Gibson files for bankruptcy

gibson.jpg
 
Kids are now too lazy to learn how to play guitar? Do we blame Guitar Hero?
 
I'm surprised that this didn't happen sooner. Guitars made by Gibson have been way too expensive for way too many years. Even their "junior" Les Pauls commanded a lot more money than they were worth, mainly because you were buying "the name" on the headstock (plus I've read that the quality on the juniors hasn't been that great in the last few years). They should have followed Fender's example of creating a low-end line (made in Mexico Strats and Teles).

Kids are now too lazy to learn how to play guitar? Do we blame Guitar Hero?

I don't think that kids are so much too lazy to learn, but that popular music nowadays doesn't emphasize the guitar as much as it did in years past. Plus, a lot of music is computer generated, so you learn an app and you can master your instrument, more or less.

Plus, how many kids are going to drop $3,000+ on a Les Paul? Cheap guitars used to have a bad rap in years past but not so much anymore. A lot of low-end guitars coming out of Mexico, Indonesia and Korea are of really good quality. Chinese-made guitars can be hit or miss, but you can a good one. I've got a Korean-made Epiphone Les Paul that I bought in 1996 that plays great (once I swapped out the pick-ups). And I have two G&L Indonesian-made guitars I bought in the last few years, both play great.

You can start kids out really cheap with low-end Squier and a small amp for about a hundred bucks. If they really get interested, then invest in something a little better; $700-$800 will get you a fine axe. If you're looking to play professionally, then start looking at the high-end guitars, but even then, I always preferred playability over a fancy logo. If it plays good and sounds better, that's all that matters.
 
Today I talked with this new mechanic. Checking on the progress of this little car I got a sweet deal on. Fucker can fix anything.

Anyway, he's starting out on his own - trying to have his own auto shop.

And he disappears to answer a call in his makeshift office. Suddenly I hear a guitar playing and this fucker can sing country like nobody's busy. There's a little group of people appearing 1 by 1 out of nowhere. And he entertains us for a while. Him and his guitar in a fold up chair in a shitty old building he's been working on when he's not fixing stuff.

Reminds me a little of Gibson.
 
people could always just buy a heritage guitar.

from kalamazoo.

the original home of gibson.

made in their old factory.

just saying.
 
I heard about it this morning. The rumors have been floating for a while. I believe they're going for protection to stay afloat. I think they way they bought all those floundering brands was kind of ridiculous. ITs sad to think of no Gibson.

I'm surprised that this didn't happen sooner. Guitars made by Gibson have been way too expensive for way too many years. Even their "junior" Les Pauls commanded a lot more money than they were worth, mainly because you were buying "the name" on the headstock (plus I've read that the quality on the juniors hasn't been that great in the last few years). They should have followed Fender's example of creating a low-end line (made in Mexico Strats and Teles).



I don't think that kids are so much too lazy to learn, but that popular music nowadays doesn't emphasize the guitar as much as it did in years past. Plus, a lot of music is computer generated, so you learn an app and you can master your instrument, more or less.

Plus, how many kids are going to drop $3,000+ on a Les Paul? Cheap guitars used to have a bad rap in years past but not so much anymore. A lot of low-end guitars coming out of Mexico, Indonesia and Korea are of really good quality. Chinese-made guitars can be hit or miss, but you can a good one. I've got a Korean-made Epiphone Les Paul that I bought in 1996 that plays great (once I swapped out the pick-ups). And I have two G&L Indonesian-made guitars I bought in the last few years, both play great.

You can start kids out really cheap with low-end Squier and a small amp for about a hundred bucks. If they really get interested, then invest in something a little better; $700-$800 will get you a fine axe. If you're looking to play professionally, then start looking at the high-end guitars, but even then, I always preferred playability over a fancy logo. If it plays good and sounds better, that's all that matters.
There's a lot of truth in this. There are a lot of really good instruments for short money these days. That said, a Real Les Paul can be something special. Gibson acoustics are also really great.

Make way for the resurgence of the hurdy-gurdy, hurdy-gurdy.
Don't get me started...
 
indeed. and i skimmed nn's post, anyway. i see now he actually read the article. perhaps i shouldn't comment while listening to funny shit.
 
There's a lot of truth in this. There are a lot of really good instruments for short money these days. That said, a Real Les Paul can be something special. Gibson acoustics are also really great.

Yea but you can't run a bidnizz of that scale on special high end stuff.

Gotta have that bread and butter too and Epiphone is "the cheap knock off gibson" and everyone knows it.

They should just shit can Epi and do cheap Gibson.

Like a Mexi-caster or Korean PRS. Looks great, doesn't stand out like "the cheap version" like epi's do.

1,000 dollar Gibson (made in NOT the USA) Les Pauls would sell ALL DAY.
 
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It's all my fault. My acoustic is Martin, not Gibson, and my Les Paul is a Korean clone. The Gibson mandola was out of my price range. So it's my fault -- and the corporates at Gibson who thought instruments were passe and electronics were the future. Silly boys.
 
I can't think about Gibsons without thinking about the time I almost bought one.

I had my first real job, and had saved for a few months, putting a dent in my student loans, and saving some money. And I was tired of the guitars I had, and went to a local music store, walking distance from my apartment, to buy a Gibson Les Paul with a transparent wine red finish.

The guitar sounded nice through the amps I played at the store - a Roland JC120 and a Marshall something-or-other. And it was beautiful. But I couldn't get over the $2100 price tag.

I tried to justify it to myself a few dozen ways - I was young, I was earning good money, I had few obligations. But, I couldn't shake the thought that I had already mostly turned my back on rock and roll stardom (and let's be honest, I was good but not great, and was never destined to become a household name beyond, or possibly even within, the American Melodic Death Metal scene)

To stall, I ran home, and came back with my two beater guitars - a worn out Fender Squire with humbuckers and a Korean ESP, as well as my work horse amp, a Laney combo.

The Gibson sounded better through my Laney than either of my two guitars that I was trading in, but did it sound $2100 better? And, for that matter, the neck joint felt weird and cumbersome in my hand. I would probably get used to it, but still...

And while I was stalling, trying to talk reason into my brain, I saw a Strat shaped guitar made by a non-fender company (I'm not gonna name drop the brand here). It had a quilted maple top, and a neck-thru design, which I had never played before. I plugged it in, and began playing the opening riff to Slayer's 'War Ensemble.'

And Holy Hell, did it feel right. And the feel of the neck-thru construction! The sustain! I A/B'd it against the Gibson, and found there was no discernable difference in tone. And the price tag on this 2nd guitar was $800.

I asked the owner of the store to tell me about the brand, and he shrugged. "They started as a custom shop who did contract work for Fender back in the day. Their quality control isn't great, so one off their line may sound better than the next.

"Still, with that guitar, when you started playing that Slayer song, it sounded pretty awesome."

I traded my two guitars in for it almost immediately, and the owner and I called the deal square.

I still have that guitar, and while I have added other guitars, it is still my go-to, workhorse guitar.

But I never bought a Gibson. And while I could afford it, certainly more easily now than when I was first out of school, a thought occurred to me that afternoon, as I was jamming in my apartment with my new guitar through my Laney combo: "Why the fuck would anyone - anyone who is not already rich - pay three times the cost of this, just to have a guitar with a fancy name and have to learn around an awkward neck joint?"

Fifteen years later, I have no regrets as far as guitars are concerned, and I still feel the same way. After that day, I decided the that the Gibson brand was been nothing but fashion for the disaffected and pretentious.
 
It started in 2013, when Obama raided them

For political reasons

https://www.google.com/search?q=gib.....69i57j0l2.6189j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson
FWS raids & Lacey Act violation

my bold

Gibson's factories were raided in 2009 and 2011 by agents of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). In November 2009 authorities found illegally imported ebony wood from Madagascar.[34][35] A second raid was conducted in August 2011,[34] during which the FWS seized wood imports from India that had been mislabeled on the US Customs declaration.[36][37] Gibson Guitar Corp. filed a motion in January 2011 to recover seized materials and overturn the charges, which was denied by the court.[38][39]

The United States Department of Justice found emails from 2008 and 2009 in which Gibson employees discussed the "gray market" nature of the ebony wood available from a German wood dealer—who obtained it from a supplier in Madagascar—as well as plans to obtain the wood. It filed a civil proceeding in June 2011,[37][40][41] the first such case under the amended Lacey Act, which requires importing companies to purchase legally harvested wood and follow the environmental laws of the producing countries regardless of corruption or lack of enforcement.[41] Gibson argued in a statement the following day that authorities were "bullying Gibson without filing charges" and denied any wrongdoing.[36][42] Arguing against the federal regulations and claiming that the move threatened jobs, Republicans and tea party members spoke out against the raids and supported Juszkiewicz.[43]

The case was settled on August 6, 2012, with Gibson admitting to violating the Lacey Act and agreeing to pay a fine of $300,000 in addition to a $50,000 community payment. Gibson also forfeited the wood seized in the raids, which was valued at roughly the same amount as the settlement.[44][45] However, in a subsequent statement Gibson maintained its innocence with Juszkiewicz claiming that "Gibson was inappropriately targeted" and that the government raids were "so outrageous and overreaching as to deserve further Congressional investigation." Juszkiewicz continued to state, "We felt compelled to settle as the costs of proving our case at trial would have cost millions of dollars and taken a very long time to resolve."[46]

The case raised concerns for musicians who lack documentation of vintage instruments made of traditional, non-sustainable materials.[47][48] However, officials from the Justice Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have stated that musicians who unknowingly possess instruments made from illegal wood would not be treated as criminals.[49]

Gibson was able to reclaim some wood stock which was confiscated during the raids,[50] and produced a new series of guitar marketed to draw attention to the raids and seizures.[51]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_logging_in_Madagascar
Europe and the United States

Although Chinese demand constitutes the vast majority of the demand for Malagasy rosewood and other precious tropical woods, they are still popular in Europe and North America—particularly rosewood.[10] Between January and April 2009, approximately 1.5% of the wood harvested in the SAVA Region and exported from Vohémar made its way directly to Europe in semi-finished form for the production of musical instruments and craft furniture. The tree species in these shipments consisted mostly of ebony, palissandre, faho, and andrapotsy.[2] In some cases, the wood is shipped to China, where it is crafted into products that are eventually sold in the United States and Europe as high-end goods.[4] Given the lack of documentation, many importers do not know the species of rosewood used or the country of origin, making it difficult for North American and European companies to filter out illegal products.[10]

Steps are being made to encumber the illegal timber trade by Western countries.[4] In one such instance, federal agents from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service raided Gibson Guitar Corporation's Massman Road manufacturing facility on November 17, 2009 and reportedly confiscated wood, guitars, computers, and boxes of files on the grounds of a possible violation of the Lacey Act,[28] which holds U.S. companies to the environmental laws of foreign countries.[4] Reportedly, the company was involved in plans to ship wood from Madagascar to the United States through Germany. Charges have not been filed, and Gibson Guitar released a statement that it was cooperating fully with the investigation.[28] The day following the raid, CEO Henry Juszkiewicz took a leave of absence from the board of the Rainforest Alliance.[29] Gibson Guitar holds a chain-of-custody certification from the Rainforest Alliance, however wood from Madagascar is not covered under that certificate.[28]

Another company that has been identified as having ties to the illegal timber trade in Madagascar is Flavour Handling LLC. Reports show that Jeannot Ranjanoro, one of Madagascar's most noteworthy timber traffickers, exports rosewood under this Delaware-based corporation. If the allegations are true, they may come under investigation under the Lacey Act and face prosecution.[13]
 
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