Gibby blows off NAMM.

They did not have their usual trailer set up at the Arlington Guitar Show either. There were a lot of dealers offering Gibbys but no huge Gibson trailer. I have been going to Guitarlington for many years, both as a consumer and sometimes as a guest artist. First time that Gibson was missing. Personally, I think Cliff nailed it. Electronic marketplace is here for the foreseeable future. I also don't think that Gibson made the decision to skip NAMM because of their progressive genius. The are broke.
 
FractalAudio said:
The world has changed. Trade shows, magazines, brick & mortar stores, etc. are relics of the pre-internet age. The present and future is delivering the information electronically.
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Maybe. NAMM is for the dealers, and Gibson has been treating most of them rudely. And people do business with people - and it's nice to see, touch, and feel the product. Gibson was failing outright at NAMM at the last part, IMHO; at the 2014 show, the instruments were dirty, not set up, etc. (On the morning of day 1, before the crowds showed.)

To me, this just smells like (a) HJ persists in thinking he's building a lifestyle/consumer products company instead of a musical instrument manufacturer; (b) they're scraping through the budget and trying to save nickels. The two combined say "go to CES instead of NAMM." Bad idea.

We exhibit at various trade shows in our sector, and make decisions, too, about which to attend and which to skip. A few years ago, we decided to stop going to three shows at which we had regularly exhibited. Why? Lousy programming, poor exhibit hall management, and most important, changing audience - the decision makers that formerly attended gave way to non-decision makers. Instead, we've picked up a couple new shows that are much more significant for us.
 
I would agree that fairs are losing their importance. At least that's what I see in my industry. However, I'm still convinced good magazines with well researched articles (instead of the many paid advertisement stories that look like articles) play a role in the guitar gear area. Independent of whether they're print or online media.
 
And another note: I do agree that advertising is the least of their problems now. Gibson's situation will involve either a financial train wreck that might happen in slow motion. It might look like the GC situation, with negotiation over debt restructuring resulting in conversion of some of the debt to ownership, in the hopes that somehow a lender can manage the business better to preserve their investment.

In any case, it's likely to end with a blowout and the company being parted out or sold for cents on the dollar. My hope is that the one guy in the U.S. who really knows how to build high-quality guitars on a mass scale ends up with the prize (and as few of the liabilities as possible).
 
At NAMM17 the quality of the guitars in the Gibson booth was so low it was almost impossible to play them... Not a Gibson lover but it was nice in the past see their guitars but not in the 2017 Winter and Summer NAMM. If they are not there I can spend more time in the other booths
 
ChristThePhone said:
I would agree that fairs are losing their importance. At least that's what I see in my industry. However, I'm still convinced good magazines with well researched articles (instead of the many paid advertisement stories that look like articles) play a role in the guitar gear area. Independent of whether they're print or online media.
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Fairs are losing importance. Tonewoods are hard to procure. Making guitars is a business with a bleak future. The management doesn’t seem very competent (although I admit to not knowing much about the context in which they have been making decisions lately), and it’s a private company, so there’s nobody to fire the CEO and hire someone else. And generally I’m not even sure what they can do - whenever they try to experiment with something, they get huge pushback. Whenever they don’t, they are bashed for being stagnant.

The best thing you can do if you are in a business like that is get out of it as fast as you can.

They are going down the drain.
 
Make Gibson great again: Historic R9 Les Pauls retailing at $2018 for this year only, mail order straight from manufacturer! (One can dream!)
 
There are many vendors that are blowing off NAMM. Behringer doesn't bring a single piece of gear to NAMM.
From what I've been told by some vendor/participants, it's not worth the $.
I have a friend a big name company (won't mention the name to protect the innocent), but they are likely going to blow off NAMM at some point because they calculated they could invite all of their important vendors to a vacation resort (and have their own conference), and save money.
 
xarkon said:
My hope is that the one guy in the U.S. who really knows how to build high-quality guitars on a mass scale ends up with the prize (and as few of the liabilities as possible).
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One guy? Really? I'm not busting your chops amigo, but there are several guys in the US that build great guitars, not just Paul. John Suhr and Tom Anderson come immediately to mind. While I agree that Suhr and Anderson are smaller than PRS, I question whether any of them have the finances to buy Gibson. My ideal would be for Heritage to buy Gibson, but I think I'll get a visit from the tooth fairy before that happens.
 
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FractalAudio said:
The world has changed. Trade shows, magazines, brick & mortar stores, etc. are relics of the pre-internet age. The present and future is delivering the information electronically.
Click to expand...
That is exactly where I found out about Fractal many years ago, and where I do most of my gear purchases these days. GC and the like are generally staffed with people that are inexperienced and not knowledgeable, and the mom and pop shop in my town doesn't even carry a single MIDI cable.
 
vangrieg said:
Even if they had, why would they want to do that?
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Yep. Zactly. I could see why Heritage would have an interest, but not PRS, Suhr or Anderson. It takes more effort to rebuild a dying brand than it does to carve out a space in the marketplace to begin with.
 
6L6C said:
I found out about Fractal on the Line 6 forum.
Thank you Line 6 :)
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And me too! And hearing the Axe before buying was via YouTube videos. All enough to buy this unit. But may be diffferent for a guitar which is as much about feel as apparent sound.
 
The last 3 NAMM shows I attended were all pretty much the same. I didn't even walk through the Gibson booth just looked at it from a far and kept walking.
 
6L6C said:
I found out about Fractal on the Line 6 forum.
Thank you Line 6 :)
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Me too :)
I'm going to NAMM this year for personal pleasure - testing gear, seeing awesome musicians play. I live in a tiny island in the Indian ocean so I'll be like a kid in a candy store
 
I'm guessing they couldn't find a dozen guitars to bring , ( that weren't flawed from the factory ) .

Besides , most people these days will be hanging out at the mall , reading a magazine instead. ;)
 
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