Anybody like Gibson?

I heard about this from one of the salesmen at my local music store. It is sad to see. I don't know the facts that led up to this, but part of me thinks why couldn't they have given those guitar away to kids who want to learn to play but can't afford a guitar? Could have made a lot of kids happy.

I do have an LP Standard. Plays great but I'd really like to get some different pickups for it. Fact is I played it yesterday.

But I do prefer my Vela.
 
I think I like all guitars, regardless of brand.....I have a strange emotional attachment to them, I think. I just find that PRS makes the best guitars for me to create the music that inspires me and they do it with consistent reliability.

With that, watching guitars get destroyed, regardless of brand, makes me a little sad.
 
I had a Custom Shop 335 maybe a dozen years ago. It played well and sounded good. And I still have a '65 SG Special that's now out in LA with my son.

I only had the 335 for a month before selling it. It wasn't the guitar for me, but certainly is for a lot of other people. The SG lasted a very long time, but in truth, was never 'all that' as a guitar. My son loves it for some reason. Go figure.

Point is, 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.
 
Haha I do love Gibson (well some Gibsons) but I love PRS more now. I don't know whether it's because I played (only) an Epiphone Les Paul for my first 10 years of playing, but nothing feels more home than a good Gibson Les Paul. Home is not necessarily perfect but it is waht it is. That said, after 5 years of PRSs, the PRS (or Core USA carved top double cut) shape is becoming more and more familiar to the point that it is becoming home as well. My first 2008 Matteo Blue 513, which is a beast of a heavy guitar, and a particularly thick feeling example of a wide fat neck, is the PRS that feels most home to me
 
I had a Custom Shop 335 maybe a dozen years ago. It played well and sounded good. And I still have a '65 SG Special that's now out in LA with my son.

I only had the 335 for a month before selling it. It wasn't the guitar for me, but certainly is for a lot of other people. The SG lasted a very long time, but in truth, was never 'all that' as a guitar. My son loves it for some reason. Go figure.

Point is, 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.
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.
 
I think it's way more than a bit sad, it's idiocy. I don't care what is wrong with those guitars, they could have donated them to high schools or children who can't afford a guitar. I didn't shake my head in disgust the first time I saw that, I got mad.
Beat me to it. Gross mismanagement.
 
Beat me to it. Gross mismanagement.

And even grosser publicity stunt that should have had much bigger repercussions. I'd NEVER buy another guitar from Gibson after seeing that. And, I know the BS claims they made about bad software, unsalvageable, robot tuners, blah blah BS! That was all BS response for when people started bashing them for not just donating them to childrens music programs.
 
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And even grosser publicity stunt that should have had much bigger repercussions. I'd NEVER buy another guitar from Gibson after seeing that. And, I know the BS claims they made about bad software, unsalvageable, robot tuners, blah blah BS! That was all made up BS for when people started bashing them for not just donating them to childrens music programs.
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.
 
I tried to like Gibsons. As a young teen, I adored the Les Paul shape, and when I decided to finally learn in my early 20s I thought a Les Paul would be the guitar for me. I think I've owned 8 Les Pauls, from an Epi through an R7 hitting most points in between. They're just not my guitar. I found PRS, and I was home.

That said, my first Les Paul was a 94-ish Studio in Wine red, and that one was magical. A buddy and I hit every music store within a one-hour drive of my home in CT at the time, and played EVERY Studio we could find. Finally found that one at Eastcoast Music Mall in Danbury, CT - at the time, owned by the infamous Ed Roman. I took the guitar to Ed and said I'd take it. He told me someone else had been playing it before I came in and was coming back, but he'd get me a fresh one from the back. I said "I'm the guy standing here with cash in hand, and I want this one or none. Are you willing to risk the other guy not coming back?". He was not willing to risk it, and I left with that guitar. Knowing the stories of Ed, I suspect he knew that one was great and just wanted to keep it on the wall for as long as possible while selling others from the back. I bought my first Custom 24 from Ed as well. It was much later that I learned of his reputation...

A couple years later the buddy that went shopping with me REALLY wanted a Les Paul, and I was playing my first Custom 24 by then, so I sold it to him under market value. It's still his number one.
 
I tried to like Gibsons. As a young teen, I adored the Les Paul shape, and when I decided to finally learn in my early 20s I thought a Les Paul would be the guitar for me. I think I've owned 8 Les Pauls, from an Epi through an R7 hitting most points in between. They're just not my guitar. I found PRS, and I was home.

That said, my first Les Paul was a 94-ish Studio in Wine red, and that one was magical. A buddy and I hit every music store within a one-hour drive of my home in CT at the time, and played EVERY Studio we could find. Finally found that one at Eastcoast Music Mall in Danbury, CT - at the time, owned by the infamous Ed Roman. I took the guitar to Ed and said I'd take it. He told me someone else had been playing it before I came in and was coming back, but he'd get me a fresh one from the back. I said "I'm the guy standing here with cash in hand, and I want this one or none. Are you willing to risk the other guy not coming back?". He was not willing to risk it, and I left with that guitar. Knowing the stories of Ed, I suspect he knew that one was great and just wanted to keep it on the wall for as long as possible while selling others from the back. I bought my first Custom 24 from Ed as well. It was much later that I learned of his reputation...

A couple years later the buddy that went shopping with me REALLY wanted a Les Paul, and I was playing my first Custom 24 by then, so I sold it to him under market value. It's still his number one.
Ed Roman sold me my first PRS using some cash that I won at Donald Trump’s casino while playing Blackjack in Atlantic City.
True story.
 
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