gush
Where is that speedo pic
I don't care what G or F does, I'm quite happy with my prs stable
Good food for thought - Maybe you can pass on to the new management team.I am also a member of the Gibson forum, and I read what they say of PRS guitars.
Most of the reaction to the new management there is a general bitchiness about price hikes.
I joined the Gibson forum in 2015 and could barely believe the depth of vitriolic hated of the 2015 Nashville models.
It was proof that the Gibson faithful will not permit Gibson to move beyond 1959.
I would like to see Gibson strengthen their headstocks by:
1/ replacing the one piece neck/headstock with a scarf joint. They already use this on certain ES models.
2/ Incorporate a volute.
3/ Use maple necks rather than mahogany necks (My ES-339 Studio has a maple neck with a heat treated maple fingerboard).
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Redesigned headstocks with a straight string path (like PRS).
Abandon forever nitro finishes. Its filthy stuff that is unfit for purpose. Oil or poly finishes are fine.
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I hope Gibson continue the HP models. I would like an adjustable titanium nut on all my guitars.
Gibson should make what they are best known for and quit trying to be innovative. Gibson sucks at innovation.
Looking at Fender's long weird history and Gibson's more recent history of weirdness (including how they have been ripping of ideas from PRS), this all reaffirms in my own mind that of "The Big Three", PRS is now number 1. Gibson is #2 and Fender is #3.
My observations and mine only.
When it comes to excellence in pure guitar tone sans pickups, and this is something you can hear playing the guitar unplugged, I’ve found the Gibson Custom Shop reissue LP’s to be top of the charts. As with 11top my experience of this excellence lay with 2013 and later guitars. The consistency Gibson achieve in this regard is remarkable. It is their biggest strength, and what a strength to have. I’m a fan. I own several of them.
Their biggest limitation however, is that carefully cultivated reverence to that “50’s golden era”. While it has undeniably brought success I feel it also hems in their design and product line variability. I feel I cannot commit to any Les Paul that has a say, Northen Lights style stain, because I’ve been conditioned to feel that is not “traditional”. Problem is, how many lemon bursts and tobacco bursts of the same body platform can I buy before feeling they’re all the same? Cue the plethora of fancy names like “Mojave burst”, “Desert burst” etc for what are essentially the same colors.
Whereas a brand like PRS, they do not have that backup from Jimmy Page, but at the same time look at how they are able to vary their lines in so many ways, and make each variation appealing, for instance their many models and their PS program. You could have 50 PRS doublecut guitars and not feel you have 50 of the same. That’s a remarkable achievement.
Cue programmes like Gibson’s M2M. These are all efforts to break out of that shackle. I wish them well and success in doing so. Innovation is never something Gibson will fare well in because it’s the antithesis of their very own nurtured branding point - tradition. They should conserve resources at innovation, double down on that traditional branding, continue what they were doing before the robot tuners. They should brand on tone. Cos perhaps, this is as good as it gets for them. Get into smart phones if you want spectacular sales.
Till such time when people forget the 50’s rock genre. I hope that never happens!
When there's always a step above, you're always a step below. It just feels like that, I don't like that feeling.
Does anyone have any thoughts (not feelings) on the management's decision in the last few years? The 2015 super wide neck? Robot tuners?
When I got an R9 I thought that I finally made it. I’d spent years climbing my way up from an Epiphone to a used Gibson to a better Gibson, wanting the best Les Paul I could possibly afford. Then once I got there I found out that there were people who were buying two or three at a time and shipping them to Historic Makeovers.... I had no interest in going down that road but it made me realize that you’ll never keep up with the Jones.
I’m kind of the same way as you with PRS. I don’t feel like my Core is lacking because it’s not PS. I also don’t feel like my S2 is lacking because it’s not Core.
Gibson is different. When I pick up a USA Standard I can tell it’s not Custom Shop. Gibson USA doesn’t feel like they’re making the best guitar possible for that price-point.
When I pick up a PRS SE I can tell it’s no Core, but it still feels like the best guitar possible for the money, and there’s a lot of value in that.
Gibson is different. When I pick up a USA Standard I can tell it’s not Custom Shop. Gibson USA doesn’t feel like they’re making the best guitar possible for that price-point.
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The adjustable nut is superb. I already said I'd like them on all my guitars. They made it from the wrong material (brass) so we all got titanium replacements later.