I won't say that I'm a guitar expert but I'm feeling like that Henry guy is full of shit. Hope I don't offend there, but if it weren't FOR the purists, they would have went into bankruptcy sooner. I think it's really shitty to put the blame on them for their misfortune, when over the years, they have most likely been the bulk of their customers. How ungrateful of them! Like most corporations Gibson's greed kicked them in the butt, like when they took Paper Jamz to court and sued because the Paper Jamz guitar was the same shape and appearance as a Gibson guitar. Paper Jamz Pro is so cool and not like a toy. So many would-be musicians would have been inspired by it and I believe it would have brought Gibson MORE sales, because when new musicians were inspired from Paper Jamz to buy their own guitar, they would have probably been inclined to buy Gibsons because it was the shape they were most comfortable with and accustomed to. So, that proves right there that they were against new technology and innovations (well unless they profited the most from it anyway).

Their fall was their prices . They got unreasonably higher every year... Pops first Gibson was Les Paul Standard in 1980 and it was $650 out the door brand new. Same guitar is $2400 today. Nobody can afford that. Some go for $6000 or more. Outrageous.

New Approaches

The CEO goes on to say that finding new guitarists is something the company approaches with “great difficulty”, in contrast to Fender’s efforts to encourage new players via the Fender Play learning platform. read more

Juszkiewicz also defended the company’s reputation with retailers, while pointing towards a future in direct sales.

“I've been called someone that hates retailers, and I don't; we make a real effort in making sure our retailers make a good profit off of our product.

“We've always been loyal to retail; we still don't have a site where we sell directly [to consumers]. We probably will in the future, and part of that is in reaction to general trending toward e-commerce.”

The interview follows a string of headlines from the company, including a no-show at NAMM, and sell-off of its Memphis factory and the end of development for Cakewalk music software - which was purchased from Gibson by BandLab last week.

Gibson’s current strategy is to “focus its Philips brand consumer audio business on those products that have greater growth potential” - its audio brand roster currently includes KRK Systems, TASCAM, Cerwin-Vega!, Stanton, Onkyo, Integra, TEAC, TASCAM Professional Software, and Esoteric.