Gibson files Chapter 11

[dubkitty]

Restructuring $500 million of debt. Control of stock passes to equity partners from Henry et.al; Henry on 1-year consultant agreement.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... r-business

[infamousalien]

Not surprising. Especially seeing a lot of their recent stuff like the neon Les Pauls with floyd roses and the Firebird X. Not to mention the ridiculous prices on the high end stuff. I mean really how many people have $7-10k to drop on a guitar? Hopefully it works out in the end. I might be in the minority here on ILF but I love Gibsons. My main guitar for 22 years has been a SG standard.

[calfzilla]

I'm still kind of baffled by raising the price on the studio just to add binding to the neck... Studios are supposed to be affordable; don't make them less affordable.

[Chankgeez]

I heard a rumor that Gibson are sellin' all their pedals and goin' modular.

[PeteeBee]

I heard a rumor that Gibson are sellin' all their pedals and goin' modular.

lol

It's weird that they can't just follow the formula that Fender figured out. I know this has been discussed a bunch elsewhere, but it seems like Fender has nailed all the essential price categories and most of the general feature sets that people want. Gibson isn't even close, and I say that as someone who misses my SG all the time and loves my epiphone dot. Upper management just has to go, it seems relatively easy to breathe fresh ideas in (and by that I mean "stop with all the fresh ideas, just make great LPs and SGs at various price points) and everything would be awesome.

[Lurker13]

I heard a rumor that Gibson are sellin' all their pedals and goin' modular.

Gibson can't afford to go modular.

[Confuzzled]

I've read stories about the president of that company being really nasty to his employees. Also didn't they have an issue with the Gov't a few years back about imported wood?

[Lurker13]

Not surprising. Especially seeing a lot of their recent stuff like the neon Les Pauls with floyd roses and the Firebird X. Not to mention the ridiculous prices on the high end stuff. I mean really how many people have $7-10k to drop on a guitar? Hopefully it works out in the end. I might be in the minority here on ILF but I love Gibsons. My main guitar for 22 years has been a SG standard.

I agree, Gibson has been overpricing their guitars for a long time. There is only so much value in a brand name, and they have been milking theirs far too long.

And I, too, love my SG standard.

[BetterOffShred]

I also like Gibson guitars, but I'll totally concede they are super over priced as a generalization. They just need to quit making hideous shit as mentioned above and try to stay with what they are good at, also mentioned above. It kind of blows my mind..

The wood thing is kind of strange. I know there were FBI raids and everything, but never heard the outcome. I know the laws for lumber can be fairly crippling to businesses as far as burden of proof etc..

[jrfox92]

There have been hourly posts on Facebook about this and it's driving me crazy.

It's as if no one expected this despite the fact that Gibson/music news sites practically broadcasted that this would be happening after the New Year.

[friendship]

Restructuring $500 million of debt. Control of stock passes to equity partners from Henry et.al; Henry on 1-year consultant agreement.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... r-business

So cool that once you reach a certain stratum of corporate administration you can run a company into the ground and still land a cozy “consultant” gig instead of being thrown out onto the street. I bet they give him a nice severance too.

This bankruptcy has been a long time coming, it’s what happens when orders are coming from an insular, self-congratulatory corporate culture completely out of touch with the market they’re ostensibly selling to. Their worsening guitars is just one of the symptoms of their vapid, cynical Boomer ethos.

[Gone Fission]

Restructuring $500 million of debt. Control of stock passes to equity partners from Henry et.al; Henry on 1-year consultant agreement.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... r-business

So cool that once you reach a certain stratum of corporate administration you can run a company into the ground and still land a cozy “consultant” gig instead of being thrown out onto the street. I bet they give him a nice severance too.

This bankruptcy has been a long time coming, it’s what happens when orders are coming from an insular, self-congratulatory corporate culture completely out of touch with the market they’re ostensibly selling to. Their worsening guitars is just one of the symptoms of their vapid, cynical Boomer ethos.

[adamajah]

Gibbons needs to go Zen

[MrNovember]

There have been hourly posts on Facebook about this and it's driving me crazy.

It's as if no one expected this despite the fact that Gibson/music news sites practically broadcasted that this would be happening after the New Year.

Yeah I really didn't think this was new or surprising news. I actually thought it already happened last year, but I guess I just saw the articles predicting it

stop with all the fresh ideas, just make great LPs and SGs at various price points and everything would be awesome

That would be amazing. I would totally buy a reasonably priced LP. I've always been attracted to them, but other than owning an Epiphone for awhile, I've never been able to afford one. I don't know why I sold that Epiphone; that was actually a really awesome guitar and I kind of wish I still had it

[gnomethrone]

The Hard Times headline:
"Gibson Execs Consider Selling a Few Guitars to Get Through Rough Patch"

from the article:
"At press time, Epiphone has announced they are filing a similar, but cheaper “Chapter 10” version of bankruptcy."

https://thehardtimes.net/music/gibson-e ... ugh-patch/