Who Should Acquire Gibson? Your thoughts?

[v32 finish]

Originally Posted by Willie Voltaire

The armchair CEOs here are almost as entertaining as Monday morning quarterbacks.

While I agree that there's alot of speculation in a thread like this... that doesn't add much but negativity.

That being said.. I agree that due to debt, I think it's more likely that Gibson won't be acquired at all (Yet*) but will try its hand at restructuring and shedding its non-essential arms to its business, focusing only on making guitars. Which it should've been doing in the first place.

The true test will be how the numbers look after they do this. If they can grow and turn a profit, I see them being able to work something out. .

The thing I'm most curious about is whether their current CEO will be along for the ride. I'm not educated enough on the topic to make a valid opinion one way or another, but I've heard alot of people say he hasn't really taken responsibility for his bad decisions. In my eyes, being human is OK, making mistakes is OK, even big mistakes -- not owning up to them, however, esp. in a business setting, is unforgivable and just tells me he's a live wire, prone to zapping anything else they might have in the works in the future.

Either way, I'm one of many people who are rooting for them. I consider them an iconic brand and while their history may not be as rich or storied as Martin, I would consider it a huge loss if they were to sell out to a foreign conglomerate who then just pasted their name on the headstock of cheaper imports and became a shadow of their former self. I recognize that's a worst case scenario, but.. still. Another reason that I decided to buy a couple Gibson acoustics this year that came before the crash and inevitable fallout. I wish them the very best.

SC

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

...I had a thought that Yamaha would be a good candidate to acquire Gibson, if the Gibby models remained Made in USA. I say this for several reasons:

1) Absolute fanatics about quality for anything that bears their logo
2) Huge facilities already in place in China which could be geared up to make Epiphones.
3) No outside vendors. As I understand it, all Yammie plants use only their own employees.
4) Very deep financial pockets; very stable institution
5) Still privately held (I believe), thus not driven by the quarterly report and immediate returns. Like Honda or Toyota, they invest for the long haul and are typically more patient for their ROI...

Um, I haven't seen Rickenbacker mentioned yet:

1. Fer sure - extremely aggressive (and successful) when it comes to protection of intellectual property, arguably the most labor-intensive instruments of their type on the market, and last I heard they were backordered up to two years on some models;
2. Epiphone still has dedicated factories in China TMK, so some sort of transfer of ownership could be a part of the deal; where it really gets interesting is that Rick has no real presence in the low-end/low-midline market - an "Epiphone" of their own (perhaps under the old Electro banner), offering good-quality popular-price renditions of their iconic instruments (330/360, 4001, 325, et al.) might prove beneficial to their bottom line, as well as providing a further hedge against trademark infringement;
3. Same deal when it comes to employees, in addition to which virtually all hardware is proprietary in design;
4. Extremely stable, under a single chain of management since its founding TMK (rivaled only by Martin in this respect);
5. Rick has always been a product-focused, long-haul company - after a couple obscure and long-forgotten missteps in the '70s/early-80s they continue to concentrate on doing what they do best, and maintain a stable market position largely uninfluenced by fashion;

In addition, their occasional ventures into the acoustic market have been unsuccessful - even if under another brand, the acquisition of Gibson/Epiphone would give Rick a presence with tried-and-proven product, perhaps even jumpstarting a revived acoustic line of their own; finally, they're the only major marque that can still claim (and proudly) 100% USA production since day one - given the heritage attached to the Gibson name, I tend to think a similar stipulation (even if implicit) would be part of any acquisition deal...

Let's see: a walnut J-100 body with a Rick 360/12-string neck and trim - I'm in...

[lgherb]

My vote would go to PRS.

[v32 finish]

lgherb, it's funny you mention that... the ENTIRE time I was reading all 4 pages of this thread, I was thinking PRS... I don't know why, and I'm sure it's not likely at all to happen, but I just think out of every company mentioned (even if we are in fantasy land), PRS would be the one company that would be the best fit. At least, much better than the others mentioned. If only for the rights to Gibson's acoustic lineup, and folding that into their current lineup.. but hey... I still think Gibson is too big of a company, with too much debt, and too much risk, to see something like this happening, without first attempting to really tighten their belts and try new management.

Get the current management outta there, hire a handful of top-end luthiers, scale everything down as far as labor costs.. and I think I could see them being a real contender in the guitar market.. I just don't realistically see it happening under one of the existing guitar maker's companies. If they were to be acquired, much as I hate to say it, it would be a foreign conglomerate. my $.02 .

[lgherb]

Originally Posted by v32 finish

lgherb, it's funny you mention that... the ENTIRE time I was reading all 4 pages of this thread, I was thinking PRS... I don't know why, and I'm sure it's not likely at all to happen, but I just think out of every company mentioned (even if we are in fantasy land), PRS would be the one company that would be the best fit. At least, much better than the others mentioned. If only for the rights to Gibson's acoustic lineup, and folding that into their current lineup.. but hey... I still think Gibson is too big of a company, with too much debt, and too much risk, to see something like this happening, without first attempting to really tighten their belts and try new management.

Get the current management outta there, hire a handful of top-end luthiers, scale everything down as far as labor costs.. and I think I could see them being a real contender in the guitar market.. I just don't realistically see it happening under one of the existing guitar maker's companies. If they were to be acquired, much as I hate to say it, it would be a foreign conglomerate. my $.02 .

The thing that strikes me most is how complementary their product lines are/would be.

[crikey]

Heritage Guitars (https://heritageguitars.com/#the-story) should take the reigns, sell off everything not Gibson Guitars, get the company back to its roots, and rock the guitar and mando world again.

[tippy5]

I hope they keep the Gibson design whoever acquires it. Gibson makes great guitars. Sometimes it s a bit of a search. The tone and feel has character. Sometimes they open up songs and genre's that sweet lush guitars can't.

[3notes]

Originally Posted by Jcamp

It would b a good if some one like Breedlove or larrivee got it. Or better yet if a group like Taylor, Santa Cruz, larrivee, Breedlove and th B one that I can never spell came together and bought it. Kind of a joint venture of all the good quality small production companies that could get it up and running building consistent quality guitar and a still reasonable price. I’d greatly prefer Gibson stay a American company.

That's what I was thinking... Like Robert Taylor and Jean Larrivee get to together. I would think they know people that could run the day to day very well.

On the other hand I can see Jean raising his hands up high as they come rushing down and he says... No Way.!!!

Honestly, I wouldn't want Jean to get involved. The product he puts out is out of this world and I don't want it to change in any way.

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by JBCROTTY

I disagree. They need someone from outside, someone who brings fresh ideas and a new mindset, someone who is not biased or polluted by the "Gibson heritage." Andy Powers did not come from within Taylor - he had no issues understanding the company or honoring the culture and history of that company while bringing a fresh, renewed focus on building and craftsmanship. He is designing and building stellar products that people want to buy.

Gibson needs the same thing - they need someone who can honor the Gibson heritage and history without being enslaved by that history and tradition. They need someone who will be absolutely maniacally focused on designing and building products - guitars - that people want to buy. The history of Gibson will not save it. Their celebrity endorsers will not save it. The only thing that will save Gibson is if they start really listening to their customers, bring fresh ideas to attract new customers, and get back to waking up every single day worried about only one thing - building great guitars.

My turn to disagree...
I only suggested that there might be someone within Gibson and that would be ideal.
You cannot compare Gibson to Taylor. Taylor is a "Johnny-come-lately" company with nowhere near the heritage of a Gibson.Taylor was already an avant-garde company easily mold able when Powers took over. It had no Heritage, just a segment of the market based on being different and Bob Taylor's name.
If you want to un-enslave Gibson from its history and tradition, you will have to abandon much of what made it what it is. If you abandon Gibson history you will lose any semblance of who Gibson is and it is doomed.
As I said, an Iacocca type could "restore" the confidence in the brand by focusing on a combination of the heritage and the "New Gibson".

[Charmed Life Picks]

Interesting speculations, folks.

Question for you business majors: Do you think there's a scenario where Gibson might spin off the flat top Bozeman group and sell it separately? That must be such a small portion of Gibson's total revenues. 1%? 2%? 5%? Can't be any more than that. That would bring into play some smaller players. Larivee is an inspired choice, and PRS and a few others.

Anyway, it will be interesting to watch.

Please continue to let the fur fly.

sm

[Athens]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Interesting speculations, folks.

Question for you business majors: Do you think there's a scenario where Gibson might spin off the flat top Bozeman group and sell it separately?......

At this point that would not be Gibson's call, but the decision of the bankruptcy court. They're calling the shots at this time. All Gibson can do is offer to the court and see if they go for it. The creditors will also have a lot of input on the matter as well.

That's how this bankruptcy thing works.

[Golffishny]

I don't know how it will go,but I would like to see Gibson to back to being a musical instrument company and get rid of all the extraneous ventures. I hope it remains an American company.

[devellis]

Amazon....

[Steadfastly]

They need to start making their guitars in China or Korea as well as the USA so they can compete. Many people don't care where they are made and some still do. That way people can buy one from offshore at a much more competitive price and for those still hanging onto nationalism they can buy theirs in the USA.

This way Gibson cam be more competitive in a market that is becoming more and more competitive.

[gmr]

I sure hope they Just liquidate all assets besides their line of Gibson and perhaps Epiphone guitars, and concentrate their focus on making the best guitars they can at every price point. I know pricing is both business and market strategy derived, but I think most upper end US makers have blown their prices pretty far out of hand on their high end instruments but the market seems to bear it, so that is likely not to change. Collings May be the only guitar I have ever played that I could actually see the attention to every detail, to the point you see and hear the reasons for the cost. Of course they don’t produce the numbers of guitars the other big US makers produce