Gibson Guitar is a Remarkably Unpopular Company

Ben Randolph

Ben Randolph

Power User
Sad but true state of affairs for Gibson, the iconic guitar company. As much as I love their products, Gibson needs a change of leadership.

I'm lucky my SG is as nice as it is. I bought it prior to the switch to circuit boards. It's a 10 year old Custom Shop model. I have zero desire to buy a new Gibson product, especially with the decisions they've been making lately.

Things such as forcing the robot tuners, the circuit boards, etc. are bad decisions. Forcing anything on creative customers is not a good idea (reminds me of a fruit-named computer company ;-)

Gibson Guitar Is a Remarkably Unpopular Company
 
Thank you for this. I have an '81 LP Custom which I love. When I was in the market for a semi-hollow, I didn't consider Gibson simply based on cost. After reading this, I'm even more glad I didn't go with them.
 
It seems though that all the circuit boards and stuff are on the Standard models. I have a Les Paul Standard with the circuit board, and then a SG 61 reissue and Les Paul Axcess without any of that. From a business point of view, it makes total sense to to me to build something the best you can on masse in the most consistent manner possible, and limit the amount of options you offer (like the previously referred to most profitable company in the world). And then you have a custom shop where you built higher end models and where you offer more choices to your customers.
 
Johan Allard said:
It seems though that all the circuit boards and stuff are on the Standard models. I have a Les Paul Standard with the circuit board, and then a SG 61 reissue and Les Paul Axcess without any of that. From a business point of view, it makes total sense to to me to build something the best you can on masse in the most consistent manner possible, and limit the amount of options you offer (like the previously referred to most profitable company in the world). And then you have a custom shop where you built higher end models and where you offer more choices to your customers.
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I see your point. I know my Godin 5th Ave Jazz has a circuit boards inside of it. But the fact remains that lots of Gibson customers love to swap out the stock electronics for aftermarket offerings, given the proliferation of boutique pup winders out there nowadays. It seems this new electronics scheme would result in plenty of miffed customers once they decide to drop a set of new pups in their LP.

I'm not a fan of the standard robot tuners. I can see them as an option for folks who want them, but they look like things that you'll have to rip out anyway when they break inside of the first few years of ownership. It's not like we haven't already been tuning our guitars ourselves just fine.

I don't know, Gibson was at one point the best guitar maker in the world. I think they still live off that reputation even though it's not deserved. Nowadays, you can get a good Gibson by buying a Heritage made by the people that made some of the great Gibsons in Kalamazoo.
 
my 2013 LP Traditional is a fantastic instrument...outside of the neck pup being a bit muddy for my tastes i wouldn't change a single thing.
 
Ben Randolph said:
I see your point. I know my Godin 5th Ave Jazz has a circuit boards inside of it. But the fact remains that lots of Gibson customers love to swap out the stock electronics for aftermarket offerings, given the proliferation of boutique pup winders out there nowadays. It seems this new electronics scheme would result in plenty of miffed customers once they decide to drop a set of new pups in their LP.

I'm not a fan of the standard robot tuners. I can see them as an option for folks who want them, but they look like things that you'll have to rip out anyway when they break inside of the first few years of ownership. It's not like we haven't already been tuning our guitars ourselves just fine.

I don't know, Gibson was at one point the best guitar maker in the world. I think they still live off that reputation even though it's not deserved. Nowadays, you can get a good Gibson by buying a Heritage made by the people that made some of the great Gibsons in Kalamazoo.
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I think that we're all severely underestimating the number of Les Paul's are bought as the first good electric by older men looking to (re)live the rock n' roll dream :)

I have replace the pickups in my Les Paul with a circuit board. There's actually a connector to the pickups. I'm equally surprised that no 3rd party pickup manufactor are offering the Gibson connector as an option.
 
Gibson has been a crap company your entire life time, the glory days were pre Norlin, it's been one form of shit or another ever since.
 
It is a total shame that Gibson USA have degraded to what they are today. Someone needs to buy them out and sort them out.

I grew up believing Gibson was one of the best mass produced guitar companies ever, it pains me to see the company reduced to just a money grabbing corporation rather than a shop of skilled luthiers making sexy classic looking axes with quality American-made parts.

I have played Les Pauls for most of my guitar playing life, love the look and feel of them, but daym at the quality and price point they are selling them at, it makes more sense to jump ship and join the PRS family, for better quality at the same or slightly less price point.

I'm sure someone will buy the company and restore its reputation as the high quality and important company it was, but its not going to happen soon enough
 
Certainly, when the focus changes, it shows. I thought it was an interesting article.

Somewhat different set of problems than FMIC and GC.
 
Hi,

Periodically I walk the city during lunch, and go past the local music store that has a bunch of gibsons. I cannot believe the poor quality - particularly in the finish of these guitars. Seems the only way to get a good finish is look at guitars worth Five thousand buck or better. Man my fifteen hundred dollar fender BLITZES gibson in the quality stakes. As a matter of fact, you couldn't even get an Epiphone with the poor finish of may Gibsons.
If I ever get another one, it'll be old, or off the rack - well inspected. Sad to see what was once a great company turn to crap.

Pauly


I cannot beleive

Ben Randolph said:
Sad but true state of affairs for Gibson, the iconic guitar company. As much as I love their products, Gibson needs a change of leadership.

I'm lucky my SG is as nice as it is. I bought it prior to the switch to circuit boards. It's a 10 year old Custom Shop model. I have zero desire to buy a new Gibson product, especially with the decisions they've been making lately.

Things such as forcing the robot tuners, the circuit boards, etc. are bad decisions. Forcing anything on creative customers is not a good idea (reminds me of a fruit-named computer company ;-)

Gibson Guitar Is a Remarkably Unpopular Company
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Disappointing, but not surprising for that type of culture to develop from that style of leadership.

I find their quality varies tremendously, which means you can compare from a range and find some really good guitars. And maybe some of the guitars I don't like will be the guitars that others prefer. It just means try before you buy.

I don't get the angst over circuit boards. There seems to be some type of belief developing that these are inherently bad guitars because they contain a circuit board (also comments that the pickups cannot be changed!). For the vast majority of player who don't tinker, there's nothing wrong with these electronics, if anything they're probably they're more reliable.

For tinkerers like me, replacing the PCB with discrete parts is simple and cheap. And pickup replacement is no problem.

If there's one thing that irks me with Gibson (and most other makers), it's that there's no effort to match colours between cheap plastic parts and expensive wood craftwork. It just looks wrong to me to have a beautifully grained guitar top with ivory binding degraded by a stark white pickgaurd and yellow toggle switches. Surely it can't cost that much to have matching (or artistically contrasting) plastic parts?
 
I see so much anamosity towards Gibson. I have a 2002 Les Paul Standard. It's one of my favorites out of 13 guitars I currently play.
 
I have an '82 Les Paul Custom with Tim Shaw pick-ups and a Schaller bridge. I like it. Screw what anyone thinks of the company that made it.
My '77 ES-335 is nice, too. Maybe it's just the luck-of-the-draw.
I wish I had an SG.
 
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Gave up on Fender and Gibson a long time ago. Too many 3rd parties making it interesting and in many cases far more reasonably priced per quality. Duesenberg, Airliner, Vox, ESP, Godin, Dean.

In the 70's & 80's you pick up a Paul or Strat and unless someone jacked it you're going to have a fine guitar but those days, in general, seem to be gone. Not saying you can't find quality Gibsons or Fenders but in Rick's words it's more the 'luck of the draw'. Or it has been for me.
 
You are correct. Mass produced Gibson Les Paul guitars have shown up in shops all across the USA with unacceptable flaws indicating poor workmanship followed by blind quality control. This points to bad management and is a nightmare for the Gibson enthusiast, who expects near perfection from an iconic company.
 
I guess the old rule still applies:

"If you want a quality Gibson, buy a PRS."

carloszeke said:
You are correct. Mass produced Gibson Les Paul guitars have shown up in shops all across the USA with unacceptable flaws indicating poor workmanship followed by blind quality control.
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I don't get how this is even technically possible. Mass production - contrary to popular belief - is actually beneficial to the quality of a product. Mass production allows the manufacturing of precise tolerances at reasonable cost and automated quality control. Automated quality control is superior to quality control done by humans in every possible way (as long as you still have a human doing the final "boxing check").

That mass produced Gibson guitars feature such a severe lack of a consistent quality shows that they are trying to save money on the wrong end: components and machine maintenance.
 
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Zwiebelchen said:
I don't get how this is even technically possible. Mass production - contrary to popular belief - is actually beneficial to the quality of a product.
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Not my experience. At least in musical instruments. Sometimes 'mass produced' is designed to be mass produced or designed to be profitable or pretty. Not sound good. I've got 3 handmade guitars and IMO mass produced isn't even on the same page. The reasons these guitars were made are different than the 'reasons' mass produced guitars are made. One of the points of 'non' mass produced guitars is the allowance to go outside the norm, take chances, use superior parts and actually have quality control that means the rig 'is' quality... not just something that won't be deemed a factory 2nd and sent back by the customer.
 
mwd said:
Not my experience. At least in musical instruments. Sometimes 'mass produced' is designed to be mass produced or designed to be profitable or pretty. Not sound good. I've got 3 handmade guitars and IMO mass produced isn't even on the same page. The reasons these guitars were made are different than the 'reasons' mass produced guitars are made. One of the points of 'non' mass produced guitars is the allowance to go outside the norm, take chances, use superior parts and actually have quality control that means the rig 'is' quality... not just something that won't be deemed a factory 2nd and sent back by the customer.
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This is just cork-sniffiness. As an engineer, I don't believe in magic-mumbo-jumbo and all I can tell you is that machines work more precise than any human ever could.

We are throwing unfair conditions to this comparison. Obviously, a custom shop hand-made guitar can be pretty good. But then again it's also much more expensive. If we apply the same level of production cost to a handmade and a mass produced machine-manufactured guitar, the mass produced guitar would be much better in quality.

Obviously, a 3000$ hand-made guitar is better than a 500$ mass-production. But a 3000$ hand-made is not superior to a 3000$ mass-production. If that were the case, luxury cars would be hand-made.

And the reasons why handmade guitars are made is actually the same reason why mass-produced guitars are made:
To make money. Bills have to be paid. Selling instruments is a business, no matter if you are a run-of-the-mill luthier or a multimillion dollar company.
Even global players can have an undeniable love for their products. Fractal Audio is the best example.

There are lots of companies out there that sell mass-produced guitars with exceptional quality.
Mass-produced isn't a synonym for low quality. Rather, it is a synonym for reproducable quality. The fact that Gibson obviously does not provide reproducable quality in their mass-produced guitars shows a fundamental manufacturing issue that applies specifically to Gibson, not to mass-production in general.

TLDR: The problem isn't mass production. It's that they cut cost at every possible corner.
 
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