Top 7 Things Wrong with Gibson

I've got a 2013 SG Bass that plays just fine. Gonna count my blessings and move on.

TheMaartian
I've got a 2013 SG Bass that plays just fine. Gonna count my blessings and move on.

Did you play if before you bought it?   If I ever bought another USA model from Fender or Gibson, I'd look over the finish and the playability. I probably wouldn't buy one online.  
 
 My MIM Tele is a nice build. Epis are nice budget guitars.  Since moving away from the Midwest I miss Washburn guitars.

Lower prices on Gibson, forget Epiphone as a cheap fill in. Sell one guitar well made for a decent price. Gibson buyers are not Taylor buyers. If you want a Taylor there is only one with that kind of sound. To go better than that you need to go to a custom guitar. Martins are great too but they sound like Martins.
 
This isn't the case with Gibson. There are worthy substitutes for less. The next gen doesn't necessarily hold the name in as high regard as the previous generations did. A few will, yes, but the numbers are getting less and less.

I have an Epiphone Les Paul from roughly 20 years ago [!] Put some Seymour Duncan '59's in it and it plays & sounds great.

i was looking for a gibson to buy,
when i bought my Ibanez Artist.
 
that ibanez blew away every gibson les paul i had played to date.
 
since then, 
i occasionally will get the urge to try one out....
 
nicest paul i've played, was a VOS at a guitar center, they wanted about $5000 for it....
jeez,
i payed $800 for that ibanez artist brand new.....
now it's worth around $1600, doubled it's worth,
and still felt and played better than the nicest paul i've played.....
 
 
WTF
 
 
 
you are not going to see Bat's Brew sucking up to something that says 'gibson les paul' on it anytime soon.
there are better guitars.

Was thinking about Jim's positive response to his new Gibsons and maybe should not have called the current Gibson lines "junk". Has been several years since auditioning their newest axes, and don't have a clue about the custom shop models. Here's where you probably get what you can pay for.
 
Maybe less junk than a letdown in my eyes, and realizing that the price tag no longer fits the legend. Was at the time wanting to get a real Gibson SG, and there was nothing they had on the shelf that I wanted to buy. The sound not the same quality and the neck and setup way deteriorated from the craftsmanship of the icons that put Gibson on the map. Still had the same price tag. Mass production and quick sale was written all over them. So got to apologize for calling the axes junk. The consumer level Gibsons are okay and will get the job done, but feel that something critical has been lost somewhere. Today's SG ain't your father's SG.
 
Last week did an old fashioned barter exchange. Drywall work from a contractor in exchange for repairing 8 of his guitars. One was a 50's or so Gibson bass. The quality was absolutely incredible. Precision of the neck and mechanics was more like playing a guitar. They don't make these anymore. Was thinking, where can I get a bass like this. Might be out there somewhere, but not from Gibson.
 
John

Gibson should go back to their core business model making and selling guitars.  They need to get out of these side endeavors like home audio, headphones and most notably Cakewalk and Tascam.
 
Gibson is a bad business.  I'm not talking about what they make, I'm talking about their business model.  It's terrible from an accounting Profit Loss perspective.  They bought Slingerland back in the 90's Slingerland was already knocking on deaths door but  they landed Greg Bissonette as an endorsers fused with new capital from Gibson, and made the idiotic decision to force companies that carried Slingerland drums to also carry Gibson guitars, so all the specialty drum shop guys were out of the market.  Greg left after only a few years and went to Mapex where he was for almost 15 years, and now he's with Dixon.
 
Some of the crap they do now like trying to sell headphones to compete with Beats Audio, is just beyond stupid.  This is where Juszkiewicz, has really been a terrible CEO.  He's often mentioned as having saved the company back in the 80's but really since then his decision making is suspect at best and a big reason why they will likely file for bankruptcy next when analysts project they will be unable to make payments on their 500 million dollar plus debt they've collected.
 
Gibson has a name and pedigree that will always make them a valued brand, but it's really all this effort to turn Gibson into this multinational conglomerate style business is where it's failed.  Everyone talks about the complaints on Glassdoor which are quite frankly embarrassing, and I really don't know another instrument manufacturer that has employees that are publicly slamming them.  Go read some of the stuff the guys that work at Taylor say.  They feel it's a family company and seem happy to work there.  Sure there are always going to be some complaints but a company should want to correct the kind of negative backlash Gibson workers seem all to comfortable sharing.

Jim Roseberry

I don't think all is lost for Gibson.
I think John is right in that they need to "get back to basics".
Build the guitars you're known for... and build them to the highest quality standards.
 

I agree with this.