bucketoftruth]

skate companies dont have the same excuse because guitars dont go razored and soggy in 4 weeks to 3 months

Its actually a huge problem and one of Gibson's failures, the lack of QA. Bad glue leading to warping sounds super familiar:


I still owe 15 year old me a Thunderbird.

[shit_for_brains]

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skate companies dont have the same excuse because guitars dont go razored and soggy in 4 weeks to 3 months

[close]

Its actually a huge problem and one of Gibson's failures, the lack of QA. Bad glue leading to warping sounds super familiar:


I still owe 15 year old me a Thunderbird.

That ain't no Gibson that looks like a PRS or a custom shop made joint. I had a Firebird but got rid of it after the headstock came off for the third time while it was in a hard case.

[JB]

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skate companies dont have the same excuse because guitars dont go razored and soggy in 4 weeks to 3 months

[close]

Its actually a huge problem and one of Gibson's failures, the lack of QA. Bad glue leading to warping sounds super familiar:


I still owe 15 year old me a Thunderbird.

[close]

That ain't no Gibson that looks like a PRS or a custom shop made joint. I had a Firebird but got rid of it after the headstock came off for the third time while it was in a hard case.

i remember reading about the headstock issue and i guess its caused by them being too angled. epiphones have say a 14 degree angle on the headstock while gibsons have like a 20 degree one. they could just lessen the angle and probably greatly reduce the breakage issue, but the geezers who actually pay 6k for a LP would throw a fit because their new guitar isnt made exactly the same as it was in the fucking 50s. so they leave it shitty because thats how its always been.

[shit_for_brains]

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skate companies dont have the same excuse because guitars dont go razored and soggy in 4 weeks to 3 months

[close]

Its actually a huge problem and one of Gibson's failures, the lack of QA. Bad glue leading to warping sounds super familiar:


I still owe 15 year old me a Thunderbird.

[close]

That ain't no Gibson that looks like a PRS or a custom shop made joint. I had a Firebird but got rid of it after the headstock came off for the third time while it was in a hard case.

[close]

i remember reading about the headstock issue and i guess its caused by them being too angled. epiphones have say a 14 degree angle on the headstock while gibsons have like a 20 degree one. they could just lessen the angle and probably greatly reduce the breakage issue, but the geezers who actually pay 6k for a LP would throw a fit because their new guitar isnt made exactly the same as it was in the fucking 50s. so they leave it shitty because thats how its always been.

I became a Gibson certified luthier in my 20s during a life freak out and then never did it again afterward. The pitch of the head stock is for a specific reason that they can't change without fundamentally changing the guitar though I forget what it was. I refretted a bunch of SGs and was over it.

I remember when they first discovered they could route out the bulk of the body material to make it lighter, and the headstocks would be heavier than the body and mess the whole everything up.

[botefdunn]

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skate companies dont have the same excuse because guitars dont go razored and soggy in 4 weeks to 3 months

[close]

Its actually a huge problem and one of Gibson's failures, the lack of QA. Bad glue leading to warping sounds super familiar:


I still owe 15 year old me a Thunderbird.

[close]

That ain't no Gibson that looks like a PRS or a custom shop made joint. I had a Firebird but got rid of it after the headstock came off for the third time while it was in a hard case.

[close]

i remember reading about the headstock issue and i guess its caused by them being too angled. epiphones have say a 14 degree angle on the headstock while gibsons have like a 20 degree one. they could just lessen the angle and probably greatly reduce the breakage issue, but the geezers who actually pay 6k for a LP would throw a fit because their new guitar isnt made exactly the same as it was in the fucking 50s. so they leave it shitty because thats how its always been.

[close]

I became a Gibson certified luthier in my 20s during a life freak out and then never did it again afterward. The pitch of the head stock is for a specific reason that they can't change without fundamentally changing the guitar though I forget what it was. I refretted a bunch of SGs and was over it.

I remember when they first discovered they could route out the bulk of the body material to make it lighter, and the headstocks would be heavier than the body and mess the whole everything up.

That's a solid freak out

[iKobrakai]

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Ok, what the fuck is a "lifestyle brand"? Nothing, I assume?

[close]

Are you for real or doing a "I don't give a fukk" thing

I had to suffer through a few mandatory marketing courses in business school and did really well. I still don't understand what this "life style" bullshit is. Having a hobby is not a life style. Living deep in a forrest is a life style, wearing a Gibson t-shirt is not.

Feel free to explain.

[FrenchFriedClownFingers]

It's karma for them going after every company in the 80's who made copies of their guitars. I own one of the nicer copies made by arbor, it's so close to the real thing. i recommend these guitars to anyone who wants a gibson lp but doesn't wanna sell a kidney. they even have a brass bridge!

[shit_for_brains]

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Ok, what the fuck is a "lifestyle brand"? Nothing, I assume?

[close]

Are you for real or doing a "I don't give a fukk" thing

[close]

I had to suffer through a few mandatory marketing courses in business school and did really well. I still don't understand what this "life style" bullshit is. Having a hobby is not a life style. Living deep in a forrest is a life style, wearing a Gibson t-shirt is not.

Feel free to explain.

You're committed to this bit aren't you

[iKobrakai]

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Ok, what the fuck is a "lifestyle brand"? Nothing, I assume?

[close]

Are you for real or doing a "I don't give a fukk" thing

[close]

I had to suffer through a few mandatory marketing courses in business school and did really well. I still don't understand what this "life style" bullshit is. Having a hobby is not a life style. Living deep in a forrest is a life style, wearing a Gibson t-shirt is not.

Feel free to explain.

[close]

You're committed to this bit aren't you

No, just living the life style.

[shit_for_brains]

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Expand Quote

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Ok, what the fuck is a "lifestyle brand"? Nothing, I assume?

[close]

Are you for real or doing a "I don't give a fukk" thing

[close]

I had to suffer through a few mandatory marketing courses in business school and did really well. I still don't understand what this "life style" bullshit is. Having a hobby is not a life style. Living deep in a forrest is a life style, wearing a Gibson t-shirt is not.

Feel free to explain.

[close]

You're committed to this bit aren't you

[close]

No, just living the life style.

What does that mean? Is it like a t shirt or something?

[iKobrakai]

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Expand Quote

Ok, what the fuck is a "lifestyle brand"? Nothing, I assume?

[close]

Are you for real or doing a "I don't give a fukk" thing

[close]

I had to suffer through a few mandatory marketing courses in business school and did really well. I still don't understand what this "life style" bullshit is. Having a hobby is not a life style. Living deep in a forrest is a life style, wearing a Gibson t-shirt is not.

Feel free to explain.

[close]

You're committed to this bit aren't you

[close]

No, just living the life style.

[close]

What does that mean? Is it like a t shirt or something?

Yes. Says "Mother of dragons" on it.

[SodaJerk]

I bought a Made in the USA Fender Strat with a Jeff Beck pick up and some other custom mods on it for an absolute steal years ago. As a teenager I learnt to play a little and when I bought this 10 years ago I was convinced I'd relearn and play more. Since I purchased it it's been out of its case a total of about three hours and two of those have been friends playing it. That's my guitar failure, one day though, one day.

[shit_for_brains]

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Ok, what the fuck is a "lifestyle brand"? Nothing, I assume?

[close]

Are you for real or doing a "I don't give a fukk" thing

[close]

I had to suffer through a few mandatory marketing courses in business school and did really well. I still don't understand what this "life style" bullshit is. Having a hobby is not a life style. Living deep in a forrest is a life style, wearing a Gibson t-shirt is not.

Feel free to explain.

[close]

You're committed to this bit aren't you

[close]

No, just living the life style.

[close]

What does that mean? Is it like a t shirt or something?

[close]

Yes. Says "Mother of dragons" on it.

Reported

[JB]

I bought a Made in the USA Fender Strat with a Jeff Beck pick up and some other custom mods on it for an absolute steal years ago. As a teenager I learnt to play a little and when I bought this 10 years ago I was convinced I'd relearn and play more. Since I purchased it it's been out of its case a total of about three hours and two of those have been friends playing it. That's my guitar failure, one day though, one day.

and im over hear buzzing with my made in china $100 epi les paul special. thats my failure.

i'll get something better some day. not a top priority though.

[SFblah]

Related to this is news that Guitar Center is not doing too well either.

[JB]

Related to this is news that Guitar Center is not doing too well either.

probably because this is the best selling musical instrument right now.

[coyote2425]

Related to this is news that Guitar Center is not doing too well either.

So then I realllly won’t ever be able to play a Gibson again.

I used to want an SG, but I never considered saving up thousands for a guitar I would ultimately suck at playing. Hope they turn it around, though.

[pizzafliptofakie]

Related to this is news that Guitar Center is not doing too well either.

I worked at a Guitar Center a few years ago, and while I could see some pretty noticeable decline from the inside it feels like I'm visiting it on its deathbed whenever I stop by. The inventory has been cut in half and everyone looks dead inside, probably because they're still working at Guitar Center.

[somethingmustbreaknow]

also will you guys watch my chair while im gone....

can i sit on your stool for a sec, pls?

[lampshade]

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Ok, what the fuck is a "lifestyle brand"? Nothing, I assume?

[close]

Are you for real or doing a "I don't give a fukk" thing

[close]

I had to suffer through a few mandatory marketing courses in business school and did really well. I still don't understand what this "life style" bullshit is. Having a hobby is not a life style. Living deep in a forrest is a life style, wearing a Gibson t-shirt is not.

Feel free to explain.

Ha.  I feel the same way about the term, "Street wear."  Everyone lives on a street and wears clothes and shoes.