Gibson... again...

[turcmic]

This came out on YouTube :

Origin of the clip unknown but the destruction of musical instruments, fake or not, is always a bad idea.

 

[CryingBass]

WT....???

 

[petrus61]

With context:

 

[turcmic]

With context:

They carefully aligned all the guitars just to destroy them... just insane.

 

[CryingBass]

With context:

Man - that guy better not have an active NDA. Thanks for the post man. Unbelievable.

 

[mikewalker]

The latest trend in factory relicing?

 

[lz4005]

...the destruction of musical instruments, fake or not, is always a bad idea.

Why? They're just chunks of wood and metal.
I've destroyed several for fun.

 

[Ostie]

Maybe they are confiscated fakes?

 

[user362432]

I've been in Memphis factory several times. I, specifically, asked about B stock, what is going on with blemished guitars, etc... They always told me - We don't have B stock. "Every guitar that gets in, it gets out... We don't make imperfect guitars".
However, I like to sneak around during the tour. So, I've seen list of serial numbers of the guitars which did not make it, warning employees they are not going to tolerate that anymore, and some internal info on employee board... That was the moment for me to turn back on expensive arrogant company... Now, a new set of punks are making even more PR disaster for themselves...

 

[Stevorebob]

I’d hire neither of these gentlemen. One knows guitars; the other facilities. But neither have a clue about how to run a business or bring a product to market.

This is merely Gibson getting one mistake off the books and moving forward.

 

[Alkali Ike]

I’d hire neither of these gentlemen. One knows guitars; the other facilities. But neither have a clue about how to run a business or bring a product to market.

This is merely Gibson getting one mistake off the books and moving forward.

Regrettably, I have to agree. :-/

 

[Koshchei]

Why do this?

I get that the Firebird X was a bad idea and massively overpriced to boot, but why not donate them to a music school, where they'd get into the hands of learning musicians? Hell, you might even pick up some converts along the way.

This is just a grotesque waste.

 

[Alkali Ike]

Why do this?

I get that the Firebird X was a bad idea and massively overpriced to boot, but why not donate them to a music school, where they'd get into the hands of learning musicians? Hell, you might even pick up some converts along the way.

This is just a grotesque waste.

If the Firebird X was truly a POS, you don’t want it out in the wild tarnishing the Gibson brand while you’re rebuilding the company. The destruction of the instruments is probably an indicator of just how bad they were. That’s my guess.

 

[higain617]

Gibson had B stock in the Norlin era. They would sell them at discounts to employees, or give them to endorsed artists. Apparently, Slash’s main LP was a B stock one.

 

[Koshchei]

If the Firebird X was truly a POS, you don’t want it out in the wild tarnishing the Gibson brand while you’re rebuilding the company. The destruction of the instruments is probably an indicator of just how bad they were. That’s my guess.

Tarnishing the brand seems to be a short-term objective of the company already. The Firebird X is small potatoes compared to the hijinx they've been up to lately.

Also: They were bad at $4500. At free, they're a good guitar for a beginner to learn to play and use effects on. They were the flagship instrument under Henry and an indicator of the direction that he wanted to take the company, don't forget. They were never the sort of crap Gibsons that found their way into Best Buy and Walmart.

 

[GretschWretch]

Many military bands posted overseas destroy their instruments before returning stateside, at the requests of the manufacturers, who do not want competition from the used market.

 

[petrus61]

I’d hire neither of these gentlemen. One knows guitars; the other facilities. But neither have a clue about how to run a business or bring a product to market.

This is merely Gibson getting one mistake off the books and moving forward.

The interviewer found ten different ways to ask the same question, and I think the guy he was interviewing was just trying to put it as kindly as he could. He finally got sick of doing that with the final question, but I’d be surprised if most people even watched it that far.

 

[39-Bassist]

People sometimes just make me go HUH....(ALFAC reference) lol

Interesting that they are all the same guitars...maybe a slight overstock?

 

[40Hz]

Gibson had B stock in the Norlin era. They would sell them at discounts to employees, or give them to endorsed artists. Apparently, Slash’s main LP was a B stock one.

Yep. Stamped with a 2 in the wood on the back of the headstock. Like so:

It’s no secret there were more than a few in open circulation. It wasn’t something only employees and endorsees owned. A guitarist I played with back in the 70s had a Hummingbird that was so marked. And he had zero affiliation with Gibson.

 

[Picton]

Meh.

I'm trying to care about the many, many ways Gibson is shooting themselves in the foot these days. But truthfully, I stopped expecting anything good when they doubled down on the robot tuners.

At least the new owners are "maintaining the consistency of the brand's most recent years when weighing their business decisions." And that's the polite way to say it, I reckon.