Thanks, Terr! You think "Waffen ES"-guitars might sell well? "For the Führer in you - check out Gibsön's new Küstöm Shöp model, jawohl!"
If I ever decided - MBA-less as I am - to become a manager, this would certainly be attractive. And have some influence on Gibson's future bass presence.
I don't think that Henry J., a corporate raider and parttime bassist who more or less stumbled over close to broke Gibson in the early eighties, regretted the management-buy-out that rendered him CEO of Gibson for the last two decades either. That is a pretty stable corporate leadership considering the times we live in. And while I do not agree with everything he has done since then, he has certainly put Gibson back on the map as a guitar maker, had the inventive idea of commercializing Custom Shop work and erected Epiphone as a budget brand living off Gibson's myth. Moreover, he is making great steps towards that "lifestyle company" goal (remember: his role model companies are not Fender, but Harley Davidson and Nike). I'm pretty sure that sometime in the future there will be a clothes brand named "Gibson", it's a good enough name.
