What would you do different if you ran Gibson?

[m4rk0]

Fewer Models, make main lp model more affordable.
Get rid of all those crappy budget brands, like Epoch, Maestro, and whatever they have these days, and make Epiphone real cheap.. they are chinese guitars after all.
Use Kramer Brand for superstrats, and Steinberger and Valley arts for more experimental stuff.

 

[rockskate4x]

$1500 tops for the best LP's, except with f-holes and exotic woods, and good quality pickups!

 

[T.L.]

Get rid of the SG and Explorer ...

 

[dbw]

Get rid of the SG and Explorer ...

Dude, that's the sort of thinking they have right now.  Specifically, stupid thinking.

 

[T.L.]

Stupid, huh? Well I LIKE it. Obviously it hasn't gotten past the "thinking" stages at Gibson...

 

[rockskate4x]

If you are running a business, you gotta do what the customers want... you would be insane to end the SG and Explorer lines...

 

[apollo]

It's all about priorities... a guitar maker's priority should be the guitar obviously - the mission is everything. If money or market share or anything else becomes the number one priority then the guitar will suffer and then, ironically, the money will suffer. I'm just glad I found Warmoth before I bought a Gibson.

Guitar making is an art... Gibson sold out

 

[Alfang]

Guitar making, an art? NO not when your a big business, Not even fender can call their stuff art, as soon as there's a production line, art goes out the window.

What does sold out mean? Don't use terms like sold out, A you'd do the same B that's a cheap teenager term

 

[dbw]

What does sold out mean? Don't use terms like sold out, A you'd do the same B that's a cheap teenager term

+1, didn't we just have this conversation?

 

[Keyser Soze]

I'd:

Bring in a group of international apprentices to learn the best aspects of lutherie from the current staff.  
Close up shop here in the states - with the exception of a custom shop pared down to a true artisan staff of maybe a dozen people.  
Re-open production in South Korea or Viet Nam.
Cut the price of most products by 25% (or more if feasible.)  
Set up a web portal where you could custom spec your solidbody  - neck profile, board radius, fretwire, pickups, finish type, string brand/gauge (for set-up), etc.
Re-absorb most of the Epiphone line back under the Gibson name and limit Epiphone to ultra high end oddities and the entry level market.
Create a totally new line of bolt neck guitars using high quality low cost woods.

Of course, I haven't actually owned a Gibson product in literally decades so I'm probably not the one to ask...

 

[T.L.]

If you are running a business, you gotta do what the customers want... you would be insane to end the SG and Explorer lines...

Really? So Gibson is doing what the customers want??  If that were the case, this thread would never have been started...

 

[rockskate4x]

Even if the quality was better, they would lose a ton of money for dropping iconic lines like explorers and SG's. Gibson should continue these lines and build them the way they should be built, with excellent craftsmanship and quality control.

 

[dbw]

If you are running a business, you gotta do what the customers want... you would be insane to end the SG and Explorer lines...

Really? So Gibson is doing what the customers want??  If that were the case, this thread would never have been started...

TL, dude, you're making less and less sense... you're cutting out the strongest parts of the company.  That's like amputating the legs of a guy who's in for an appendectomy.  "If he liked his legs so much, he should never have come into the OR."

 

[Alfang]

dbw rocks  arty07:

 

[roboboss]

I would ask for lots of bailout money. Then I would give myself a big fat bonus. I would then hire my wife as a VP and give her a big fat bonus too. Then I would ask the workers to take a 15% pay cut so I could use the savings to buy that nice new corporate jet I've always wanted.

 

[dbw]

I would ask for lots of bailout money. Then I would give myself a big fat bonus. I would then hire my wife as a VP and give her a big fat bonus too. Then I would ask the workers to take a 15% pay cut so I could use the savings to buy that nice new corporate jet I've always wanted.

Sounds like you have a promising future in investment banking!

 

[taez555]

Do companies ever get better over time?  Can anyone name a single company that after half a century hasn’t gotten to the point where profit comes before quality?    Cars, Guitars, breakfast cereal, anything?

From a business standpoint Gibson is doing an amazing Job.

- They have an entry level series that keeps them in business.
- They have an upper mid/pro level that’s found a perfect balance of price and quality.  Sure it’ gone down hill, but sales sure haven’t.
- They have a super upper line of “vintage reissue” guitars that are the exact same guitars as their other line but priced $10,000+ more per instrument.
- They continue to the push the envelope with new designs and ideas.  Trem Les Pauls, Robot guitars, horribly ugly and overpriced SG’s or Swiss Cheese Explorers.  It may not be our cup of tea, but they’re trying.

They have name recognition, pro endorsers, devotes and an overall “aura” about ‘em.  Why, as a business, would you ever want to downgrade? 

Sure it’s easy to say you’d cut this and that, and spend more on QC, but…why?    Will it make them more money or get them more respect than they already have?   

They’ve worked out a formula, a fine balance of quality and crap.

The worst part is twenty or even fifty years from now, after they’ve sold out to an even bigger company, they’ll probably look back at right now as the “Golden Years” of Gibson when they were still making quality instruments.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

There's an old saying that I heard from the big 3 auto companies, they don't want to sell the cars, they want to sell the most cars.

 

[dbw]

The worst part is twenty or even fifty years from now, after they’ve sold out to an even bigger company, they’ll probably look back at right now as the “Golden Years” of Gibson when they were still making quality instruments.

I shudder to think.

I understand that Gibson is a successful corporation, but if I were in charge I'd rather make the best guitars than sell the most.

 

[T.L.]

The worst part is twenty or even fifty years from now, after they’ve sold out to an even bigger company, they’ll probably look back at right now as the “Golden Years” of Gibson when they were still making quality instruments.

I shudder to think.

I understand that Gibson is a successful corporation, but if I were in charge I'd rather make the best guitars than sell the most.

My thoughts exactly...