Gibson is facing bankruptcy.

joujoujou

Iconic guitar maker, will they survive?

https://www.spin.com/2018/02/gibson-guitar-company-facing-bankruptcy-report/

https://twitter.com/digitalmusicnws/status/965044816743751681

@Mods, if it's wrong place, please move it to the better one.

feylya

Highly doubt it. The amount of money they need to find in the next few months is crazy, especially when you consider that they've sold off a bunch of their assets already. If they had kept the high quality, and could actually compete against the likes of PRS, they might have been ok but look at the quality of the stuff coming out of the Far East.

Royale with Cheese

I recently picked up a 2016 Les Paul Standard, it had been sitting in a warehouse in Germany for a year or two. I was aware of their reputation of late but I got it at a reasonable price (the 2018 ones are batshít insane prices), so took a punt.

It looks great, it sounds great, like a Gibson Les Paul should; however there are a couple of small things wrong with it. The nut slot on the high E string isn't cut correctly, there is very poor sustain when you play the string without fretting it. The input jack started giving me trouble after a about a month, with a light cable plugged into it the connection doesn't sit properly and all you hear it static until you jig it around a bit. The kind of thing you were used to doing on your €150 starter guitar. Finally the wiring isn't earthed properly, if my fingers aren't on the strings you get a lot of hum. It's very noticeable at gig volume with a decent bit of distortion on it.

They're all fixable (although I've a feeling the earthing will be a pain in the ass), but for a guitar that originally retailed for €2200? Seriously? The new ones are now €2800 and I would highly doubt are much better. Before I purchased I went into Waltons to have a look at what they had, and they told me they weren't going to be ordering anymore Gibsons in, once the lot they had were sold that was it. The profit margins on them were just too low. Between that and the quality control, it's hardly surprising they're going under. I own a number of Fenders and while they are very different instruments, there's no comparison on build quality. Cheaper too.

Gaspode

You pay €2k for the Gibson label and the rest for the guitar!

Pelvis

Bankruptcy filed.

https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2018/0502/959726-legendary-gibson-guitars-firm-file-for-bankruptcy/

Gaspode

On the plus side, your over-priced Gibson may be worth a bit more if they go out of business completely