Gibson ruining yet another acquired brand.

dr bonkers said:
I loved the robot tuners.

The only downsides I found to them were:
A) I like old strings. Once the tuners need to deal with strings over 6 months old, the oxidation would throw off their calibration and snap the strings.
B) Gibson sued Tronical, so the future of replacement parts and service was/is precarious.
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I loved the idea of Tronical, and I looked into it extensively, but I read all these horror stories on their facebook site, from parts failing left and right to the company not responding to warranty issues, to rude and shitty service, to sending out the wrong parts...it just sounded like a great idea destroyed by a bunch of buffoons.
 
State of Epicicity said:
I loved the idea of Tronical, and I looked into it extensively, but I read all these horror stories on their facebook site, from parts failing left and right to the company not responding to warranty issues, to rude and shitty service, to sending out the wrong parts...it just sounded like a great idea destroyed by a bunch of buffoons.
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Yep, I can attest to some of that.
 
dr bonkers said:
Yep, I can attest to some of that.
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Sorry to hear; that sucks. It's worse since they came out with the Powertune, the one that can be controlled by your phone. It's such a damn great idea. It would be awesome for a system like that to exist that works with trems too, to adjust spring tension in the back to compensate for different tunings. That might be going too far...
 
Bruce Sokolovic said:
I’ve received good service from Fender, the one time I needed something from them. Warranty issue taken care of at a local shop. Good communication and fast authorization.

edit their CEO Andy Mooney is also a very smart man and quite approachable. We had a somewhat lengthy discussion a few years back about the state of the guitar, who’s buying them and the dropout rate after buying the first instrument. It was quite eye opening.
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I was talking about how they buy companies only to shut them down or shut down the USA plant and make an overseas version.
 
Gibson, the ambassadors of poor QC. Haven't been impressed with anything they've made since the 70s. Overpriced for what you get IMHO.(not talking Custom Shop, why would I pay even more?)
I'll take my 1989 Yamaha Weddington over any LP I've played in my lifetime.
Like what you like, plenty of people do, not a fan.
 
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Gregmang said:
I’ll never forgive them for completely running Cakewalk to ground.

Luckily it was resurrected a few years back by Bandlab and now it’s never been better.

But ya, Gibson running companies is never a good sign. Even their own.
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I remember that, pretty much went into a panic and ended up using Reaper.
Like Reaper allot and still use it. Cakewalk products always ran well for me also.
I agree with you. Bandcamp, has done a great job with Cakewalk and it is better than ever.
Since I knew Cakewalk and was forced (sort of) to learn Reaper. I knid off bounce back and forth these days.
 
The new Gibson acoustic series had me excited, I've got a '69 B-25 that my mom bought new, and I really wanted a modern acoustic so I didn't have to keep bringing the '69 to gigs. On paper the new G-writer ticked all the boxes but when I finally got to play one, it just didn't do it for me. That little 'player port' thing is a solution looking for a problem and it didn't feel inspiring at all really.

Ended up with a made-in-Mexico Martin Road series SC10 and between the neck shape, cutaway/heel design, overall quality, and the sound of it, is everything I was looking for in a gigging acoustic.
 
sprint said:
your response adds even more mystery as to what puts Gibson in such high regard with professional artists - all my rock heros play Gibsons - if Gibson instruments are so poorly constructed, why?
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Because a Gibson is good enough. Oh wait, do I have that right?
 
sprint said:
your response adds even more mystery as to what puts Gibson in such high regard with professional artists - all my rock heros play Gibsons - if Gibson instruments are so poorly constructed, why?
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Same reason people eat fast food, smoke, listen to pop music and watch sports, brainwashing. That and trying to emulate an image.
Gibson might have been the best available at some point in the early 60s, but compared to modern guitars they are absolute total crap. If you think your model t drives better than my new Toyota you got another thing coming.
I see Gibson fans as running around driving hand cranked model T cars at 40mph screaming about how it's the finest car ever made and "only a jalopy is good enough!", while I'm over here rocking out on my Ferrari.
 
Piing said:
Fasten your seat-belts and brace for impact!! According to the CEO, Gibson 3.0 is going to have the biggest Impact on Guitar Players since The Beatles.

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/new..._beatles_says_company_ceo_james_curleigh.html

https://www.musicradar.com/news/gib...s-to-the-beatles-hints-at-more-gibson-garages

Will that be the same kind of impact that easily breaks the Les Pauls headstocks? 🔨


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His quotes are pure CEO babble designed to be investor-bait. I’ve spent too much time working around such people to be impressed by anything he’s said. That they buy companies for the intellectual property, then gut them and let them wither, is just one more damning sin as far as I am concerned. “Management teams” who do that are not in the business of improving a brand, they’re only about, and after, money.

There are too many other builders making guitars of at least the same quality, for significantly less. For instance, I’d much rather have a Heritage instead.
 
Musikron said:
Same reason people eat fast food, smoke, listen to pop music and watch sports, brainwashing. That and trying to emulate an image.
Gibson might have been the best available at some point in the early 60s, but compared to modern guitars they are absolute total crap. If you think your model t drives better than my new Toyota you got another thing coming.
I see Gibson fans as running around driving hand cranked model T cars at 40mph screaming about how it's the finest car ever made and "only a jalopy is good enough!", while I'm over here rocking out on my Ferrari.
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respectfully, but TOTALLY disagree - Alex Lifeson, Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons, Neal Schon, Tom Scholz, ... countless other iconic artists playing Gibson for ages - they have the resources to have the best of the best gear and tone (ie many also sporting Axefx). Not arguing that Gibson has not had their issues, but c'mon, hard to argue that they have not been doing some key things right. As far as the Model-t analagy, guitars are not technology in the automotive sense - they are a stringed acoustic instrument. lol - another one of these threads that takes something, that, yes, is something, and then winds it up waaaay over the top.
 
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I have three Gibsons and they are all great guitars - 2 Les Paul Classics (I love the thinner neck) and an old Explorer II that's built like a tank and weighs as much.

Both LP's are from the mid-late 90's (I think) and the Explorer is from '82. Well made, sound great, everything you'd expect.
Fast forward to like 2005 or so (yes I know that was 15 years ago) and I bought a V brand new sight unseen. And it was cheapest piece of crap I'd ever played. Seriously horrible and felt like it was made of cardboard. Sold it for what I paid for it in about two weeks. Part of me just thought I got as bad run of V's and that it was an anomaly so decided to do a real bonehead move - I bought a new Explorer. UGH. It ALSO felt like cardboard and I dumped it quickly.

Those two purchases have turned me off to Gibson pretty much for life (but truth be told I DO want a new ES-335 but have you seen the prices ???!!)

Since then I've move on to ESP (have a few), PRS (also have a few) and Ibanez.

Shame on you, Gibson.
 
sprint said:
respectfully, but TOTALLY disagree - Alex Lifeson, Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons, Neal Schon, Tom Scholz, ... countless other iconic artists playing Gibson for ages - they have the resources to have the best of the best gear and tone (ie many also sporting Axefx). Not arguing that Gibson has not had their issues, but c'mon, hard to argue that they have not been doing some key things right. As far as the Model-t analagy, guitars are not technology in the automotive sense - they are a stringed acoustic instrument. lol - another one of these threads that takes something, that, yes, is something, and then winds it up waaaay over the top.
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Remember you are talking to a dude who stated oil was a renewable resource. I'd rather thump my head against
a wall an entire Sunday than argue with a "luthier" who has a perpetual axe to grind all the time. Pun intended.

Gonna go take a ride in my Model T now. I wonder if I can get it up over 30mph today. No seatbelts either, so wish
me luck guys. :)
 
la szum said:
Remember you are talking to a dude who stated oil was a renewable resource. I'd rather thump my head against
a wall an entire Sunday than argue with a "luthier" who has a perpetual axe to grind all the time. Pun intended.

Gonna go take a ride in my Model T now. I wonder if I can get it up over 30mph today. No seatbelts either, so wish
me luck guys. :)
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And for my next trick, I'll pop over and let y'all know where all the water on earth comes REALLY from (hint, it's the same place as the oil).
I stand by my initial statement. Gibson is overpriced, outdated, trash.
 
sprint said:
respectfully, but TOTALLY disagree - Alex Lifeson, Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons, Neal Schon, Tom Scholz, ... countless other iconic artists playing Gibson for ages - they have the resources to have the best of the best gear and tone (ie many also sporting Axefx). Not arguing that Gibson has not had their issues, but c'mon, hard to argue that they have not been doing some key things right. As far as the Model-t analagy, guitars are not technology in the automotive sense - they are a stringed acoustic instrument. lol - another one of these threads that takes something, that, yes, is something, and then winds it up waaaay over the top.
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Right on! Randy Rhoads, John Sykes, Zakk Wylde, Doug Aldrich, Warren Haynes, Marcus King, Derek Trucks, Angus Young, Tony Iommi,
B.B. King, Freddie King, Gary Moore, Jerry Cantrell, Stone Gossarrd, Neil Young, James Hetfield's Explorer, and Hammett's V.
Toss in Paul Kossoff and Johnny Winter, Matthias Jabs with the Explorer and the Schenkers with their Vs. Bernie Marsden, Joe
Bonamassa, some guy called "Slash," Vivian Campbell, Steve Clark, Gary Clark Jr., Billie Joe Armstrong, Charlie Starr, and Johnny Cash.

And that is just a beginning list of a bunch of brainwashed posers, eh?? :)
 
la szum said:
Right on! Randy Rhoads, John Sykes, Zakk Wylde, Doug Aldrich, Warren Haynes, Marcus King, Derek Trucks, Angus Young, Tony Iommi,
B.B. King, Freddie King, Gary Moore, Jerry Cantrell, Stone Gossarrd, Neil Young, James Hetfield's Explorer, and Hammett's V.
Toss in Paul Kossoff and Johnny Winter, Matthias Jabs with the Explorer and the Schenkers with their Vs. Bernie Marsden, Joe
Bonamassa, some guy called "Slash," Vivian Campbell, Steve Clark, Gary Clark Jr., and Johnny Cash.

And that is just a beginning list of a bunch of brainwashed posers, eh?? :)
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ya! - guess all those dudes just chose to play any crappy old thing - magine how good Tony n Angus (not to mention Pete T, Frank M, n Frank Z) could have been if they'd just pick'd up a descent axe stead a those pos Gibson SGs - some peeps just don't have an ear for good tone I guess - lol
 
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The issue isn't whether great players play or have played Gibson guitars. Any pro can have his or her guitar made to order; modded to order; and/or set up to order. The issue is that for many years Gibson has rested on its name, charging big money for instruments that are far too often hit or miss with questionable quality control, inconsistent product, and problematic component designs. They COULD make consistently high quality guitars, but choose not to. Instead, they spend time suing everyone in sight for alleged infringement.
 
sprint said:
your response adds even more mystery as to what puts Gibson in such high regard with professional artists - all my rock heros play Gibsons - if Gibson instruments are so poorly constructed, why?
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I think it depends on the level of guitar and the guitar itself. Custom shop guitars or guitars made for names are going going to be good quality, as will be the old guitars. If you could try a number of standards I would hope there would be a few good ones. In the mid 2000’s I had cash for an American LP which was my dream guitar. I prowled San Diego and LA looking at standards. I got turned off by the finish flaws and buzzing frets. I looked at a lot of standards. And they all had flaws in the finish, mostly around the neck joint. The kind you see when only so much labor is allocated to a step in the process. I wound up with an American PRS. And I wasn’t looking for one, I wanted an LP. But once I saw the rough spots and crinkles I noticed they were on every guitar I tried. I got turned off, and now I doubt I’ll ever own a Les Paul. Unless I had cash for a custom shop. I tried some of those too. Well done, no finish issues, no buzzing. But way over my budget.
 
skolacki said:
I think it depends on the level of guitar and the guitar itself. Custom shop guitars or guitars made for names are going going to be good quality, as will be the old guitars. If you could try a number of standards I would hope there would be a few good ones. In the mid 2000’s I had cash for an American LP which was my dream guitar. I prowled San Diego and LA looking at standards. I got turned off by the finish flaws and buzzing frets. I looked at a lot of standards. And they all had flaws in the finish, mostly around the neck joint. The kind you see when only so much labor is allocated to a step in the process. I wound up with an American PRS. And I wasn’t looking for one, I wanted an LP. But once I saw the rough spots and crinkles I noticed they were on every guitar I tried. I got turned off, and now I doubt I’ll ever own a Les Paul. Unless I had cash for a custom shop. I tried some of those too. Well done, no finish issues, no buzzing. But way over my budget.
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well - dunno what te tell ya folks - the only finish imperfections on my 08 SG Standard are doh dings I've applied myself. Build / finish is perfect to my eye - just needs periodic nut sauce to keep the strings slippy through the iconic but poor string routing design and and a rub-down with Bounce in winter. Own, and have played more expensive from other brands - not even close to the SG's playability / tone + am totally attached to the shorter scale with thin SG body (totally worth the small price of a little neck dive) - can't stomach a thick LP style - sharp edge rubbing against the inside of my forearm - yuk!, but that speaks more to model preference.
 
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