Dire financial situation at Gibson?

[Highlander]

He's right, really, as the majority of the public was too stupid (sic) to buy one...

[Chris P.]

Firebird X. I saw it at the NAMM and Musikmesse. All were played by kids who couldn't afford them.

[planetgaffnet]

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:



...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. 

[Dave W]

The Fireturd X was foretold in The Simpsons (S2 E 15, O Brother Where Art Thou, from 1991).

[uwe]

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.

[Grog]

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!!

[Dave W]

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.

[slinkp]

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.

[OldManC]

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...   

https://www.gearnews.com/heard-yamaha-buying-gibson-rumour-heres-make-sense/

[Dave W]

Music to my ears...   

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.

[OldManC]

That makes sense. I'm just happy to see that possibility (of Henry getting kicked to the curb) at all.

[Rob]

That makes sense. I'm just happy to see that possibility (of Henry getting kicked to the curb) at all.

That seems logical.

[uwe]

[Basvarken]

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.

[4stringer77]

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.