Will we all being playing our Gibson's through Behringer's before to long?

[brianrost]

f the rumors are right, you might not see any Gibson branded basses soon.

No great loss...sorry Gibson fans The original Tbird (not the current "reissues") the original EB3 (not the current "SG bass") and the original Ripper were the high water marks. The rest made me wonder if they ever talked to any bass players instead of just slapping a four string neck onto a guitar body.

 

[47VevetS]

The saddest part is Steinberger....such an awesome groundbreaking company, I would kill to own an L2....there will never be another, the Synapses fall very short.

 

[pudgychef]

I have to assume that if any of the brands any of these larger companies purchased were actually profitable, they would still be cranking out product. Why would any company ever stop distributing something that made profit?

I do wish Fender would bring back the Tacoma Thunderchief bass..

 

[pudgychef]

Fender did a great job of buying, and destroying one of the greater Amps known. SUNN.

the did basically continue the SUNN as a Bassman amp...(I want to say it was the Bassman 300) but it was a few years before the tube revival...mind you, their newer all tube amps get a lot of love..

 

[Watchootognbout]

Personally,I have no plans to buy anything from either Gibson or Fender.
If they both decided to merge,I would be quite indifferent.

 

[Nephilymbass]

This is why I'm happy ernie ball does so good selling strings.hopefully their thriving strings business will be enough to keep gibson and fenders dirty paws off of musicmans instruments. Because fender and gibson tend to ruin every brand they buy up.

 

[john_g]

The saddest part is Steinberger....such an awesome groundbreaking company, I would kill to own an L2....there will never be another, the Synapses fall very short.

I had an L2 and an XL2...great basses, but difficult to produce composite versions and got the "80's bass" stigma. Much easier to produce cheaper wood versions. As far as other companies "gobbling up and killing off a brand"...if those brands were doing so well they probably wouldnt be in the position to be taken over. And likewise, most companies wouldnt kill off a line that is selling well, so while it might be something us bass players like, in the overall scheme of things, they arent selling enough to keep production going.

 

[gt96g]

I hear what your saying. I've actually seen a lot of parallels to this in another market. Believe it or not the beer market is going through quite a similar trend. There are really only two parent brands that own all the big breweries. SAB and InBev. And i actually heard miller-coors wil be purchased by InBev essentially putting all the major US brands under the control of one organization. What has made this possible is the craft beer market now makes up areound 25% of sales in the US. 10 years ago this merger would not have been allowed under anti-trust laws but the vast number of small players has changed that.

I would argue a similar trend is occuring in musical instruments just on a much smaller scale. The industry is 7 billion a year whereas the beer market is many times larger but the parallels exist. You are seeing more and more consolidation among the big players with many very small operations scattered throughout. Some of the little guys stick around while many open up and close shop year to year. The instrument market is changing no doubt, and i think there is room for all the players it just involves them zeroing in on their respective markets a focusing on them.

 

[SirMjac28]

These companies didn't kill all of these other brands they bought they just took most of them off their respirators and if sales had of been so great they might not have been targets in the first place. I think people forget this forum represents a small portion of bassists and all of the love certain brands get around here don't necessarily translate into sales. Nostalgia is a great thing but it ain't paying the bills.

 

[orange joe]

I don't think so.I seriously doubt either of those will ever acquire Yorkville/Traynor and as long as there are custom luthiers I'll be all set

 

[Ewo]

I hear what your saying. I've actually seen a lot of parallels to this in another market. Believe it or not the beer market is going through quite a similar trend. There are really only two parent brands that own all the big breweries. SAB and InBev. And i actually heard miller-coors wil be purchased by InBev essentially putting all the major US brands under the control of one organization. What has made this possible is the craft beer market now makes up areound 25% of sales in the US. 10 years ago this merger would not have been allowed under anti-trust laws but the vast number of small players has changed that.

I would argue a similar trend is occuring in musical instruments just on a much smaller scale. The industry is 7 billion a year whereas the beer market is many times larger but the parallels exist. You are seeing more and more consolidation among the big players with many very small operations scattered throughout. Some of the little guys stick around while many open up and close shop year to year. The instrument market is changing no doubt, and i think there is room for all the players it just involves them zeroing in on their respective markets a focusing on them.

The analogy is instructive, I figure! A good instance of the _creative destruction_ dynamic in a healthy market. Continuous reinvention, is the way I think of it.

Me, I'm thrilled at the high quality (if a bit pricey) boutique gear available now. Some great things happening in cabs (like MAS, Baer, TC) and amps (like Aguilar, Mesa, Reiner). And I'm saying that as an o-l-d cat. I played the vintage stuff back when it was current production, and IMHO the top-shelf new gear beats what was available at any price then, as tools for a working musician.

Kinda like that tasty IPA now available on tap at the bar where my band works...

 

[Johnny Crab]

Will we all being playing our Gibson's through Behringer's before to long?
How long before they own it all? Gonna be kinda weird seeing a Gibson branded p bass lol.

Already there:

You best pay attention to these important trends in gear use and preferences.

 

[GBassNorth]

...But if the rumors are right, you might not see any Gibson branded basses soon.

Gibson 2016 - no basses? | Page 7 | TalkBass.com

If true that only makes my three worth more...

Quite frankly, I think BOTH Gibson and Fender build great basses. Both have been equally opportunistic when it comes to buying up competition and both have been equally inept at running their prospective businesses along with the businesses they bought. Both have recently released interesting and innovative new products and each was met with a mix of joy/hatred. Both companies could close shop today and never make another bass and there would still be tons of them in circulation for decades to come. As for their bass amp lines go - I don't like either company's line up, so as far a I'm concerned they can do whatever they want with those, I'll continue to buy Ampeg, GK and Bergantino.

 

[96tbird]

Fender killed Genz. Gibson killed Tobias...

NO NO NO, Genz and Tobias killed their own companies when they sold for greed and gain. They knew full well that the brands would die in time. They didn't care, their wallets got FAT.

They didn't care about you. Why shed a tear over a name. Jeez, get a grip.

 

[Afc70]

No, because Ken smith, k. Roscoe, Pedulla, Bossa, Dingwall, Fodera and many other bass builders will be building for many more yrs I suspect. And I don't use an amp at church, so I'm good to go with what I already have.

 

[hopsbb]

If true that only makes my three worth more...

Quite frankly, I think BOTH Gibson and Fender build great basses. Both have been equally opportunistic when it comes to buying up competition and both have been equally inept at running their prospective businesses along with the businesses they bought. Both have recently released interesting and innovative new products and each was met with a mix of joy/hatred. Both companies could close shop today and never make another bass and there would still be tons of them in circulation for decades to come. As for their bass amp lines go - I don't like either company's line up, so as far a I'm concerned they can do whatever they want with those, I'll continue to buy Ampeg, GK and Bergantino.

That is true. The cousins will be worth more as well lol.

 

[Tanner5382]

No great loss...sorry Gibson fans The original Tbird (not the current "reissues") the original EB3 (not the current "SG bass") and the original Ripper were the high water marks. The rest made me wonder if they ever talked to any bass players instead of just slapping a four string neck onto a guitar body.

The EB1 strikes you as a guitar body?

 

[rtav]

Fortunately I am a BIG fan of pre-Gibson Trace Elliot gear, so the fact that Peavey have forgotten about the brand doesn't bother me (much). It's not like my astounding gear will stop working if Peavey dumps it.

I wish that either Peavey would do SOMETHING with the brand or sell it to someone who would, but either way, my rigs will continue to sound incredible for at least another 30 years.

I have no interest in any new amplification, and few new basses, so I'm set.

PS - as I'm constantly looking at older Trace gear, I've noticed that the resale prices have gone up about 15 or 20% over the past couple of years, and some pre-Gibson Trace gear goes for much more now than it did in 2011 or 2012.

 

[The Bass Clef]

If there's one brand I associate with total junk in the musical instrument industry, it's Behringer. I don't see that brand ever being anything but the "Harbor Freight" of the musical world.

 

[DavC]

they'll just sell off the old brand names and patents to China ... someday MIC might not be so ' iffy ' ...