New management, same old stuff.
Gibson seems to have difficulty adapting to a changing market and manufacturing environment.
Electric guitar sales are down world-wide. Electric guitar oriented rock music is declining in popularity. The demand for Les Paul's and SG's is shrinking.
Acoustic instruments are gaining in popularity. Buyers are expressing considerable interest in mandolins, banjos, and ukuleles. Gibson is making only a handful of mandolins. It's been over 10 years since they assembled a banjo, and they haven't made a uke since the 1960's.
Younger buyers are less disposed to pay high prices for new instruments, and are less concerned about whether or not an instrument is made in the US.
Many of Gibson's suppliers were badly burned in the bankruptcy settlement. They are going to be less inclined to offer favorable prices and easy credit terms to the "new" Gibson. . . ."And that'll be cash on the barrelhead, son."
Because of Gibson's restrictive policies, most dealers are not interested in adding them to their product lines. If Ares Management, the owner of Guitar Center/Musician's Friend, decides to liquidate their unprofitable retail chain, Gibson will lose over half of their dealers.
It would seem that Gibson needs all the friends that they can get. They're not doing a very good job of winning any.
Although Martin and Taylor are both primarily building flat-top guitars, they seem to co-exist without threatening each other.
I give Gibson two to three years before they hit the wall again.
I don't know why I waste my time thinking and writing about this. I have better ways to spend my time than concerning myself with Gibson.
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