New Gibson acoustics at GC

dreadnut

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I closely inspected a couple of Gibsons today, and I can't believe they were sitting there for sale. The workmanship was absolutely appalling. They were both bursts priced at "only" $2,599 :roll: Both of them were a real mess where the neck joins to the top - uneven, unfinished. Then one's high gloss finish was "crazed" right next to the binding almost all the way around the top. These were not factory seconds or vintage, they were brand new guitars. Sorry, but they never would have come out of the Kalamazoo factory looking like that. OK, I'll get off my soapbox now.
 

Just_Guild

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No need to get off your soapbox (LOL). That really saddens me to hear what you observed. :( Such a great name and a great history. Someone somewhere, maybe at LMG III alluded that one reason Ren Ferguson retired from Gibson was the constant pressure to get production out the door. If that is a true statement, seems like you are seeing the evidence.

I have never been a "Gibson" guy so have no horse in this race. But it saddens me just the same.

From the Glassdoor website:

“One I will never forget !”
Former I'd Rather Not Say in Nashville, TN – Reviewed Sep 27, 2011
Pros – I worked for Gibson many years.
Thru good times and bad.
And I own a couple of really nice flame top Les Pauls
Cons – To begin with, I started working for Gibson right after the Nashville factory opened. I left the in the XXXX's (Disco and synthysizers nearly killed guitars). Then returned again, under new owners, from XXXX's to XXXX's. Was that vague enough ?
The differences between working for the Norlin Corporation (former owners), and the Henry Juszkiewicz / Dave Berryman days could not be described in this short blog.
Some very good. Some very bad.
Man the stories I could tell.

Most of what I've read on this site is pretty accurate. True, Henry micro managed to the millionth degree. And continues to do so from what I hear. But he took over a financially failing company and turned it around (at least for a little while). Greatness does indeed court disaster.
Personally, I likened him a little to Elvis. At times, he could be very generous and make you feel like you had the best gig on the planet. And the next day berate, humiliate (and to some) terminate you. Sort of a Jekyll and Hyde kinda guy. I guess he thought it was the best way to motivate employees. WRONG !

You guys are also spot on about the people that work there. The deparment supervisors and factory workers. From the retired road weary guitar player in final assembly, to the kid hand sanding guitars all day. They all loved being around those beautiful instuments. As did I.
I really wish the company could restore itself back to the glory days. Put quality before production, lower the prices, and let the people who know (and love) guitars build them !!
What player in the world can forget the first time he heard an old Les Paul thru a (Plexi) marshall amp !! (emphasis on the word old).

I travel quite a bit. And I am no longer in "the business". But everywhere I go, players and store dealers, consistently say the same thing you guys are saying. They can't all be wrong !

Lastly, I have some fond, funny, insightful memories of my days at Gibson.
And I am not a disgruntled former employee.
Just a sad one.
Advice to Senior Management – Advice or feedback ? You must be kidding.
You're talking about a couple of Harvard MBA's
These guys are intelligent to a fault.
And besides, Henry will never listen.
More

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Gibson-Guitar-Reviews-E6869.htm
 

twocorgis

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dreadnut said:
I closely inspected a couple of Gibsons today, and I can't believe they were sitting there for sale. The workmanship was absolutely appalling. They were both bursts priced at "only" $2,599 :roll: Both of them were a real mess where the neck joins to the top - uneven, unfinished. Then one's high gloss finish was "crazed" right next to the binding almost all the way around the top. These were not factory seconds or vintage, they were brand new guitars. Sorry, but they never would have come out of the Kalamazoo factory looking like that. OK, I'll get off my soapbox now.

I hear ya Dread. I sold my old Songwriter Deluxe, not because it was a bad guitar (it wasn't), but because of the horrid quality control; in this case glue oozing out from under the bridge and the fretboard. None of that has any place in a guitar that costs that much. One thing I will say though, is that when Gibsons are good, they're really good. My WM45 is an absolutely stellar guitar in every respect, and I like the neck profile on it more than any of my others.

On a side note, when I was talking to Ren Ferguson at LMGII, he told me that GC was "not the place to buy a Gibson acoustic" without any further elaboration. There must have been a reason he told me that...
 

dreadnut

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I only have two questions:

1. How do these even get out the door at Gibson? (Having been in manufacturing for years, I already know the answer to this, and you certainly can't place all the blame on the final inspection department. You can't inspect quality into a product.)

2. How do they get accepted and stocked by GC? (If I were on the receiving end, I'd put them right back in the shipping container and send them back to Gibson.)

If my small local GC has poor quality on half of their Gibson acoustic stock, imagine how many there are chain-wide...

The guys who used to build high quality Gibsons in Kalamazoo are now building Heritage Guitars.
 
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