Speaking as a guitar player and sound engineer:
 
This idea seems like a sledgehammer to crack a nut. On the one hand, there are all kinds of low cost guitar-like ways of generating good MIDI data. On the other, Gibson guitars are expensive big ticket heritage items. I like both of those things, but I think the overlap between them is non-existent. A nice Les Paul already costs a grand at least. The market of people willing to spend another $500 on MIDI tech must be tiny. Tiny enough to make that 500 into a grand or more, if you think about the economies of scale.

Don't get me wrong; I think a MIDI-delivering Firebird would be a glorious thing, but I can't see it making any business sense.

I still use my Casio MG-510 MIDI guitar from about 25 or 30 years ago, can't remember. I don't play keyboard so it's just a way of getting chords into the DAW that I clean up afterwards in the PRV. I wouldn't call it a guitar, it's a MIDI controller "in" a guitar!

FWIW...I have a Godin guitar with hex out and an AXON AX-50. (I really like the guitar a lot because it's a nice-playing, nice-sounding instrument when used w/o MIDI.)
 
However, I don't use the AXON too much these days because Jam Origin's MIDI Guitar 2 plugin just seems phenomenal to me. I've gone back and forth to test tracking and barely see any difference. My guitar and keyboard skills are about the same so I don't use MIDI guitar a lot, but when I do Midi Guitar 2 works fine for me.
 
By the way..."CSR claims that aptX Low Latency for Bluetooth offers an end-to-end latency of 32 ms." (from Wikipedia). If that's the lowest you can go with Bluetooth instruments it might be a bit of a concern...

The Fishman TriplePlay is a nice add-on at ~$400US.  It works very well, low latency and wireless to either a USB stick, or an add-on foot controller.  I have one on my '14 Studio and it req'd zero mods to the guitar.
 
The plugins are also very nice, but not required.
 
Other folks like Roland products or Godin (as mentioned above).  I prefer the add-on because I can put it on any guitar (almost).
 
What I'm saying is that I agree that a Gibson MIDI guitar would be beyond what I would want to pay, and I may not even care for the model(s) they would choose to equip with MIDI capability.
 
Then think about how tech advances.  How long before the MIDI tech in the $1500+ guitar becomes obsolete?
 
I wonder how many V-Strats Fender ended up selling?

If Gibson can come up with a zero latency MIDI guitar controller with an USB out then I'd be in, otherwise nope.

i thought anderton said there won;t be any more hardware partnerships, because of various reasns, but then maybe this is one of the 2-out-of-3 directions coming? maybe that changed with alex's return to the fold as a innovation person

FWIW the TriplePlay is pretty cool, but it wasn't worked too well on the Les Pauls I've tried. They're basically too "live" in terms of generating overtones and sustain, which confuses the tracking. I've found that the "deader" the guitar, the better. Some of this is due to my playing with a thumbpick and using .010 strings, which generates a really "big" string signal. Most MIDI guitars I've tried are happier with a flat pick and a light touch.
 
The Jamstik is very effective for rhythm guitar, but not really good for soloing. The YouRock guitar has the full neck range and tracks really well. Trying to make a guitar generate MIDI requires a lot of cleanup...I could probably step enter the part faster. 

Anderton
FWIW the TriplePlay is pretty cool, but it wasn't worked too well on the Les Pauls I've tried. They're basically too "live" in terms of generating overtones and sustain, which confuses the tracking. I've found that the "deader" the guitar, the better. Some of this is due to my playing with a thumbpick and using .010 strings, which generates a really "big" string signal. Most MIDI guitars I've tried are happier with a flat pick and a light touch.
 
The Jamstik is very effective for rhythm guitar, but not really good for soloing. The YouRock guitar has the full neck range and tracks really well. Trying to make a guitar generate MIDI requires a lot of cleanup...I could probably step enter the part faster. 

That makes sense to me.  My experience with TP on an LP is that I have to play differently to get the results I want.

Strange that everyone immediately went to a Les Paul as the controller. In Canada a nice Les Paul is 5K, way too expensive for a midi controller. I was thinking a bit more outside the box. The thing could be plastic. I just thought that with Gibson/Cakewalk the technical expertise could now be available to create an input device for non-keyboard players like me. I have no idea what an F#m looks like on a keyboard. Maybe one of Craig's Friday brainwaves could be a guide to putting guitar chords onto a piano keyboard.
 
 I like to start an idea thinking big and then let reality narrow my thinking. It's time to think of Gibson as a tech company instead of a guitar company. Based on their growth through acquisition history that seems to be where they're headed. Guitars, amps, microphones, speakers, cables that record...........

BobF
...Other folks like Roland products or Godin (as mentioned above).  I prefer the add-on because I can put it on any guitar (almost).

Well, to clarify what I was saying, I'm extremely happy that the Godin I have is a nice guitar even without the hex out, because these days I'm more inclined to run the humbuckers into a direct box and let the Midi Guitar 2 plugin handle the rest (Or just use any of my other guitars). The latency and tracking is the same, in my experience.
 
Technically, I don't think there's anything that will ever make the guitar as capable a MIDI controller as the keyboard. The technology makes it impossible to achieve 0 latency and 100% accuracy. (No bricks, please!) However, at some times it can be convenient to enter guitar-like phrases on the right instrument! I'm glad that I can address those times with software rather than hardware and play whatever guitar I like best.