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Looks like public backlash might have done the trick.
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20190702/10545442512/gibson-guitar-declares-shift-ip-enforcement-after-most-recent-public-backlash.shtml
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07-03-2019 07:11 PM
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I truly hope in my life that I will see The Gibson guitar company loved as a great company not just for their iconic guitar designs.
I remember Westerly Guild as being a great guitar company. On a side note it would be great to see the AA made again.
The Westerly Artist Award was a awesome archtop.
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I think it's a real shame they're not doing any 'proper' archtops.
There's a heaps of alternatives out there, it's just sad to see the original innovator of the archtop not making them.
Nearly all the guitar sounds that caused me to take up the guitar came from Gibsons!
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Their patents of note- truss rod, pickups, maybe the TOM- are at this point either expired or invalidated. Trademarks are probably what they will be trying to assert- and have to; if they don't they can easily lose control of them. Headstock shape, logos, body shape, the inverted bridge on flattops, etc., can be argued are trademarks. But everything of significance is already out there and these threats are like yelling at the horse that you're going to close the barn door when he's halfway across the pasture.
Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
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Not exactly confidence-inspiring, that a huge company like Gibson would feel a need to threaten something which isn't really stealing customers away. I don't think lawyering up is the way to get customers, great guitars would be my bet...
I don't have any issues moving Gibsons, because that's sort of what people want - myself included. I've had to admit that yes, while quality and playability is the deciding factor, it was magical for me to buy a Gibson - and it still is magical to me, to play a Gibson ES. A customer came to the store a couple of days ago and wanted to buy the ES-335 we have - but we found out that the nut had been filed too low, so that was a dud. I think that type of thing is more detrimental to sales than anything. Hell, I was trying the ES-175 at our sister store the next town over - absolutely magical guitar, it felt like playing a huge Steinway - but that $5000 guitar still had some orange peeling in the typical spots. These details can be killer to a customer that is on the fence! When I get customers that are on the fence about a Furch acoustic guitar, I can just tell them to play it and inspect the craftsmanship, cause those guitars arrive to our store in wonderful nick.
If you're sleeping on Furch acoustic guitars, consider this your PSA!
...anyway, what I'm saying is that the QC just isn't cutting it for thousand-dollar instruments. This isn't a sole factor, of course, but it makes a difference. Gibsons are instruments with a mojo that few others have. We all like 'em, don't we? Can't they just make -really nice- instruments? For some, that's enough. Jim Tyler sustains an international market of what I believe are the most expensive strats one can get, based on nearly nothing but word-of-mouth and the free press therein. It's just a damn good guitar. I get that Gibson is a different brand that is generally more consumer-grade, but come on. It has the history and cred, and the mojo so many of us still fall for. I can't believe how they seem to perpetually be in a state of crisis at the hands of some suits who don't "get" it.
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Interesting that the legal action started under Henry J—not surprising. So I guess Curly, advised by the law firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe, will have to figure out how to deal with issues that the prior administration created. The language in his letter sounds somewhat conciliatory. Originally Posted by zdub
Stay tuned.
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"Mojo" is an attributed rather than inherent quality. Gibson guitars have mojo because people say they have mojo. Originally Posted by mr quick
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I wasn't trying to say otherwise Originally Posted by Cunamara
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Ibanez and Eastman seem to be good enough for George Benson, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Jon Pisano, etc.
Plato's cave...
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Man, don't I hate it when I have to say "I told you so". Originally Posted by Stringswinger
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Hmmm...it does prove that great guitarists like Gibsons, as ALL these guys started out on Gibsons. Originally Posted by arielcee
Benson with an LP, though hit the big time with a Gibson Johnny Smith.
Metheny started out with a 175.
Scofield started out with a 335.
And Pisano started out with a 175 as well.
It is interesting how many great guitarists start out with one iconic instrument, then over time try a different guitar or move to a boutique instrument as they "find their sound." And of course often they are offered a deal for a signature instrument. Ibanez has been VERY successful with this approach, probably even more than Gibson.
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Detroit-based Echopark Guitars signs licensing deal with Gibson
I think Gibson is trying to go upstream with its licensing and doesn't like the lack of prestige with Dean given Dean's pricing of the knock offs. Hence, it is OK to license to a boutique builder that charges mega bucks.
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Let's hope someone else starts building 175's then
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There're other companies building "better" 175s like seventy seven. Originally Posted by mr quick
Let's hope someone else starts building 175's then
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Unless I am mistaken, you can only get new Seventy-Seven guitars on Ebay. There aren't a LOT of competitors out there to the 175 that you can actually play in a store. Even fewer are reasonably inexpensive (like the Epiphone 175--still listed on their website but not available new online)--D'Angelico? Gretsch? Guild?
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you can buy direct from several dealers, two of which are on this forum. And who buys a gibson 175 or an epiphone 175 from a store these days? There are zero of either in any of the 2 guitar centers or 1 sam ash in cleveland currently. Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
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I can only speak for myself, but I don't think I'd ever buy an instrument in that price range (or indeed any price range barring unusual circumstances, such as it being something extremely rare which I wanted) without trying it beforehand. Coincidentally, there is one at the sister store to the one I work at. I've tried a few different ES-175s, a 1960 model, a mid-sixties one, and a couple of newer ones, but this one stands out. Good thing I can't afford it
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