Thread to say nice things about Gibson under Henry J.

[martin H]

Hummmm... Tough one...

1. No Chinese Gibson production yet
2. Company hasn't gone bankrupt.
3. HJ's Fox News shenanigans saved me money by putting me off the idea of buying another new Gibson.

 

[Jakeislove]

Yearly price increases are keeping the used market fairly stable!

 

[jamman]

Interesting thread , Keep in mind HJ doesn't make any guitars. You like some of what Gibson produces ..... Good . No 1 company makes something that Everyone likes . buy what you like ,vote with your wallet. THAT message is the loudest and is heard the fastest. Vote early ,Vote often

If HJ a Dick , That's just 1 more in the line of Many. His SON is poised to take over .Be careful what you wish for... Some Children have a nasty trait of trying to Out due there parents. Like, I'll Show them ,type stuff .

The only thing good I see from all of this is ,,,,The people who still work there (Custom Shop) are able to produce a few very nicely made, mass produced guitars . Imagine working under those condition and not Getting Even with the Boss .
I can't speculate about the USA line as I don't even test them anymore (Although my 2005 LP Standard Faded is a very nice guitar) . 2015 USA guitars seem to be "Play the guitar for Dummies" Geez , E-Tune ? WTF ???

HJ , Don't worry , No one wants to copy those . And with the new price structure , Well , you'll figure it out all by yourself . I think .

I seem to remember Gibson purchasing Orange amps, and making them horrible for a couple years, and completely TANKING Tobias which was a fabulous bass and is now in the Epiphone catalog (was on that MusicYo website for a time). Trace Elliot is nothing since Gibson bought them, and Red Bear completely disappeared off the face of the Earth. This was all on Henry's watch. Oh wait!! Stewart Spector was able to get his logo back for Spector Basses...

after a Lawsuit...

Say what you will about other corporate builds, I don't see any other CEOs putting out a signature model of themselves.

FYI - It's not a Sig model . It's a CC model . There is a difference .But Yes , I think he'd like that .
Gibson, under HJ has become or is trying to be What Norlin tried in there dreams to be . BIG Daddy company . To Big To Fail. ??? Owner of all and those who might buy anything Guitar related . In Gibson Land .

Only Gibson is good enough ......When it doesn't cost them to much to make so they maximize profits . Right HJ ?

 

[fleahead]

The only thing I have to say is "thanks for the nice over-the-toilet shelving unit you bought for my wedding in 2000".

Every so often I'd pee on it.

 

[Bill Hicklin]

My ten year old J-185 was a beautiful piece of work, and still is.

The J-185 is the best acoustic design Gibson ever came up with, IMO. More balanced and less hollow/boomy than the J-200, and really by accident: economy-minded Ted figuring out what to do with the old pre-advanced L-5 body molds.

And not a dread-style always trying to play catchup to Martin (though the old D-28 rival rosewood Advanced Jumbos were (so they tell me) very nice indeed during their brief run).

 

[roeg]

People have short memories.Its cool to whine about what you don't like today...and lots of people rush to be the first whiner.The "me first,you heard it from me" attitude.

So lets go back to the post 85 era...and the post Norlin changes.
Production Lespauls got:

One piece mahoganey necks.

Much Better quality rosewood boards on Standards.

Way lighter more acoustic Mahoganey necks and bodies(pre-custom shop)

Better pups(those Bill lawrence pickups are great pups)

I missed out on a very nice 1989 Custom Cherry burst with a great flame top,no extra charge.I bought the very next Cherry Custom i could get my hands on and still have it today

My first look at a prehistoric '59 was a sweet tobacco flame top in '89 at a local shop,with a 3999$ pricetag,but god,it was beautiful! Way to go Henry.

 

[hecube]

So we love Henry now? Right?

 

[Sitedrifter]

Not sure why the hate for Henry is so rampant. I know another poster asked if anyone had personal experience with the man and I may have missed it, but I don't think anyone spoke up.

 

[Tone deaf]

Who the f*ck is Henry?

 

[jamman]

Not sure why the hate for Henry is so rampant. I know another poster asked if anyone had personal experience with the man and I may have missed it, but I don't think anyone spoke up.

Well Some have posted here that have worked for HJ . Giving a small inside view of what goes on at Gibson at higher levels .

Plus Gibson was, a few years back Voted (in the top 10 IIRC) ,1 of America's WORST places to work, in which the results were posted online for the world to see .

Nothing has changed . It's the corporate way , Don't like what your employees tell you . Fire them . Get 1s that tell you what you pay them to say
And your EGO is fed at the end of the day , Which seems like what's important to you . HJ

What amazes me is . That the people that still work there , produce a good to high quality product for Gibson, Everyday, Most days
Many of us don't like what HJ is doing to the Company . Re-Making Gibson guitars into, Gibson a life style/Brand . Take away the focus of what brought you to where you are today is a mistake . The USA line is a shame . Time will tell just how big of a mistake is being made. Money talks and HJ will listen to that .

Why does Gibson look and feel like PRS guitars ? because He Hates the fact they compete with Gibson and have a very good product that sells and has a following . He thinks it should be his . All of it . EGO again .

Completely overhauling something that is doing well in an attempt to carve out a place in history has an innovator that will go down in history as something he will never be is just an ego trip . Which he can do since he owns the company.
A Fail can be turned into a win with simple price bumps , WIN-WIN either way . YOU LOSE . Unless you really like the new offerings .

 

[Sitedrifter]

I normally take Ex employees feelings with a grain of salt because the truth cannot be known. Not saying they are falsifying things it is that it just can't be proven as it is one side only. In fact, what it takes to prove wrong doing in the workplace is a mass undertaking.

I would like to think it is not as bad as some make out to be and without a doubt, people hating HJ for his future plans is absurd. Since some feel HJ makes ALL the decisions right down to the purchasing of paper clips are wearing blinders and focusing on the USA line and not caring at what HJ did for the Historic line over the last couple of years as well as the ES line. I would call that outstanding moves on his part. (this all based on the premise of HJ having 100 percent control and micromanaging every aspect of the company)

It will be fun to see what happens with Gibson with this lifestyle product (diversification is great) and for me, I don't think it will affect the guitar line at all. Did I just say that as I am one of the biggest pessimists around.. LOL

 

[fleahead]

You don't have to take my ex-employee word for anything. Talk to ANYone in the music industry who knows anything about the workings of the company. Read Glassdoor.com and read what are many, many negative comments by current or ex-employees. Very few of these (really, if any) could be made by so-called "disgruntled employees" and those that are are probably very well deserved. Most in management are fired, some in public, almost all in embarrassing manners. Few of us actually leave on their own terms.

Regardless of "what he's done" for Gibson. Anyone with exceptional business acumen could have done the same, three times faster and without selling the brand under the bus.

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

Lolz

Brent Hinds is the lead guitarist for Mastodon. A very, very good player.

*thanks to o0sanity0o for posting it in the Epi section.

 

[SFK]

That looks more like MY signature edition:

 

[Kamen_Kaiju]

Yikes! Fiddle cases on pool tables.

Respect the felt, mang!