Well that just happened....

[pickdropper]

Gibson's greatest challenge is that they have to do things a certain way because many of their customers are traditionalists by nature.

And not just in regards to necks. They've got multiple issues what other companies (PRS for example) have eliminated from their designs that make for superior instruments, but Gibson has to keep doing the same old, same old, because every time they've tried to improve, sales have proven that customers don't want that from them.

Jacob

Indeed.  And a significant portion of their customers don't care for PRS because of those changes.

I have a PRS that I think is fantastic, but I love my Gibson's and appreciate that they are different than PRS.  Maybe I'm part of the problem.  ;-)

[matmosphere]

I like a lot of Gibson stuff, but playing the part of the devils advocate here, did Gibson declare bankruptcy recently?

[culturejam]

I have a PRS that I think is fantastic, but I love my Gibson's and appreciate that they are different than PRS.  Maybe I'm part of the problem.  ;-)

Same here. I like for PRS to break the rules, but I want Gibson to stay in their damn lane. 

[pickdropper]

I like a lot of Gibson stuff, but playing the part of the devils advocate here, did Gibson declare bankruptcy recently?

Yes, but not due to poor guitar sales.  Henry was determined to turn Gibson into a lifestyle brand and bought up a bunch of deadweight companies.  Gibson is currently divesting themselves of a lot of those companies and they have brought in a new CEO.  Time will tell if it's sucessful.  So far, they've actually gone more traditional with their designs, which seems to make people happy for the most part.

If I owned the company, I'd offer Epiphones with an open book headstock and watch the money roll in.  Squires have the same Fender headstock and that hasn't destroyed Fender.

[jjjimi84]

Met with the luthier and 75 bucks with a 4 day turn around, not bad at all. I will do the refinish work when it gets back and document it for every one. On a really good note, I played a few of his Eastwood guitars and was blown away. He had a 335 type with a bigsby and p90s that was insane. After playing for a few minutes a Matchless DC-30 came in the door and I got to play around with that for a bit, so loud and so good.

As for Gibson, I believe that a company like them has such a rich history and such iconic instruments should stay the course. Like for the Les Paul, make a classic Les Paul that everyone knows and loves and then offer alternatives to that for people who may want something else, like a thicker neck and what not. I personally have a PRS SC-58 and I love it, out of all of the Les Pauls I have played it is easily the best for me. It has a thicker neck, beautiful resonant body and the best humbuckers I have ever heard.

But like any gear out there it is tomato/potato, I have a vox sc-55 that is amazing and yet a buddy of mine hates it.

[thesmokingman]

all the same, I yelled at my kids on your behalf.

[pickdropper]

Met with the luthier and 75 bucks with a 4 day turn around, not bad at all. I will do the refinish work when it gets back and document it for every one. On a really good note, I played a few of his Eastwood guitars and was blown away. He had a 335 type with a bigsby and p90s that was insane. After playing for a few minutes a Matchless DC-30 came in the door and I got to play around with that for a bit, so loud and so good.

As for Gibson, I believe that a company like them has such a rich history and such iconic instruments should stay the course. Like for the Les Paul, make a classic Les Paul that everyone knows and loves and then offer alternatives to that for people who may want something else, like a thicker neck and what not. I personally have a PRS SC-58 and I love it, out of all of the Les Pauls I have played it is easily the best for me. It has a thicker neck, beautiful resonant body and the best humbuckers I have ever heard.

But like any gear out there it is tomato/potato, I have a vox sc-55 that is amazing and yet a buddy of mine hates it.

I have an PRS SC245, which is very similar to your SC58 (different pickups).  It's a fantastic instrument.  It doesn't really sound much like my R7, though.  As you say, like any gear, it's in the ear of the beholder.  I love them both, for different reasons.

[matmosphere]

I like a lot of Gibson stuff, but playing the part of the devils advocate here, did Gibson declare bankruptcy recently?

Yes, but not due to poor guitar sales.  Henry was determined to turn Gibson into a lifestyle brand and bought up a bunch of deadweight companies.  Gibson is currently divesting themselves of a lot of those companies and they have brought in a new CEO.  Time will tell if it's sucessful.  So far, they've actually gone more traditional with their designs, which seems to make people happy for the most part.

If I owned the company, I'd offer Epiphones with an open book headstock and watch the money roll in.  Squires have the same Fender headstock and that hasn't destroyed Fender.

I know, I was mostly kidding when I said it.  It the last ceo was bad for the company for sure.

The Epiphone idea would certainly make them a ton of money. I actually like the epi headstock better. I think the headstock dates back to before Gibson owned them.

[pickdropper]

I like a lot of Gibson stuff, but playing the part of the devils advocate here, did Gibson declare bankruptcy recently?

Yes, but not due to poor guitar sales.  Henry was determined to turn Gibson into a lifestyle brand and bought up a bunch of deadweight companies.  Gibson is currently divesting themselves of a lot of those companies and they have brought in a new CEO.  Time will tell if it's sucessful.  So far, they've actually gone more traditional with their designs, which seems to make people happy for the most part.

If I owned the company, I'd offer Epiphones with an open book headstock and watch the money roll in.  Squires have the same Fender headstock and that hasn't destroyed Fender.

I know, I was mostly kidding when I said it.  It the last ceo was bad for the company for sure.

The Epiphone idea would certainly make them a ton of money. I actually like the epi headstock better. I think the headstock dates back to before Gibson owned them.

The funny thing is that Gibson was nearly dead and buried when Henry bought them from Norlin.  He saved the company, got it healthy, and then ran it into the ground.

[alanp]

The TV series Japanology had an interesting episode on centuries-old businesses in Japan that don't really care about making lots of money, so much as continuing to stay in business. I think that the American corporation model of ever-expanding profits stops this from being considered in America, otherwise it might be a good idea for Gibson. I don't know, this is just a throwaway thought.

[jjjimi84]

It's back! I had it at Luthiers Workshop in Green Bay, WI, it took about 3 days to fix it and I got it back on the 11th of April. I have been abusing it quite regularly and it seems like its stays in tune better. I have always had some tuning issues with the G string and so far so good. Here are some pics of the repair job, which was 75 dollars for anyone wondering.

[somnif]

Jesus it cost me 60$ just to get the intonation done on my tele here in Tucson, your guru is a wizard. 

[jjjimi84]

Jesus it cost me 60$ just to get the intonation done on my tele here in Tucson, your guru is a wizard.

He is a super cool guy, was one of the first four people to work for Taylor Guitars. Did a great job, cannot recommend him enough.