The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: Dave W on February 11, 2018, 11:58:44 PM
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I've dismissed the recent articles and YT video predicting the collapse of Gibson b/c the people behind them obviously had no idea how things work and what the numbers meant.
This article is different, and it's by a business writer from a Nashville business journal. Worth your time to read.
Gibson ‘running out of time — rapidly’ (https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/music-business/article/20992105/gibson-running-out-of-time-rapidly)
Looks as if things will change soon, one way or another.
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Interesting and this all sounds legit, although I don't understand all the economical things they say.
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Dallas Seger, a smallscale luthier I follow on Instagram, posted the threatogram he received from Gibson over his 'YG' guitar design: https://www.instagram.com/p/BfE2dbbhBxb/?taken-by=freemans_mountain (https://www.instagram.com/p/BfE2dbbhBxb/?taken-by=freemans_mountain)
The YG is a bit like an SG for sure, but the horns are shorter like a Guild S-100, and he adds a German carve to a number of his creations. It seems odd that Gibson chase down small luthiers who produce Gibson-like instruments when there are companies like Tokai who produce much closer replicas. They presumably know that the small luthiers can't afford big lawyers.
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It keeps looking worse........... At this rate, the second printing of "The Gibson Bass Book" will only need two more pages. Or, they could go the same way Kmart did. File bankruptcy & then turn around & buy Fender.
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At this rate, the second printing of "The Gibson Bass Book" will only need two more pages.
Yep. Looks like it ;-)
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Another story from a business and finance site. Sounds even more serious.
Debt Holders Increasingly Anticipate Bankruptcy Filing (https://www.strata-gee.com/gibson-coupon-payment-cfo-out/)
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Would be a sad end of an era. If Gibson tanks for good, I'm certain that somebody would buy their name and trademarks and start making guitars based on the classic designs - likely overseas. Maybe some boutique models still made somewhere in the USA, who knows. It'd probably be a whole different company.
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Does that mean Epiphone goes down with them? Most of their instruments are made in Japan, Korea and China?
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I guess brands like Fender and Gibson will never disappear. They'll just be taken over. Think about the years in the '80s when there were no US Fenders for two years... Somebody will buy Gibson, take on excisting layed off personnel, maybe not all, take over some machines, wood and buildings, maybe not all, and continue. Maybe less models, maybe no studio monitors. It will just go on and maybe people won't notice it that much...
Epiphone. It depends on how the company structure is. Uwe knows more about that. Strange: In Holland we have a different distributor for Music Man and Sterling By Music Man. Different companies, so they both chose their own distributor. Strange, cos together you are much stronger. Epiphone could be an own company with another board, ... I dunno.
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Gibson isn't going down for good. Chances of the company being liquidated (Chapter 7) are close to zero. A Chapter 11 restructuring is what would happen if refinancing fails and/or HJ refuses to give up part of his equity as part of a pre-bankruptcy restructuring deal.
Gibson's guitar business (including Epiphone) is apparently profitable and steady after recovering from the 2015 sales debacle, so it's very unlikely that the US factories would close regardless of what happens. That's not where they're losing money. It's the expansions into other areas (mostly electronics) and the debt incurred in the expansions that's killing them.
Even if HJ were to retain majority ownership, he'll probably wind up being accountable to a board, which has never been the case up to now. Frankly, I hope his era comes to a close soon.
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I guess brands like Fender and Gibson will never disappear.
Hurumph to that.
They were in just as bad shape when Henry bought it, weren't they?
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Sounds like Henry's majority ownership is a major problem with refinancing. It will be interesting to see if he will yield.
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Henry and David Berryman own the company outright. It's hard to see that situation staying the same.
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I think any change will be an improvement at this point, hard to se how things could get worse. Henry just needs to go away.
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But if Henry goes away we'll never get a bass version of the Firebird X, the Thunderbird X, with robo-tuners of course!
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http://ultimateclassicrock.com/gibson-guitar-financial-problems/
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Prices will skyrocket on the Sonex and Corvus.
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God knows how much a Firebird x will cost!
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I think any change will be an improvement at this point, hard to se how things could get worse. Henry just needs to go away.
But if Henry goes away we'll never get a bass version of the Firebird X, the Thunderbird X, with robo-tuners of course!
Henry has the solution to his financial problems, announced today: Presenting the Custom Boogie Van Les Pauls (https://reverb.com/news/gibson-nods-to-shaggin-wagons-with-new-custom-boogie-van-les-pauls).
Okay, who's on board? :mrgreen:
As our old pal funkycarnivore posted on FB, you could buy the van for less than that.
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I actually thought this was a joke. I don't even like the three-tone paint scheme very much. I guess it's okay, but nothing to get excited about. Certainly nothing to pay more for.
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Perhaps it is a good thing that the importer for Australia is "non functional".
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(https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5055/5399805046_0d30e4dd70.jpg)
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A nice 7200$ CDN after tax where I live. Yah, Gibson is right on the mark there. LOL
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Does that mean Epiphone goes down with them? Most of their instruments are made in Japan, Korea and China?
And the new Thunderbird Vintage Pros are made in Indonesia!
Maybe Rob needs to start work on an Epiphone Bass Book!
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Boogie Van Les Pauls - obviously a ploy to make up in volume what they loose in discounted pricing.
(Cough, cough...)
They may actually sell one of each color before deciding it's not their salvation.
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Maybe the Indonesian Epi factory boss can go for a management buy-out, then acquire the "Gibson" name once they've corned the market in cheap re-issues... :vader:
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Maybe Rob needs to start work on an Epiphone Bass Book!
That's not a bad idea! There are few Epi's out there that area rarer than their Gibson ancestors: the Epi LP standard.
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The Epi LP Standard is already in the book. 8)
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That reminds me: do you have any left? I didn't have money when it was first printed.
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Yes, I still have plenty books to sell.
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Henry J. has done good things for Gibson in the past - like saving their butt in the late 80ies - but he has been too long at the helm - anybody would be, it's been 30 years. It's time to - if not leave and let go - retreat to some representational, elder statesmen role for the company.
The sale of real estate worries me, once non-real estate trade companies do that, you know they are scraping the barrel. And once you hire someone like Alvarez & Marsal (who do good work, but generally have clients who are on life support systems), you're in deep shit.
Alternatively, they have to go down the drain and someone will no doubt carve out the guitar business which I believe can be continued profitably, especially once they stop alienating their retailers. I don't see a necessity for Gibson and Epiphone being bought by one new owner though it is clear that Epiphone - if no longer owned by the Gibson owner - will have to severely change its product range or pay license fees for those Gibson shapes forever. It's probably more vital for Epiphone to stick with Gibson than the other way around.
This should now better happen quickly - the company has been dragging itself through the desert for too long.
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I don't see Henry letting it go to Chapter 11 b/c he'd lose all of his equity. If he doesn't accept the senior debt holders' terms, and then defaults, they'll force him into it. IMHO at this point he'll have a deal forced on him if refinancing is to be done, and he'll have little choice but to accept. He'd still retain some ownership, maybe even majority ownership, but he won't have free reign.
Epiphone won't be separated from Gibson. No way.
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Update: Henry speaks out. (https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2018/02/16/struggling-gibson-speaks-out-about-its-finances.html) I'm doubtful.
And Gibson brings back a former CFO (https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2018/02/16/amid-financial-woes-gibson-brings-back-former-cfo.html) who left after only a short time. Something tells me this may have been insisted on by the creditors.
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Just a quick note - I started to Google "Gibson CEO.." and the first thing that came up was "Gibson CEO crazy". :mrgreen:
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Just a quick note - I started to Google "Gibson CEO.." and the first thing that came up was "Gibson CEO crazy". :mrgreen:
Google autocomplete knows everything! :mrgreen:
Saw this elsewhere:
(https://www.musiker-board.de/attachments/img-20180217-wa0001-jpg.611683/)
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There are articles about Gibson all over the Internet now. I thought about posting a few, but I would hardly know where to begin. That is quite a difference from a week ago when this topic started. Then I had to look pretty hard to find much of anything.
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Even all Dutch news papers print about it and lots of Dutchies put it on facebook. But mostly rants without any knowledge.
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Facebook. But mostly rants without any knowledge.
Tautology! :mrgreen:
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Even all Dutch news papers print about it and lots of Dutchies put it on facebook. But mostly rants without any knowledge.
I've seen lots this elsewhere. People either don't read the articles or don't understand where the debt came from. I've even seen a number of posts from people who hope Epiphone takes over Gibson. :rolleyes:
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This is being posted elsewhere, although i can't find it online at Bloomberg yet.
Gibson Creditors Are Said to Want New CEO Before Funding Rescue
2018-02-20 13:29:13.97 GMT
By Emma Orr
(Bloomberg) -- Gibson Brands Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Henry Juszkiewicz and his creditors both see value in the iconic guitar brand -- but that might be the only thing they see eye- to-eye on.
A group of bondholders advised by PJT Partners Inc. is pushing for a restructuring that would hand them ownership of the guitar maker and let them install new leadership, according to people with knowledge of the plans. The holders don’t expect Gibson’s earnings will be strong enough to attract new money for a refinancing to head off a default looming later this year, and creditors are reluctant to invest more funds while Juszkiewicz is still in charge, the people said. They asked not to be identified because the plans remain private.
The bondholders, who claim to control more than two-thirds of Gibson’s outstanding notes that come due in August, would allow management to keep a small ownership stake, according to the people. Juszkiewicz, who has run Nashville, Tennessee-based Gibson for more than 30 years, says he has no plans to give up majority control.
Some bondholders are “not looking to get paid back and get interest, but have other intentions that are not necessarily my intentions,” Juszkiewicz, 64, said in a Feb. 15 interview with Bloomberg News. “They’re trying to do everything possible to put the company in a worse position, and get us in a situation where they’re exclusively talking to us. But factually, we’ve made our interest payments, fulfilled our obligations, and our intent is to pay back all bondholders.”
Gibson is under pressure after loading up on debt for an ill-fated expansion into consumer electronics. Credit analysts have raised doubts that the company can repay borrowings coming due as soon as July. Gibson is working on a refinancing plan with investment bank Jefferies Group LLC, Juszkiewicz has said.
The company hasn’t been interacting with the organized group of existing bondholders, according to the people with knowledge of the proceedings. Instead, it’s trying to raise new money to refinance the entire capital structure and take out all of the existing debt, eliminating the conflict, the people said.
In addition to PJT, the bondholder group is advised by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison, the people said.
Representatives for the advisers and for Jefferies didn’t comment.
“A lot of times bonds just get refinanced with the same group, but in this case we’re not too happy about doing that, so we’re looking at different financing options,” Juszkiewicz said.
“Some of them are single group, some of them are tiered financing. We’ve talked to lots of people, we’ve had interest, and some people have done initial due diligence.”
The company is facing a $375 million bond maturity in August, and a springing lien that could cause $185 million of debt to become current in July if the bond maturity isn’t addressed by that month.
Talks are underway, but there’s not yet a deal in hand or firm pricing, Juszkiewicz said. “We’re really trying to get the pricing right and get the best deal.”
Juszkiewicz bought Gibson from Norlin Corp. in 1986 with two of his former Harvard Business School classmates. According to his biography on the company website, he paid his way through school playing guitar in various rock bands -- a Gibson, of course.
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And here's today's rebuttal from Henry.
Gibson responds to bankruptcy reports, claiming new strategy “will lead to the best financial results the company has seen in its history” (https://www.musicradar.com/news/gibson-responds-to-bankruptcy-reports-claiming-new-strategy-will-lead-to-the-best-financial-results-the-company-has-seen-in-its-history)
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It's up. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-02-20/gibson-creditors-are-said-to-want-new-ceo-before-funding-rescue
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Looks like you called it right, Dave. I will be really surprised if Henry gets out of this as either CEO or majority shareholder.
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Thanks for the link, Paul.
We'll see whose intentions win out.
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I found this intention interesting:
“eliminating product segments that do not perform to our expectations and have little upside in the future.”
I wonder what the take on this is? I would'nt be surprised if Henry considers the consumer products high on the upside while some of the musical instruments brands are on the downside in the future. I'm no expert but would'nt consumer products run at higher cost in product development than musical instruments do.
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I'm no expert but would'nt consumer products run at higher cost in product development than musical instruments do.
They do, but they also make much higher profit margins. There are only so many ways that costs can be cut making a guitar before the drop in quality erodes the retail price point as well. Consumer products cost more to develop but once they are developed, can be made in bulk in contract factories in Asia for very high wholesale and retail margins. Henry saw the cash that Fender raked in on its branded accessories and wanted that pie too, but bit off way more than he could chew.
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From what I've read, it's the consumer electronics that aren't performing. Hopefully he recognizes that. I posted a shot a year ago of Gibson speakers I saw in a store in Tokyo.
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There's a widespread assumption that guitar sales are in decline. The annual sales figures published in Music Trades show that that's untrue. Sales are relatively flat since the crash of 2008-09 but people are still buying lots of guitars. IIRC only the cheapest (under $200) category was in decline over a 5-year period.
Philips and TEAC/Tascam may be performing okay, hard to say. At least those brands are still very visible. But what about brands like Onkyo and Cerwin-Vega? Their heyday was years ago. My home stereo (except the speakers) is all Onkyo. Rock solid reliable, sounds great. But the newest component is 25-26 years old. Their reputation had declined well before Henry bought the company.
Anyway... the bottom line is that Henry's existing creditors apparently want him out. The only way he survives that is by refinancing the entire debt with other creditors, at a time when the company's credit rating is very poor. Can he pull it off? Possibly, but not likely.
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Would you trust this man to turn the company around, when he's the one whose actions brought it to this point?
(https://i.imgur.com/BkCAL5G.gif)
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All this past buying of electronics has-beens is beyond me. I thought Henry wanted to turn Gibson into a lifestyle brand with the guitar production being the showcase for preserving the mystique. In that case he should be selling Gibson jeans, shoes, leather jackets and, yes, Gibson perfume (I'm not joking, "Släsh - The new fragrance from Gibsön that rocks your role ..." )
(http://www.gotceleb.com/wp-content/uploads/celebrities/cara-delevingne/photoshoot-for-topshop-fall-winter-2014-15/Cara-Delevingne:-Photoshoot-for-Topshop-2014--10-720x1080.jpg)
or open Gibson Cafés akin to Hard Rock Cafés and not buy someone like Onkyo (I used to have an Onkyo tape recorder too, but that was many moons ago). :o
With the digital revolution ongoing, today's state-of-the-art gadget is tomorrow's junk. Look what happened to Nokia. Unless you are at the forefront of technical development (Gibson is too small for that and doesn't have the money either) and have an image to boot like, say, Apple (for the avoidance of doubt: I have never owned a single Apple product), don't bother. But people will be buying perfume and jeans for a long time to come.
For his alleged quest of making Gibson a lifestyle brand, Henry should have invited Karl Lagerfeld to stage a fashion show in Nashville rather than importing woods from dubious sources. The problem with Henry J is - ignore all the bad figures and some dodgy business decisions in the past - that there is nothing visionary in him. Gibson would need someone like Richard Branson to take it somewhere else.
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I believe Henry is a visionary alright. It's just that his vision miss the target over and over again. If he manages to lure new creditors to his realm things will probably get worse because he has no grasp on reality at all.
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Buying a part of our Dutch Phillips was a bad idea.. so we brought down the cpmpany:)
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Focus on building good guitars people can afford
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Our local town newspaper "Langener Zeitung" reported about Gibson's state in its edition today - it being a newspaper that generally devotes more pages to the local rabbit breeding club than to, say, the war in Syria. There is definitely something seriously amiss.
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Posted by a member at MLP: "Somebody needs to do one of those Hitler-in-the-bunker videos with HJ."
Anyone up for it?
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This thread has already set a world's record in contrasts with a pic of Henry J followed by one of Cara Delevingne with a guitar.
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This thread has already set a world's record in contrasts with a pic of Henry J followed by one of Cara Delevingne with a guitar.
Never heard of her before. I figured Uwe found some random pic of a girl with psycho chick eyebrows and skinny legs. Good contrast with the Crazy Henry gif.
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For your enjoyment: Henry as Hitler in the bunker.
NSFW language
Gibson's Diversification causes a tense moment in the boardroom (https://www.captiongenerator.com/910452/Gibsons-Diversification)
The person who made this couldn't figure out how to save it without losing the captions.
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Never heard of her before. I figured Uwe found some random pic of a girl with psycho chick eyebrows and skinny legs. Good contrast with the Crazy Henry gif.
I think she is better known in the UK. I had read about her. She is a model who also dabbles in acting and I suppose somewhat in music, too. Because my taste in movies leans toward sci-fi movies that don't take themselves too seriously, I watched her in the recent "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets."
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Focus on building good guitars people can afford
That is the simplest and most accurate statement regarding what Gibson needs to do. Even if their guitars were a little more expensive than USA Fenders, they would do fine.
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"Never heard of her before."
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Dave where do you live again?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPeqNTqZNN0
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"Never heard of her before."
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Dave where do you live again?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPeqNTqZNN0
What does that mean? What does some shitty CGI movie have to do with where I live?
She's a skank. Just say no to skanks.
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She's actually highly humorous and self-deprecating.
(https://78.media.tumblr.com/ea1eded4adea683f06008c460a3f528c/tumblr_oiv51oS6by1uh8r5jo1_500.jpg)
No idea what puts her in the "skank" bracket for you, she's a model turning to acting, what is so wrathworthy about that?
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....
No idea what puts her in the "skank" bracket for you, she's a model turning to acting, what is so wrathworthy about that?
Too skinny! Not particularly attractive. The pics you posted make her look even less attractive. Nothing wrathworthy about her, nothing that turns my head either.
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Too skinny! Not particularly attractive. The pics you posted make her look even less attractive. Nothing wrathworthy about her, nothing that turns my head either.
Couldn't agree more. And that "oh look how modest I am, making silly faces and all" style maybe it was worth something sometime ago, but now it is just boring. Like her.
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Cara seems to be able to attract more than her share of some of the hottest chicks imaginable which is certainly more than I can say for myself.
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"Never heard of her before."
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Dave where do you live again?
Me neither. About 15 minutes west of Chicago. ;D
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Me neither. About 15 minutes west of Chicago. ;D
I'm not even sure how well she is known. I have mostly heard of her because I go to a sci-fi site that has a sister site which has articles about random topics, including articles about Cara Delevingne. It was on the sci-fi site that I read about "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" and decided to watch it.
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Cara used to be the girlfriend of St. Vincent / Annie Clark. She's a writer to and her sis Poppy is gorgeous too.
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Cara used to be the girlfriend of St. Vincent / Annie Clark. She's a writer to and her sis Poppy is gorgeous too.
Donut bumpers, I should have known.
I'll bet she and St. Vincent liked to have apple pie for dessert but Fiona Apple never showed up for dinner.
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And she's been the most popular and style-influencing model since Kate Moss - a Karl Lagerfeld (an international fashion designer, Dave) muse too.
And yes, I dig her eyebrows doubling as caterpillars waiting to take on a life of their own any minute. :mrgreen:
Valerian won't win any awards, but I was entertained. Like nearly all Luc Bresson (obviously an ADS victim!) films, brimming with cute, albeit too often half-baked ideas and clamoring for a developed story. Bresson's scripts appear to be written over night on speed (and never reviewed thereafter).
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Donut bumpers, I should have known.
I'll bet she and St. Vincent liked to have apple pie for dessert but Fiona Apple never showed up for dinner.
But Dave, didn't we discuss how you would not use the DB term again? 8)
Alas!, she'll grow out of it. Don't they all? (insert broad male grin here)
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I wouldn't mind dialing down the sexist language a notch ... just sayin'
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I wouldn't mind dialing down the sexist language a notch ... just sayin'
Agreed. I wince every now and then.
Not that I don't have stray thoughts, but I'm better at keeping them off my keyboard than I used to be.
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Valerian's a Luc Besson film... "Marmite" director... I like Marmite... ;)
(Eg: Lucy, Leon, Taxi, AngelA, Transporter, 5th Element, Le Grande Bleu, Taken... stuff...)
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I wouldn't mind dialing down the sexist language a notch ... just sayin'
I thought this forum was on the same level as a construction site. Are there any women reading what we say here to get offended? A little misogyny between friends is harmless. Just because it's fun to joke about carpet munchers doesn't mean we do it with animosity in our hearts. God bless those mixed up young fur burger/ bearded clam/ box chow hounds.
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Sorry if my remarks above seemed crass to anyone, man or woman. Let's get back to enjoying the more wholesome things about music, like this quaint little ditty.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcwW2L0rCN4&feature=share
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I remember once encountering that song on YouTube. I think the original version was from the 1930s.
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But Dave, didn't we discuss how you would not use the DB term again? 8)
Alas!, she'll grow out of it. Don't they all? (insert broad male grin here)
No, we didn't.
I'm not the one who took things way off topic by posting her picture.
I wouldn't mind dialing down the sexist language a notch ... just sayin'
Agreed. I wince every now and then.
Not that I don't have stray thoughts, but I'm better at keeping them off my keyboard than I used to be.
I won't allow racism or obscene language, but if we can't make lighthearted jokes about sexuality, we might as well shut 'er down and call it a day.
I thought this forum was on the same level as a construction site. Are there any women reading what we say here to get offended? A little misogyny between friends is harmless. Just because it's fun to joke about carpet munchers doesn't mean we do it with animosity in our hearts. God bless those mixed up young fur burger/ bearded clam/ box chow hounds.
That's right. No harm is intended.
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Now, let's get back to the subject of this thread with a new article.
CEO Says Gibson Will Dump Brands (https://www.strata-gee.com/ceo-says-gibson-will-dump-brands/)
Gruesome fourth quarter results from the electronics portfolio.
Henry's whistling in the dark.
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Oh, I'm not mad or anything, and I'm not gonna continually police the forum being a buzzkill, or run away in a huff ... I just didn't think "skank" sounded like particularly lighthearted fun, but if that's how it was meant, okay. I think it should be okay for people to occasionally say they don't like something, and it's okay for us to disagree. After all, I'm just one among many, and we have varying preferences. I sure don't keep the lights on here. If I ever got seriously ticked off about something I'm always free to leave.
I guess if most of us want it to feel like "a construction site" then that's how it'll be. I'm not the self-appointed voice of any female lurkers here (if there are any?), but I wouldn't be surprised if those few who do chime in once in a blue moon continue to quickly disappear - I think that'd be a natural consequence.
That's all I'm planning to say on this point. Back to grim Gibson popcorn! That's more fun anyway :popcorn:
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For your enjoyment: Henry as Hitler in the bunker.
NSFW language
Gibson's Diversification causes a tense moment in the boardroom (https://www.captiongenerator.com/910452/Gibsons-Diversification)
The person who made this couldn't figure out how to save it without losing the captions.
Looks the person sorted it out eventually :)
Was that you Dave? Nicely done, whoever it was :)
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Now, let's get back to the subject of this thread with a new article.
CEO Says Gibson Will Dump Brands (https://www.strata-gee.com/ceo-says-gibson-will-dump-brands/)
Gruesome fourth quarter results from the electronics portfolio.
Henry's whistling in the dark.
When a writer uses "try and" in the first sentence I get too distracted to pay much attention to what follows.
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Looks the person sorted it out eventually :)
Was that you Dave? Nicely done, whoever it was :)
Not mine. I wouldn't have thought of all those products. ;D
The guy who made it couldn't figure out how to save it, only to share it. What you're seeing is the page where he created it.
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Scene from Hardcore (1979) in which George C. Scott's character discovers his daughter acting in a porn movie.
Slightly revised. ;)
https://youtu.be/R3dF43ERTtk
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Shame he's long gone... could have played a passable Henry in the movie version of the Great Gibson disaster of 2018, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, T Minus 10... Ejection from CEO has started... :vader:
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You guys need to give Henry more credit. I think he knows exactly what he's doing. He is positioning Gibson for sale to the perfect buyer, Hammacher Schlemmer. The $4,200 musical mosaic masterpiece Les Paul Jr. will fit right in next to the $54,000 self contained hootenanny. Henry once again proves that genius is often confused for insanity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh-lKF6UuLk
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I had been looking at an advertisement for a wireless CD player from Hammacher Schlemmer. It looked perfect for my purposes. But after reading all the negative reviews, I'm not going to take the risk. I'm not very familiar with the company. I'm not in a position to say anything about it one way or another. Except I certainly can't ignore all those negative reviews for that particular product which were very stark and critical.
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No, we didn't.
I'm not the one who took things way off topic by posting her picture.
I won't allow racism or obscene language, but if we can't make lighthearted jokes about sexuality, we might as well shut 'er down and call it a day.
That's right. No harm is intended.
For the record: The doughnut bumper thing is an inside joke between Dave and me and I use that term all the time myself, even lesbians laugh about it, I never discussed with Dave not to use it. Anybody who loves another person is fine to be together with him or her in my book - or marry -, gender plays no role for me in that.
Posting Cara with a guitar was not off topic though, I tried to reinforce the lifestyle/fashion brand statement by posting it and simply found her pic via searching "model & guitar". Frankly, I thought that being the model household name she meanwhile is, anybody would get my intentions. I was wrong! I should have posted Keith advertising for Louis Vuitton!
(https://www.iorr.org/keith/keith_lv2c.jpg)
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World War II is never off topic. I recently ran across this info about Cara's great-aunt who had an affair with Churchill. Interesting, significant but with a sad ending.
http://metro.co.uk/2018/02/25/cara-delevingnes-great-aunt-had-an-affair-with-winston-churchill-and-his-son-7340457/
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Interesting, a fun-loving auntie then!
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The same might be said for Churchill himself. The impression some may have of him as being stodgy may not be too accurate.
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Can we please get back to Gibson?
Henry blames retailers (https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/8215382/gibson-ceo-henry-juszkiewicz-guitar-retail-interview)
After making it impossible for any but the largest retailers to carry Gibson, and then making the ones who do qualify take whatever inventory Gibson decides to send them, he still won't take responsibility for his actions.
From the last paragraph: "Those guitars from the 50s are what the purists want, but we have to have something new and exciting. Imagine if the camera had never changed. Innovation is a part of every business to some degree, but [the guitar industry] hates it. The kids demand it, and if you don't have it, they walk." Riiiight, Henry. That's why the kids rushed out to buy all your innovations. Funny how your competitors are prospering without robo tuners and the like.
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He still isn't getting the point that you can't just have innovation for its own sake. It has to mean something. It has to be appealing and useful. Any person with common sense understands this. He did emphasize, though, the negative impact that 2008 had. I agree with that.
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Ruh-roh.
S&P downgrades Gibson to default imminent (https://www.strata-gee.com/sp-says-gibson-default-imminent/)
The important part is that the results of Gibson's recently released 12/31/17 report to creditors have put Gibson in technical default; they may need monthly waivers even to continue until the due dates later this year.
Henry's days are numbered.
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I don't find his observations so horrible or inept, more than a grain of truth in those. As regards innovation vs. tradition, a cutting edge instrument maker should offer both, if Ted McCarty's modernistic guitars (Flying V, Explorer, Moderne) weren't cutting edge back then, I don't know. Yes, they were also commercially unsuccessful at the time, but would we want them to have never been built? I think there is room for both - a vintage and a modern line. And while I'm not clamoring for a TBird with automatic tuners, they wouldn't keep me from buying a modernistic version of it either.
But I don't believe that Gibson's model policy is really the core of their difficulties.
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Yes, there's certainly some truth in his observations about retail, but Gibson's problems with retailers are all self-inflicted wounds. Gibson's model policy is a big problem only because of his insistence on blaming others when his changes are rejected.
His expansions into consumer electronics businesses are what will bring him down. Again, he won't come out and admit his disastrous mistakes. He still thinks he's an unappreciated business genius.
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Modernisation is often throwing things randomly at a wall to see what sticks. I would have never thought that there would be a market for people lugging around an electronic motor on a bicycle - always thought that the point of a bicycle was to let your legs do the work, but look at what a commercial success E-Bikes have become (still don't own one though I ride 3 to 5 times a week 25 miles round trip home-office-home through woods mostly which has had some positive effect on my girth since I started with it last summer or so :mrgreen: ).
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Gibson lays off staff at Nashville Custom Shop (https://www.musicradar.com/news/gibson-lays-off-staff-at-nashville-custom-shop)
Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz says the staff reductions are “part of a broad initiative throughout the company to prepare for our refinancing”.
Right. Lay off 15 senior workers. That will improve QC and turn your sinking ship around.
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What a brilliant turnaround move, straight out of the restructuring handbook, I can barely contain my accordance.
(https://media1.tenor.com/images/f9d5be9cef233643ef7e9aa0fe5842ee/tenor.gif?itemid=7553545)
Consolingly though, I do like how "broad initiative" sounds ... and didn't it do DEAN a whole lot of good too?
(http://68.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lyknq1aZH31qfp1uro4_1280.jpg)
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Chinese Investment Consortium Is Eyeing a Gibson Guitar Acquisition (https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018/02/28/gibson-guitar-vulture-acquisition/)
I don't see this happening. Henry's not selling and I don't think he'll allow himself to be forced into Chapter 11. OTOH if the creditors take some equity in exchange for debt, some foreign group could wind up owning a part of the company.
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I guess I don't understand how these things work. What options does Henry still have if his refinancing efforts fail?
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I guess I don't understand how these things work. What options does Henry still have if his refinancing efforts fail?
He'll have to accept the creditors' demands or they will force him into bankruptcy. They are apparently demanding some ownership equity in exchange for debt, and some control over how the company is run even if the ownership equity is less than 50%. If he refuses and is forced into Chapter 11, he'll likely come out with nothing.
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Having seen/experienced what Chinese investors did to Volvo (a whole lot of good), I wouldn't be unduly worried.
The problem with Henry J is that he is not a guitar maker by pedigree, so there really isn't a face-saving position for him as some kind of elder statemen figure head in the company once it would have been taken over by someone else.
That CFO called Bill Lawrence who left only recently, was he a relative of the other, German origin, pup-creator Bill Lawrence or is that just a coincidence?
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No relation to Willi Stich a/k/a Bill Lawrence the pickup maker.
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Just a reply on the modern/classic perspective. No problem for me to modernise. My concern is if Henry really thought the LP Robot guitar -which was the first guitar equipped with robot tuners- was such a success they ought to implement them on almost all guitars? It never struck to me to being such a blockbuster. Henry does'nt get that the proof is in the pudding even when it's on the table in front of him.
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If your modern innovation doesn't sell, don't blame the public for not buying. Henry has never learned that lesson.
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I saw an article yesterday that said Gibson has sold its Baldwin Piano division. AFAIK that hasn't happened yet, they only sold a former Baldwin building in the Nashville area. It's not likely that they could sell the division for anywhere near what they paid.
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I saw an article yesterday that said Gibson has sold its Baldwin Piano division. AFAIK that hasn't happened yet, they only sold a former Baldwin building in the Nashville area. It's not likely that they could sell the division for anywhere near what they paid.
I suspect Gibson is about to find out that applies to a number of subsidiaries, but that won't eliminate the need to sell.
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i just happen to know what he paid for baldwin. I ( GE Capital) sold it to him at a bankruptcy court auction.. was around 24M if my memory serves me correctly. probably worth single digits at this point.
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i just happen to know what he paid for baldwin. I ( GE Capital) sold it to him at a bankruptcy court auction.. was around 24M if my memory serves me correctly. probably worth single digits at this point.
Whoa!
Buy high, sell low- make it up on volume :o
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Thanks for that info, Jim.
Gibson paid far more for Philips/Woox and I expect that it will be sold off at a much greater loss.
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Henry's gotta go or not dough.
https://www.gearnews.com/gibson-creditors-want-new-ceo-offering-rescue-deal/
TD
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Henry's gotta go or not dough.
https://www.gearnews.com/gibson-creditors-want-new-ceo-offering-rescue-deal/
TD
Henry with his Fireturd X. How fitting! I remember the big hoopla when he introduced it. He definitely saw himself as another Steve Jobs.
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It appears that the wolfpack is closing in.
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Who called us for that Nashville Convoy?
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/c5/c7/96/c5c7969e73d4c883f67fac81134ae868.jpg)
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I thought the Firebird X was a worthy attempt at innovation - nothing wrong with trying something like that. Just don't bet your company on it.
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Innovation is necessary.
But the Fireturd X used already outdated technology, and was not well designed at all (for example ugly stickers with function description at every knob...)
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Henry deliberately tried to price his products so that working musicians could not afford them...shot himself in the foot
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I thought the Firebird X was a worthy attempt at innovation - nothing wrong with trying something like that. Just don't bet your company on it.
I don't think it was, but even so, the problem is that he blames everybody but himself. His failures are always the fault of others.
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He's right, really, as the majority of the public was too stupid (sic) to buy one... ;)
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Firebird X. I saw it at the NAMM and Musikmesse. All were played by kids who couldn't afford them.
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Just on the subject of the Firebird X, I've never actually seen one in the flesh, but the stills of it on the Gibson site certainly didn't do it any favours. I've just watched a a couple of videos online...yes, visually it's a munter, a real ugly duckling, but there is something alluring about it.
From a visual aesthetic, it could have benefitted from a flat finish and a rosewood/ebony/dark wood board...on the Andertons video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb7G6KbwCpE
...the top looks very lumpy. The headstock is ugly as sin, looking at Gibson's conventional headstock designs, surely they could have drawn from something along their legacy, one of the Moderne V-shaped headstock would have looked better. I don't have an issue with the robot tuners really, but yeah, I know traditionalists will shout, 'Robot tuners? We don't need your freaking robot tuners!' but it is kind of neat and I'd never tire of watching it do its thing (especially after being in a band with an exceptionally gifted, albeit pitchless guitarist, who could never keep his guitar in tune).
Ultimately, it's just an experimental instrument and shouldn't have been developed beyond the concept stage (much like the models car manufacturers show at car shows) Too many peripherals, short battery life, over-complicated. It's a toy, really.
At about the 16 minute point on the Andertons video, Rob Chapman sums the guitar up, saying that while it isn't for him, Gibson had a big set o' balls and courage for putting the instrument out. I do wonder how the technology would have been embraced if it had been presented in in a different package; a regular Explorer or even in a '57 Futura reissue.
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The Fireturd X was foretold in The Simpsons (S2 E 15, O Brother Where Art Thou, from 1991).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPc-VEqBPHI
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I don't think it was, but even so, the problem is that he blames everybody but himself. His failures are always the fault of others.
That, dear Dave, is executive management summed up in one sentence.
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It seems that this generation of CEO's get awful forgetful when things go to shit. Their main function is not only to take credit when things go well, but to take the blame when things go bad. That's why they make hundreds of times what the average worker makes................... Money well spent????? Not!!
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That, dear Dave, is executive management summed up in one sentence.
Within an organization, that happens way too often, and judging by the turnover, Henry's an expert at it.
Blaming your buying public for not seeing the brilliance of your shitty vision is another thing entirely. Making it extremely difficult for brick-and-mortar stores to carry your product, treating the ones who do like dirt and then blaming both for the problem you created is a sign of someone who has completely lost his way.
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Funny, at my job (a tech startup) we just had a Q&A session with a couple of our board members. One thing that one of them mentioned was that it's dangerous for a CEO to love their product more than their customers, because then they tend to blame the customers if they don't get the sales they think they deserve.
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According to Bloomberg, Gibson’s creditors are willing to throw Gibson a lifeline on condition that Henry Juskiewicz leaves his position of CEO. That seems to set the stage for larger changes in ownership.
Music to my ears... ;D
https://www.gearnews.com/heard-yamaha-buying-gibson-rumour-heres-make-sense/
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Music to my ears... ;D
https://www.gearnews.com/heard-yamaha-buying-gibson-rumour-heres-make-sense/
That would make sense only after the debt crisis is settled. I can't see Yamaha or anyone else buying Gibson and taking on the current debt load. Maybe after creditors have taken enough equity in exchange for debt to take control (and pushed Henry out), Yamaha might be interested. Or if Gibson winds up in Chapter 11.
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That makes sense. I'm just happy to see that possibility (of Henry getting kicked to the curb) at all.
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That makes sense. I'm just happy to see that possibility (of Henry getting kicked to the curb) at all.
That seems logical.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQjBEbwAi1Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR4XNqrqxrU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62GNQ1h-W14
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Yamaha is a bonafide brand in music instruments. Their QC is second to none.
I think Gibson would make a giant leap forward into the present if the Japanese took over.
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If Yamaha ends up making Gibsons, they better still make them in America or the brand becomes pointless. If Toyota can do it, so can other companies.
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The Vapors tune is slang for er... a Nasty Habit...? ;)
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I tend to agree. Gibson is already a premium brand, so continuing US production should be affordable with good management. I think Gibson would lose a lot of cache' if production moved overseas.
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It's hard to see Gibson producing overseas when there's already Epiphone selling budget Chinese versions of the same basic design.
But then, Fender has shown it can get more complex than that... I suppose it's not impossible that we'd have something similar, like MIM or MIJ Gibsons priced below the premium MIA models. Who knows.
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I think there'd be room for something like Fender's MIA and MIM basses. Epi is positioned as the affordable line, but there's room to play with various models.
And the first direction they should head is those vintage designs that Henry disdains.
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Whatever happens with Gibson, I can't see any new ownership abandoning USA production. Expansion elsewhere is always possible.
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An article about the rumors.
https://www.gearnews.com/heard-yamaha-buying-gibson-rumour-heres-make-sense/
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The Vapors tune is slang for er... a Nasty Habit...? ;)
Supposedly, the song is just about a guy losing his girlfriend and being understandably unhappy about it. I think the theory that the song was about a nasty habit has been debunked.
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Even if Yamaha takes over Gibson, they would be stupid NOT to produce in the USA. I think more brands are owned by foreign companies than we know.
Lotus is a quintessential British car brand, but 51% Chinese. Aston Martin is - I think - owned by a consortium of European, Kuwaiti and Asian companies. Our Dutch truck brand DAF, which is as Dutch as tulips, wooden shoes, windmills and Rob van den Broek's criticism is owned by Paccar, which also has Peterbilt and Kenworth. So Gibson can be as US as it can be and still owned by Yamaha or any other company.
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Yamaha as a brand is no stranger to U.S production. They make/has made for example upright pianos, amplifiers and on the automotive side ATV's in the U.S.A.
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I am sure, your new President will see to it that US production is retained and that non-US-Gibson instruments will certainly not be cheaper for the consumer. :mrgreen:
Unless North Korea gets a guitar plant and tariff privileges for abandoning its nuclear arms. :rimshot:
(https://rpr.c.yimg.jp/amd/20160120-00053572-roupeiro-000-8-view.jpg)
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HyU1YY2pRC8/maxresdefault.jpg)
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Introducing....The TariffCaster!!
No, wait, wrong brand.....
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Gib Son Un?
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Volvo has been owned by a Chinese company since about 2010. They're still building them in Sweden and they're building a new plant in South Carolina. They have opened a couple of factories in China, but that's their biggest market.
Also, not widely known, that all-American brand Tacoma Guitars was originally owned by Young Chang Piano of South Korea. It was started as an offshoot of their lumber mill in Washington.
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I have no issues with Asian-owned Western brands at all, they are generally responsible entrepreneurs. Both Volvo (who have also retained their facilities in The Netherlands where the 60 and 40 models are built on the old DAF premises) and Jaguar have benefitted immensely from their Chinese and Indian owners, after decades of being less than love children of their previous Western owners.
It's an interesting development. :popcorn:
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Introducing....The TariffCaster!!
8) BRILLIANT!
Gib Son Un?
;D Enlightening
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"The TariffCaster"
Made in Mexico, it is true. Behind a very thick wall - and let me say this ... - they will pay for.
Watch this space. The release of the new model will be tweeted in due course (once the dismissals are all out of the way).
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If Yamaha ends up making Gibsons, they better still make them in America or the brand becomes pointless.
I've seen this sort of comment elsewhere, predominantly on Hamer pages. I really don't see why there's this issue with US guitar manufacturing = great, everywhere else (especially the far east, lol) = shit.
The argument with Hamer was always read that the US produced models were head and shoulders over Asian-built models, that's as maybe, but there's also this mindset in place where people treat 'imports' with contempt without even having laid eyes on one. Let's also not forget that one of your great American brands (cough, Fender, cough) were tantamount on shutting down Hamer.
With all due respect, it's too easy for people to bark out a statement that the brand will become pointless if it's made in China, without any meat on the bone to back that up. All you'll have is a secondhand marketplace where guitars will be advertised as pre-Yamaha or whatever, just like the pre-CBS thing with Fender. It's also unlikely that US-made Gibsons will become unavailable to anyone who wants one. There's hundreds of thousands of them out there. Also, you've only got to look very briefly online to see how many people are raving over the new (Indonesian!) Epiphone Thunderbirds...I've seen more positivity about those than any US built Thunderbirds.
I do understand that most of the guys here are American and you're proud to own and play American-made instruments, but come on, it's not 1960, it's a global marketplace. We don't have any major guitar/bass manufacturing here in the UK, it's small number stuff (similar to Lull); Shuker, ACG etc. so for us at least, pretty much every instrument is an import, be it from Indonesia, South Korea, China or the US. I've had as many decent built US guitars as I have poor ones. It's about making music at the end of the day, not about the name on the headstock of the guitar!
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True, fine guitars can be made anywhere in the world. To me, something like a Les Paul, which has been around since the birth of rock and roll, deserves to be made in the country of it's origin as much as a samurai sword should be made in Japan or Champagne from France or caviar from Russia. Calling something a Gibson when it isn't American makes as much sense as calling a cowboy hat a beret.
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Yeah it's nothing to do with quality at all. People associate American brands with their feelings about American culture and heritage more generally. I don't think this is a uniquely American phenomenon, either, I think you find these feelings all over.
I'm hardly a vocal flag-waving patriot, but I get it. I would be a bit sad if "Gibson" didn't make anything here, and likewise a bit sad if there were no more MIA Fender. I wouldn't freak out about it or anything.
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I think I associate a Gibson with a particular sound.
I always think a good Gibson acoustic guitar sounds bigger and fatter than anything....and that certainly is true of the basses
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I think I associate a Gibson with a particular sound.
I always think a good Gibson acoustic guitar sounds bigger and fatter than anything....and that certainly is true of the basses
Which is why the Gibson basses have something going for them as far as I'm concerned. If I want clanky and trebly, of course there are plenty of other places to look.
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I've seen this sort of comment elsewhere, predominantly on Hamer pages. I really don't see why there's this issue with US guitar manufacturing = great, everywhere else (especially the far east, lol) = shit.
The argument with Hamer was always read that the US produced models were head and shoulders over Asian-built models, that's as maybe, but there's also this mindset in place where people treat 'imports' with contempt without even having laid eyes on one. Let's also not forget that one of your great American brands (cough, Fender, cough) were tantamount on shutting down Hamer.
With all due respect, it's too easy for people to bark out a statement that the brand will become pointless if it's made in China, without any meat on the bone to back that up. All you'll have is a secondhand marketplace where guitars will be advertised as pre-Yamaha or whatever, just like the pre-CBS thing with Fender. It's also unlikely that US-made Gibsons will become unavailable to anyone who wants one. There's hundreds of thousands of them out there. Also, you've only got to look very briefly online to see how many people are raving over the new Epiphone Thunderbirds...I've seen more positivity about those than any US built Thunderbirds.
I do understand that most of the guys here are American and you're proud to own and play American-made instruments, but come on, it's not 1960, it's a global marketplace. We don't have any major guitar/bass manufacturing here in the UK, it's small number stuff (similar to Lull); Shuker, ACG etc. so for us at least, pretty much every instrument is an import, be it from Indonesia, South Korea, China or the US. I've had as many decent built US guitars as I have poor ones. It's about making music at the end of the day, not about the name on the headstock of the guitar!
I hear what you're saying, and I agree in general. But you have to remember that everything is built to a price point. I've seen $200 Indonesian basses with top notch workmanship... and inferior hardware, electronics, and woods. This is understandable. They are trying to reach a certain market.
Using your Hamer example, if an Asian Hamer gets the job done for someone, that's great. It's certainly not shit. OTOH it doesn't have the same grade of materials as the US Hamers did. It's not just the same guitar or bass made in a different country.
Just a little aside, FYI, since you brought it up: Hamer, Ovation and the rest of Kaman's music division was losing money hand over fist for years -- they had been desperately trying to sell the division off for years. Fender bought it at a bargain price for the C. Bruno wholesale distribution business and to use the Hamer/Ovation facility and workmen to build Guild acoustics, which were in demand. If Fender hadn't bought Kaman, Hamer would have been gone even sooner.
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I would also like to point out I'm glad that, for example, the Danelectro brand and designs -- originally US-made -- were revived and produced for a while, albeit now in either Korea or China (I've lost track, I think they moved at some point). I have one guitar and one bass from circa 2000 and I really like 'em both.
If that were Gibson's ultimate fate, well, I'd like them to be from their home country, but it's better than nothing.
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Just citing Hamer and the 'Imports, We don't need your freaking imports!' thing, I'd love to be able to instigate some sort of blind testing with US and US-import models to see whether the people making these quotes can really tell the difference.
I'd concur with Dave here that, aside from the three-point bridge, the hardware on US built guitars is generally on point; I own a pair of far-east Epiphones (a Dot and a Phantomatic) and I've swapped out both with Sperzel machines, new bridges and pickups. I think that at their price point it's desirable to be able to do this for your own gain rather that just live with the foibles thrown on you at a something purchased at a higher pricepoint. If Epiphone (for instance) started putting Babicz bridges on their basses or Schaller machines, I swear people would still be unhappy.
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Gibson is as American a brand as Harley-Davidson and Jack Daniels are - the brand mystique will always require an American manufacturing/production site, whether that is Nashville, Kalamazoo or Anchorage is probably irrelevant to most - even US - buyers. That doesn't mean that all Gibsons have to come from there, not even necessarily all the top quality ones. I'm sure that the happy owners of BMW SUVs all over the world (no BMW SUV is produced in Germany, they are all US-made) can live with the fact that Spartanburg, NC, is not a suburb of Munich and pretty far away from Bavaria as well if you take a close look at the map.
(http://cdn.bimmertoday.de/wp-content/uploads/BMW-X3-F25-Produktion-Spartanburg-01.jpg)
BTW, BMW USA is by the now the largest exporter (exports from the US to overseas) of US-made cars. That's a fact message concise enough to even fit, say, Twitter format.
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I would also like to point out I'm glad that, for example, the Danelectro brand and designs -- originally US-made -- were revived and produced for a while, albeit now in either Korea or China (I've lost track, I think they moved at some point). I have one guitar and one bass from circa 2000 and I really like 'em both.
If that were Gibson's ultimate fate, well, I'd like them to be from their home country, but it's better than nothing.
Whatever happens, it won't come down to a situation like Danelectro. Evets, the owner of the brand, has no connection to the original company. Likewise with the newer Harmony, Supro etc. Each is just an old name being reused. Not so with Gibson. Even if Gibson were to be liquidated, whoever bought the rights would still have a direct connection.
Just citing Hamer and the 'Imports, We don't need your freaking imports!' thing, I'd love to be able to instigate some sort of blind testing with US and US-import models to see whether the people making these quotes can really tell the difference.
I'd concur with Dave here that, aside from the three-point bridge, the hardware on US built guitars is generally on point; I own a pair of far-east Epiphones (a Dot and a Phantomatic) and I've swapped out both with Sperzel machines, new bridges and pickups. I think that at their price point it's desirable to be able to do this for your own gain rather that just live with the foibles thrown on you at a something purchased at a higher pricepoint. If Epiphone (for instance) started putting Babicz bridges on their basses or Schaller machines, I swear people would still be unhappy.
There are plenty of tests like that already on YouTube. Problem is, the sound is miked with a smartphone or low cost recorder and played back through computer speakers. You would just about have to do it in person. That's not practical, and the result would still be subjective.
Upgrades, especially pickup upgrades, can definitely make a cheap instrument sound like a much more expensive one. The question is always whether or not it's worth the cost to try. eBay and Reverb are full of upgraded guitars and basses because the seller didn't like the result and is trying in vain to recoup his money.
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Now don't get tilted off your Axis, it's just a rumour ...
(https://www.granger.com/wmpix/woh/mis/0617065-USA--JAPAN-Our-Next-Boss-US-Army-anti-Japanese-propaganda-poster-World-War-II-1941-1945-Full-credit-Pictures-from-History--Granger-NYC----All-rights-reserved.jpg)
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They outlasted Toys R' Us, so Henry can hang his hat on that. Toys R' Us was another dying asset of Bain capitol along with guitar center. According to one article, Amazon and Wal-mart put the nails in the coffin. Never mind the Chinese, someday every retail item will be made by one single company and they will all be sold on Amazon. There will be no Gibson or Fender or Ibanez or anything. It will come down to one single model of guitar and one single model of bass, the Bezos bass, and every person who wants one will only have the choice of one standard gauge set of strings and one 15 watt solid state amp with a single 10" inch speaker to play it through. Nobody will be allowed to get famous either but at least it will be a true global marketplace and the price of everything will be the same around the world and things will be paid for by a single electronic currency.
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Man, you gotta cut down on that Rush 2112 24/7 immersion, you're od'ing!!! :mrgreen:
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oyjdqgIkVvA/VqpmlGxk1oI/AAAAAAAAseE/boPCJ7nccxo/s1600/strarman-logo-red-star.jpg)
"I know it's most unusual
To come before you so
But I've found an ancient miracle
I thought that you should know
Listen to my music
And hear what it can do
There's something here as strong as life
I know that it will reach you"
"Yes, we know, it's nothing new
It's just a waste of time
We have no need for ancient ways
The world is doing fine
Another toy that helped destroy
The elder race of man
Forget about your silly whim
It doesn't fit the plan"
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Why do you think Spielberg is putting "the temples of syrinx" in his new movie? Preconditioning of course. ;)
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They outlasted Toys R' Us, so Henry can hang his hat on that. Toys R' Us was another dying asset of Bain capitol along with guitar center. According to one article, Amazon and Wal-mart put the nails in the coffin. Never mind the Chinese, someday every retail item will be made by one single company and they will all be sold on Amazon. There will be no Gibson or Fender or Ibanez or anything. It will come down to one single model of guitar and one single model of bass, the Bezos bass, and every person who wants one will only have the choice of one standard gauge set of strings and one 15 watt solid state amp with a single 10" inch speaker to play it through. Nobody will be allowed to get famous either but at least it will be a true global marketplace and the price of everything will be the same around the world and things will be paid for by a single electronic currency.
I've seen one story after another blaming Amazon, but the truth is that online retail commerce still accounts for only about 10% of all retail commerce - 11.7% or 8.1%, according to 2 sources (https://marketingland.com/report-e-commerce-accounted-11-7-total-retail-sales-2016-15-6-2015-207088) -and that includes Amazon and every other online retailer. It's true that many of the retail bankruptcies have been caused by too much debt from leveraged buyouts combined with declining sales, but every major one I've seen was a high price leader. Toys R Us, for example. You don't have to go online to find lower prices than they had. And amazon isn't a low price leader in a lot of categories.
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Temples of Syringe? I always thought that was a thinly veiled allusion to nursie fetish ...
(https://farm6.static.flickr.com/5555/14622665572_295c1e80a7_b.jpg)
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The latest: Gibson, After Light Pruning, Plans Global Layoffs (https://www.strata-gee.com/gibson-light-pruning-plans-global-layoffs/)
If the one comment so far is accurate, the layoffs and closings at the former Philips/Woox have already begun.
IMHO this is too little too late. It won't make Gibson attractive enough for Henry to get the complete replacement financing he needs, and it won't budge the secured creditors who want control.
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"In 2012, Gibson made the ill-advised decision to diversify their business by branching into the consumer electronics business. In order to quickly pull this off, the company used debt, a tremendous amount of debt, to finance their purchases. Leveraged buyouts are a well-known tactic in financial circles and rely heavily on future growth of the acquired property to pay off the debt used to acquire it. But when that property does not grow, things can go real bad, real fast."
Sigh. That was most likely already a desperate move to regenereate former turnover figures once guitar sales had dropped post-Lehman. Chucking stuff at a wall to see what sticks.
Henry is running out of time. Like most people in his situation he will at one point have to decide whether he disengages and lets go to save his family assets/wealth or go broke both with the company and with his private wealth. With Gibson's ill financial standing already dragged through all papers, commercially attractive refinancing is out of the question now.
Plus: The new tariff wars do not bode well for future Gibson export sales. The EU is already contemplating to hike tariffs on US whiskey and Harley-Davidson motorcycles (I personally think that would be silly, but silliness is currently all the rage in world politics), a US life style product maker like Gibson is another easy counterstrike target.
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They outlasted Toys R' Us, so Henry can hang his hat on that. Toys R' Us was another dying asset of Bain capitol along with guitar center. According to one article, Amazon and Wal-mart put the nails in the coffin. Never mind the Chinese, someday every retail item will be made by one single company and they will all be sold on Amazon. There will be no Gibson or Fender or Ibanez or anything. It will come down to one single model of guitar and one single model of bass, the Bezos bass, and every person who wants one will only have the choice of one standard gauge set of strings and one 15 watt solid state amp with a single 10" inch speaker to play it through. Nobody will be allowed to get famous either but at least it will be a true global marketplace and the price of everything will be the same around the world and things will be paid for by a single electronic currency.
And every restaurant will be Taco Bell!
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/17/ef/89/17ef89bee3cc217e064190f8e23b64d3.jpg)
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Now if the Fireturd X would have been like this, Henry J might have been on to something:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqzEQnsSIoY
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Pah, without a Rick Wakeman cape that's nothing.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/474x/c2/4e/97/c24e97af1e2c0b4c60fd025ff89180c1.jpg)
And a plate of curry of course. Gotta enjoy something during the Steve Howe guitar solo spot!!!
(http://cdn1.coachmag.co.uk/sites/coachmag/files/styles/16x9_480/public/images/dir_21/mens_fitness_10651.jpg?itok=FINH--Yz×tamp=1369280016)
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Latest news, unconfirmed: Gibson is selling its four traveling tour buses and firing the five drivers. That would save them only a very tiny amount toward their upcoming debt maturity, so it may mean that operating capital is already very tight.
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Temples of Syringe? I always thought that was a thinly veiled allusion to nursie fetish ...
Germans and their uniform issues... shiny and black... All ve now need is sum Vagner... :toast: :toast: :toast:
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Latest news, unconfirmed: Gibson is selling its four traveling tour buses and firing the five drivers. That would save them only a very tiny amount toward their upcoming debt maturity, so it may mean that operating capital is already very tight.
What a fearless restructurer Henry J. is. Thoses buses and their drivers were draining the lifeblood from the company no doubt.
(http://illflyawayfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/335-sideview-640x345.jpg)
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These new models will surely turn the company around, and the prices are so reasonable!
Chinese New Year Les Paul (http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2018/Custom/Chinese-New-Year-Les-Paul.aspx)
A Neon Green J-45 (http://www.gibson.com/Products/Acoustic-Instruments/2018/J-45-Neon-Green.aspx)
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Hihihi, yeal of the dog guital vely good idea, can plobably be eaten too!
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSgF-yQELSWxs_g9YQhdfG7k5fvDXjY8newrJ5aXZoQFCkCBTwf)
And that green thing is smack dab in the middle of the envisaged target market: 12 year old girls will buy it in droves from their monthly allowances.
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The latest: Gibson, After Light Pruning, Plans Global Layoffs (https://www.strata-gee.com/gibson-light-pruning-plans-global-layoffs/)
I hope they don't hit Epiphone too hard since it seems to be the one part of the company that does well.
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Dave didn't mention the more manly Iguana-burst (http://www.gibson.com/Products/Acoustic-Instruments/2018/SJ-200-Iguana-Burst.aspx) fin... I mean, the name alone...
What was it JAE christened that Explorerbird of his...? Puke Green...!
If it's good enough for JAE, it's good enough for us...
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These new models will surely turn the company around, and the prices are so reasonable!
Chinese New Year Les Paul (http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2018/Custom/Chinese-New-Year-Les-Paul.aspx)
This is all part of the plan. Produce a Les Paul with Chinese-themed graphics to satiate their new overlords.
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I hope they don't hit Epiphone too hard since it seems to be the one part of the company that does well.
I doubt Epi will be hit too hard but Henry will probably cut every bit of excess he can. Gibsons are probably doing reasonably well too. It's the consumer electronics businesses that are the far bigger problem. Nowhere near enough to service the debt they took on.
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I doubt Epi will be hit too hard but Henry will probably cut every bit of excess he can. Gibsons are probably doing reasonably well too. It's the consumer electronics businesses that are the far bigger problem. Nowhere near enough to service the debt they took on.
What about their Lifestyle products? :mrgreen:
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I doubt Epi will be hit too hard but Henry will probably cut every bit of excess he can. Gibsons are probably doing reasonably well too. It's the consumer electronics businesses that are the far bigger problem. Nowhere near enough to service the debt they took on.
Unless he unloads all that non-guitar stuff I don't see how they'll be able to handle that debt. Yeesh, that's a lot of jack.
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What about their Lifestyle products? :mrgreen:
I think the consumer electronics were Henry's idea of lifestyle products. ;D I've seen several pics of him in a stonewashed blue jean jacket that looks right out of the 80s, he's probably wondering why Philips discontinued making cassette decks.
Unless he unloads all that non-guitar stuff I don't see how they'll be able to handle that debt. Yeesh, that's a lot of jack.
It's not that easy. He overpaid for those companies to begin with, and now they're worth much less than what he should have paid. If he sold them all off tomorrow it wouldn't even be close to enough to cover the debt he took on.
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He bought Gibson cheap enough, he should have known better.........
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I think the consumer electronics were Henry's idea of lifestyle products. ;D I've seen several pics of him in a stonewashed blue jean jacket that looks right out of the 80s, he's probably wondering why Philips discontinued making cassette decks.
Or rather wondering why they stopped development of cassette decks.
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Dave didn't mention the more manly Iguana-burst (http://www.gibson.com/Products/Acoustic-Instruments/2018/SJ-200-Iguana-Burst.aspx) fin... I mean, the name alone...
Hmmmph, would you care to repeat that while I get my tail ready to slap you?
(https://media.giphy.com/media/k4lrDyiAnmgkE/giphy.gif)
My "civil liberties for reptiles"-agenda aside, I actually truly like that fin.
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Or rather wondering why they stopped development of cassette decks.
He's developing a new cassette deck to be included in the upcoming Fireturd XI. But I'll wait for the Fireturd XII, that one will have a built-in 8 track player.
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He's developing a new cassette deck to be included in the upcoming Fireturd XI. But I'll wait for the Fireturd XII, that one will have a built-in 8 track player.
Can I custom order mine with Beta capabilities?
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Can I custom order mine with Beta capabilities?
Doesn't seem that long ago when one of my relatives faulted me for buying a VHS player; he was sure Beta would win out.
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I thought Sony would loose again in the battle of Blue Ray vs HD DVD............... Wrong!!
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Why no talk of Laserdisks and aurora borealis Les Pauls? That's where I'm putting my money.
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Another Gibson article (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-20/gibson-beloved-guitar-maker-faces-crushing-560-million-debt)
Nothing new about their situation, but it's the first time I can recall that Henry admits his mistake of trying to diversify. He also says “My dream was to be the Nike of music lifestyle,” :o
Also, there are very critical comments from Gruhn and another dealer.
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That's a very well-written article.
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He's mentioned Nike and Harley-Davidson as brand role models before - and I guess they are: very established international brands that have long transcended their orginal core products.
But who told him that buying consumer electronics has-beens would help him achieve that status? I'd have understood if he had bought, say, someone like Bang & Olufson (I find them unremarkable soundwise, but their look/styling makes wives happy) or Bose who already have an established lifestyle image.
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He's mentioned Nike and Harley-Davidson as brand role models before - and I guess they are: very established international brands that have long transcended their orginal core products.
In case Henry didn't notice, Harley is closing their Kansas City plant.
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He's mentioned Nike and Harley-Davidson as brand role models before - and I guess they are: very established international brands that have long transcended their orginal core products.
But who told him that buying consumer electronics has-beens would help him achieve that status? I'd have understood if he had bought, say, someone like Bang & Olufson (I find them unremarkable soundwise, but their look/styling makes wives happy) or Bose who already have an established lifestyle image.
Even if they weren't has-beens, it doesn't make sense. For one thing, Nike and Harley lifestyle items are still branded as Nike or Harley. Also, they're accessories. Gibson fans wouldn't buy DVD players as accessories even if they were branded Gibson.
The man has vision, all right, the problem is that his vision for the company is as loopy as his rolling eyeballs.
(https://i.imgur.com/BkCAL5G.gif)
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Gibson fans wouldn't buy DVD players as accessories even if they were branded Gibson.
(https://i.imgur.com/BkCAL5G.gif)
Gibson fans don't even buy Gibson branded amps!
I know nothing about making money, but never understood why they made so half hearted attempts to make amps (post 1968).
There must be potential enough there, and they made enough good amps in the past to pick from. Tweed era GA amps as a 'standard' line and why not make a killer EH-150 or 185 as their top of the line-expensive-point to point amp. They made so many inventions in electronics, why not focus on that instead of lifesyle.
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I certainly think Gibson could have a go in that direction,but that all depends on the vintage market prices. Marshall has been doing it for some time now with their X-suffix amps, 1959 and JTM45 reissues. But to bring up reissues of the Gibson vintage line of amps would be the opposite direction of what Henry's been aiming at for the last 10 years. He seems to have become a firm believer in that today's youth is only using the latest technology, while vintage aficionados are a dying breed.
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I certainly think Gibson could have a go in that direction,but that all depends on the vintage market prices. Marshall has been doing it for some time now with their X-suffix amps, 1959 and JTM45 reissues. But to bring up reissues of the Gibson vintage line of amps would be the opposite direction of what Henry's been aiming at for the last 10 years. He seems to have become a firm believer in that today's youth is only using the latest technology, while vintage aficionados are a dying breed.
Henry's view of vintage aficionados.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYcPBE5PXhs
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The New York Times gets in the act: Is Gibson, a Totem of Guitar Godhead, Headed for Chapter 11? (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/business/gibson-guitars-bankruptcy.html)
Nothing new on the financial front, but here's the latest example of Henry blaming his customer base for the auto tuning sales disaster:
Mr. Juszkiewicz called it “great technology” and said he believed all guitars will eventually have it. But auto-tuning has been scaled back after, he said, “the trolls took over the dialogue.”
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What he totally fails to grasp is that the young generation indeed embraces technological advancement at a breakneck pace - but they also are fascinated with old fashioned hand craftsmanship and vintage fetishes, and they do not necessarily blend the two proclivities in the same objects. And guitars by and large appeal to the vintage artisanal taste, not the future tech taste.
That's my armchair take anyway. I have no data to back this up.
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What he totally fails to grasp is that the young generation indeed embraces technological advancement at a breakneck pace - but they also are fascinated with old fashioned hand craftsmanship and vintage fetishes, and they do not necessarily blend the two proclivities in the same objects. And guitars by and large appeal to the vintage artisanal taste, not the future tech taste.
That's my armchair take anyway. I have no data to back this up.
I have a hipshot drop d tuner on one of my Gibson basses. I think that's hi-tech futuristic. Active pickups is beyond that again..
But computers just don't belong in guitars. They should have realized that after the godwin guitar organ and the synthaxe!
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I agree with both of you.
Even if some players would welcome a computer in a guitar, you don't force it on everyone like Gibson did. What a self-inflicted disaster that was. Can you imagine Fender grafting its modeling amp modules into every traditional Fender tube amp?
Then there's the non-electronic fiascos, like the adjustable "zero fret nut" assembly made of soft brass that had to be replaced, and widening of the neck to accommodate it. Solutions to non-existent problems, forced on every guitar in the line until sales dropped so far, he had to backtrack.
But it's our fault for not fulfilling Henry's vision.
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But it's our fault for not fulfilling Henry's vision.
Yup, trolls dialogue he said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_cy4fricLU
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Gibson Brands Shareholder/KKR Negotiations (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/gibson-brands-shareholderkkr-negotiations-300624694.html)
This is a PR Newswire release furnished by Gibson. It's the first acknowledgement that they have been negotiating with a major creditor, but the talks have ended, at least for now, due to "significantly divergent" views. Still, it's a sign that a major change is likely.
Another take, based on the same information: With KKR’s attempted takeover of Gibson nixed, what’s next? (https://guitar.com/gibsons-kkr-takeover-guitar-giant/)
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I was rubbing my eyes at their - claimed by them, doubted by the investors - earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization with all one-off positive and negative effects not taken into account (adjusted EBITDA) of only US-$ 60.0-$65.0 million :o. They are hardly a large or even medium-size business then, more a cottage industry. Somehow (without ever giving too much thought to it), I had expected them to push a much more substantial operative result wave (even if large parts of that are subsequently eaten by interest payments).
So it's not so much whether anybody could afford Gibson as it is the question who might be at all interested. Not really something that wets a financial investor's appetite - they would be underneath the radar of many private equity companies. They will either have to find a very rich investment banker who "always wanted to own a guitar company" or someone from the instrument industry will have to play the white knight and see the Gibson brand as something to enhance his portfolio with.
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So it's not so much whether anybody could afford Gibson as it is the question who might be at all interested. Not really something that wets a financial investor's appetite - they would be underneath the radar of many private equity companies. They will either have to find a very rich investment banker who "always wanted to own a gutar company" or someone from the instrument industry will have to play the white knight and see the Gibson brand as something to enhance his portfolio with.
I say go for it!
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:mrgreen:
I have severe doubts whether anybody here would want that - I'd immediately discard period-correct reissues and gently modernize the classic models. And then there is the golden rule that you should never buy a company whose product you love too much.
Ok, one period-correct reissue: the 20/20. :P
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Yeah, Uwe. Buy it! And make the right basses with chrome, the 20/20 and stop the guitar building just to piss of people ;)
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Introducing: Anniversary 'Black Hardware Only' Reissues!
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I was rubbing my eyes at their - claimed by them, doubted by the investors - earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization with all one-off positive and negative effects not taken into account (adjusted EBITDA) of only US-$ 60.0-$65.0 million :o. They are hardly a large or even medium-size business then, more a cottage industry. Somehow (without ever giving too much thought to it), I had expected them to push a much more substantial operative result wave (even if large parts of that are subsequently eaten by interest payments).
So it's not so much whether anybody could afford Gibson as it is the question who might be at all interested. Not really something that wets a financial investor's appetite - they would be underneath the radar of many private equity companies. They will either have to find a very rich investment banker who "always wanted to own a guitar company" or someone from the instrument industry will have to play the white knight and see the Gibson brand as something to enhance his portfolio with.
KKR is one of the biggest private equity companies, and they are obviously interested, even with Gibson's doubtful claims. The problem is that Henry and Berryman won't accept their proposed terms -- at least yet. I can't see a smaller firm pulling it off at terms more favorable to Henry. Yamaha is probably the only MI industry firm able to top whatever KKR wants, and I can't see them offering better terms.
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I mean it's pretty obvious at this point Gibson is not going to be able to be choosy.
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This just in -- Henry has accepted a new position elsewhere. :mrgreen:
(https://i.imgur.com/CAYemMX.png)
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Joke? I couldn't find anything on the internet.
In any case, Henry's own statements begin to sound a bit farewell'ish in my ears:
https://www.theindustryobserver.com.au/gibson-ceo-blames-himself-companys-status/
“No, it wasn’t a great decision,” Henry Juszkiewicz confessed. “It didn’t work out very well. I think it was a rational decision, but it turned out to be a very poor decision, and it’s a decision I made. It is what it is.”
“It is accurate to say bankruptcy is a possibility in the sense that our bonds expire,” Juszkiewicz said, noting that while Gibson are in talks of refinancing, the bondholders that are owed money aren’t terribly focused on being repaid. “They are more interested in owning the company,” he said. “That’s an ownership play.”
While Gibson’s future will become clear on August 1st, when much of their debt is due, Juszkiewicz concedes that if he wishes for his long-terms plans for the company to continue, he will “have to pass the baton to someone who also has that dream.”
“Part of this is evaluating financing options, and I have to look at what is best for the company, all of the stakeholders and myself.”
I think we can stop kicking the down(ed) man now.
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A tone or note of finality. The answer will be known soon enough.
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It certainly had that sad, sad flavor.
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Henry says "that's an ownership play."
Sounds like a reasonable prediction of the future to me.
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Joke? I couldn't find anything on the internet.
...
I post a pic of Henry as a Wal-Mart greeter and you think I might be serious?
(https://i.imgur.com/cDsOeLX.png)
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I'm innocent for once! Pictures hosted on social networks are no longer viewable on my office desktop - so I didn't even see that there was something for me to see I couldn't see due to our restrictions. If that makes sense. Only saw the pic now on my BB.
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Zee iron curtain has descended at work?
You own the place don’t you?
Gibson will not die, it’s not like TRU that was bought by an investment group to saddle billions of dollars of dept on them?
China will probably buy them?
At least I bet they will try to go after the bass market yet again?
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....
Gibson will not die, it’s not like TRU that was bought by an investment group to saddle billions of dollars of dept on them?
China will probably buy them?
At least I bet they will try to go after the bass market yet again?
Not like TRU in that respect, but Henry has saddled the company with hundreds of millions of debt buying electronics companies like Philips/Woox and Onkyo, and overpaying for them, trying to become a lifestyle company. The core guitar business is profitable. Just not profitable to cover the additional debt he took on buying non-guitar companies.
I predict KKR will get its way and take controlling interest in a debt-for-equity swap. They'll force Henry into it after he exhausts his search for all new financing. It won't involve foreign ownership.
Bass market? We can only hope.
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Another take on Gibson's press release: Options Narrowing as Gibson & KKR Talks Fail (https://www.strata-gee.com/options-narrowing-gibson-brands-kkr-talks-fail/)
The result of the talks, summed up in one sentence: Juszkiewicz Wanted More Money to Exit, KKR Didn’t Bite.
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Tobias did not pan out huh?
It could the whole millennial thing?
Have to blame them for all our woes?
I read about the demise of old fart toys of our generation are not endearing to new generations. Harley’s, Corvettes, all too expensive for our broke basement video game coffee serving generation.
Gibson’s are certianly pricey, but there are epiphones?
Just poor management it looks like.
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Another take on Gibson's press release: Options Narrowing as Gibson & KKR Talks Fail (https://www.strata-gee.com/options-narrowing-gibson-brands-kkr-talks-fail/)
The result of the talks, summed up in one sentence: Juszkiewicz Wanted More Money to Exit, KKR Didn’t Bite.
That statement is both the question and the answer.
He's scraping his best deal before he submerges.
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Tobias did not pan out huh?
It could the whole millennial thing?
Have to blame them for all our woes?
I read about the demise of old fart toys of our generation are not endearing to new generations. Harley’s, Corvettes, all too expensive for our broke basement video game coffee serving generation.
Gibson’s are certianly pricey, but there are epiphones?
Just poor management it looks like.
It's not the guitar business, John. Sales are steady and that part of the business is profitable.
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Unselfish as I am, I've just handed ole Henry J. some breathing space by pulling the trigger on this here ...
http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2018/USA/Gibson-RD-Artist-Bass-2018.aspx
(http://images.gibson.com.s3.amazonaws.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2018/USA/Gibson-RD-Artist-Bass-2018/BARDH18ANCH1_MAIN_HERO_01.jpg)
Will report once I have it. Nobody else here has yet played one of those, right? Out of nostalgia, I took the natural one. The first RD Artist I saw was played by Mick Hawksworth of Ten Years Later, Pink Panther Theme at 2:59 ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2irdQIS_9E0
And of course, the inimitable Herr Fertig played one too, Kahler and all ...
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I can think of a certain de- mooged fretless one too......
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I was hoping you would have gotten one.
I can’t wait to hear your report
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I have it here, just didn't get around to unpacking yet!
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Uh oh!
Tronical Sues Gibson for $50 Million (https://www.guitarworld.com/gear/tronical-sues-gibson-for-50-million)
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Zzzsssey stole it from usss, zzzsssose dirty lying and deceiving Gibsobbitses ...
(https://media.giphy.com/media/9qMdnVdwg8H7y/200.gif)
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Zzzsssey stole it from usss, zzzsssose dirty lying and deceiving Gibsobbitses ...
(https://media.giphy.com/media/9qMdnVdwg8H7y/200.gif)
If only anyone here knows of an attorney in Germany who would defend Gibson... pro bono, of course. :mrgreen:
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We also do restructuring and insolvency work - one-stop-shopping!
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Sounds like Tronical is trying to get to the front of the line of creditors and recoup as much as possible while the boat sinks.
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G for Germany!
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Uh-uh, we've been lured by that before!
(http://www.i-f-s.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/27+95_JBG34_accid_MichaelSchneiderCollection.jpg)
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Uh-uh, we've been lured by that before!
Reminds me of a joke.
Q) How do you get a Starfighter?
A) Buy an acre of land in Germany, and wait.
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Too true!
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Looking forward to hearing how you like the new RD. Hope you have better luck than another guy from a different forum that reported issues with a noisy preamp and or grounding even though you could argue that's a vintage correct feature.
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reported issues with a noisy preamp and or grounding even though you could argue that's a vintage correct feature.
:toast:
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Don't disconcert me!
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Sounds like Tronical is trying to get to the front of the line of creditors and recoup as much as possible while the boat sinks.
Their inventory may be secured, but they'll be way behind the major creditors. The way I see it, they are putting potential investors or financiers on notice, assuming their claim is valid. OTOH if a Chapter 11 filing is made, they're probably screwed.
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Gibson's response to Tronical's claim:
https://www.channelnews.com.au/gibson-brands-close-to-chapter-11-as-new-a60m-legal-action-revealed/ (https://www.channelnews.com.au/gibson-brands-close-to-chapter-11-as-new-a60m-legal-action-revealed/)
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Gibson's response to Tronical's claim:
https://www.channelnews.com.au/gibson-brands-close-to-chapter-11-as-new-a60m-legal-action-revealed/ (https://www.channelnews.com.au/gibson-brands-close-to-chapter-11-as-new-a60m-legal-action-revealed/)
They're basing that on a Gibson press release from about a week ago. I thought Gibson's press release was the publicity stunt and smacked of desperation. The Wall Street Journal says that Tronical has been complaining about missed payments since 2014.