Marketplace.org interview with Gibson CEO

Thanks for posting but what a crappy interview. I think Gibson is probably going to find that they will have watered the power of their brand down so much that they become irrelevant. I love a good Gibson (I own about 7 of them). But they baffle me with their gimmick product lines and crappy quality control practices. They get away with crap that no other manufacturer does at such a high price point.
 
The CEO of Gibson is collectively referred to ass the biggest assclown in the music world...
Gibson is consistently listed as one of the worst places to work...
and has the most unhappy employees of almost any company in the USA
 
The CEO of Gibson is collectively referred to ass the biggest assclown in the music world...
Gibson is consistently listed as one of the worst places to work...
and has the most unhappy employees of almost any company in the USA

This made me have flashbacks of working at Walmart lol.
 
quotes that stands out to me:

"there are lots of Les Pauls, this one is a Standard....I think?"

Way to go Henry....you really know your products.
If you even had a slight understanding of your guitars, you'd know you can just LOOK AT THE TRUSSROD COVER and see what it is.

I have been a Gibson fanatic since I was in high school.....and I'm just thankful that there is still a great market for old used Les Pauls.....because they are taking the company down hill on roller skates.
 
"there are lots of Les Pauls, this one is a Standard....I think?"

Way to go Henry....you really know your products.
If you even had a slight understanding of your guitars, you'd know you can just LOOK AT THE TRUSSROD COVER and see what it is.

I heard this on the drive home from work the other day, and I recall that after the CEO said, "...I think..." the interviewer said, "Oh, yeah, it says it right there," presumably indicating the truss rod cover.


Interesting comment below that article/sound clip:
"...I realize he's a business man with a lot on his plate, but when you asked Mr. Juszkiewicz "What is it about a Gibson?", I was impressed with his seeming lack of passion. [...] The hardware, the gorgeous curves of the maple carved-top, the sound and even the smell of the guitar when you open the case are all components to this beautiful instrument that no other manufacturer has ever successfully replicated. [...] The Les Paul is still the pinnacle of a solid-body electric guitar for me."
 
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I heard this on the drive home from work the other day, and I recall that after the CEO said, "...I think..." the interviewer said, "Oh, yeah, it says it right there," presumably indicating the truss rod cover.


Interesting comment below that article/sound clip:
"...I realize he's a business man with a lot on his plate, but when you asked Mr. Juszkiewicz "What is it about a Gibson?", I was impressed with his seeming lack of passion. [...] The hardware, the gorgeous curves of the maple carved-top, the sound and even the smell of the guitar when you open the case are all components to this beautiful instrument that no other manufacturer has ever successfully replicated. [...] The Les Paul is still the pinnacle of a solid-body electric guitar for me."

That sounds so rehearsed, I'm sure he said it a hundred times in front of a mirror before the interview.
I love a good Gibson, have a Custom that I'll take to the grave, but it kills me that this guy is running (ruining) the show.
 
That sounds so rehearsed, I'm sure he said it a hundred times in front of a mirror before the interview.

I probably could have formatted better to make it clearer, but the line about "The hardware, the gorgeous curves of the maple carved-top..." was from the comment on the Marketplace.org website, not the CEO. The CEO himself didn't have much of an answer to the question "What is it about a Gibson?", not even a rehearsed line or a marketing quote.

EDIT: I went back and listened again. Here's my transcription of that exchange:

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INTERVIEWER: "...I want you to tell me what it is about a Gibson that's special, right, 'cause you can get a Fender, and you can get a zillion other types of guitars; why a Gibson? Gimme the pitch."

CEO: "Well, uh, this is our two thousand and, uh, fifteen model, you can see... I will describe it for the radio audience... but you're gonna do what's called a "sightline", which is look down the fret. And so what you wanna do is be relatively flat, and you can see this is... pretty incredibly great. And if you ever did that on less expensive guitars you'd notice... clearly... uh, the difference. And then you would play it without an amplifier, because you're really hearing the guitar... [blues licks]... I usually play a pick...[sic]"

INTERVIEWER: "So you want to hear it without the electronics, basically."

CEO: "Yeah, because that's the guitar. Once you start putting it through other stuff, uh, as Les said, you know, you can't get better than the source."

INTERVIEWER: "Alright, so here's the fundamental question, right: why... if what you want to hear is the guitar and not the amplification, why are electric guitars important, if that makes any sense?"

CEO: "Well... because... music needs to be loud! [laughter] I would not be able to to play in front of you, this loud, right?"
 
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Oh, I see what you're saying...

...I think that's even worse.

Ok, so I actually went to the link and listened to that asshat talk for 5:44... I think it cost me my daily allowance of patience and approximately 4% of my soul.
 
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This is the guy that killed Opcode after buying it. They had a great algo for converting pitch to MIDI at the time of acquisition and he did jack with it.

If I had heard Henry interviewed before buying my Dusk Tiger, I would have said, "What a tool bag this dude is!" and bought an 80's LP or a new Ernie Ball with that money.

I love my guitar, but I hate the current guy running/ruining the company.

Especially since there was a time when a Gibson buyer was a musician in his late teens or early 20's, not Henry's profile of a 35+ year old dude with kids out of college and discretionary income. That sounds like he is selling to stock brokers or day traders and not musicians.
 
Exactly. He stands in the way of any new business from me... pretty much the opposite of why I'm a FAS customer, Hank exhibits no real interest in the tools he's made. Its like he's describing himself as their customer base, bunch of weekend warrior account execs who keep Harleys tucked away in their garage.
 
After watching the Firebird X press "event", I can't take him seriously. Can't wait to see how they destroy Sonar.
 
I would like to see Henry J step down and more competent leadership come to Gibson. They've made some really dubious products in recent years; stuff that makes you think "WTF?" when you look at it. Case in point, the Firebird X. Had the Firebird X not been so hideously expensive, maybe it could have found an audience. People with five grand to blow on a guitar are going to look at the Custom Shop offerings of Gibson's classic guitars, such as the Les Paul and SG, not the guitar equivalent of the Homermobile.

Give us an appropriately-priced Les Paul Standard with top-notch quality control and people will love it. Also, treat your workers with respect and dignity.

Henry J strikes me as an abusive narcissist, one of the worst types of bosses to work for.
 
Don't get me started with Henry and Gibson...........................Grrrrrrrrrrr.
After my Dark Fire Fiasco and there poor quality control as of late. I'm pretty much done with them.
 
I get it... I understand why gibson players like their instruments.

This guy though... wow... He is about as sharp as a marble. You would figure a guy... a CEO of fucking Gibson.. Would sound a more passionate and eloquent about an iconic company.

He is kinda Gump-ish.

-Nate
 
I bought a new SG Standard in 1969--great instrument but had to sell it a few years later. I just ordered a new SG Standard from a reputable online seller. One volume control did not work at all and the poor fret job made it basically unplayable.
 
Wow. $3759 is the price of the base model Les Paul Standard on Gibson’s website. “Approximate” indeed.

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INTERVIEWER: So if I want to go out and buy a brand new Les Paul 2015 100th anniversary model, how much is it going to cost me, this thing in your hand?

CEO: Boy, I don’t it uh… approximately two thousand dollars? It depends.

INTERVIEWER: That’s not cheap.

CEO: Because we have, we have Les Pauls in several different…

INTERVIEWER: Yeah.

CEO: This is a standard… I think...

INTERVIEWER: It is. It says right there.

CEO: Uhh… but we have about ten models. It’s on our website. You can see all the prices, you know, the differences between the various price points.

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