Guitar company Gibson reportedly facing bankruptcy

The company, whose Les Paul and SG instruments have been played by generations of musicians, including stars such as Slash, Bob Marley and Carlos Santana, was founded more than 100 years ago in Michigan.
CEO Henry Juszkiewicz is thought to be in a race against time to decide whether to exchange the company's debt, look to try and pay it off using his equity or try to declare the company bankrupt

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“There are problems with the guitar retail industry," he said. "All of the retailers are fearful as can be; they're all afraid of e-commerce, with Amazon just becoming the second largest employer in the U.S., and the brick and mortar guys are just panicking. They see the trend, and that trend isn't taking them to a good place, and they're all wondering if there will be a world for brick and mortar stores for much longer. It’s a turbulent world to be a retailer, and many of our retail partners are facing that same issue.”

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Is it the end for the company that has been around for over a hundred years?

Hey heres hoping if thats the case my Les Pauls jump in price.

Gotta love the blame game, it's always someone else fault, right, rite?

Gibson pushes back against bankruptcy talk, hires new CFO

Gibson pushes back against bankruptcy talk, hires new CFO

Thomas Gnau Staff Writer
9:24 a.m. Monday, Feb. 19, 2018 Business
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BUSINESS
Gibson is pushing back against reports of an impending bankruptcy and has hired a new chief financial officer, who starts with the company Monday.

Gibson Brands, Inc., maker of the famed Les Paul and ES-335 electric guitars, released a statement saying it has met all “current obligations to the bondholders, is in the process of arranging a new credit facility to replace the bonds, and fully expects the bonds to be refinanced in the ordinary course of business.”

In the statement, Gibson Chairman and Chief Executive Henry Juszkiewicz said: “These bonds expire as all fixed income instruments do at the end of their term.”

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a reply to: Lysergic

Yeah, companies wrangling against them to make it cheaper to buy them out.

That's too bad.. my first Guitar was a Gibson. We played so many beautiful endearing works of art together.

Gibson has had trouble adjusting as there stuff was always a nicer finish, joinery, and hardware than fender. Spreading into the cheap and mid range market may not be as easy as fpr fender who makes guitars with some setup are playable at $89 on sale or used. Up until $800 they own the American brand market.

If Gibson is smart would retract to a smaller boutique market base. The $1000 + market.


Dragging the beautiful high end down and trying to compete in the under $1000k is much harder for a saturated market at te volume they are tooled up for.

People are mashing buttons more now a days than playing guitar. The mass produced low to mid low range guitars are going to retract the most.

a reply to: Lysergic

Great news, I hope it works out.

a reply to: Lysergic
Gibson has priced themselves into irrelevancy.

How does one who buys a guitar, without hearing it?
How does one who buys a guitar, without feeling it?

How do you get an intimate instrument on line?

originally posted by: darkwingduck
a reply to: Lysergic
Gibson has priced themselves into irrelevancy.

They do have the more affordable Epiphone brand that imo sound just as good as the Gibson.

But what do I know...I built a Frankenstein from discarded parts Guitar Center threw in the dumpster and it sounds kickass.

originally posted by: SocratesJohnson
How does one who buys a guitar, without hearing it?
How does one who buys a guitar, without feeling it?

How do you get an intimate instrument on line?

exactly. i have never, and will never, buy a guitar offline. i want to see how it feels, how it sounds, and how it responds. they're all different. and the risk of getting the wrong one from amazon( amazon always screwed up my orders) or having it banged up bcoz they handlers don't give a crap, is too much.

Maybe we can pick up a les paul standard for less than $2500.

Some companies just dont like money

a reply to: Lysergic

Imma quit music if I can no longer play a Gibson. Nothing sounds like one, nothing plays like one, and I am still saving up for a custom Thunderbird 5-string bass. So help us, Gods of Rock 'n Roll, we beseech thee!

a reply to: Lysergic

There's numerous problems with Gibson, sadly they mostly seem to come from Henry Juszkiewicz CEO.

They've diversified too much, buying up electronics companies, Phillips and Teac amongst a fair few others - these are nowhere near as profitable as they used to be and I'd guess they're actually losing money at this point.

Gibson quality is not what it used to be, almost all the reviews I've seen online have taken issue with their quality control, if you're paying that kind of money you expect it to be perfect.

Trying to reinvent the wheel, automatic tuning? Who cares? Learning to tune your instrument is a part of learning to play. There's also a lot of talk about a) this not working properly and b) lots of guitarists getting it removed.

The crazy price tag. Sure an instrument is an investment and for a large part you get what you pay for, but Gibsons are much more expensive than a lot of guitars that have an equal or better quality.

There was talk that the CEO was trying to turn Gibson into a "lifestyle brand" like Rolex or somesuch.

I'm a bassist, I wouldn't dream of getting a Gibson, there's just so much better quality and service available elsewhere, although I'd love and SG bass.

There's also the idea that the market is diminishing, but there's more small/boutique guitars available than ever, Fender sales have been increasing year on year for a while. Do "serious" guitarists spend a few thousand on a guitar and that's it for life? I'd like to, but wear and tear - I'll "need" another over the next few years and semi-retire my current.

It's pretty depressing to see the state of Gibson, but every cloud: Gibson is just too good a name to pass up, when they do go bust someone will buy it up and with luck it'll be someone that cares about guitars and can return Gibson to its glory days.

I saw this video yesterday, it's long but I found it pretty interesting:

a reply to: jokei

Oh man, you just brought a Fender to a Gibson fight lol. I don't know how well that will go...

Now The Gibson Guitar Raids Make Sense

originally posted by: MisterMcKill
a reply to: jokei

Oh man, you just brought a Fender to a Gibson fight lol. I don't know how well that will go...

How so? I just gave an example of a company that is able to make money in the current financial climate. So that's not really a reason/excuse for Gibsons economic performance.

I think the market conditions are relevant.

I have a 1979 335 that is built like a tank. Just a solid, beautifully made guitar. The newer ones, to me, don't have that feel. On the other hand, my 2013 Firebird is a lovely beast. No quality issues there.

originally posted by: jokei

originally posted by: MisterMcKill
a reply to: jokei

Oh man, you just brought a Fender to a Gibson fight lol. I don't know how well that will go...

How so? I just gave an example of a company that is able to make money in the current financial climate. So that's not really a reason/excuse for Gibsons economic performance.

I think the market conditions are relevant.

It was a joke in reference to the long-standing feud between people that swear by Gibson and people that swear by Fender. I used to be a sales engineer at Sweetwater. The divide is deep lol.

originally posted by: MisterMcKill

originally posted by: jokei

originally posted by: MisterMcKill
a reply to: jokei

Oh man, you just brought a Fender to a Gibson fight lol. I don't know how well that will go...

How so? I just gave an example of a company that is able to make money in the current financial climate. So that's not really a reason/excuse for Gibsons economic performance.

I think the market conditions are relevant.

It was a joke in reference to the long-standing feud between people that swear by Gibson and people that swear by Fender. I used to be a sales engineer at Sweetwater. The divide is deep lol.

My older brother has both, swears they're not any different from each other outside of price, lol. TBH, they never sounded any different to my ear, either.

The quality and prices in guitars has shifted overseas. South Korea has a really good thing going on at fair prices. Those are acoustic guitars. Several electrics come from there now and most guitar sellers now list "country of origin" on their guitars now.

A Gibson acoustic guitar is now 3,500 or so. Les Pauls start at 1,350 and reach 5,000 on the low-range models. The re-issues are 10K and up. You cannot buy a guitar every year, or even every other year at those prices. The models keep changing specs too. The 2014 necks were crap across their electric line. I ended up with a Les Paul Jr with a maple neck (burnt maple so it does not look white like a maple neck strat but more like pau ferro) because of the neck issues people were reporting. That is also the time I started noticing a slip in quality control being reported. I bit on the Explorer when they reverted back to original (1970s) specs. I am glad I did. Yup, sight unseen and never played. It survived shipping. It sounds great! Plays great. Great finish. Now, they are 400 more and last year they finally started including a hardshell case! 2K is what they are about now. I mean, at that price you need a case for such an investment.

It is like a restaurant having financial troubles switching from hamburger buns to white bread. People notice.

Shame too. I like the Made in America feel good purchases. Things started going south when the Feds came in and busted them for having "exotic" wood from dubious sources. The case was dropped when it was proven that it was not the case and that it was all above board. Then the next year the river flooded their manufacturing plant. It seems like they have been playing catch up since those times.

I hope they turn it around. I might need to scrape up 2K and get another Explorer while I can.