Gibson Announces New Leadership Team

[Dave W]

I've had several guitars that I bought in the past bookmarked in my browser. I just noticed that all of them have been erased & the beginning of the 2019 lineup seems to have taken their place. Almost as if the new management doesn't want to look back at the past, just look forward. When Henry J took things over from Norlin, they didn't seem interested in helping with information or parts from Norlin era guitars. Maybe that is happening again.

Here is what I had bookmarked from my ES Les Paul Bass..............

https://www.gibson.com/Guitars/Les%20Paul

Many pages are still available via the Wayback Machine archive  https://archive.org/web/ -- at least for now.

It's understandable since the company is transition. Who knows about their long term plans for the website.

EDIT: found this from the June 29, 2017 archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20170628061451/http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2016/Memphis/ES-Les-Paul-Bass.aspx

[Chris P.]

I talked to the two new bosses. The JC guy and the financial guy. Some short things:

- Almost every shop can be a dealer again. Just store some guitars.
- You can be a separate Epiphone dealer. With not many Gibson dealers around, I could hardly find an Epiphone either.
- If we talk SG and LP and such: there will be two versions: a correct vintage specs version for around 2.500 dollars and a modern version with split coils.

And I think Rob/Basvarken posted about the US Epiphones already?

[Dave W]

That's excellent news, Chris. I was really hoping they would change the ridiculous dealership requirements.

[Granny Gremlin]

No pleasing some people. And there are the usual complaints about the price, even though the competition is that expensive or more.

Its not the first time you have made such a comment re gibson pricing i the last week and i have to adress it. Being no more expensive than the competition is mot proof of fair pricing. It proves nothing at all. In fact some of the competitors youd point to are arguably higher end. And some more appropriate comparisons are cheaper, but still that means nothing. The undustry as a whole wants consumers to be used to higher prices because its better and easier for them. Collusion does not have to conscious or even active - it can just happen because goals align.

A great example of this is local microbrews. 50 to 100% more per can (pint/ tall boy) than my favorite quality imports. They have a marketting advantage ( differentiation) and they exploit it because they think they can. If they all do it theres no stopping it because it looks fair but is it?  I have heard the arguments from  barious appologists for this but  none of it holds water. Its down to not wanting to wait as long to recoup startup  investment and start turning a profit and it is gouging. The place on the back side of the block i live on for example sells 35l ( small cans) for up to $5 CA when my favorite imports are 2 - 2.75 for 500.

"What the market will bear" is also a crock because we find in reality the market will bear more than it should to the detriment of individuals.

Gibson could charge less, but they dont want to ( its the luxury / lifestyle branding. - doesnt work if its a bargain). As evidenced by the DcC Tribute and half their normal pruce ( they are not saving that much from the front mount thing and other manufacturing shortcuts alone).

I have monissues with limited runs, but it is fair to a point to crit those too - essentially a method to justify inflated pricing by way of simulated deliberate scarcity.

[Basvarken]

Does that include spell checks too? 

[Dave W]

About a dozen years ago, maybe more, John Hall said at the Rick Resource Forum that something like 60% of the labor costs of a Ric are in the finishing department. I don't know the figures at Gibson, but there must be an enormous difference in man-hours between spraying a single color coat of nitro over an unfilled body, and the multi-step, multi-day process of pore filling and multiple color and clear coats, all with sanding in between. Whatever the difference is, the retail price is 3x-4x the raw manufacturing cost. The company has to make a gross profit when they price it to dealers.

Think about raw material pricing too. Wood product manufacturers of any size by lumber by the trainload or boatload. They pay x price per board foot for the whole load, but they don't plug that price into every piece. They cost the shipment by assigning  more for the more valuable pieces -- e.g. in the case of a guitar, wider or with better figure -- to make up for the lower price the less desirable pieces will bring, and to cover unusable wood.

[slinkp]

I still remember cracking up when I saw this


... jesus I was 13 at the time. God I feel old now.

[Dave W]

^^^

Funny stuff! I don't remember seeing it before.