Post
by Mad-Mike » Wed Nov 01, 2017 1:13 pm
Gibson going under is not much of a surprise to me, they have made badly executed decisions on half baked ideas (robot tuners, strange new models that serve no rhyme, reason, or purpose but to be different, and generally not listening to their own fanbase).
Let's hypothetically say if someone just dropped Gibson guitar in my lap tomorrow....what would I do? Granted I'm not a businessman, this Is just close to something like a strategy I think would work for them.
First off, I think moving factories would be the right move when you only use 1/4 of your factory space for something productive. Have all the high dollar guitars made in Nashville or Memphis or wherever we could move the factory to without affecting the jobs of the workers too much.
Then streamline the product lines! No more 30 versions of a Les Paul, no more 20 versions of an SG - just their old, original, best variations that people want, and then change them every few years or so - that's what it seems Fender does to a degree and it's working for them - we had 15 years of 62' AVRI Jaguar - now it's time for the Transitional "65'" era to shine for a bit. So maybe one year we'll make a pile of 59's - then line our signature models up with that too - ie, we'll do a Pearly Gates Les Paul that year, and a Jimi Page 59', or maybe repro Billy Squier's.......There's a lot to be said about being smart with what and how one puts something out there. Then maybe the next year we'll do a 73' and Ocasek will give us his blessing to make a clone of his black pinstripe SG in a limited number? Maybe we'll do 76's and copy Ace Freshley's Les PAul complete with a smoker setup package - if you're going to do something ridiculous - do something people want, like a Les Paul like Ace's that has that crazy feature.
Now let's talk marketing. Trash that lifestyle B.S. - Gibson is a GUITAR MAKER. Slash, Paul Dean, Ace Freshley, Joe Walsh, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Shenker, JAmes Hetfield, Chuck Berry, Ted Nugent, The Tielmen Bros, George Kooeymans, Frank Zappa, Eddie Van-Halen, Les Paul, Charlie Christian - that's a widely diverse roster of people who played their guitars, and that's just the famous ones from all over - not even the regular joe shmoes. I get the feeling Gibson tries really hard to be the... the real authentic leather clad biker Amerka' Fuk' Year'Mr. Moustache bro-fisting type brand of guitar sometimes, and that lifestyle crap needs to stop. It's actually a bit off-putting to think if I pick up a Gibson Byrdland because I like short scales people are going to immediately think "Ted Nugent" instead of "he's playing some cool sounding stuff".
Focus should be less on being the "most expensive/prestigous" brand, and more on being a quality brand that has what people want. When people go to a Gibson, typically they want a guitar that sounds like one. But when the only people that can afford your guitars with the actual big name brand on them are the all-stars above - of course fewer people are going to buy them. You can buy a name-brand Fender guitar for around $350-600 brand new off the rack - like the Offset Series, Quite a few Strat/Tele variants, and even some are US made, at least in part. But Gibson tends to sit around $700 at the lowest I've seen new unless it's a closeout on a model that they can't get rid of at Guitar Center.
And they need to dump the brands or start managing them better. Kramer is f***ing abysmal. What I would have done is brought back the line as it was in the 80's.... STRIKER = Korean/Cortek/Squier Affinity level guitars, FOCUS = Japanese Made Kramers, then the Pacer, Beretta, Condor, and others would be American made, maybe in the same factory as the Gibson stuff to try and lure in people who like Fender style instruments. Forget Eddie Van-Halen - he's got his own company now, Ritchie Sambora - irrelevant. Instead, try and get Satchel from Steel Panther or Nikkita from Alice Coopers' band. Try and draw back some old 80's clients without endorsement deals or sig models - bring some of the old ones back, and make new ones. What Kramer is now does not fit the "vintage hot rod gone 80's" Image they had, hence being just sort of there but not often talked about. If they want to do something new....make a Jaguar or Jazzmaster with a Floyd Rose and SSH setup and a banana headstock neck.
And that's just some of my ideas. I'm not a businessman or a expert by any stretch, but this is what I think based off what I've seen other companies doing and what works for them. When your main big brand is USA only, and nobody whose not a rockstar can afford one first hand, then you're going to lose business. People need to feel like there's at least a foothold somewhere to keep the door open. A foothold they don't need to tip the foothold attendant to stand on.