Gibson files for bankruptcy

[J.R. Rogers]

Originally Posted by Doubleneck

Went by the factory last year, two Guitar I have were made there:

Whoa! Ghost town. Did you happen to catch a glimpse of Henry Wonka?

JR

[Zigeuner]

Originally Posted by Mr. Jelly

Be advised that Gibson will soon be a different company owned and operated by different people. Only the name will stay the same.

I seriously doubt that.

[FrankHudson]

Don't know Henry J, don't even have second-hand stories. The following subjects are just me asking how much of this is ex-post-facto, aka "Monday Morning Quarterbacking".

The diversification moves didn't work out. Seems clear to me. OK, but I read many other threads here that reflect a belief of some here that guitars are on the way out, modern culture doesn't value them, it's all electronic music and other kinds of entertainment now. I personally believe it more complicated than that, but was it really that quixotic to think that concentrating on guitars alone might not the best plan?

Weird models that didn't sell. Given that every large guitar maker seems to have a diverse model selection, they all may be doing it wrong, and we on the sidelines may know better. But ask yourself, how sure are you if you were to say "here's the 10 models Gibson ought to produce, and forget the rest of the dumb stuff" that you would be able get widespread agreement even among the small subset of guitar buyers that are here on this forum?

Robotuners! What about Robotuners? I've never used them, looks like they had a few teething issues with a first generation, folks who've used the v2.0 systems seem to report them working well. I've go no experience to them myself. But I have used non-mechanical solutions from Roland and Line6 and they are really kind of neat. If I was a Nick Drake/Joni Mitchell kind of player I'd seriously consider them for my main guitar. Mitchell I think did go with one of the Roland setups before retiring from the stage. Gibson probably put them on too many models, but I never felt objectively that they forced them on anyone. If anything the USB interfaces on guitars seemed more of a "solution looking for a problem."

None of the above is meant to suggest that Henry J was a good guy or a business genius, just questions that I think are worth asking about what we think we've learned for certain from the Gibson situation. In fact I suspect that a great deal of what caused Henry J to make what we feel are mistakes were the things he (and some other business leaders) thought they learned from Steve Jobs and the Apple turn-around.

[Silly Moustache]

The Gibson story even made the front page of the Business news of the Daily Telegraph (famous British newspaper) n Wednesday. With a large picture of Kieth Richards ...who, I think mainly players Fenders ?!

[jpd]

Originally Posted by Nailpicker

That's actually humorous In other words there will still be no customer service and support. I discounted getting a Gibson is that they have absolute zero (0) customer service and support. I had contacted them via their "contact us" link on their web page asking a question prior to my attempt to purchase a 335. I got absolutely no response. I tried calling them and only got a recording, no follow up response.

Gibson never gets back to me....once is the exact amount of contact I've had over the years...and they did not follow thru Still bought their acoustics, just gave up on getting customer service.

[Shades of Blue]

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

Don't know Henry J, don't even have second-hand stories. The following subjects are just me asking how much of this is ex-post-facto, aka "Monday Morning Quarterbacking".

The diversification moves didn't work out. Seems clear to me. OK, but I read many other threads here that reflect a belief of some here that guitars are on the way out, modern culture doesn't value them, it's all electronic music and other kinds of entertainment now. I personally believe it more complicated than that, but was it really that quixotic to think that concentrating on guitars alone might not the best plan?

Weird models that didn't sell. Given that every large guitar maker seems to have a diverse model selection, they all may be doing it wrong, and we on the sidelines may know better. But ask yourself, how sure are you if you were to say "here's the 10 models Gibson ought to produce, and forget the rest of the dumb stuff" that you would be able get widespread agreement even among the small subset of guitar buyers that are here on this forum?

Robotuners! What about Robotuners? I've never used them, looks like they had a few teething issues with a first generation, folks who've used the v2.0 systems seem to report them working well. I've go no experience to them myself. But I have used non-mechanical solutions from Roland and Line6 and they are really kind of neat. If I was a Nick Drake/Joni Mitchell kind of player I'd seriously consider them for my main guitar. Mitchell I think did go with one of the Roland setups before retiring from the stage. Gibson probably put them on too many models, but I never felt objectively that they forced them on anyone. If anything the USB interfaces on guitars seemed more of a "solution looking for a problem."

None of the above is meant to suggest that Henry J was a good guy or a business genius, just questions that I think are worth asking about what we think we've learned for certain from the Gibson situation. In fact I suspect that a great deal of what caused Henry J to make what we feel are mistakes were the things he (and some other business leaders) thought they learned from Steve Jobs and the Apple turn-around.

The problem with most of Gibson's "innovations" has been that it is/was flat out ugly. Self tuning tuners is a wonderful idea, but they look like a Fisher Price toddler toy. Same for Firebird X. Actually, a cool concept, but looks like a toddler toy yet again.

Anything new they come out with just lacks aesthetic appeal and doesn't seem to fit in with their target market. It's like they wanted a Les Paul and a Line 6 POD to have a baby and force it down the throats of a target market built on traditional instruments.

See?

[jed1894]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

I think all the criticism of Gibson is totally unfair, as is all the criticism leveled at Henry, who is doing a great job in the face of adversity.

Furthermore, I don't believe for one minute that any company, or individual, would ever fraudulently file for bankruptcy as a means of avoiding their financial obligations.

This is a joke, right?

[jed1894]

Originally Posted by jjrpilot

I posted this in a different thread but I agree with you 100%

I thankfully made the move to get both my Gibsons when I saw more and more stories about Gibson coming out. Ironically enough the tone is exactly what I've been looking for.

If they are bought out by a foreign company and should that company decide to outsource the production of the guitars to a different country (which I don't think will happen) you'll see a run on any "American" made Gibson.

I bet the used market for any type of Gibson especially the iconic models will go up very quickly and according to your observation it looks like it might be happening already.

I tried the same thing with different results. I tried my hardest to buy a J-45 before this happened. Got up to 4 different ones and gave up. Still looking

[Charmed Life Picks]

I have several friends here in Los Angeles who have (or have had) old friends working at Gibson. The best word to describe the working environment the last decade or so is "toxic." This is the word they use.

I'll be surprised if Henry J. survives the purge. From everything I've heard, he deserves to go. In a BK situation it seems to be even "good" or popular CEO should be shown the door.

We shall see.

scott memmer

[Rev Roy]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

I have several friends here in Los Angeles who have (or have had) old friends working at Gibson. The best word to describe the working environment the last decade or so is "toxic." This is the word they use.

I'll be surprised if Henry J. survives the purge. From everything I've heard, he deserves to go. In a BK situation it seems to be even "good" or popular CEO should be shown the door.

We shall see.

scott memmer

Scott, does that include the Bozeman acoustic plant?

[Slinky]

Originally Posted by Mystery123

Often times bankruptcy is a way to cheat and fraud creditors.
When companies do this just to take advantage of the system and hurt creditors, their name is never the same even if they come back.

Gibson, if/when it comes back, will not be the same.
It won't have the same respect as it had before.
In fact, it already lost it when it filed for bankruptcy.

Who did they lose respect from?

[ebick]

[catfish]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

The Gibson story even made the front page of the Business news of the Daily Telegraph (famous British newspaper) n Wednesday. With a large picture of Kieth Richards ...who, I think mainly players Fenders ?!

Keith Richards was playing two Gibsons - one acoustic, one electric during studio recording of Sympathy for the Devil, I've seen it filmed by J-L Godard in One Plus One (1968).

[Charmed Life Picks]

Has anyone heard any recent updates? Is Henry J out?

scott memmer

[Steadfastly]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Has anyone heard any recent updates? Is Henry J out?

scott memmer

No, not yet.