Gibson Dumping Guitars?

adorshki

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The Martin factory is just for show. The real guitars are made by elves in the woods of Nazareth.

Jim

...When they're moonlighting from their day job.

michigan-keebler-tree.jpg
 

Quantum Strummer

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BTW, speaking of shapes, remember when Gibson sued PRS for their "single cut" model? PRS had to stop production for years until the court case was resolved, which they won. Although there were plenty of small variations between the guitars, Gibson claims they owned the "shape" of the Les Paul. Others manufacturers had used the shape before PRS (including Guild with the Les-Paul-like Bluesbird), but PRS apparently worried Gibson more than anyone else.

I had to laugh when I first heard about Gibson suing PRS. Back in the 1970s, when multiple Japanese companies were blatantly copying various American guitar models, Gibson (then owned by Norlin) determined that the only aspect of their guitars they could claim copyright infringement over was the headstock shape. What made me laugh was that the current company seemed not to know this…and was all but guaranteed to lose, wasting not only PRS’ time & money but their own. Now maybe they were playing an intimidation game, but if so they clearly didn’t know much about who they were trying to intimidate either. :) On Gibson’s part it was a foolish maneuver all around.

-Dave-
 
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bobouz

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Back in the 1970s, when multiple Japanese companies were blatantly copying various American guitar models, Gibson (then owned by Norlin) determined that the only aspect of their guitars they could claim copyright infringement over was the headstock shape.

If I recall correctly, Gibson sued only Ibanez, but quite often the "lawsuit era" term gets applied to just about everything coming out of Japan in the '70s. At any rate, Ibanez was then motivated to find their own path & in 1977 came out with a more original lineup of instruments - with some styling cues that I really liked. One day in '77, I happened upon a V-300S acoustic & bought it. It was one of the few non-Artwood or Tama models that featured a solid spruce top, and it had a lovely sound. At some point down the road I let it go, and later regretted it.

QS, you mentioned that you've become rather taken with Ibanez guitars from that era, and I certainly do get it, as they were very well built. I too had a recent Ibanez itch I had to scratch, and a while back purchased a 1981 M-340 acoustic that very positively reminds me of the one I bought so long ago.

Fun stuff!
 
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NEONMOONY

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Guild's quality control is a little overrated on this forum, I think. I have several Guilds and they are all nicely individually. By the same token, I have 4 Bluesbirds and each has a different neck. When they were being manufactured, apparently there was no spec or attempt to be consistent with the depth of the neck. They range from ultra slim to fat as a hedge fence post.
 

bluesypicky

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Guild's quality control is a little overrated on this forum, I think. I have several Guilds and they are all nicely individually. By the same token, I have 4 Bluesbirds and each has a different neck. When they were being manufactured, apparently there was no spec or attempt to be consistent with the depth of the neck. They range from ultra slim to fat as a hedge fence post.

Yes, through the years, Guild has definitely proven that "quality control" could mean the insurance of an even and steady manufacturing quality from one guitar to the next (as far as finish and playability), but certainly not regarding specs consistency! lol
 
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bluesypicky

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In the past year I’ve become a huge fan of certain Ibanez guitar models made from ~1975–83. Does this translate into any interest at all in what Ibanez is currently up to? Nope. :) Same kinda deal with Gibson: I discovered via playing various models that the Norlin Dark Ages weren’t quite as dark as common lore claims they were. So I snagged a handful of great instruments at very reasonable prices. But for all I care Gibson could’ve gone out of business 40 years ago.
-Dave-

Agreed. Ibanez had definitely positioned itself as the Fender/Gibson party crasher in the 70's.
Matter of fact, a certain and infamous "Flying V" from my early guitar playing years (and that made its way on this forum via a few equally infamous pics), was an Ibanez Gibby copy..... :shocked:
 

richardp69

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Let the lambasting begin. I love my Guilds, I truly do. However, IMHO, Martin acoustics are the most consistently good guitars I've owned. I've never owned what I consider to be a dog or inferior Martin. I'm quite sure it happens but it's never happened to me.
 

GAD

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Guild's quality control is a little overrated on this forum, I think. I have several Guilds and they are all nicely individually. By the same token, I have 4 Bluesbirds and each has a different neck. When they were being manufactured, apparently there was no spec or attempt to be consistent with the depth of the neck. They range from ultra slim to fat as a hedge fence post.

I don't consider that a quality control issue.
 

adorshki

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I don't consider that a quality control issue.

I agree and in fact they did have profile templates that varied according to production period, but since, in Westerly at least, every single neck was given final shaping by hand, that in itself is a source of individual variation .
Can't recall what the "periods" of "chunky" vs "skinny" were for Westerly electrics.
Mid to-late '90's seemed to be a period of "skinny" for acoustics and electrics for example, although others have mentioned they thought really late Westerly necks were "fat".
I do remember that Corona gets a high percentage of reports of "chunky", on Bluesbirds in particular.
The real answer, if I may paraphrase, is "Chunky is in the hand of the holder"
 

bluesypicky

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Of all the guitars I've owned and played, the fatest neck belonged to my 2000 B-bird.
Part of the reason why I don't own it any longer.
 

Quantum Strummer

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If I recall correctly, Gibson sued only Ibanez, but quite often the "lawsuit era" term gets applied to just about everything coming out of Japan in the '70s. At any rate, Ibanez was then motivated to find their own path & in 1977 came out with a more original lineup of instruments - with some styling cues that I really liked.

Yeah, that’s right. Specifically Gibson sued Ibanez’s US distributor over the use of the “open book” headstock shape. It was settled out of court. Ibanez then proceeded to copy Guild’s headstock shape for awhile. :) On certain models anyway.

QS, you mentioned that you've become rather taken with Ibanez guitars from that era, and I certainly do get it, as they were very well built. I too had a recent Ibanez itch I had to scratch, and a while back purchased a 1981 M-340 acoustic that very positively reminds me of the one I bought so long ago.

I bought around a dozen Ibanezes earlier this year, all either straight-up Gibson copies or variants of Gibson models. I’ve ended up keeping 5 of ‘em but it was hard choosing which 5. They were all really good, and I’d rate a couple of ‘em as genuinely outstanding.

-Dave-
 

Quantum Strummer

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Ibanez had definitely positioned itself as the Fender/Gibson party crasher in the 70's.
Matter of fact, a certain and infamous "Flying V" from my early guitar playing years (and that made its way on this forum via a few equally infamous pics), was an Ibanez Gibby copy..... :shocked:

Oh yeah, the Rocket Roll Sr. I remember seeing those around in various used guitar shops. Played real nice standing up but I just couldn’t get with the body shape when sitting down. I have a Futura (Moderne “copy”) now…it actually stays in place on my leg when I’m sitting. :) There was the Destroyer (Explorer) too. EVH owned & used one for awhile before modifying it a step too far.

-Dave-
 

dapmdave

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