New 2015 Model Year Gibsons In The Flesh.. big changes.. price increases..

S

shoom

New member
Thought this may be of slight interest to some of you, notice that everything will now have the brass zero fret.. the 30% price increase may be a rumour for all intents and purposes. But They have dropped alot of the cheaper entry level models, I'm told the LPM will be their cheapest at $999 US. rumours Peavey wants to buy them, I dunno they do own about 10 other brands in the audio industry. Anyway, check it out
Gibson Month
 
I've seen a few in person. The headstocks are hideous, the robot tuning is gay as shit, and the brass "zero fret" isn't really a zero fret at all. It's just an ugly brass nut.
 
I don't go much on rumours though, there was almost 80 Les Pauls in this years catalogue weren't there? Just way too many of 1 guitar that share the same purpose. I mean if you like at theFender site they are guilty of it too, just on a much lower scale. If you search the genuine fender tele's on their site theres about 6 that are exactly the same 60s model guitar, just diferrent name for the series, different colours, and most likely a much increased pricepoint. They are getting like porsche's, the more paint they take off, the more they want for them lol, like how you pay more for a stripped out high performance porsche. But gibson is a different thing, they were already at almost luxury goods pricepoints and they werent selling very well then. Doubt Peavey would have the ready cash to pony up to buy gibson anyway, maybe just another chatroom rumour, I have every confidence Hartley could do a better job of running it than what's going on at present though.
 
I couldn't figure out why they're calling a wide nut a 'zero fret'. And why brass, which is a soft metal?
 
Zero fret:
selmerfix05.jpg


Gibson's new brass "zero fret" nut:
tumblr_nchi18S8KM1rtqh62o1_500.jpg
 
Gibson's "zero fret" is actually a zero fret and a string guide all in one piece, which in fact essentially makes it just like any old standard nut found on any guitar. :facepalm:
 
I was talking to the sales people at my local GC yesterday and NO ONE likes these new for 15 models. They have a wall full of them. The backlash has been tremendous. This shit is already trickling down into the used market around here. People are asking almost new prices for 4-5 year old clean Les Pauls and SGs. And why not? A nice 2009-2010 Les Paul Standard that doesn't have all the idiot features of these new models is gonna be more desirable for more people. I'd personally rather have a "normal" Les Paul with a real nut and tuners I can control myself.
 
Why is Gibson doing all of this weird stuff the last year?

My local supplier stopped shelving them because you had to make an order of at least 35k€ of their stuff to be able to re-sell it. They're driving up the prices and adding weird features that nobody asked for. There has to be some kind of logic behind their decisions. What is it?
 
Schwarzenyaeger said:
Why is Gibson doing all of this weird stuff the last year?

My local supplier stopped shelving them because you had to make an order of at least 35k€ of their stuff to be able to re-sell it. They're driving up the prices and adding weird features that nobody asked for. There has to be some kind of logic behind their decisions. What is it?
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Gibson's new owner isn't a guitar guy, he's a business guy.
 
Greg_L said:
Gibson's new owner isn't a guitar guy, he's a business guy.
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That became obvious when we received Zakk Wylde's hundreth signature guitar.
Still, he's marketing towards guitarists. Are there so many people in the market that buy these that this is considered sustainable?
 
Schwarzenyaeger said:
That became obvious when we received Zakk Wylde's hundreth signature guitar.
Still, he's marketing towards guitarists. Are there so many people in the market that buy these that this is considered sustainable?
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New guitar players that aren't already jaded and set in their ways might not mind these new Gibson models and features. Like any business, the new customer is the one they really want.

The older/more experienced players don't seem to be too fond of these new Gibsons. I've yet to meet one that's happy with the changes. And this has already started driving up the prices in the used market. Those clean used "normal" LP/SG models that don't have any stupid brass nuts, ugly logos, robot tuners, etc just became way more attractive.
 
Greg_L said:
New guitar players that aren't already jaded and set in their ways might not mind these new Gibson models and features. Like any business, the new customer is the one they really want.

The older/more experienced players don't seem to be too fond of these new Gibsons. I've yet to meet one that's happy with the changes. And this has already started driving up the prices in the used market. Those clean used "normal" LP/SG models that don't have any stupid brass nuts, ugly logos, robot tuners, etc just became way more attractive.
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LOL! Good one Gerg! I never thought I'd see the day that I agree with Hitler, but that day is here! LOL! Have we become a nation of such lazy slobs/wimps that we can't even be bothered to tune a fucking guitar?! I wanted that double cutaway Special with the P-90's, but I'll be damned if I buy one with that G-force/Min-etune bullshit on it! I stopped liking them when they started chambering/weight-relieving all their guitars. I don't give shit what anyone says, It affects the tone! If you don't want a heavy guitar then don't play a LP! Hell yes they're heavy, they're a LP for chrisakes! LOL It's a damn good thing I already own some LP's because I for damned sure wouldn't buy one now! JCM is building me a double cut-away with a single P-90 as we speak, and I can guarantee you that it will sound and play better than the new Gibsons! :guitar:
 
I'm not a fan of what I see on the new guitars so I'll wait until I can play one before I pass judgement on the feel and playbility of the neck.
The ratio is about 10-1 against the neck so far and the tuners are about the same. Guess we'll have to wait a while to hear an mp3 using these.
 
XploZiveToyz said:
LOL! Good one Gerg! I never thought I'd see the day that I agree with Hitler, but that day is here! LOL! Have we become a nation of such lazy slobs/wimps that we can't even be bothered to tune a fucking guitar?! I wanted that double cutaway Special with the P-90's, but I'll be damned if I buy one with that G-force/Min-etune bullshit on it! I stopped liking them when they started chambering/weight-relieving all their guitars. I don't give shit what anyone says, It affects the tone! If you don't want a heavy guitar then don't play a LP! Hell yes they're heavy, they're a LP for chrisakes! LOL It's a damn good thing I already own some LP's because I for damned sure wouldn't buy one now! JCM is building me a double cut-away with a single P-90 as we speak, and I can guarantee you that it will sound and play better than the new Gibsons! :guitar:
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Lol, dude you need to switch to decaf. Lol.

They've been weight relieving LPs since the very early 80s. Gibson's traditional "swiss cheese" weight relieving is 9 holes drilled into the body before the cap gets put on. I find it very very hard to believe that anyone can actually "hear" any difference with the swiss cheese weight relieving. These guitars still weight 10-12 pounds.

The modern chambering and pie-slice weight relieving is very heavy handed and you can easily hear the difference with those guitars. But they're also more resonant and some people like it. These guitars are lightweights.

The only LPs that are truly solid are the really old ones that no one can afford, modern Traditionals, and Custom Shop historic reissues.
 
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