Bye Bye Henry J.

[Woody Sound]

Henry J left the new owners with highly desirable Gibson guitars to sell. Such was not the case when he bought Gibson from Norlin. Gibson had no future back then. So, in the main, he was good for Gibson. Hindsight is always 20/20. It seems simple now that you have witnessed the last 32 years. But in 1986, what lay ahead for Gibson? Nobody knew. All they knew was, nobody was buying our guitars. I remember those days. It looked very bleak then. It looked then as if Gibson would close forever.

I think a lot of that had to do with this guy.

[Max405]

Jabbs, Outstanding post.

I am not smart enough to even have an opinion of what went wrong. The only thing I can say is he ran the company that made the only guitars I ever really wanted. And he did it for a long, long time. And I appreciate that (Army Green and Cartridge Brass L5's not withstanding..).
It sucks seeing anyone lose their job. And he's kept a lot of people employed for a very long time. Here in America, we don't have (thank god) some of the manufacturing advantages that they have in some other countries (sweat shops, abusive harvesting of wood.. Let me stop..). Through it all, Gibson has remained viable and has continued to make guitars I lust after while treating their employees and the earth with respect.
Thanks Mr J.
I am looking forward to the continuation of the Gibson Brand and the hopeful re-birth of the venerable ES175. Nothing, and I mean nothing sounds like an Archtop Guitar. How great would it be if they struck up a deal with the Pass family, and finally came out with the Joe Pass 175. Exactly the same as the prototype we've all lusted after.. Even in my dreams, the Gibson Archtop will always be the one I want.

JD

32 years is a very good run. Norlin Gibson lasted 17 years before going on life-support. Gibson was far better off under Henry J's stewardship than not. We have forgotten the dark days of Norlin Gibson when nobody was playing a Gibson very much and the guitars rather dismal in quality. There was no GnR, no Slash, no archtop market. Henry J's greatest gift was allowing those who knew better within Gibson to get on with their job of making great guitars. The Custom Shop was born and quality went up drastically. The renaissance of Gibson Guitars really came under his stewardship. I will be the first to acknowledge that.

Henry J left the new owners with highly desirable Gibson guitars to sell. Such was not the case when he bought Gibson from Norlin. Gibson had no future back then. So, in the main, he was good for Gibson. Hindsight is always 20/20. It seems simple now that you have witnessed the last 32 years. But in 1986, what lay ahead for Gibson? Nobody knew. All they knew was, nobody was buying our guitars. I remember those days. It looked very bleak then. It looked then as if Gibson would close forever. Henry J at least left the new owners a viable guitar company. The missteps have nothing to do with Gibson guitars. Gibson Guitars is not on life-support.

Good luck, Henry J. You have an unlikeable public persona but I think you did a pretty good job. Let's hope the new owners are as prescient as to know to keep out of the way and let those who know the business of making great guitars carry on, and keep it running for another 32 years. Oh yeah, fire the entire marketing team and put in a new one with more heart and understanding of guitars and players.

[QAman]

As jabs pointed out - 32 years is a great run for a CEO. As the world evolves and global economic situations and consumer demands change - it’s challenging to predict future directions and investment opportunities.

Case in point - look at GE - Jack Welch had that organization running with great success. He steps down and Jeff Immelt takes over and enters the greatest financial meltdown since the Great Depression. Since GE had large investments in financial lending - the conglomerate was devastated. John Flannery would succeed Jeff and now Larry Culp is at the helm .

Did these GE successors do a poor job - not really - they were in survival mode like Gibson’s Henry J for last decade.

32 years - a damn good run!

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

I am looking forward to the continuation of the Gibson Brand and the hopeful re-birth of the venerable ES175. Nothing, and I mean nothing sounds like an Archtop Guitar. How great would it be if they struck up a deal with the Pass family, and finally came out with the Joe Pass 175. Exactly the same as the prototype we've all lusted after.. Even in my dreams, the Gibson Archtop will always be the one I want.

That's a very interesting idea! Do we know what the JP-175 would look like? His D'Aquisto?

I see some discussion here: Joe Pass and his guitars

At the same time, let's keep it real: in the past decade (or however long) how many Les Pauls does Gibson sell for every 175? This is a small market.

[lawson-stone]

LTG,

I did bet on Henry J. (with fellow forum member Jim Soloway). I lost.

I asked Jim where to send the funds and he requested that I send them to the following charity:

Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief | All Hands and Hearts - Smart Response

I made the donation and even got a receipt for a tax write off (took a bit of the sting out of losing). Jim told me that it was a bet that he took no joy in winning. It was only a ten dollar wager (whew!)

...

Solid guy. But why am I not surprised?

[Woody Sound]

That's a very interesting idea! Do we know what the JP-175 would look like? His D'Aquisto?

I see some discussion here: Joe Pass and his guitars

It would be a single pickup ES-175 with the pickup in the correct place.

[Longways to Go]

LTG,

I did bet on Henry J. (with fellow forum member Jim Soloway). I lost.

I asked Jim where to send the funds and he requested that I send them to the following charity:

Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief | All Hands and Hearts - Smart Response

I made the donation and even got a receipt for a tax write off (took a bit of the sting out of losing). Jim told me that it was a bet that he took no joy in winning. It was only a ten dollar wager (whew!)

Fox? They deliver conservative slanted news just as the New York Times delivers liberal slanted news. If a false news company was what you were looking for, try the Onion

That's amusing !! I had forgotten that money was involved

[Max405]

That's a very interesting idea! Do we know what the JP-175 would look like? His D'Aquisto?

I see some discussion here: Joe Pass and his guitars

At the same time, let's keep it real: in the past decade (or however long) how many Les Pauls does Gibson sell for every 175? This is a small market.

You are right. BUT... if it was one 3 or 4 Archtops that they still offered and they made it available for around $4,000, then it would be a success. No more iterations of the 275. No more L9's. Just back to the bread and butter that made Gibson strong. L5, 175, 335 and the Tal.. L5, 175 and Tal made in single and double pickup variations.
JD

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

It would be a single pickup ES-175 with the pickup in the correct place.

And is the body shallower than a standard 175?

[Stringswinger]

And is the body shallower than a standard 175?

Yes, the body was thinner than a standard 175. And no pickguard was ever on the two prototypes made for Joe. One of those prototypes is in the hands of John Pisano and the other was returned to Gibson (I wonder who has that one?).

I have been telling myself that my guitar buying days are over, but if Gibson ever made this model, I would buy one.

[Jim Soloway]

A few thoughts on what happened to Gibson (and no, I do not consider Henry to be the arch-demon) ....

Gibson got caught in a couple of trends that they had nothing to do with and could not prevent.

On the one side, there was the rapid increase in the quality of manufacturing and design in countries that had previously only been thought of as cheap places to manufacture low quality goods. That took a lot of the gloss off of the "Made In America" sales pitch and put the focus on the price premium required for MIA goods. Some American manufacturers (notably PRS) put a lot of effort into raising their quality control as high as possible. Others, both American and European (Sadowsky, Duesenberg), took advantage of the top level of Asian manufacturing to keep the cost down and did the some portion of the final assembly, setup and QC domestically. This allowed them to put out some exceptionally well made instruments while moderating their manufacturing cost. Gibson seemed to miss all of this. They continued to build their guitars as though it was the 80's and what was once considered adequate quality control started to look decidedly less than expected by modern standards. Their build cost was high and their retail prices even higher.

On the other side was the aging of the core domestic demographic (a group also narrowed by the financial crisis in 2008). This was one that I think Henry did understand and it was cited as the motivation for his efforts to diversify Gibson as a "lifestyle brand" with large investments in consumer electronics. While his instinct to diversify was probably right, he clearly did not have enough expertise in the new fields he was entering and he chose the targets for his investments very poorly. According to all the reports I've read, this was the real catalyst for their failure. They paid far too much for companies that had no ability to add to the balance sheet and lacked the expertise to turn them around.

So now they were saddled with debt that they couldn't pay off that wasn't producing any profits and couldn't be sold for anything approaching the amount Gibson paid for them. That left Gibson trying to squeeze more out of their core business and that meant taking on more and more high risk ventures under the Gibson brand. When those ventures didn't pan out it left a public perception of a company in deep trouble, lacking direction and struggling both with their expanded "lifestyle brand" and their core business. At their best, they could still build some great guitars but great guitars were never going to get them out of the hole they had dug.

From what I can see in the reports, the new owners, (mostly KKR) only had to put up $70 million of investment capital. They also had to write off a lot of debt but they were going to have to do that anyway. So they essentially paid $70 million for the entire Gibson operation and assets (including real estate) with most of the debt disappearing down the rabbit hole. That's really not a lot of money for a legendary American corporation but it appears to be the best offer they could get.

Henry did a lot of good things with Gibson over the years but the world changed and he was unable to change with it. I've had personal experience with that so I'll not be the one to criticize but I suspect that the company would have been a lot better off if he had taken his bows, his profits and a substantial amount of glory and walked off into the sunset about ten or fifteen years ago.

[Doug B]

To Henry J:

Too bad, so sad, bye-bye...

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Yes, the body was thinner than a standard 175. And no pickguard was ever on the two prototypes made for Joe. One of those prototypes is in the hands of John Pisano and the other was returned to Gibson (I wonder who has that one?).

I have been telling myself that my guitar buying days are over, but if Gibson ever made this model, I would buy one.

Sounds good! Now if only had a beefy and 25 1/2" scale neck

[citizenk74]

I'm just glad I liquidated my (very modest) KKR holdings. I wish the employees and dealers of Gibson Guitars the best; I will not part with my Gibson guitars; I simply want no financial connection to what will take place, for good or ill.

[Stringswinger]

Sounds good! Now if only had a beefy and 25 1/2" scale neck

Joe's prototypes were 24.75 scale with a very slim 60's neck. Exactly as I would have it.

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Joe's prototypes were 24.75 scale with a very slim 60's neck. Exactly as I would have it.

How about entering the 21st century and be able to custom order a neck? Like G&L and many others.

I still think something like that would be a win for Fender -- take a page out of Warmoth, USACG etc... and have a MadeInMexico (or elsewhere) shop that made guitars to order, from a customizable form.

[vinnyv1k]

Actually Joe’s prototype came with a pickguard. He took it off. You can see the screw holes on his DVD “A Evening with Joe Pass”. Joe was very sick and near the end in that picture......sad.

The prototype also had a 5 piece maple neck and ebony board. Super sweet axe. Gold hardware too.

[Papawooly]

let me be the first to say that i hope a hippo farts in his mouth

[GNAPPI]

>>SNIP<<

On the other side was the aging of the core domestic demographic (a group also narrowed by the financial crisis in 2008). This was one that I think Henry did understand and it was cited as the motivation for his efforts to diversify Gibson as a "lifestyle brand" with large investments in consumer electronics. While his instinct to diversify was probably right, he clearly did not have enough expertise in the new fields he was entering and he chose the targets for his investments very poorly. According to all the reports I've read, this was the real catalyst for their failure. They paid far too much for companies that had no ability to add to the balance sheet and lacked the expertise to turn them around. >>SNIP<<

The rest of what you said is completely spot on, and the part I quoted is even more so disturbing of an executive.

Onkyo has had such miserable quality problems anyone with a head could have researched their problems. At my last job we bought nearly a dozen Onkyo receivers and we had 100% mortality in a bit over a year.

A/V forums had complaints and observations on Onkyo how a CEO didn't charge an underling to investigate this before buying into them is a mystery.

When I worked at IBM a manager once told me (paraphrased) "Great Management surrounds themselves with brilliant, knowledgeable people in this field, there's no need for sycophants in an upper level management meeting"

I think ignoring or not knowing this goes on in too many companies... From the Kid's movie 101 Dalmations (not the toon)

Cruella De Vil: What kind of sycophant are you? Frederick: Uh, what kind of sycophant would you like me to be?

I think Henry had too many brown nose executives around and he grew to like it.

[Max405]

Joe's prototypes were 24.75 scale with a very slim 60's neck. Exactly as I would have it.

Damn.. That wouldn't work for me.

[Stringswinger]

news worth reading:

Gibson Guided Out of Bankruptcy by Former Rocker

[Alder Statesman]

The one guitar I regret selling, 40th Anniversary Les Paul, was built during King Henry's reign.

[Alder Statesman]

Holy Mother of God.

[TKO]

news worth reading:

Gibson Guided Out of Bankruptcy by Former Rocker

Promising.

[christianm77]

After months of looking for some capital to pay off the bad loans, Henry J. is now a former Gibson owner (though he is getting quite the Golden parachute).

The King is dead. Long live the King!

CEO Henry Juszkiewicz ousted as Gibson guitar co saved from bankruptcy | MusicRadar

Couldn’t he have got a golden shower instead?

Sorry couldn’t resist. I am a bad person.