Gibson Announces Major Expansion in Bozeman

[Everton FC]

Someday, I'm going to take a road trip down to Bozeman to see the factory. I have to do this...

[Br1ck]

Originally Posted by Dotneck

I dunno...they've always been able to sell everything that they make. Even before the pandemic. Maybe they can open up a few more dealers around the country so we can at least see the stock. The only place around here that has them are Guitar Center...I'd rather shop at a five star dealer.

I live close to a five star Gibson dealer. From what I can see, a five star dealer is forced to take every artist endorsed model and every limited edition. At the time I wanted to try a regular old J 45 and a J 45 vintage. What I found was a horrid Donovan J 45, bumpy textured matte finish anyone, a J 45 special rosewood, a Sheryl Crow (very nice) and a Dylan J 200 for a gazillion dollars. They had been trying to get a vintage for months, but Wildwood kept orderin ten at a time, and the owner said they had to sell the guitars they had before ordering more. This was some time ago, but it put me off new Gibsons. The old ones can be great.

[SleepyAudi]

I’m actually used to seeing Gibson hated for 70s era QC issues that have been long resolved.

Taylor bashing isn’t unique to this board, either. Wasn’t used by a Beatle so it has no credibility.

The question is where is the Martin bashing??

[UncleJesse]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

I live close to a five star Gibson dealer. From what I can see, a five star dealer is forced to take every artist endorsed model and every limited edition. At the time I wanted to try a regular old J 45 and a J 45 vintage. What I found was a horrid Donovan J 45, bumpy textured matte finish anyone, a J 45 special rosewood, a Sheryl Crow (very nice) and a Dylan J 200 for a gazillion dollars. They had been trying to get a vintage for months, but Wildwood kept orderin ten at a time, and the owner said they had to sell the guitars they had before ordering more. This was some time ago, but it put me off new Gibsons. The old ones can be great.

I've heard that a shop doesn't get to pick what Gibson sends them. Is that true? That's insanity.

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by J-Doug

IMHO there is a fine line between opinion and bashing that is repeatedly crossed around here but I'm sure I'll get dumped on for even saying that...

No, actually you are quite right.
My main issue is when some folks join a thread and complain about things that went south with a guitar they played ten years ago or some such other one- off reference and then classify the brand as trash.

[Pickcity]

Gibson has always delivered excellent guitars for me. What others think has zero effect on what I like.

Good for them. The Bozeman factory makes some fantastic guitars. I've owned a few, and own a couple right now. They are great.

[Cheezeweggie]

Great to see an American manufacturer expanding. Now they should follow suit with Martin and Taylor and make their inexpensive line (Epiphone) in Mexico instead of the far east.

[FOG01]

Originally Posted by Rev Roy

Yep. Hope the Taylor fans are keeping an eye on this thread. Been a lot of complaints recently that Taylor gets bashed noticeably more than other brands. Not. Gibson and Martin (particularly over the binding “issue” and neck angle/resets) regularly spend time in the dock.

I had a few minutes and did one better. 52 posts on this thread and all of 4 were undeniably negative. Of those, 2 were about quality control (nut slots and poorly finished fretboards) and the other two from one person questioning the intelligence of their ownership. Conversely, there are more posts (7) calling out the hate on Gibson.

As someone noted, every builder will inevitably ship a guitar with a quality control flaw. The world is an imperfect place. Nonetheless, Gibson has taken a hit for quality control problems. That doesn't mean the workmanship on every guitar is poor but, in the end the statement is generally either true or not. Someone else can speak to that, but the QC comments made here hardly qualify as brand bashing.

As for the Martin binding issue, there is a lot of testimonial from owners on this forum that would lend itself to the belief that there likely was a problem (hopefully resolved as I suspect). In regards to the neck resets and to a degree the binding, of the complaints there are the majority I recall reading are about Martin's customer service and warranty. Again, it's either generally true or not, but I don't recall any of the complaints being totally discredited and the complaints are coming from people who own or did own Martins, not like the run of the mill Taylor derangement some non-owners amuse themselves with.

It comes as no surprise that quality control and customer service/warranty issues are areas where Taylor gets high marks. That has a lot to do with their success and popularity. Some find Taylor's success an affront to their affection for Martin and/or Gibson. Maybe Gibson used to be the whipping boy of the forum, but it's not been that way since I started reading the AGF and Martin almost certainly never has. Case in point the recent thread about Taylor marketing where I'd swear some are being force fed all things Taylor and Andy Powers as opposed to perusing/viewing something on their own volition just to work themselves up into a lather.

So while I'm not losing any sleep over it, actually yeah they do get bashed more and there are plenty of examples.

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by FOG01

I had a few minutes and did one better. 52 posts on this thread and all of 4 were undeniably negative.

.

And of those four, zero had anything to do with the thread topic.

"Gibson expands Bozeman site."
"Gibson can't cut nut slots correctly! Gibson uses appalling rosewood!"

It was annoying at first, now it's just the same old same old.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by frankmcr

And of those four, zero had anything to do with the thread topic.

"Gibson expands Bozeman site."
"Gibson can't cut nut slots correctly! Gibson uses appalling rosewood!"

It was annoying at first, now it's just the same old same old.

Except it is true straying off topic is often SOP here, and not even remotely unique to this thread. "Annoying" is in the eye of the beholder.

And I suppose nobody likes when their brand preference gets negative comments
However the idea that the line between "opinion" and "bashing" is a "fine one".
I think may be more accurately described as a blurry one. And very much dependent on personal perspective.

However the notion that any other brand gets anywhere near the negative comments as Taylor on this forum, I think is simply not historically accurate. If you were go back over say 10 years and pull up the number of negative comments based on Brand ? my guess you would likely find the ratio to be along the lines of something between,, 5 to 1 and 10 to 1. negative Taylor vs any other brand. Now that is certainly just my anecdotal memory and perspective BUT I would bet is not that far off.

I am going to go so far as to suggest that collectively the Forum has become some what numb to Taylor negativity because of this skewed ratio. And is probably more sensitive to any other brand, negativity.

For example when people say Taylor sound is "thin" collectively it gets viewed as "just personal opinion".

When people say Martin sound is "mushy" it gets viewed as "bashing". And yet objectively those statements are two sides of the exact same coin.

Back to the OP I think any investment in US mfg. is a big plus, and a win win ..........juss sayin'

[FOG01]

Originally Posted by frankmcr

And of those four, zero had anything to do with the thread topic.

"Gibson expands Bozeman site."
"Gibson can't cut nut slots correctly! Gibson uses appalling rosewood!"

It was annoying at first, now it's just the same old same old.

I see your point. But to a degree I disagree. Gibson is expanding the site to presumably expand production. If they don't do something right on a smaller scale, expanding their output is not likely to correct the problem and seems relevant to me. That is assuming there is a problem, which I'm not.

I am guessing here but I expect the person who made the nut slot comment had a nut slot issue with his Gibson. I've played all of 1 new Gibson acoustic in a store and that's not enough to form an opinion. (It was set up poorly however if that matters) I would really like to see more Gibsons out there because I geek over guitars. Martins too for that matter. Were this about Taylor I'm quite certain there would have been a several comments about making more room for more soul-less for machines to build guitars that sound paper thin and devoid of character... Just sayin'.

[Street Glider]

I've lusted for an SJ-200 ever since I can remember.

I'm driving through Bozeman next month on my way to Washington. Do they do tours there?

Originally Posted by rokdog49

No, actually you are quite right.
My main issue is when some folks join a thread and complain about things that went south with a guitar they played ten years ago or some such other one- off reference and then classify the brand as trash.

I think we as forum members need to be mindful of these needlessly negative posts in unrelated threads. If someone starts a thread to complain about brand X's QC issues or marketing or warranties and the thread is negative in a related way I can understand it. But interjecting unrelated negativity into a thread because you had a bad experience or simply don't like brand X is not the direction I think the forum should head in. This applies to all brands, not just Gibson.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Originally Posted by Everton FC

Someday, I'm going to take a road trip down to Bozeman to see the factory. I have to do this...

Me too. I'm about half a continent closer than you, plus I have a lot of family in MT. I hope to get up there once this COVID insanity passes.

scott memmer