More on the Gibson front.

mellowgerman

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When it comes to 33x-style semi-hollow electrics I'll take an Ibanez AS (Artist Semi) or AM (Mini) model from 1981 (AS-200) or '82 (any of 'em). In fact that's what I did! The Fuji-gen Gakki and Terada factories were on it during this period, and the Maxon Dry/Super 58 pickups in these guitars are fantastic. Last year I bought four of 'em, all in excellent shape, and ultimately kept two. Didn't pay more than US$1500 for any one of 'em.

-Dave-

I've got a Japanese "Mach1" faux-335 from the late70's/early80's and it is hands down the comfiest of the style that I've tried and more or less spot on in design, set-neck and all. My investor has a recent custom shop 335 at his studio, but I still prefer the feel of my MIJ. Tone is obviously subjective, but the pickups in mine are quite good and my playing style has kind of evolved to fit their sound and responsiveness.
This guitar effectively killed any kind of desire I ever had for a gibson electric... and I got it in a trade for a korean epiphone wilshire, so I have very little invested in it ☺
 

bobouz

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How true. I would even expand that up to 1961, I have a '61 J-50 that is quite good. After that they sort of went down the tubes.....
Guess it mostly depends on our personal experiences.

I would happily consider anything up through 1967.

It helps that I don't mind the skinny necks!
 

Antney

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Guess it mostly depends on our personal experiences.

I would happily consider anything up through 1967

It helps that I don't mind the skinny necks!

I've got a 79 les paul that's special.
 

txbumper57

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I've got a Japanese "Mach1" faux-335 from the late70's/early80's and it is hands down the comfiest of the style that I've tried and more or less spot on in design, set-neck and all. My investor has a recent custom shop 335 at his studio, but I still prefer the feel of my MIJ. Tone is obviously subjective, but the pickups in mine are quite good and my playing style has kind of evolved to fit their sound and responsiveness.
This guitar effectively killed any kind of desire I ever had for a gibson electric... and I got it in a trade for a korean epiphone wilshire, so I have very little invested in it ☺


Some of those Japanese 70's/80's guitars are Awesome instruments. I have 2 different ones and they have a very high quality to them.

TX
 
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DrumBob

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Gibson's troubles emanate from one man: Henry Jerkowicz. His brainless acquisitions and desire to turn Gibson into a "lifestyle" company, his ego and bad decisions, not to mention his tyrannical stranglehold on all aspects of the company, has caused a very negative atmosphere at Gibson. When you have disgruntled workers, you get lousy QC. It's going to be very interesting to see what happens this summer when Gibson defaults on their debts. Rumors flying; Yamaha wants to buy Gibson; Paul Reed Smith wants to buy Gibson, etc.

My prediction: Gibson will be taken over by their debtors, Jerkowicz will be shown the door, and the company will be sold to someone or some entity who wants to restore the brand and build quality guitars people can afford. The electronics companies will be sold off as well.
 

JohnW63

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Yamaha has a HUGE pile of dealers they can sell through. I would still choose a USA entity, if it were up to me. I just feel they would treat it like an icon company rather than just numbers in a spreadsheet.
 

davismanLV

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Yamaha has a HUGE pile of dealers they can sell through. I would still choose a USA entity, if it were up to me. I just feel they would treat it like an icon company rather than just numbers in a spreadsheet.
John it almost sounds like you're judging Yamaha because they're a Japanese company. They make FABULOUS instruments (more than guitars) and across many different price ranges. Just because they're not an AMERICAN company doesn't make them bad. We've seen what an American (Henry Jerkowicz to quote Drum Bob, whom I totally agree with) did with the company. I'd like a lot of things to happen and a lot of things to NOT happen but as deals go..... I'll bet you Yamaha could do a stellar job with Gibson and if the employees are happy, where their paycheck is coming from is not really relevant. This is the new WORLD economy and although I'd love to see the Gibson employees revolt and buy the company and save it from ruin..... it's gone too far. So what I'd LIKE to happen, had to happen many years ago to keep this situation from happening.

So while I understand your frustration, I think what we WISH WOULD HAVE HAPPENED is long gone. So now let's save the brand and the employees and make Gibson great again. How about that??

Just one opinion..... :encouragement:
 

Rayk

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Love , peace amd happiness with any guitar that makes you happy oh and a Beer ! 😁
 

twocorgis

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John it almost sounds like you're judging Yamaha because they're a Japanese company. They make FABULOUS instruments (more than guitars) and across many different price ranges. Just because they're not an AMERICAN company doesn't make them bad. We've seen what an American (Henry Jerkowicz to quote Drum Bob, whom I totally agree with) did with the company. I'd like a lot of things to happen and a lot of things to NOT happen but as deals go..... I'll bet you Yamaha could do a stellar job with Gibson and if the employees are happy, where their paycheck is coming from is not really relevant. This is the new WORLD economy and although I'd love to see the Gibson employees revolt and buy the company and save it from ruin..... it's gone too far. So what I'd LIKE to happen, had to happen many years ago to keep this situation from happening.

So while I understand your frustration, I think what we WISH WOULD HAVE HAPPENED is long gone. So now let's save the brand and the employees and make Gibson great again. How about that??

Just one opinion..... :encouragement:

Totally agree with Tom. Yamaha is a fantastic company that makes quality goods across a massive variety of merchandise, and Gibson has nowhere to go but up at this point.
 

Nuuska

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John it almost sounds like you're judging Yamaha because they're a Japanese company. They make FABULOUS instruments (more than guitars) and across many different price ranges. Just because they're not an AMERICAN company doesn't make them bad. We've seen what an American (Henry Jerkowicz to quote Drum Bob, whom I totally agree with) did with the company. I'd like a lot of things to happen and a lot of things to NOT happen but as deals go..... I'll bet you Yamaha could do a stellar job with Gibson and if the employees are happy, where their paycheck is coming from is not really relevant. This is the new WORLD economy and although I'd love to see the Gibson employees revolt and buy the company and save it from ruin..... it's gone too far. So what I'd LIKE to happen, had to happen many years ago to keep this situation from happening.

So while I understand your frustration, I think what we WISH WOULD HAVE HAPPENED is long gone. So now let's save the brand and the employees and make Gibson great again. How about that??

Just one opinion..... :encouragement:


Hello

Something similar was in the air when Behringer bought Midas. There were many who would swear this is it - goodbye Midas - welcome crap. And what really happened ? Behringer put so much money into Midas, that they have never been better off. More money in r&d - more money in production - most modern facilities etc. Afterwards most agree that Behringer saved Midas and kept it´s good name. Naturally both brands are mutually coupled and benefitting from it. Production went to China - but there are still many jobs in Europe, too.

So which would be better - have Gibson flourishing under Yamaha ( or some other big company ) - or have no Gibson at all?
 
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adorshki

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So which would be better - have Gibson flourishing under Yamaha ( or some other big company ) - or have no Gibson at all?
Seems like it wasn't all that long ago when us Guild-o-philes were asking the same question about Fender and how the MIC guitars were affecting Guild USA........


Love , peace and happiness with any guitar that makes you happy oh and a Beer ! ��
"I got mine".
AND a beer.
:biggrin-new:
 

Quantum Strummer

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I suspect at this point Gibson's best options are to either get bought by a big-scope company like Yamaha, who could likely pull off the degree of change needed to put 'em back on track, or to find VC folk willing to throw more $$ at 'em to service their debt in exchange for…hopes & prayers, I guess.

OTOH PRS getting hold of the Gibson brand would be good for an ironic chuckle if nothing else. :)

-Dave-
 

Mr. Lumbergh

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When it comes to 33x-style semi-hollow electrics I'll take an Ibanez AS (Artist Semi) or AM (Mini) model from 1981 (AS-200) or '82 (any of 'em). In fact that's what I did! The Fuji-gen Gakki and Terada factories were on it during this period, and the Maxon Dry/Super 58 pickups in these guitars are fantastic. Last year I bought four of 'em, all in excellent shape, and ultimately kept two. Didn't pay more than US$1500 for any one of 'em.

-Dave-
The quality coming out of those shops is still stellar. Terada is making the very-droolworthy Gretsch Prolines these days, I hope to own a couple one of these years...
 

Quantum Strummer

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The quality coming out of those shops is still stellar. Terada is making the very-droolworthy Gretsch Prolines these days, I hope to own a couple one of these years...

Yup! Before stumbling into an '82 Ibanez AS-50 last year (one of the finest guitars I've ever played much less owned) I had my eye on various new Gretsch models.

-Dave-
 

dbirchett

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Gibson had a number of guitars made by Terada under the Epiphone Elitist label. They had several models: Broadway, Sheraton, Riviera, Riviera 12, Byrdland, Casino, Les Paul, etc. These were all great guitars. Then they stopped making them and had blow out sales to get rid of the stock. Typically, I did not get any but they were great guitars, comparable to Gibsons, maybe better in many cases. Now they have the Casino and Riviera. Maybe Gibson could shift production of many of their guitars to Terada, get better guitars at a more reasonable price.
 

mike1100

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John it almost sounds like you're judging Yamaha because they're a Japanese company. They make FABULOUS instruments

Yamaha does make fine instruments (now mostly from China), as well as a bunch of other things. However, I can relate to where John is coming from. I'm not a motorcycle guy, but I believe many Americans would rather have a Harley than a Gold Wing. I'm willing to pay a slight premium to buy a American products, if they are of quality. It is difficult for US companies to compete with imports that leverage cheap labor and looser environmental constraints. Poor management only adds to Gibson's challenges.

Gibson is a company I would like to love, but don't. If I had a ridiculous pile of money I would like to have a 'Kalamazoo-Gal-Banner-Era' guitar, as I am a sap for "Americana" artifacts that have a story. I'd like to see Gibson become an American success story, but I don't see that happening.
 

Grassdog

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Gibson had a number of guitars made by Terada under the Epiphone Elitist label. They had several models: Broadway, Sheraton, Riviera, Riviera 12, Byrdland, Casino, Les Paul, etc. These were all great guitars. Then they stopped making them and had blow out sales to get rid of the stock. Typically, I did not get any but they were great guitars, comparable to Gibsons, maybe better in many cases. Now they have the Casino and Riviera. Maybe Gibson could shift production of many of their guitars to Terada, get better guitars at a more reasonable price.

Yes those Epiphone Elitist models are very high quality guitars and were a steal when they were still available - they released J-45 and J-200 Elitist models that damn near rivaled ones that came out of Bozeman of the same period. They are rare finds on Ebay and Reverb now and get usually get snatched up quick.
 

bobouz

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Yes those Epiphone Elitist models are very high quality guitars and were a steal when they were still available - they released J-45 and J-200 Elitist models that damn near rivaled ones that came out of Bozeman of the same period. They are rare finds on Ebay and Reverb now and get usually get snatched up quick.

Yes indeed. I'm fortunate enough to own three Terada-made Epiphones:

> AIUSA (Assembled in USA) John Lee Hooker 1964 Sheraton, made in 2000. Body made by Terada & shipped to Gibson-Nashville for installation of Gibson mini-humbuckers, hardware, & final assembly.

> McCartney 1964 Texan, made in 2005. Part of Paul's Adopt-A-Minefield fundraiser.

> Elitist Casino, made in 2009. Gibson-made P90s.

The workmanship on these instruments is exquisite. Clearly, Terada is one of the finest makers in the world.
 
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