Those who fear the death of rock & roll won't be happy to hear that Gibson Brands Inc, the maker of some of America's most epochal electric and acoustic guitars, has filed for bankruptcy.
The Nashville-based company announcedTuesday that it is filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy and working on "re-focusing, reorganizing and restructuring" – i.e., trying to find its way out of a pile of debt – by shedding some of its side businesses and concentrating on its original mission of selling musical instruments.
"Over the past 12 months, we have made substantial strides through an operational restructuring. We have sold non-core brands, increased earnings, and reduced working capital demands," said Gibson's CEO Henry Juszkiewicz in a statement.
Those "non-core brands" include an audio and home entertainment business that Gibson acquired for $135 million from multinational tech firm Phillips in 2014, in a bid to broaden the company's presence among music fans, which the company says will now "be wound down." According to a court filing from the management consulting firm that will assist the company's pivot, Gibson’s electronics business had been "trapped in a vicious cycle in which it lacked the liquidity to buy inventory and drive sales." The company will continue to operate during its reorientation and bankruptcy proceedings, thanks to agreements it has reached with shareholders and noteholders.
The writing was on the wall for the iconic guitar company, as its annual revenue fell nearly half a billion in the last three years. It has debts of between $100 million and $500 million and owes money to at least 26 other companies, including suppliers; import regulations on rosewood have hampered its business in the last few years, as has a dramatic fall in the sale of guitars overall. (Fender is also in debt. Leading instrument retailer Guitar Center is hanging by a string.)
But it's not all bad news. Gibson – which also owns and makes musical instruments under a number of other household brand names including Epiphone, Kramer, Steinberger, Dobro, and Baldwin – is still a juggernaut in its industry, and the company's renewed focus on its instruments business could allow it to explore fresh ways of appealing to music fans.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/iconic-guitar-brand-gibson-files-for-bankruptcy-w519726
They may have not been putting out quality recently, but this still feels like a very bad thing.
my twin plays a gibson les paul he's probably won't be too surprised this is happening
My Les Paul is the best guitar I ever owned. Damn shame
It's good news if they manage to pull it off on the guitar front.
Good tbh, they've made stupid decisions that nobody wanted like their weird robo-tuners that just drove up the cost of already overpriced guitars. I just hope Fender sticks around for a while.
I stopped caring about Gibson when they stopped manufacturing banjos.
Like I said, you can find un-sold Gibsons by the piles in EVERY music shop, and they're all expensive as fuck. And why would you want to spend $1500-$3000 for a guitar when Epiphone (Also owned by Gibson now) can make the same damn guitar of almost identical quality for $99-$600, and you can replace individual parts with better ones and have the SAME guitar for a fraction of the cost, Minus the finish and bolt on neck
My $100 Epiphone Les Paul Jr is my favorite and best guitar I own. Replace the tuning heads with Grovers, get a legit P90 pickup, No filing down any frets were needed, and there you go. A $800 guitar for $240 that you can throw around and beat the fuck out of and you just won't care because so what, it cost nothing in the guitar world
Wait I thought that headline was referring to Mel Gibson
Fender is smart. They have guitars from mid range (the MIM stuff) to the nicer American made stuff, the pricing is reasonable. And even their really nice custom shop stuff isn't obnoxiously expensive. And for the beginner player, you still have Squire (made by Fender). Fender is also trying to innovate with amps that can connect to your computer to simulate cool effects, phone apps to help with guitar learning etc. Fender is constantly evolving to appeal to the newer generation, and that's why Fender is doing so well.
Gibson has been stagnant, they have been doing the same things over and over while their market and competitors change. Also quality control in their guitars is very inconsistent. When I am shelling out $2,000 dollars on a mid range guitar (not even their high end stuff), i shouldn't have to take it to a luther to fix the fretwork. Or have iffy pickups. Or having to deal with the cracking neck issues Gibsons seem to be plagued with.
I hope Gibson does not go belly up after the restructuring. But if they don't change, and evolve like everyone else, I won't feel sorry for them if they do go away. As they just can't solely rely on the Gibson legacy for sales.
Plus other brands make Les Paul clones that are nicer and far cheaper.
The bad news is it's probably going to be bought out by some shitty overseas firm that will hike up the prices and lower the quality.
Usually there's supposed to be a difference between the before & after shot.
That's what killed Gibson in the first place, so I doubt that.
Afaik Gibson also suffered quite a bit from a suddenly constricted supply chain regarding all the illegal wood they sourced from child slaves and then lied about, lmao
I wonder fucking why...
https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/237036/7bdb707e-83b8-4de3-b44a-af61a3700110/image.png
(Theyr gamechanging flying V model 2018)
Not a guitar guy, what's wrong with them? I like how V shaped guitars look. The only thing I don't like is the chrome plate.
For the price of a Gibson you can get a lovely Rickenbacker. Of coarse with Rickenbacker you gotta love that tone, but build quality is out of this world.
I am not surprised. People thought this would happen years ago since Gibson has slowly been becoming the Harley Davidson of the guitar world. Super inflated price, QC issues, new ventures into models and features that nobody wants, it's a shame many other companies and luthiers can make a substantially better Les Paul-style guitar for the same price or less.
It might be just subjective taste, but to me these new futuristic V designs butt ugly, also they cost 4.5k. Perfect example of don't fix it if it ain't broke. Most guitar players I know hate them too. In my opinion, this is a perfect example of their obsession with the "future", they invest ridiculous amounts in new designs and tech, but just end up alienating most of their consumer base. People love them for the classic stuff. It's no wonder that the 70's custom shop Gibsons are the best they've ever made.
Really not surprising that this has finally happened. Gibson have relied on their name for entirely too long, producing guitars of questionable quality at absurd price points. Why spend £1000 on a Gibson Les Paul when you can spend £1000 on a custom guitar built entirely to yours specs (I saw that Gordon Smith guitars can produce that exact product).
Even with Epiphone, the pricing is entirely too high. Why aren't there entry level Explorers for less than £200? Why aren't there proper Junior models any more? Why aren't there Melody Maker models any more? Too many shots to the foot and not paying attention to the changing game of guitars led to this, and whilst it's a shame for sure, the Gibson name will never disappear as it's too large to fade into the history books. But hopefully lessons can be learned and the company can move forwards and make the improvements needed to make the company a success again.
It's funny how after all the shit that gibson has released the last few years ("innovation" in the form of dozens after dozens of meme guitars), the only ones I appreciate are those that look pretty much the same as they always have.
Hopefully they learn to adapt to the current climate. less and less people want to spend $2000+ dollars on a guitar. Ive never understood how there were so many people that would spend Thousands of dollars when Epiphone is a nearly identical, less expensive guitar manufacturer, operated by Gibson themselves. Complaining about tone is fruitless when they can purchase the same pickups from the Gibson brand LPs and Install them and setting the guitar up, and still spend THOUSANDS less than buying a regular Gibson LP.
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