Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

[Exojam]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

Another good article.

In my opinion if/when the majority of guys hear that Gibson is trying to establish inroads into the female market they will probably say something to the effect of “if they have to do that than let them go down the drain”. This maybe the case when YouTube is full of females that I could never touch in playing ability.

I do really hope they pull it off and can offer a quality but SG Standard for a little over 1K. If they did I would snap on up in a minute. I know folks say you can get one new but I do feel (as I do), there is always something very nice about getting a brand new X.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

Another good article.
....
I do really hope they pull it off and can offer a quality but SG Standard for a little over 1K. .

Thanks! Its fun to combine business and music and will be a little sad when the series ends because we have so many interesting conversations.

Yeah, you hit the nail on the head.... Competitive value points will be good indicator of rebirth.

I like the $1k price point for a great SG locking tuners, high end pups etc... But they better make a really good one at $500 as well to compete with yags and ibi... And sure they can make a 2500 custom shop, but they gotta nail value for working players to grow...

Thanks for great input.

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[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

Just die...arrogant jocks....they deserve to close and not come back....it just how you do not do things!

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

adding ukes and chasing girls most likely won't work...

I can confirm through bitter experience that chasing girls is only detrimental to your bottom line, never beneficial.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

Many years ago, they priced small dealers out of their network with a huge 'buy in' that even applied to dealers carrying Gibsons for years. I worked at a store that just couldn't swing it. I would assume at that time that most Gibson sales were done online, as 1. rural dealers stopped carrying them & 2. Guitar Centers/Sam Ash wasn't everywhere yet.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

Anyone remember the Gibson Goddess? Their first failure - I mean attempt - at this? Apparently not....

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/gibson-les-paul-goddess-27486

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

I haven’t read all these posts, but Gibson did have an L-5S reissue. It was the Kieth Richards model.

But like with every reissue they do, they make too many changes and want too much money.

Personally I always wanted an L-5S. But they were pretty rare.


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[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

Many years ago, they priced small dealers out of their network with a huge 'buy in' that even applied to dealers carrying Gibsons for years. I worked at a store that just couldn't swing it. I would assume at that time that most Gibson sales were done online, as 1. rural dealers stopped carrying them & 2. Guitar Centers/Sam Ash wasn't everywhere yet.

I heard they would call dealers screaming at them if they weren’t selling enough! Henry is a greedy ass. Hope he’s totally out of the picture soon


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[zionstrat]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

Anyone remember the Gibson Goddess? Their first failure - I mean attempt - at this? Apparently not....

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/gibson-les-paul-goddess-27486

Interesting Ace- I don't remember that one-

Translucent covers was interesting, but not sure how that ads any value... good example.

 

[Exojam]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

I heard they would call dealers screaming at them if they weren’t selling enough! Henry is a greedy ass. Hope he’s totally out of the picture soon


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From most comments I have read on the subject of Gibson and how to try and save them, that is pretty much on top of people’s opinions.

 

[AxlOz]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

I remember the Gibson Godess - essentially a Les Paul, but with a slightly smaller body - so chicks can play it apparently. It was such an obviously stupid 'man' idea to do this, no wonder it failed.. The board meeting must have had a genius d*^che say something like "I guess the chicks just need it to be a bit smaller and lighter, so their delicate and precious hands can hold it properly.."

This whole gender-ization of guitar products makes me so mad. It just shouldn't even be a question.. Chicks don't need help to play the fkn guitar Mr Gibson, they just prefer to play guitars that aren't marketed as weapons of mass cock-rock destruction.. They don't need special 'girl' colours or sizes. They don't need special 'girl' flowers or graphics s#!t on them. They just need a guitar, like us dudes do.

The stratocaster and telecaster are designs from the 1950's, but Fender have been very good at avoiding engendering them, even though they have predominantly been played by us dudes since the 50's.. Classic and classy products and designs. I love both Fender and Gibson gats, hopefully they don't make any more stupid discriminatory products..

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

Come to think of it, I actually have heard some women complain about guitars seemingly designed for men.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

Come to think of it, I actually have heard some women complain about guitars seemingly designed for men.

Christopher, great link... I liked the one breast comment... Imagine Gibson listening to customer's needs!

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[zionstrat]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

This may be the quotable quote regarding dealers-


“You have to eat so much garbage in order to be a Gibson dealer that it’s not worth it,”

said George Gruhn, who owns Gruhn Guitars in Nashville.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

Although, I think there would be a market for a smaller, lighter, nice LP made for smaller people. I just don't like the female pandering attached to it (I don't like male pandering, either).

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

Although, I think there would be a market for a smaller, lighter, nice LP made for smaller people. I just don't like the female pandering attached to it (I don't like male pandering, either).

Yep, that would be a great product manager's dream- taking a legacy product, setting up ROI expectations and doing all of the proof of concept that we've been talking about...

That would be fun research, considering all of the improvements of sustain with decreased weight (Parker comes to mind and that could have been an intelligent acquistion...)

 

[Chistopher]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

That would be fun research, considering all of the improvements of sustain with decreased weight (Parker comes to mind and that could have been an intelligent acquistion...)

Sustain comes from density, which implies weight. Parkers tend to have good sustain because they are both well engineered and well built.

But then again, advertising smaller bodies with high density wood to make the guitar more comfortable for little people and increased sustain at no added weight would be a cool idea for Gibson. They could better sell to a decent size of the market and get rid of their heavier woods at the same time. Maybe a shorter scale and a new body shape would make it so that it's more than just a new version of an old guitar.

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

Sustain comes from density, which implies weight. Parkers tend to have good sustain because they are both well engineered and well built.

Yeah, it's been a long time since I read the article, and I couldn't find it today, but I think the reason that the light parkers were in the 4lb range, but sustained incredibly well, was a carbon shell- if I remember the theory correctly, the wood in the middle (hense the weight), really didn't mater much because the shell either resonated (or maybe it rejected resonation?) and that means that less energy made it into the core wood, so the wood could be very light.

We're way out of my knowledge zone and rather off topic, but you gotta wonder why proven tech like Parker is sitting there unused while Gibson is thinking about ukelalies

 

[Vasshu the humanoid typhoon]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

https://www.wsj.com/articles/creditors-probe-gibsons-pre-bankruptcy-dealings-with-lenders-1530298312

 

[zionstrat]

Re: Henry says ukes will save Gibson- They really need an L5s and marketing 101

Hmm, more than mismanagement? My series might get a little more interesting...

Seriously, I'm going to stay focused on best practices for mid-sized companies to be successful because that's what I do.

However, when you see a company "going Blockbuster" it makes sense to dig... cudos to WSJ even if there's nothing more than the mess we're already aware of.