Anybody like Gibson?

The Evil and confusing Henry J era is over at Gibson, all new management and so far they've just hunkered down and attacked the QC issues and bought Mesa Boogie - time will tell obviously but so far this management group is a total 180 from the old Henry reign of weirdness.

The company owns Baldwin piano, once competitive with NY Steinway as the cream of American-made pianos. Now, all of the manufacture (except for the highest-end custom built 9' concert grands made for artists) is in Chinese factories. And we aren't talking about cheap pianos, prices range from 25 kilobucks for a baby grand, to 70-ish for a 6' piano. Baldwin was once one of the very finest piano makers in the world. That's no longer the case.

While they don't seem to want to part with the capital to do right by Baldwin (a company they already owned) and restore it to glory, they did have the willingness and dough to buy Mesa. I find this troubling. Others may disagree.
 
Yup. They could have donated them all and let kids/students etc learn how to replace tuners, pups or whatever would make the guitar work. I was astonished then pissed off.

They also could have said "here are instructions to disable the software nonsense and use only the traditional pickups. We need X volunteers who will take 10 of these a piece, do a simple mod to bypass the software, and then deliver them to 10 high school music departments in their area. I'd have signed up immediately.

Like I said, they thought this was cute. I don't. But that's just my opinion, which is worth exactly what you just paid for it. :(
 
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...they make some very nice guitars that work for a lot of people. The corporate side of Gibson, however, has completely sucked since the '70s, and has ruined a lot of companies they've bought. It'll be interesting to see how they decide to ruin the Mesa brand in their own special way.

This.
 
I will (and should) give credit where it's due. Before I even thought of a PRS as my next guitar, a Gibson 2021 '61 Reissue SG was a real contender. I have a 2019 Epihone SG Pro that plays pretty sweet and it's a solid guitar. But when I tried out the mentioned Gibson SG I couldn't believe how I could feel the "step up" in the quality with how the neck played. Amazing difference. Great action and every note rang true and clear and I was very tempted. This thing was a real player.

So why did I pass? I have a real problem with neck humbuckers and knew I would be battling this one as well. No way was I going to spend that much on a guitar and then start wondering about what neck replacement pickup I should go with. Hey, lots of folks don't have a problem with those pickups and that's great! But I told myself there has got to be a guitar out there that has the sound I hear in my head that needs no alterations. Looked high and low and found it with my Vela.
 
This video is misleading. They aren't destroying their guitars, that's obviously how they PLEK and adjust the truss rod in a batch. Saves a lot of time.
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Joking aside I liked their USA production and Custom Shop LPs.
I've had half a dozen over the years and never had any of the dreadful Q/C issues that seem(ed) common.

The finish is certainly not as spotless/shiny out of the factory as PRS but they're also considerably cheaper (USA prod line).
Now that PRS is using nitro on all/most of their guitars I'm finding they accumulate playing and polishing marks quickly enough that it doesn't take them long to nearly look like a Gibson factory finish anyhow if you are playing them.

That being said I still find the ergonomics near the heel area of a SC594, and obviously a DC594, superior.
That's why the last LP USA I got last summer, even though a great guitar, was quickly resold and I don't feel the urge to get one in the near future anymore.
 
I’ve had some great Gibsons over the years. Carvin, then EBMM and then PRS came to suit me better. It doesn’t greatly concern me that they decide to trash a bunch of their own property. I recall that they used to get ragged on for releasing factory seconds to the public, so maybe they thought this a better way to go. Who knows? At any rate, it’s their stuff. I’ve heard PRS cuts subpar instruments up to assure they don’t get out. Nothing to get too bent over, at least for me.

I know, I’m a capitalist pig.
 
I don’t like them at all. In fact, I would go as far as to say I actively dislike them. I think the guitars are poorly designed and poorly built, and the company use their name to frankly rip off their customers. How on earth do they get away with charging someone thousands extra just because the guy who deliberately damaged their brand new guitar is called Tom?

That being said, I have a strange obsession with that trogly guy’s YouTube channel. I don’t really know why I watch them because I don’t care for any of the guitars he showcases, but I hardly miss a video. I think it might be a bit of a fascination with (a) how bad some of the guitars are, and/or (b) the weird things that the Gibson community get excited about…
 
How on earth do they get away with charging someone thousands extra just because the guy who deliberately damaged their brand new guitar is called Tom?

Uh, because consumers buy them? :confused:

It’s not my thing, and I’d never pay for that myself, but I’m certainly not going to be upset with the company because they make something that consumers will buy without a gun to their heads.
 
Uh, because consumers buy them? :confused:

It’s not my thing, and I’d never pay for that myself, but I’m certainly not going to be upset with the company because they make something that consumers will buy without a gun to their heads.

I take on board what you’re saying. In a way, from a purely business perspective it’s admirable that they’ve got themselves into the position to be able to operate the way they do. That being said, just because there are people willing to pay the asking price doesn’t mean that there isn’t some kind of ethical element to consider. I think it’s almost undeniable that they use the fact they’re pretty much the biggest name in the business to charge more for less.

To be clear, I don’t have a problem with relicing or anyone who’s into reliced guitars. Like you, it’s not my thing but I get that there’s a skill to it and it does look cool on the right guitar. Where I draw the line however, is upcharging for WHO does the relicing. I think that’s kinda nuts.
 
They never held much attraction for me. Every time I saw one that looked interesting I'd run my hand down the fretboard edge and it felt like a saw blade.

Nope.

That being said I own one Gibson, a Hoard Roberts Fusion III that I really like, but it's had a lot of work done to correct flaws. Now it's a nice guitar.
 
Before I discovered PRS, Gibson was always my favorite. A dream guitar when I was young. Les Paul's on every rock start growing up, so that had to be the ultimate guitar. I had a Les Paul Custom. It sounded fantastic, although I always thought the difference between the bridge and neck pickups was extremely large. Almost like you switched guitars... almost too jarring. But, it had that classic low mids LP grunt on the bridge, and a great creamy neck tone and played great in most areas of the neck.

But, I didn't get along with the neck shape. I didn't get along at all with the upper fret access, and I used to play up there a lot. It didn't stay in tune well. And, while I never weighed it, it was the heaviest guitar I've ever owned, and probably by far. I'm certain it was over 10 pounds. My Ibanez Artist never sounded as good, but had a great neck, was much more playable all over the neck, had great upper fret access, and weighed at least 2 lbs less. The Ibanez was better in every single way except tone. It was good, the Les Paul was great. In every other way, the Ibanez was great.

To add insult to injury, my mint Les Paul Custom sold at the worst time in history for value for them... I had it listed for MONTHS for $500 and it didn't sell. I finally made one of my worst gear trades ever in trading it for a Fender Lead II and a couple pedals. I wanted a Strat. The Lead II was not a strat, and at the time was worth about $400. Had it less than a year and sold it to pay for another guitar. Less than a year later, my Les Paul would have been worth at least $750. They got really popular again and values went up 50% in a year or two. Not that I'm bitter. LOL
 
I take on board what you’re saying. In a way, from a purely business perspective it’s admirable that they’ve got themselves into the position to be able to operate the way they do. That being said, just because there are people willing to pay the asking price doesn’t mean that there isn’t some kind of ethical element to consider. I think it’s almost undeniable that they use the fact they’re pretty much the biggest name in the business to charge more for less.

To be clear, I don’t have a problem with relicing or anyone who’s into reliced guitars. Like you, it’s not my thing but I get that there’s a skill to it and it does look cool on the right guitar. Where I draw the line however, is upcharging for WHO does the relicing. I think that’s kinda nuts.

How is that any different than walking into an art gallery and seeing two paintings of the same subject, but the price of one is much higher because of the desirability of the artist (as determined by critics and consumer driven supply and demand)? Fender does the same as Gibson. Ron Thorn’s guitars cost more than other master builders because…..he’s Ron Thorn. And consumers are willing to pay more for a Thorn built Fender. Why would Fender charge the same price for all master builders? Ethics? Nah. They’re capitalists.
 
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