Sam Ash dumps Gibson

[Glave]

I don't know if this old news (yes, I used the search function and found nothing), but it looks like Gibson has made another brilliant marketing move by getting bounced by one of the biggest music stores in America.

I'm not a Gibson fan. The only way I found out was when I called Sam Ash about my order for a case for my Kelly. They told me they were on backorder from Jackson so I asked about a Gibson Explorer case instead, figuring they are close to the same size and shape. The guy said Sam Ash has stopped offering anything by Gibson/Epiphone. Reason he gave was quality control/price issues that Gibson would not address.

I know alot of people don't have a high opinion of Sam Ash here, or new Gibsons. But from a purely business standpoint, this is the music version of getting banned from selling at Wal-Mart. Are they trying to commit corporate suicide?

[mhalsey]

I guess they figure they can continue selling using just the Gibby name - gettin' too big for their britches. On the flip side, I'm sure Gibby will offer a much different account of what took place.

[jrnic]

This is old news.....they haven't been a Gibson dealer for a couple of years now. If you notice, they do have SOME new Gibsons hanging on the wall from time to time but they ALL have "Pre-Owned" tags on them. I once asked the sales guy I know there and he said "wink-wink" they're "used!" They can't sell them as new because of all the Gibson "Dealership" BS.

[Rich#6]

last time I was at sam ash they had like 20 used ones for really high prices now I know why.

[ColoBaretta]

"quality control/price issues that Fill in your favorite manufacturer would not address"

This sounds familiar.

[Robotechnology]

A year or too back... the store mananger of a local sam ash told me, that corporate didn't pay their invoices in a timely fashion and after years and years of that Gibson finaly got fed up and pulled their dealer status. Don't know how true or not true but, makes kind of sense, you know.

[Norton]

OMG! How can you say that! the Les Paul is the best guitar and it's the perfect guitar design! You all should be banned off playing.




I wonder, if Gibson could bankrupt like Kramer did, because of crap quality guitars.

[Jeff Albertson]

OMG! How can you say that! the Les Paul is the best guitar and it's the perfect guitar design! You all should be banned off playing.




I wonder, if Gibson could bankrupt like Kramer did, because of crap quality guitars.

Dude, that's a kick seeing that Gibson ownes Kramer! Steinberger, Kamer, anything listed with MusicYo, once glorious, now a joke.
Gibson is too stupid to stick to they're core business. Baldwin piano's, Wulrlitzer jukeboxes and vending machines, Magic junk, MusicYo, CD player's...they're all fractured trade names which can't and won't ever break even.

Buy a Gibson guitar...you pay 13% for the cost of producing the guitar, 20% to carry all of the ridiculous side jobs and silly brands, 33% goes to PR, Marketing dept and Artist relations and 33% goes to the dealer. Poor bastard dealer spends 50% of his cut remanufacturing the 70% of the guitars that come in with defects. Henry Jerkowicz buys a $18,000,000 house in Aspen and order 3 new BMW 8 Series per year...." let's just make them Good Enough so I can buy a house in Fiji, too". But it's so awesome and Slash plays a Les Paul and they are awesome and my dad a TV repairman and San Dimas High School footbal rules. Spicoli and Ted Theordore Logan can set the way back machine for 1959...because that's the last Les Paul that really mattered!

It's a sick vicious circle. Neither the man nor the company cares to make a fine guitar. Which is a shame because they love the big price tags.

Meanwhile companies like, PRS, Hamer, and Heritage advance the art of crafting fine guitars. Gee I could spend $8K on a Jimi Hendrix V which is nothing more than a plain old $900 Gibson Flying V with a $50 Hippy paint job or $5K on a PRS Modern Eagle.....yeah, there's a tough decision.

I say BRAVO to SamAsh. That's a bold move and I'm sure it will work out for them. Gibson is pissing off a lot of people these days.

[Norton]

I don't understnd the Gibson dealers. They have to have a certain number of stock, when they sell gibsons, they still have to buy Gibsons. Why the hell don't they leave off Gibson and sell real guitars! They could make the same money with more brand options. Gibson needs a smack in the mouth.... by Heritage.

[speed monkey]

I say BRAVO to SamAsh. That's a bold move and I'm sure it will work out for them. Gibson is pissing off a lot of people these days.

Well, yeah..except that PRS's are just sort of blah, Hamers are fugly, and Heritage is getting pretty expensive too.

In the end nothing sounds like a Les Paul.

Besides, this all a pretty moot point since Gibson's stiffest competition is their own used guitars...pretty simple, buy used.

Steve E

[Jeff Albertson]

Well, yeah..except that PRS's are just sort of blah, Hamers are fugly, and Heritage is getting pretty expensive too.

In the end nothing sounds like a Les Paul.

Besides, this all a pretty moot point since Gibson's stiffest competition is their own used guitars...pretty simple, buy used.

Steve E

Maybe roll on down to anywhere but Samash and try out a new Les Paul. Nothing sounds like it and nothing should. Say hello to THE worst sounding LP configuration on the planet. You'll be crying for a Norlin pancake-a-roo. If your eyes (or ears) don't bug out, I'll pay for your lunch!

"Gibson's....competition is there own used guitars"...I don't know about that. If this is a post of JCF...do you really think so? You find me anybody with a Gibson Les Paul and I'll show you somebody with three other brands as well. Of course then there's that ah, PRS Singlecut. There's at least one ridiculous lawsuit and a nervous chairman-of-the-board that would contradict that statement.

I spent a good part of the 80's absorbing Tokia's. It ain't too hard to glue a piece of maple to a piece of mahogonny and slide in a neck. Anybody want to dispute the fact that it's one of the simplest (and rapidly becoming obsolete) designs around. Lots of people do it well..very well.

I guess it must be the fine quality that got Slash and Joe Perry to "sign on"? [or maybe it was the free money] Hey....Wasn't Joe Perry on American Idol playing a Fender the other night?

I'm thinking this would be a great time to sell pre-2007 LP's. Gibson is going to try and sell these pigs for at least 2 years before giving up on the crapola design. Time to cash out some LP's!

[speed monkey]

Maybe roll on down to anywhere but Samash and try out a new Les Paul. Nothing sounds like it and nothing should. Say hello to THE worst sounding LP configuration on the planet. You'll be crying for a Norlin pancake-a-roo. If your eyes (or ears) don't bug out, I'll pay for your lunch!

"Gibson's....competition is there own used guitars"...I don't know about that. If this is a post of JCF...do you really think so? You find me anybody with a Gibson Les Paul and I'll show you somebody with three other brands as well. Of course then there's that ah, PRS Singlecut. There's at least one ridiculous lawsuit and a nervous chairman-of-the-board that would contradict that statement.

I spent a good part of the 80's absorbing Tokia's. It ain't too hard to glue a piece of maple to a piece of mahogonny and slide in a neck. Anybody want to dispute the fact that it's one of the simplest (and rapidly becoming obsolete) designs around. Lots of people do it well..very well.

I guess it must be the fine quality that got Slash and Joe Perry to "sign on"? [or maybe it was the free money] Hey....Wasn't Joe Perry on American Idol playing a Fender the other night?

I'm thinking this would be a great time to sell pre-2007 LP's. Gibson is going to try and sell these pigs for at least 2 years before giving up on the crapola design. Time to cash out some LP's!

I get the distinct impression that you're either a fired Gibson employee or someone from Gibson pissed in your cornflakes...which is it?

[sk8boardbob2]

Gibson is too stupid to stick to they're core business. Baldwin piano's, Wulrlitzer jukeboxes and vending machines, Magic junk, MusicYo, CD player's...they're all fractured trade names which can't and won't ever break even.

I agree. I have a used Baldwin upright and it's one the best deals I ever made. The new Baldwin baby grands, wow they really suck. Keys stiff as hell, shitty paintjob, I would never even think of buying a new one.

On a different note, this seems to be good news for me. The closest (and really only decent guitar shop) to me is a Sam Ash and since they are dumping Gibson, maybe they'll order in a few more Jacksons?

[livebiz]

Dude, that's a kick seeing that Gibson ownes Kramer! Steinberger, Kamer, anything listed with MusicYo, once glorious, now a joke.

Actually, Gibson has brought Kramer back from the dead. Yes some of the early YO guitars were cheap imports, but check out the latest US models - totally legit shred machines.

[Jeff Albertson]

I get the distinct impression that you're either a fired Gibson employee or someone from Gibson pissed in your cornflakes...which is it?

Man, me and that company have been round and round. I said this before and I'll repeat it just to qualify my rant. I've bought a buttload of guitars over the last 5 years plus a normal amount over the last 20 years. You know, got some extra money laying around and I'm pretty good at working "quantity deals" . If you can get 5 brand new Standards for $1300 a piece...why not buy them? Keep two and sell three on Ebay for $1600. It works out great for everybody...right? The dealer gets rid of last years NOS, I get a few guitars for 1/5 price and people on Ebay get a good deal!

At first the majority were brand new in sealed boxes from Gibson uninspected by the dealer. 50%-70% of them had all sorts of stupid mistakes from simple to major problems. The two dealers, that I deal with will take them back but it was costing me shipping both ways. With all the flubs I was getting, that was getting pretty damn expensive.

So, I decided to work with Gibson. Talk about a bunch of retards. Customer Service bunch is a slow witted bunch of yokals.

This Standard has crooked bridge mounts, so bad it won't intonate properly... "that's normal!".
This one binding that's pulling off..."Just super glue it"
Why are Standards coming with green-yellow inlays from a Classic ..." Because the white was toxic and is flammable"
Why is the fret tang on this guitar not fully inserted in to the wood?..."is it level..you could probably still play it okay"
Why the hell are you using two piece backs on USA LP's? "it's better and stronger"
Why didn't anyone put 2007's are hollow in the spec's "Shut up we say it's better because it's cheaper to produce"
Warped necks, horrible fret work, stripped truss nuts, bad paintwork, on and on and on!

I was sending back 4-5 guitars to them a month and I'm just some dude! Meanwhile I went from dealing with CS guy to manager to Jr. VP to product specialist and then to Sr. VP. They talk a lot of shit and shallaque. They had many guitars for "evaluation" for months and a few for over six months! One time they sent my guitars to a some dealer somewhere by mistake! I had to jump thru hoops for months to get $6000 worth of [still defective] guitars back.

Bottom line...they ship what they make. I had a rousing one-on-one confab with a rather well known corporate personality. Basically he told me 'We ship whatever rolls of the line, good, bad or ugly. If you find a defect you can either fix it yourself [that's what dealers are told to do], call Jimmy Page to complain or return it. [Authroized internet dealers get a credit when a guitar is returned] We spend a lot of time and money to promote these guitars, which is why they sell. If you don't like it tough, we don't care, somebody else is just going to buy it anyway.'

I've always said, a well made Gibson Les Paul is a damn fine guitar. To pay the price that they're asking for what they are selling is just plain insulting. I'll also admit, I hate to see everybody get there take on Gibson from Salash and some fat head glossy eyed internet dolt that gets his expertise from back issues of G1. Wait better yet..dealers that lurk on internet forums trying to pimp guitars....there a good source of fact or at least true opinion for you! There are a lot of people that can't afford to buy 47 $2900 guitars per year. People that save for years to buy a nice guitar and don't have a lot of experience. Who's gonna help them out...?