EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

  • Yes

    Votes: 1 10.0%

  • No

    Votes: 7 70.0%

  • Other Suggestions (please post)

    Votes: 2 20.0%
  • Total voters
    10
DeathMetalRob

DeathMetalRob

New member
Gibson Guitars are, to put it mildly, in a bit of trouble.

For a few years, suggestions have been made for them to branch into extended range guitars. I was one of them.

If, we may suggest, Gibson were to make even one 8 string guitar line say a Les Paul 8 or Flying V 8 with either a JB/Jazz or Blackouts pickups (or whoever they may choose), how many of you would buy one or be interested. It may be a basic £500 - £600 model ($625 - $750), a choice of colour and standard spec.

Any other models you'd like to see from Gibson, put them below and if enough people speak up, we'll see about getting the vote to them.
 
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Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

All I wanna say is that they don't really care about us.
 
Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

True and as a result... they should be making more 7s and start making 8s and maybe even a 9 string like Ibanez, Schecter etc. It's called moving with the times.
 
Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

8 string guitars aren't going to save Gibson. There's simply not enough dudes out there that want an extended range guitar, much less an extended range LP. Now, a 750 dollar LP along the lines of a Studio? If the quality is high, people will buy.
 
Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

Benjy_26 said:
8 string guitars aren't going to save Gibson. There's simply not enough dudes out there that want an extended range guitar, much less an extended range LP. Now, a 750 dollar LP along the lines of a Studio? If the quality is high, people will buy.
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I’d be thrilled if they sold the Standard model at 2K instead of the ridiculous 3k+ they have them at.
 
Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

You are suggesting Gibson focus on catering to a niche; niches can be profitable, but they could only do this at the expense of not focusing on their core customer base, who are a numerous (if dissatisfied) lot. What makes you think they'd be treated any better by new customers they don't have any experience attracting in the first place?
 
Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

Silence Kid said:
You are suggesting Gibson focus on catering to a niche; niches can be profitable, but they could only do this at the expense of not focusing on their core customer base, who are a numerous (if dissatisfied) lot. What makes you think they'd be treated any better by new customers they don't have any experience attracting in the first place?
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Not so much focus, more being inclusive. Ibanez, Schecter, ESP, Jackson, Mayones all make 7 and 8 string models and all of them sell.

I agree about pricing though, whatever makes Gibson think they can charge thousands for models that aren't discernably different from a normal model is beyond me.

Desperate times...
 
Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

Huge numbers of string are not Gibson's market.
They've done a baritone, and they should keep on with a range of axcess style guitars.....24frets/floyd/thin neck etc.
 
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Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

Gibson already has a killer lineup of guitars.
IMO, what they need to do is get back to basics. Make great playing and sounding guitars at a reasonable price point.
And improve the QC.
It’s not that people flat out don’t want a Gibson, but they are pricing themselves out of the game.
 
Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

7-8-++-string guitars, fanned frets, headless designs, alternative materials (besides wood) is definitely a good move.
Take a look at the car analogy. Big companies dont make much money by selling supercars or hybrid/fully electric cars, but they keep a foot in controlling the evolution. And the one who creates the future is the one to build a prestige around his name.

anyway, my english is not the best but I hope you get the point. New shreders (race drivers) want new designs (super cars / new tech cars).
 
Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

greekdude said:
7-8-++-string guitars, fanned frets, headless designs, alternative materials (besides wood) is definitely a good move.
Take a look at the car analogy. Big companies dont make much money by selling supercars or hybrid/fully electric cars, but they keep a foot in controlling the evolution. And the one who creates the future is the one to build a prestige around his name.

anyway, my english is not the best but I hope you get the point. New shreders (race drivers) want new designs (super cars / new tech cars).
Click to expand...

Problem with that analogy is that unlike cars, music instruments don't "fall behind the times" or get old in a same way. LP design is everybit as relevant today as when introduced, actually much more so, and prestige is built by history and legacy, not by new designs.

It's players that build the brand for instruments, not technology.

Only guitar manufacturer I can think of, that has pulled off what you suggest would be Steinberger. And that's because they didn't have a background people would consistently compare their new products.

Those inventions are hardly new either, Gibson would be simply expanding their line up to products they have a little experience with, and that their customer base have no demand at all.
 
Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

greekdude said:
7-8-++-string guitars, fanned frets, headless designs, alternative materials (besides wood) is definitely a good move.
Take a look at the car analogy. Big companies dont make much money by selling supercars or hybrid/fully electric cars, but they keep a foot in controlling the evolution. And the one who creates the future is the one to build a prestige around his name.

anyway, my english is not the best but I hope you get the point. New shreders (race drivers) want new designs (super cars / new tech cars).
Click to expand...

This is a false analogy. Guutarists don't want to have bleeding edge tech year after year. Look at Parker guitars. Their original Fly guitar is amazingly advanced compared to a Telecaster, Strat, or LP, yet, as time went on, they had to design and produce more traditional models (Nitefly et al) in order to compete in the market.
 
Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

If the neck isn't comfortable in a players hand it doesn't matter how many strings it has 99% will move on. When the board starts getting silly wide who cares, it's a novelty. You don't need more strings, you need to get a effin bass player and let the guitar make guitar sounds.
 
Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

I don't think Gibson can build a USA guitar for $750 with name brand pickups in it. Epiphone, maybe, but certainly not Gibson. Not many USA makers could meet a price like that.
 
EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

To me eight still isn’t as popular as seven or six strings for example Ibanez were the pioneers of the seven string and remember how long it took for Gibson to even attempt to build a seven, that being said companies like schecter, ibanez and esp are catering to that market very well,
The problem was Gibson is that they focused far too much on being a music lifestyle company and being all about the legacy and not about the present.
Gibson simultaneously made terrible attempts to draw in a new generation of players with some seven strings and the auto tuners as well as some other features which didn’t really bring more people into the brand, this move also turned off Gibson core base which is the more wealthy guy who wants a historic piece of rock and metal history
By ignoring what they customers wanted they lost good will with the public and they also neglected QC to say the least, their pricing structure didn’t help either, the only thing you were paying for was Gibson and you could get a nice clean used Gibson for much less if you needed to have a Gibson or you could try other companies that had high quality guitars such as the esp standard and USA series
So I doubt making eight strings would help Gibson even if they cared about 8 string players.
To me Gibson is all about the rock and metal 6 string and should be aiming to make a incredible guitar for not a crazy amount of money (2k ish) and tighten up their QC
Gibson need to aim to be the standard by which everything else in that market is measured like it used to be.
 
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Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

Mincer said:
I don't think Gibson can build a USA guitar for $750 with name brand pickups in it. Epiphone, maybe, but certainly not Gibson. Not many USA makers could meet a price like that.
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Weren't Highway 1 Strats around that price point? I guess 2005 is no longer 'recent' though. Gibson makes the M2 for about $600 - nothing on that guitar is name-brand, but I wonder if the upcharge for Duncans would equate to over $150 if they only fixed that.

On fanned frets/multiple strings; I don't think those things attract many existing players (even in the world of metal, or among puffy shorted long haired wannabe virtuosos.) Again having a niche can be good. But I think those sorts of features are just intimidating to new guitar players, if we're talking about expanding guitar culture/moving things forward that's not happening.

I think the technological progression most likely to get a good reception/excite people is a continued focus on things like iPhone/computer connectivity geared toward consumers, modeling solutions, etc. Younger generations basically expect and embrace that in anything nowadays. I think a low priced "halo" model of an inexpensive guitar with ability to connect over Bluetooth and touchscreen options for modeling and such would get a good reception.
 
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Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

there are quite a few ways to go "modern". The robotuners (or iphone, wireless etc) way and 8-strings, fanned frets, headless, EndurNeck, lightweight guitars that you almost "wear", perfect neck weight balance - way. Gibson already tried the first one.
 
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Re: EIGHT STRING GUITARISTS..?

greekdude said:
there are quite a few ways to go "modern". The robotuners (or iphone, wireless etc) way and 8-strings, fanned frets, headless, EndurNeck, lightweight guitars that you almost "wear", perfect neck weight balance - way. Gibson already tried the first one.
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Gibson need to do what the people want. There are many brands with better value for money than Gibson and a refusal to do anything else than 6 strings will ultimately get them closed down.

Consumers will just go elsewhere and forget the Gibson name which, given the current build quality, is all you pay for.

The reason other brands are successful is that they adapt their range to suit the market and Gibson haven't done that.

Furthermore, it's actually cheaper to get a bespoke model made than to buy a Gibson off the shelf.
 
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