This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply. The Nashville Post is reporting that the Gibson Guitar Company is in very bad financial shape: “This year is critical and they are running out of time — rapidly,” said Cassidy, who last summer downgraded Gibson’s debt rating. “And if this ends in bankruptcy, he will give up the entire company.” Expand - View Original
Wow. Before reading this i put it down to a company getting lazy and continuously modifying what was perfection in the 70's in the most uneconomical way. I havent played any gibsons made after 2006 but i was toying with picking up a new les paul jr as they are too expensive on the used market and naer enough impossible to find. May have to rethink that idea.
Looks like the people in charge have been running them into the ground. I hope the guitar aspect of the company can be sold off to someone who can make it work again. This whole nonsense of trying to turn a heritage guitar brand into a tech company is ridiculous.
Not surprising. Fender guitars are better in every way. The last SG I bought didn't even have a properly cut nut. Quality control is down big time at Gibson.
Fender is shitting all over Gibson in every way in recent years. More affordable, they take their customers' feedback into account, they have their Mod Shop now, they've been trying new things without straying too far from what made them great in the first place and their Squier line has been improving a lot over the last 5 or 6 years. I have a 2008 Gibson SG and I love it, but anything I've tried out from them in recent years I haven't been impressed with, plus their QC has been lacking for the last year or 2. I second the post above hoping that it doesn't affect Epiphone's production because they've continued to put out great, affordable alternatives.
the worrying thing is that the qc issues are hardly likely to go away with the financial woes. It'll likely get worse as the company cuts costs to survive. I cant say a bad thing about fenders having owned a fair few and grown up with them. My playing style just dictates something that feels a bit more robust and can be attacked more. I know some people will say you can do that with fenders but it just doesnt feel good to me. Gues i better start looking elsewhere. No doubt if gibson keeps heading this way there is definitely a gap opening up in the market.
On another note, if any other company ends up buying out Gibson, it should be Ibanez out of sheer irony/pettiness haha
So long as we can confirm they will not be plagued by the same quality issues. Ive wanted a sheraton pro for a while and inised to play annincredible high end epi sg. but really have my heart set on a les paul jr and sadly epiphones versions doesnt cut the mustard. Ive started revisiing the idea of a reverend guitar again.
Yeah, I’m hoping that Reverend starts getting more of a push in the guitar market now. Their Sensei line is so cool. The Sheraton Pro is awesome though. I have a 2008 Sheraton II and it’s a blast to play. It’s funny I was just looking at an Epi LP Jr. someone was selling on Craigslist. He was upgraded the pots and caps though and put a seymour duncan Phat Cat p90 in it though.