I'm not sure Gibson can be saved.
Just my opinion based on my experience managing sales and operations in various industries and from being a professional musician. There are several issues with Gibson and to a lesser extent, Fender.
1. Quality control has been poor. This needs to improve.
2. Gibson has been cannibalizing it’s own sales by offering lower quality Les Paul models such as the “Studio” and the “T” and expanding the Epiphone product line. Many people are buying these models and then upgrading the pickups, bridge and tuning pegs. I understand that Gibson had to do something to compete with imported brands but they could have managed it differently.
3. Gibson has raised prices of what I call “real” Les Paul models to the $3,000 and higher range. This is a typical “knee jerk reaction” by many American companies when they get into financial trouble. Raise prices to make up for losses instead of looking at the real problem. Sometimes it’s better to lower prices for a while, sell more units, work on a reduced margin to get more cash flow and then go back to normal prices. This only works if you have a solid plan to improve quality and pay off debt. It’s obvious that management at Gibson does not understand this. It’s almost as if they feel that people will pay just because it’s a Gibson.
4. The market is flooded with used Gibsons that can be purchased for $1,200 to $1,800. As a result, more people are buying used.
5. There is more competition than ever from good quality builders who are keeping prices reasonable as compared to Gibson. You can have an instrument made by a builder for the same price as many Gibson models. Foreign competition has also increased. I’ve played some Korean, Indonesian and Czechoslovakian made guitars and basses that played and sounded as good as anything made in the U.S.
6. Fewer people are playing instruments. Many younger people are into gaming and are not learning to play an instrument. Baby boomers who have more disposable income than most millennials, are getting older and are either no longer playing, already have a guitar they like, or remember paying $500 for a new Gibson when they were just starting to learn to play and just can’t justify paying $3,000.
Fender is facing similar issues, although not as serious as Gibson, at least not yet. The issue with Fender is that they are also cannibalizing their sales of American models by offering Affinity, Squier and Mexican made versions. The market is also flooded with plenty of used Fender instruments. Why pay $600 to $800 for a new Mexican Fender Strat when you can get a used American for the $800? The same is true for basses. You can get a used American Precision or Jazz bass for the same price as a new Mexican model.
To me, there used to be nothing quite like an American Gibson or Fender, but unfortunately, quality has deteriorated, although Fender has improved in recent years and has done a better job of controlling prices. Unfortunately, most people are getting priced out of American made guitar market.
