And There You Have It

[OldManC]

mastodons_kelliher_i_left_gibson_because_they_treat_artists_like_shit_that_company_is_falling_apart.html

I'm familiar with the band name but wouldn't have recognized the guy. That said, this does not surprise me at all. As long as you can sell all those lawyer bursts, right?

[uwe]

Uhum! 



But I'm in a peaceful mood given that I'm listening to your deadringer brother Michael McDonald's new album as I type.

[OldManC]

Not at all my friend. That's just what they call the multi-thousand dollar Les Paul reissues over here. The ones that never get played but look nice on the wall. You PLAY your guitars; buy vintage and new, and are not afraid to call it like you see it where Henry is concerned. And tell my brother to let me play bass for him on the next go 'round!

[westen44]

ESP even has a taco guitar.  Maybe a taco bass some day, too?  I'm seriously wanting to go to Taco Bell right now. 

http://www.espguitars.com/videos/2033542

[Dave W]

George, your link isn't complete. I found this.
https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/interviews/mastodons_kelliher_i_left_gibson_because_they_treat_artists_like_shit_that_company_is_falling_apart.html

[OldManC]

Thank you, Dave. I should have checked that.

[4stringer77]

That's disheartening news for our beloved brand. The Gibson company's legacy deserves much better standard of representation. I hope they can get their act together.

[gearHed289]

Ouch! Bad news for Gibson. Really interesting to hear this from a former endorsing artist's perspective.

[66Atlas]

I don't doubt what he says is true, but he also seems to have a "You cant fire me, I Quit!" attitude going on.

[Dave W]

I don't doubt what he says is true, but he also seems to have a "You cant fire me, I Quit!" attitude going on.

Exactly! They non-renewed his contract, not the other way around. He whines about Gibson not having "his gauges" (whatever they might be) and apparently thinks that's responsible for buyers' guitars not being tuned. Huh? I looked it up on Gibson's website, it's an Explorer with mini-Grovers and the usual tune-o-matic.

OTOH I can believe that Gibson may not have handled it well. From what we've heard, they didn't do right by Lee Sklar or Meshell Ndegeocello.

[doombass]

Yes he got fired and might be angry just because of that. But what he says kind of echoes what I have suspected regarding Gibsons management. This quote for example:

"All the guys I worked with over there - the A&R guys were getting fired left and right and the company just seemed to be falling apart to me. There were new guys who would come in and they didn't know shit.

Are those guys fired because they are incompetent or because they are competent and thus not willing to ride on the same ship as the Captain?

[Dave W]

Henry has a reputation for firing people without a valid reason. There's no way for us to know if that's true unless one of us wants to go work for Gibson. Any volunteers? 

[uwe]

I beg to differ. If you have an artist with such idiosyncratic tuning,

Bill Kelliher (born March 23, 1971) is a musician from Atlanta, Georgia, best known as rhythm ... one whole step, C G C F A D), and another tuning similar to D standard, but with the sixth string tuned down to A (A G C F A D), on the Explorer.


then you either get it right or don't bother. The kids who buy his signature Explorer want it to sound like him.
What he writes does indeed remind me of what Hetfield said about Metallica's slated collaboration with Gibson not working, ESP OTOH has a reputation of bending over backwards to please their endorsers.

Mastodon has quite a reputation and popularity, they are sort of in a no-man's-land of 2nd generation proggish nu-metal, but have their ardent followers and always get good reviews in the scene mags.

[westen44]

Considering the metal image that ESP has, if someone had asked me what Mastodon's guitarist played, I would have guessed ESP anyway, without, of course, being aware of the history with Gibson. Also, i thought Mastodon had been around since at least the mid-90s, but they formed in 2000. 

[uwe]

Never had an issue with ESP, they have their niche and do what they do well.