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Gibson files for bankruptcy.

lvidal

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2018
Messages
63
The 'Gibson Innovations unit' was an apparent unwise acquisition.

The Company should get back to basics. Focus on making quality guitars.

That’s exactly what they said they’re going to do. Next year lineup will be more basic core models.
 

AA00475Bassman

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 26, 2016
Messages
3,769
IMO its already rolling I bought 2 new Gibson guitars all the dates are May so these are very recent builds . These are great Guitars I do believe Gibson will be better than ever !
 

toadfish

New member
Joined
Aug 2, 2016
Messages
5
I just purchased 2 aswell! Both we're returned in under 24 hour's!! Absolutely SHIT!! ordered in 2015! I'm hearing Australia's new agent just returned a container load of em!! There first shipment was made up of 6 months of factory seconds!! Typical Gibson dump there shit on the Australian public! The new agent's a wake-up to your 9 year's of skullduggery!!
 

J.D.

Well-known member
Joined
May 24, 2006
Messages
10,030
I've looked closely at a bunch of 2013+ historic R8s and R9s over the past few years. Some were really nice from a fit and finish perspective, but some were not.

Common cosmetic flaws:
  • d.a sanding marks under finish on top wood around fretboard
  • d.a. sanding marks on back lacquer clear coat, under VOS haze
  • marks on fretboard where binding was leveled between frets
  • uneven spacing and depth on bridge saddle slotting
  • bent bridge saddle screws forced into ABR-1 body rendering adjustment essentially not possible
  • bent ABR-1 studs at/above maple top
  • orange peel in clear coat
 

buckaroo

Formerly Tweedguy
Joined
Feb 17, 2009
Messages
938
I've looked closely at a bunch of 2013+ historic R8s and R9s over the past few years. Some were really nice from a fit and finish perspective, but some were not.

Common cosmetic flaws:
  • d.a sanding marks under finish on top wood around fretboard
  • d.a. sanding marks on back lacquer clear coat, under VOS haze
  • marks on fretboard where binding was leveled between frets
  • uneven spacing and depth on bridge saddle slotting
  • bent bridge saddle screws forced into ABR-1 body rendering adjustment essentially not possible
  • bent ABR-1 studs at/above maple top
  • orange peel in clear coat

I must agree that several that i played from 2013 and 2014 had the bent ABR-1 Studs. You could find a superb Les Paul, but you had to play several to find it...
 

4string

Active member
Joined
Apr 17, 2004
Messages
2,140
August 2018 issue of Guitarist Magazine has a cover story on the bankruptcy and an interview with Henry that is worth reading. It covers a variety of subjects but it's ... well, his response to the first question (which the writer might not have been able to finish) runs 9 paragraphs (I just re-counted this). That's kind of indicative of how things went. Once or twice I found myself thinking "Yeah, but ... " but overall it's ... well, you can decide for yourselves. Xpensive Wino's posting above offers valuable context when contemplating the interview too.

Short attention span version of the interview is Henry blames the remainder of the company's product lines for bankruptcy, not the guitar division itself. He also looks forward to working with KKR (the private equity firm). Sharper wits than mine are free to pontificate that one. :)

A modified/edited version can be found here: https://www.musicradar.com/news/in-depth-with-gibson-ceo-henry-juszkiewicz-our-quality-today-is-better-than-its-ever-been

I can bring my copy to the Fort Worth show if anyone is interested in reading it.
 

NINFNM

Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2018
Messages
75
With the current music scenario they can not do nothing but getting much smaller.
Young kinds are not interested in rock (and electric guitars) anymore, and big part of the fault is from the guitarist themselves.
In YouTube all is noodeling with wasted electric blues licks, and the few new bands out there are most of them into revival things.
Without innovation and evolution, a music movement is condemned to live in the margins.
 

hoss

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 1, 2004
Messages
6,748
With the current music scenario they can not do nothing but getting much smaller.
Young kinds are not interested in rock (and electric guitars) anymore, and big part of the fault is from the guitarist themselves.
In YouTube all is noodeling with wasted electric blues licks, and the few new bands out there are most of them into revival things.
Without innovation and evolution, a music movement is condemned to live in the margins.
And the most hyped rock band of today, Great van Fleet, are manufactured Led Zep clones. That ain't the future.
 

Zentar

New member
Joined
Oct 1, 2011
Messages
830
https://www.musicradar.com/news/in-...ur-quality-today-is-better-than-its-ever-been

I am reposting this link because it deserves to be read.

I think Henry's efforts at building LP's is amazing. Just look at the Norlin era 14lb pancake LP's and compare that to what Henry has sold in the last 30 years. It's night and day. What more could you ask for from a company?

Pay particular attention to the paragraph about internet "trolling".
 

J.D.

Well-known member
Joined
May 24, 2006
Messages
10,030
While HJ did a nice turnaround post-Norlin, what his legacy will ultimately be is the guy who treated good employees like dirt and ultimately drove the company into bankruptcy.

:hmm
 

Grog

Active member
Joined
Apr 7, 2012
Messages
562
I just checked out the link to Dave's Guitar Shop & the first thing to pop up was this........................

KAT1sbX.jpg


This has to be the third time that Dave has been a Gibson Dealer. He must be expecting good things to happen after Chapter 11.
 

J.D.

Well-known member
Joined
May 24, 2006
Messages
10,030
Good for Dave. Had enough of HJ's ridiculous terms. New management must be a bit more reasonable.
 

J.D.

Well-known member
Joined
May 24, 2006
Messages
10,030
Rumor has it HJ's old CEO office has been vacated. Must be doing his post-bankruptcy "consulting" from a different physical location.
 

Steve Craw

Formerly Lefty Elmo
Joined
Sep 9, 2004
Messages
5,294
I hope they change the stupid policy that doesn't allow dealers to post pics of guitars in stock. THAT one baffled me!
 

hoss

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 1, 2004
Messages
6,748
Gibson Guitar Fans at KKR Lead Rock Icon Out of Bankruptcy

By
Steven Church
3. Oktober 2018, 13:12 MESZ Updated on 3. Oktober 2018, 16:45 MESZ

Majority of new board of directors are guitar aficionados
Gibson approved to exit court protection under new owners

When he joined the financial rock stars at KKR & Co., Nat Zilkha was also a literal rock star who wrote songs and put out three albums with his New York-based band, Red Rooster.
Now, 10 years after quitting his band to concentrate on his day job, Zilkha is moonlighting in the music industry again, this time helping to lead guitar maker Gibson Brands Inc. out of bankruptcy.

The company won a judge’s approval on Tuesday to exit court oversight under the ownership of KKR and other lenders who fought a months-long legal battle for control of the 124-year-old music company. If all goes according to plan, the reorganized company will debut in early November. Zilkha, KKR’s head of alternative credit, will be one of the board members.
“I feel like I have a personal relationship with the product,” Zilkha, 43, said in an interview. “This is a great a American brand that sort of lost its way. It’s almost like a responsibility to try to bring it back to what its supposed to be.”

Gibson went bankrupt in May, four years after long-time Chief Executive Officer Henry Juszkiewicz tried to relaunch the company as a “music lifestyle” company with the $135 million purchase of an audio-focused, consumer electronics unit of Koninklijke Philips NV. Gibson blamed its financial woes on the failure of that business.
Sour Notes

During restructuring talks, lenders, including KKR, pushed to remove Juszkiewicz as a condition for investing new funds. The company tried to either sell itself or recapitalize, but that effort failed and Gibson instead cut a deal with the lenders.
In bankruptcy, KKR had to fend off holdout creditors, including Blackstone Group LP’s GSO credit unit, who were pushing for a sale. KKR responded by insisting that unless it and all other senior lenders were paid in full, they intended to take ownership of Nashville-based Gibson and reorganize the company.
Last month, Gibson, KKR and GSO settled by tweaking the reorganization plan to increase recoveries for unsecured creditors. They could get as much as 10.8 percent of face value, double the maximum envisioned under earlier versions of the exit plan

Juszkiewicz and co-owner Dave Berryman will see their equity stakes canceled. Both will get a consulting agreement that bar them from making negative comments about Gibson for three years, a lawyer for noteholders told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi in court Tuesday.

In approving the reorganization plan, Sontchi overruled a last-minute objection to the company’s request to block most future lawsuits based on the company’s past performance, saying Gibson needed a fresh start. Similar legal releases are routine for companies coming out of bankruptcy.

The company can now exit bankruptcy under a new board of directors, a majority of whom will be guitar players, said Matthew Ross, the KKR director who led the private equity company’s takeover effort.

Gibson will have about 800 employees under a new CEO who hadn’t been formally named as of yesterday. The goal now is to convince Gibson’s most loyal customers that a financial player like KKR will protect a company long associated with the birth of rock and roll through its development of the electric guitar.

“For us, establishing the credibility that we intend to deliver is important,” said Zilkha, who’s collects Gibson guitars and whose favorite song is the Allman Brothers Band classic, “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed." “We are musicians. We care deeply about the brand and we are going to protect it.”

The case is Gibson Brands Inc. 18-11025, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington)


https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...at-kkr-lead-rock-music-icon-out-of-bankruptcy
 

keef

Active member
Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
5,006
On paper that sounds good (well, except for the creditors, and for Mr J.) - I really hope this works out.

So it's buh bye to Henry (and Dave)... gotta thank him for saving Gibson, getting us the historics and so on, but he definitely overstayed his welcome... :eek:la
 
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