Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

[zionstrat]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

There is NO DOUBT in my mind that Gibson will survive, but Henry needs to GO, and right fricking now. I trust the new owners to get the company back on track, securing the continuing legacy of Gibson Guitars. It will be a tough row to hoe thanks to the stupidity of Henry.

I hope you are right- but did you notice that Henry kept positioning himself as the CEO and future adviser in the article? Sure that's got to be some face savings, but the fact is that he is still out there spinning and creditors haven't reeled him in are not great signs of change which may not reflect well on new owners...

The work Gibson has to do isn't rocket science- but it does take a lot of experience and so far they aren't talking about that work...

[Adieu]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

All great recommendations, but I'm afraid you're about 20 years too late. Gibson USA is not the only manufacturer that is experiencing declining sales. The issue is systemic. The democratization of music via internet, home recording, and the lack of support (non-promotion) of rock music has resulted in the death of the electric guitar. Industry survives through profit, of course. i.e. Capitalism. Capital removed = Industry collapse. Even if you have the capital, industry requires a market. Rock music is looked at as archaic "white people" music by promotional industry Progressives. As far as they are concerned, the sooner it is purged from the collective mindset, the better. Boutique builders can survive, but the era of large scale production is coming to a close. Even of there were a grassroots resurgence of rock music, there's no vehicle for promotion... other than YuteTube. If there were a promotional system, it wouldn't make any difference, as the yutes would simply rip-off the music via digital downloading. The DOJ refuses to give songwriters the same protections they give to book authors, so don't expect any help there.

There's a LOT of "white people" AND gibson is an extremely strong brand in Black, Hispanic, and Asian music communities... especially Asian.

Rappers? No...but they sell sneakers and shirts and headphones and turntables, not instruments.

ALSO... pop music charts don't include country music, which chart separately. Biggest selling ACTIVE music artist in America is GARTH BROOKS -- indeed very much A GUY WITH A GUITAR --- and not some kid married to/divorcing/planning to marry a Cardassian.... just fyi. And the fact that he's signed with Takamine not Gibson is just one of the many, many reasons why Gibson isnt doing as well as it could and should be.


PS Gibson is probably the most iconic brand in the biz and thus has the most potentially valuable name...since Fender tends to focus on more mass-market stuff and thus just doesn't sound quite as luxurious, while ESP lacks in history and is experiencing an identity crisis where it's flip-flopping between throwing the name on everything and trying to lux up by removing the name off everything under $3k. And then there's all the pointless in-fighting with industry "rival" Schecter (which is owned by the same person!).

[67Mopar]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

There's a LOT of "white people" AND Gibson is an extremely strong brand in Black, Hispanic, and Asian music communities... especially Asian.

I regards to context, I singularly referred to the promotional industry, not Gibson USA. Gibson's target marketing demographics are unrelated. Manufacturers have continued mass production via speculation. The idea being that "rock will come back around", but it won't. It is not wanted, nor is welcome by agenda-driven social engineers. If that's not enough, commercial music has essentially become nothing more than SPAM to sell products. This became evident when U2 uploaded a new full album release to Apple iTunes, free of charge. "That's right! Buy a new iPod and get the latest U2 release for free!" F#ck-it... It's over.

[Demanic]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

There's still plenty of good underground metal.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

[67Mopar]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

There's still plenty of good underground metal.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044C using Tapatalk

The underground stuff was always the best. I still listen to Angel Witch!

[justFred]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

I regards to context, I singularly referred to the promotional industry, not Gibson USA. Gibson's target marketing demographics are unrelated. Manufacturers have continued mass production via speculation. The idea being that "rock will come back around", but it won't. It is not wanted, nor is welcome by agenda-driven social engineers. If that's not enough, commercial music has essentially become nothing more than SPAM to sell products. This became evident when U2 uploaded a new full album release to Apple iTunes, free of charge. "That's right! Buy a new iPod and get the latest U2 release for free!" F#ck-it... It's over.

what a deal...pay $300 for an MP3 player and get a Uwho upload for free!!!!

[Adieu]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

I regards to context, I singularly referred to the promotional industry, not Gibson USA. Gibson's target marketing demographics are unrelated. Manufacturers have continued mass production via speculation. The idea being that "rock will come back around", but it won't. It is not wanted, nor is welcome by agenda-driven social engineers. If that's not enough, commercial music has essentially become nothing more than SPAM to sell products. This became evident when U2 uploaded a new full album release to Apple iTunes, free of charge. "That's right! Buy a new iPod and get the latest U2 release for free!" F#ck-it... It's over.

So? That's like saying 80s pop is dead, who needs a Korg Triton anymore

Also, rock's alleged demise would hurt most other guitar brands harder. Gibson has strong associations with other genres, acoustic stuff, and live electric backing bands for pop vocalists

[67Mopar]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

So? That's like saying 80s pop is dead, who needs a Korg Triton anymore

I'm not up on the latest tech, but it seems most of what is out there is created via computer loops and auto-tune. Soon, whatever is left of the industry won't even need carbon-based (human) performers. Digitally generated holographic "performers" that don't require payment are inevitable.

[justFred]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

A couple of things:
"I am still going to be participating in Gibson and I’m still the CEO at this point. I will continue to aid Gibson for at least a couple more years" I think he made it clear he is leaving...I say again the very important missing piece is who is going to take the lead and what is that organization going to look like.

Has anyone tried contacting Gibson customer service to test his claim regarding standing behind the product...I called just as a test regarding my SG...got a representative within a couple of minutes...made up a story about a pickup acting intermittent...was referred to a local service center and told that the problem would be handled without charge...just a test but it seems like they have a good customer service organization in place...

He seems sensitive to the point that there was a time in 2007 - 2008 the Gibson lost sight of making quality a primary focus but they went and fixed that.

Does anyone have any hard data that demonstrates Gibson is turning out mostly low quality guitars?

Can anyone here provide data that refutes his claim that the guitar segment is strong and the problem lies in the acquired consumer electronics segment.

He saved Gibson 30+ years ago and had a 30+ year run...sounds like his big mistake was in buying into non core businesses and so BK is the only way to recover from that mistake. (yes, robot tuners among other things were problems in the guitar segment but those things combined would not force them into BK)

I like his commitment to a Gibson owned and run plant in China to build Epiphone models. The companies that I am familiar with that have been successful in China and Korea found out quickly that was the only way to ensure getting a consistently good product. It would appear they are doing that right.

[ICTGoober]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

Does anyone have any hard data that demonstrates Gibson is turning out mostly low quality guitars?

The problem with your question is the word MOSTLY. Of course, they are not MOSTLY low quality, but there is ample evidence in the marketplace that Gibson has a problem with quality control. I should know - I've worked on a number of them for clients.

And it doesn't take a high percentage of defects to cause a ripple, you understand? Even 3 percent is too darn much. Many of the problems I've seen are obvious, and that's cause for concern. You CANNOT let quality control slide, the bar has to be set HIGH across the board. Returns for service, complaints, etc., should be less than 1 guitar out of every 1000 that leaves the shipping dock. And Gibson should stand behind their product 100 percent - repair or refund, make the maximum effort to put a smile on EVERY owner out there.

[Adieu]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

I'm not up on the latest tech, but it seems most of what is out there is created via computer loops and auto-tune. Soon, whatever is left of the industry won't even need carbon-based (human) performers. Digitally generated holographic "performers" that don't require payment are inevitable.

That already exists... apparently its a thing in Japan

[justFred]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

The problem with your question is the word MOSTLY. Of course, they are not MOSTLY low quality, but there is ample evidence in the marketplace that Gibson has a problem with quality control. I should know - I've worked on a number of them for clients.

And it doesn't take a high percentage of defects to cause a ripple, you understand? Even 3 percent is too darn much. Many of the problems I've seen are obvious, and that's cause for concern. You CANNOT let quality control slide, the bar has to be set HIGH across the board. Returns for service, complaints, etc., should be less than 1 guitar out of every 1000 that leaves the shipping dock. And Gibson should stand behind their product 100 percent - repair or refund, make the maximum effort to put a smile on EVERY owner out there.

Do you have data that demonstrates Gibson does not stand behind their products?
It is a privately held company and the data is not available to the general public...without data all this anti Gibson anti Henry talk is meaningless...

[67Mopar]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

That already exists... apparently its a thing in Japan

Interesting... I will check it out.

[ICTGoober]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

anti Gibson anti Henry talk is meaningless...

You will NOT find a single anti-Gibson word in my posts.
Anti-Henry - you bet.

[Securb]

Re: Henry J talks the future of Gibson Guitars

I just got a spam email from Gibson. They are offering free shipping all of Labor Day weekend. So if I buy a $3500 guitar you will ship it for free?