There’s no “may be” they are going down the tubes. They made a bad decision making guitar center & musicians friend exclusive sellers & cutting out small local stores. Who wants to pay 3-4 grand for a guitar that comes with high frets & crappy intonation. If I’m paying that much it should be pro quality.
Old thread but I found more proof of Gibson's ripoff mentality. We're talking a company that tells you glue ruins sustain. Yet they'll sell you a mahogany body with a maple top glued onto it. Anyway. i checked out a vid on capacitors. A very long winded vid. This is the part about Gibson's rip off.
Gibson guitars is caught up in their own mess. They still want to cater to the few who hold on to the belief that one slab of the most expensive wood is what makes a guitar sound great. As far as I'm concerned, and I really do love the feel of a Gibson Les Paul, they deserve to go under. Like al the companies before them that held onto gimmicks to make a buck.
Actually, I think it more like pricing themselves out of business, at what point does the cost of a Gibson out-way the quality of the instrument compared to the rest of it's competitors. I understand the need for corporations to profit and to maintain sustainability, but there comes a point when stockholders demand to much, I say....let-em sink. Hopefully someone within the organization whom has integrity based on the art of producing a fine instrument in the name of music, will re-invent the company, and maybe even keep it a smaller entity, but that's just wishful thinking. And when these companies price their product where only those people who don't have to consider cost can afford them, they lost their target consumer.
What's worse is when they make an inferior product and call it an economy instrument with their name on it, just destroys their reputation and integrity, a good example is Martin with their new X-Series guitars, made of veneer covered compressed wood, wow, I'd rather own a China made clone made of all wood, it's the only Martin I see turning up in pawn shops on a regular basis, I understand they sound decent when new, but humidity and temperature changes is hell on them. Better off with an older model.
Here's an statement from a Luthier I found online, and his statement is typical of many
"
To start things off I would like to point out that I am a luthier and I make guitars for a living and I fix guitars for a living.
The martin X series are made of material that is similar to cheap counter tops. The material they use is a step down from plywood. It falls apart with humidity changes and with temperature changes because both of those things cause the glue to dissolve. Martin charges high prices for a guitar that is very difficult to keep sounding nice and the guitar is cheaper to construct than a guitar made from plywood."
Paul Craig > Richard DeanFebruary 27, 2018 at 4:08pm
Yeah the Chinese made guitars used to have bad quality craftsmanship, hardware and materials. Not anymore. The Epiphone(Gibson owned made in China) used to be just that, but now their Pro model line are comparable to any Gibson for 1/3rd the price.
It sounds like most of the industry is suffering, mostly due to a lack of new (young) people wanting to play guitar. Nobody mainstream to emulate these days I guess.
That is a problem, but the real problem for Gibson is management and sister companies that are dragging the parent company down.
Steinway Piano is one such company. I heard on another forum that Steinway only sold 6 pianos in 2016. Don't know if that's true, but that would kill any company.
Replies
There’s no “may be” they are going down the tubes. They made a bad decision making guitar center & musicians friend exclusive sellers & cutting out small local stores. Who wants to pay 3-4 grand for a guitar that comes with high frets & crappy intonation. If I’m paying that much it should be pro quality.
Old thread but I found more proof of Gibson's ripoff mentality. We're talking a company that tells you glue ruins sustain. Yet they'll sell you a mahogany body with a maple top glued onto it. Anyway. i checked out a vid on capacitors. A very long winded vid. This is the part about Gibson's rip off.
Gibson's $112.00 ripoff caps.
The more you know.
NSFW. There is some swearing.
Gibson guitars is caught up in their own mess. They still want to cater to the few who hold on to the belief that one slab of the most expensive wood is what makes a guitar sound great. As far as I'm concerned, and I really do love the feel of a Gibson Les Paul, they deserve to go under. Like al the companies before them that held onto gimmicks to make a buck.
Actually, I think it more like pricing themselves out of business, at what point does the cost of a Gibson out-way the quality of the instrument compared to the rest of it's competitors. I understand the need for corporations to profit and to maintain sustainability, but there comes a point when stockholders demand to much, I say....let-em sink. Hopefully someone within the organization whom has integrity based on the art of producing a fine instrument in the name of music, will re-invent the company, and maybe even keep it a smaller entity, but that's just wishful thinking. And when these companies price their product where only those people who don't have to consider cost can afford them, they lost their target consumer.
What's worse is when they make an inferior product and call it an economy instrument with their name on it, just destroys their reputation and integrity, a good example is Martin with their new X-Series guitars, made of veneer covered compressed wood, wow, I'd rather own a China made clone made of all wood, it's the only Martin I see turning up in pawn shops on a regular basis, I understand they sound decent when new, but humidity and temperature changes is hell on them. Better off with an older model.
Here's an statement from a Luthier I found online, and his statement is typical of many
"
To start things off I would like to point out that I am a luthier and I make guitars for a living and I fix guitars for a living.
The martin X series are made of material that is similar to cheap counter tops. The material they use is a step down from plywood. It falls apart with humidity changes and with temperature changes because both of those things cause the glue to dissolve. Martin charges high prices for a guitar that is very difficult to keep sounding nice and the guitar is cheaper to construct than a guitar made from plywood."
Yeah the Chinese made guitars used to have bad quality craftsmanship, hardware and materials. Not anymore. The Epiphone(Gibson owned made in China) used to be just that, but now their Pro model line are comparable to any Gibson for 1/3rd the price.
It sounds like most of the industry is suffering, mostly due to a lack of new (young) people wanting to play guitar. Nobody mainstream to emulate these days I guess.
That is a problem, but the real problem for Gibson is management and sister companies that are dragging the parent company down.
Steinway Piano is one such company. I heard on another forum that Steinway only sold 6 pianos in 2016. Don't know if that's true, but that would kill any company.
Old joke:
Good one, Jim.
I just recently started hearing about this. Sad, but what I read is that it is true. I have owned 2 Gibsons and wish I still had at least one.
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