Do you think Gibson Guitars new CEO can turn the company around?

They need to think about expanding their demographics, this sounds and smells like the same problem Harley-Davidson has.

I think this problem applies to all guitar manufacturers. Guitars and rock are out of favor with younger demographics altogether. Its us old rockers who are their main demographic because the vast majority of young people are into EDM and pop singers instead. DJ's are the new guitar gods. The guitar manufacturers need a new guitar god with mass appeal for younger demographics very fast. And its telling that the best they had so far was Taylor Swift playing an acoustic for rhythm.
 
I think this problem applies to all guitar manufacturers. Guitars and rock are out of favor with younger demographics altogether. Its us old rockers who are their main demographic because the vast majority of young people are into EDM and pop singers instead. DJ's are the new guitar gods. The guitar manufacturers need a new guitar god with mass appeal for younger demographics very fast. And its telling that the best they had so far was Taylor Swift playing an acoustic for rhythm.

This^. This is why I think it’s too late for them. People of the demo that buy high end guitars have moved on to better alternatives (PRS, Suhr, Anderson, etc...) and there is no obvious market coming up for Gibson from kids. My first guitar was a 78 standard, and I love some of the old Gibson’s, but if I was in the market for an LP these days, I’d be looking at an SC594... which would cost less than that fishing lure Les Paul posted here earlier.
 
They’ll hang around. There’s still a lot of unoriginal dummies out there who think “only a Gibson is good enough” and will keep shelling out $3k+ for $500 guitars. Even if you take all the QC issues off the table, there are still serious design flaws and they honestly play like garbage for the most part. Ive got one Gibson (66 MM sg) and one Epiphone (89 Sheraton) left and I never play them, just keep it around for sentimental reasons.
 
I've played some really nice ones, both old and new. I'd like Gibson to stick around, but maybe that's just being sentimental as well. A lot of my guitar gods growing up played them, and I do think they're an icon. It's not just Les Pauls either. I like SGs, Vs. Never had an Explorer but want to one day.
 
The main thing that will help them is restructuring their debt. Without that, no recovery would have been possible.
 
I would, and have, bought a Koll for the same or less than a high-end Les Paul or 335. Unsurpassed build quality and lots of flexibility to tailor the platform to your taste -- pickups, tuners, bridges, trems, etc. Koll is not the only boutique builder out there delivering a better instrument, just perhaps without the cachet of the historic brand. But you can't actually make music with a brand. The least important contributor to the tone and feel of a guitar is the headstock logo.
 
I would, and have, bought a Koll for the same or less than a high-end Les Paul or 335. Unsurpassed build quality and lots of flexibility to tailor the platform to your taste -- pickups, tuners, bridges, trems, etc. Koll is not the only boutique builder out there delivering a better instrument, just perhaps without the cachet of the historic brand. But you can't actually make music with a brand. The least important contributor to the tone and feel of a guitar is the headstock logo.

And yet that is the most important part. You put the best boutique Les Paul for resale against a shitty Gibson and then see which brings you the best price, all due to the power of the headstock logo.

Humans are creatures of symbols. We are willing to give our lives for the right symbols. Brands are symbols and therefore brands matter. Brand loyalty takes time to build, but if built well it can last for a very long time.
 
Someone came up this Monday and congratulated for my guitar sound so I showed him it was a $200 Squier Deluxe Strat.

I really don't have any good ideas for Gibson (or other guitar manufacturers), the market is shrinking day by day. Happened with the accordion market, too. Maybe one option is to take the brand name and move to other music markets.
 
Someone came up this Monday and congratulated for my guitar sound so I showed him it was a $200 Squier Deluxe Strat.

I really don't have any good ideas for Gibson (or other guitar manufacturers), the market is shrinking day by day. Happened with the accordion market, too.

You know what replaced the accordion as the most popular instrument? The electric guitar. My grandparents made my mother take accordion lessons when she wanted to learn to play guitar instead.

Maybe one option is to take the brand name and move to other music markets.

They have a strong brand. It has to be if it survived the past decade. I reckon with decent leadership they can survive the shrinking market way better then the recent boutique brands, if only because those have nowhere near the brand value and customer loyalty. The key is good leadership and making heavy cuts at the executive levels. Kill off those managers before they ruin what's left of the company.

Unfortunately diseases and ill weeds are easier to get rid off then managers and their bureaucracies.
 
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Harley also has a good brand name but their image is baby boomers with too much money and that market is shrinking. Their push to electric bikes will be interesting to se how it unfolds. Could be same with Gibson -- I think their market is also baby boomers with too much money.

Of all the guitar companies I think EBMM has had the best approach, unique designs and let key guitar players drive the design. My EBMM Morse Y2D is IMHO for example exactly the Gibson that Gibson should have designed years ago *)

*) single coil in middle, not too heavy, excellent Floyd Rose trem, neck profile narrow enough for normal sized hands (and locking tuners for the non-Floyd Rose model.) And cool colors!
 
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