Gibson (guitar company) files for bankruptcy

[danny la rouge]

I think your tiny hand is frozen.

That'll have him up screaming in his garret.

 

[SpookyFrank]

I must confess that when I see great sweeping statements like yours about a particular thing, my general assumption is that the person making the great sweeping statement knows nothing about what he's talking about. It rarely turns out to be wrong.

This in itself is a massive sweeping statement though. So if you're right, you're wrong and vice versa.

 

[existentialist]

Operas are still being written due to hideous levels of grant funding by the government and through the national lottery.

If it had to stand on its own two feet it would be dead dead dead.

Oh, get over yourself.

 

[Gromit]

Oh, get over yourself.

 

[Gromit]

View attachment 134277

ETA: Most of that pop music funding will be helping disenfranchised youth. Community projects in deprived areas. Unlike Opera which is primarily subsidising posh people.

 

[existentialist]

ETA: Most of that pop music funding will be helping disenfranchised youth. Community projects in deprived areas. Unlike Opera which is primarily subsidising posh people.

I'm not sure that list proves what you think it's proving.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Gibson guitar manufacturer files for bankruptcy


The Telegraph uses this picture and caption. Might explain the bankruptcy. (For non nerds: that's not a Gibson guitar).

View attachment 134225

TBF Danny, it's not the first time Gibson (or Fender) have filed. The '80s were very rough for them, due to Japanese imports hitting their QC stride.

 

[ViolentPanda]

thats pretty shocking - suggests some piss poor management. Gibson is an iconic name that pretty much sells it self - im amazed if there isn't still a big demand for the guitars. Surely someone will buy them out?

Fender did the "shitty instruments" bit when first taken over by CBS, who decided to re-engineer to save money. Fortunately, CBS soon saw the light, and upped the quality.

 

[alfajobrob]

I'm not sure that list proves what you think it's proving.

I'd prefer to see folk and brass more highly funded tbh.

 

[existentialist]

I'd prefer to see folk and brass more highly funded tbh.

I'd prefer to see a lot more funding for all of the arts. Although I'd probably start by massively increasing funding for music education in general. Including that bit of music that involves Gibson (and Fender, and all the others) guitars.

 

[Chilli.s]

Guitar lessons are one of the most popular at the kids school.

 

[alfajobrob]

Guitar lessons are one of the most popular at the kids school.

 

[xenon]

I have seven guitars, none of them are a Gibson. They’re just too dam expensive. That said that isn’t why they are losing money.

 

[friedaweed]

I'd take a Martin over a Gibson any day.

 

[existentialist]

I have a Les Paul copy - it's a Washburn. I think it's fairly shit, but since I am more shit as a guitar player than it is, I'll probably never know

I also have an Overwater bass, which I am sure isn't shit, but since I am also fairly shit as a bass player, the poor thing is probably wasted on me

 

[Chilli.s]

I have seven guitars too. Including the cheapest from the Gibson range, a Melody Maker, it is well made and has obvious craftsmanship in it.

 

[Spod]

Although my favourite guitar is a vintage Guild acoustic, I consider myself 'brand loyal' to Gibson. Note i've never done a blind taste test challenge to back this up.

 

[Wilf]

For the average player - a category I'm at the bottom end of - the differences between say an American strat, Mexican strat and a reasonable clone are minimal. Certainly, the blind(folded) tests you see online suggest that. There are problems with specific cheap guitars of build and set up, but more generally upgraded tuners and pickups do the trick.

 

[xenon]

It's rare to get a really shit guitar these days. Assuming it's setup correctly. You don't really get warped necks, badly fitted components in the big manufacturers budget ranges. But IME more expensive guitars generally sound better and feel nicer to play. Better quality, more dynamically interesting sounding pickups, nicer finishes, more sustain. I love my mid range Mex strat too though.

 

[rutabowa]

I am an amazing guitarist and I don't think ive ever even played an expensive electric, they're pretty pointless. Acoustic is a different matter though, I'd like a nice martin or old gibson.

 

[rutabowa]

I would take a gibson l1 or j45. But I bet they don't sound too different from my yamaha entry level one, now that it has aged 30 years. They probably play a bit better.

 

[rutabowa]

Ohh this seems quite a decent price
1927 Gibson L1 | Shem Creek Music Center

 

[Magnus McGinty]

Where do you pull these nonsenses from?
Guitar music isn't dead. It's far from dead. Overpriced guitars are dead. You can buy a Chibson for 1/10 the price of the real thing. Spend a few quid on it and it's as good or better than the original.
I'm waiting for you to tell us you saw this coming and sold your controlling share in Gibson last year, and that you invented the guitar, so you know more about it than everyone else.
Is anything that comes out of your mouth even remotely close to the truth?

I’m no expert but the pick-ups are probably more important to the sound than the type of wood used.

 

[Saul Goodman]

I’m no expert but the pick-ups are probably more important to the sound than the type of wood used.

Chibsons tend to use Epiphone pickups and the same wood as the guitar they're copied from, and they sound absolutely fine, but if you wanted to, you could replace the pickups, switches and wiring, then sent it to a luthier to fettle it, you'd have a guitar that stands you at much less than 1/4 the price of the original, and will sound and play at least as good, and most likely better.

 

[existentialist]

I’m no expert but the pick-ups are probably more important to the sound than the type of wood used.

The wood does make a difference, even on an electric. A more dense wood will tend to improve sustain, as the energy of the string isn't going into flapping (albeit microscopically) the structure of the guitar around as well as the string. It's like the thru-neck thing - a neck that doesn't have a join has advantages in terms of its reduced tendency to dampen the vibrations of the string, albeit with some disadvantages, like cost, ease of manufacturing, and the fact that a broken neck on a thru neck is a far bigger repair proposition than on a bolt-on.

But yeah, the pickups are likely to make the biggest differences...although even there I think there's a fair bit of "woo science" goes on.

 

[Magnus McGinty]

The wood does make a difference, even on an electric. A more dense wood will tend to improve sustain, as the energy of the string isn't going into flapping (albeit microscopically) the structure of the guitar around as well as the string. It's like the thru-neck thing - a neck that doesn't have a join has advantages in terms of its reduced tendency to dampen the vibrations of the string, albeit with some disadvantages, like cost, ease of manufacturing, and the fact that a broken neck on a thru neck is a far bigger repair proposition than on a bolt-on.

But yeah, the pickups are likely to make the biggest differences...although even there I think there's a fair bit of "woo science" goes on.

Yeah you’re right. The thing from whence sound comes is very important. Capturing sound is a different art. But in the grand scheme of things a shit guitar through good pickups will sound better than an amazing one through shit pickups was the point I was trying to make.

 

[existentialist]

Yeah you’re right. The thing from whence sound comes is very important. Capturing sound is a different art. But in the grand scheme of things a shit guitar through good pickups will sound better than an amazing one through shit pickups was the point I was trying to make.

And a fair point it is

 

[hipipol]

I know a man with 15 - yes, FIFTEEN! - 20s and 30s Gibson Ukes - yep they made em - suspect he's well happy as the price of his "toys" has jacked up. Personally had an SG back in ye day, never liked it, swapped for a Tele, much better. Gibson lost the plot buying Stanton, panicked by a rave culture that never reached Nashville. Still good strings mind......