Gibson Ltd Run Series - Oh Lord...

munkydanny

Has anyone else seen the new Limited Run Gibsons?

Being a subscriber of their online news-letter I've been greeted every month for the last few months with a newer, more painfully ugly take on a Gibson classic.

With marketing and 'new' products like this, is it any wonder they're always on the brink of bankruptcy? Especially now in a time of economic crises wouldn't you think that they'd stick to their tried and tested guns as opposed to releasing these mutants?

Don't get me wrong though, I love the Gibby's and the fact that such a well established company is trying new things is refreshing. Especially since the most innovative thing I've seen Fender do in the last few years was bring out EVH's Frankenstrat with a €20,000 price tag.

The guys at Gibson have the right idea, but they're getting it so wrong...!

Doctor J

Gibson and Fender are in a hard position. They own some fantastic copyrights but if they just churn out the classics... wait, they do churn them out already... you know what I mean :pac: ... if they just stick to the 60 year old designs people will accuse them of being behind the times, etc. If they bring out anything radical (and they do occasionally introduce something not designed in the 50's) they usually fail because their brand names are associated with the classic designs. It is a predicament.

They're also in the comfortable position of knowing they can just churn out average reproductions of the classic designs and charge a premium on the strength of the big F and G on the headstock and the association with classic designs and vintage desirability and there'll always be a market for people looking for the brand name. So they just bring out variations on the classics, limited editions, ooooh how exciting, a strat with lime green paint or a SG with single coils, amazing wow, and it keeps their name in blogs, forums and magazines while not requiring the investment in new models which will have the luddites up in arms and probably fail anyway.

Did you know a Mexican Fender which has been attacked with a belt sander costs more than one which hasn't? What a wonderful world we live in :pac:

Dord

Doctor J wrote: »

Did you know a Mexican Fender which has been attacked with a belt sander costs more than one which hasn't? What a wonderful world we live in :pac:

Actually those ones are Nitro finished. Even still I don't like them.

Doctor J

They've also been attacked with a belt sander and they're still Mexican Fenders

rcaz

I was at a party the other night, I was talking to a guy about music, and he asked what type of guitar I had, so I politely reply, "My main one's a Fender Jazzmaster...", I was leading on to say I have some other really cheap guitars that I like almost just as much, but he immediately interjected with, "I've got a ****ing Gibson."

I'm serious, the one day I meet a nice, humble Gibson owner, is the day I will eat my pedalboard and burn my JM. This guy came over to tell me how he owns a Gibson guitar?

If I hadn't been drinking beer all evening, I would've had the composure to say something like, "Oh, Gibson? I think I've heard of them... They're the company that used to make good guitars, but now don't have any quality control, overprice their gear because of the famous name, and drill holes in their guitars to lose the extra weight that comes with inferior wood... Right?"

Doc, you've hit the nail on the head there. Except that little stab at Mexican Fenders I played a very nice Mexican Tele once.

Dord

El Pr0n wrote: »

I was at a party the other night, I was talking to a guy about music, and he asked what type of guitar I had, so I politely reply, "My main one's a Fender Jazzmaster...", I was leading on to say I have some other really cheap guitars that I like almost just as much, but he immediately interjected with, "I've got a ****ing Gibson."

I'm serious, the one day I meet a nice, humble Gibson owner, is the day I will eat my pedalboard and burn my JM. This guy came over to tell me how he owns a Gibson guitar?

If I hadn't been drinking beer all evening, I would've had the composure to say something like, "Oh, Gibson? I think I've heard of them... They're the company that used to make good guitars, but now don't have any quality control, overprice their gear because of the famous name, and drill holes in their guitars to lose the extra weight that comes with inferior wood... Right?"

Doc, you've hit the nail on the head there. Except that little stab at Mexican Fenders I played a very nice Mexican Tele once.

*waves*

I'm a humble gibson guitar owner.

rcaz

Dord wrote: »

*waves*

I'm a humble gibson guitar owner.

"It's a funny thing about humility
As soon as you know you're being humble
You're no longer humble"

- T Bone Burnett

punchdrunk

i'm bleedin lovely and i own three!

rcaz

I might have been being sarcastic, I'll decide when I meet one of yis (Yis as in the Gibson brotherhood)

Doctor J

El Pr0n wrote: »

Doc, you've hit the nail on the head there. Except that little stab at Mexican Fenders I played a very nice Mexican Tele once.

Of course there are some decent ones but the point is that it's a very average guitar compared to what you can get for the same money (trust me here). Going on what I've seen in the magazines they're around £800stg, yeah? If you tried to sell a normal Mexican strat battered the same way for €350 you'd probably struggle. If you tried to sell a battered strat made out of good quality Warmoth parts but with no name on the headstock, you'd probably struggle too. But yet a "limited run" Mexican strat battered at the factory will sell for £800stg.

Why would people pay a premium for an average guitar which has been hit with a belt sander when they can get a better guitar for the same money but without the famous name on the headstock? Would those guitars sell for £800stg if they were branded "Sanchez #1 guitar in Mexico"? No, of course not

We're back to the desirability issue and brand name association which is how they get away with all this limited run crap.

rcaz

The worst one of those was the Eddie Van Halen guitars that were going for $10,000. Ten grand for a copy of a guitar whose raison d'etre was being cheap... Some people :rolleyes:

CianRyan

Hmm... I've been toying with the idea of buying a Gibson, bit i really can't see myself doing it anytime soon, i say that because i can't afford a decent one, i.e. an old one.

Any recent Gibsons i've tried have been horrendous, which is sad because i played an seriously old LP junior, cant for the life of my remember the year though, it was, to say the least, AMAZING.

What the hell happened Gibson? I want answers!!!

Quattroste

I played a Gibson SG standard recently in X Music and I loved it, really really loved it. Generally I would not pay Gibson prices for their guitars but in this case and climate I reckon I could get a good deal secondhand

I don't think you can say that "Gibson" owners are full of it.... my thoughts would be that person was full of it anyway, and just happened to use "Gibson"as one of his required platforms.

rcaz

CianRyan wrote: »

What the hell happened Gibson?

punchdrunk

i played a blonde 335 in the waltons up by parnell square last year and by eyes watered,possibly the best neck i ever played
(either that a real '62 fiesta strat,a real '54 black beauty or my coppercaster)

so gibson can still do the business,
...maybe this guitar was built on a sunny friday,payday morning,
after the dude had just "done the business"?

Doctor J

punchdrunk wrote: »

after the dude had just "done the business"?

Let's hope he washed his hands :pac:

Dord

CianRyan wrote: »

Hmm... I've been toying with the idea of buying a Gibson, bit i really can't see myself doing it anytime soon, i say that because i can't afford a decent one, i.e. an old one.

Any recent Gibsons i've tried have been horrendous, which is sad because i played an seriously old LP junior, cant for the life of my remember the year though, it was, to say the least, AMAZING.

What the hell happened Gibson? I want answers!!!

Get yourself an 80's Junior like I did. I can't afford a 50's one and the new ones are crap looking. The 80's ones are awesome!

They have correct finishes and nice pickups with a late 50's neck profile. The only thing is that they have tune-o-matics, but tbh I see that as a good thing. At least you can intonate them properly!

Ishibashi have a few every now and then. Thats where I got mine.

CianRyan

Dord wrote: »

Get yourself an 80's Junior like I did. I can't afford a 50's one and the new ones are crap looking. The 80's ones are awesome!

They have correct finishes and nice pickups with a late 50's neck profile. The only thing is that they have tune-o-matics, but tbh I see that as a good thing. At least you can intonate them properly!

Ishibashi have a few every now and then. Thats where I got mine.

Sweet man, i neber thought of that. I'll have to keep my eye out. Gotta love adding to the collection. I was looking at another strat, but three might be over kill?

NEVERRR!!

Dord

CianRyan wrote: »

Sweet man, i neber thought of that. I'll have to keep my eye out. Gotta love adding to the collection. I was looking at another strat, but three might be over kill?

NEVERRR!!

Hahaha :pac:

munkydanny

By the way, if anyone does want that lovely blow sander effect on their lovely Fender or Gibby I'll be happy to batter it for a nominal fee. :pac:

Honestly I don't think the majority of Gibson owners are eejits, I just think a lot of eejits own Gibsons.

That said though I still want to join the Gibby fraternity. I'm gonna get me a big old 70's explorer and make my own "rusty" out of it.

Then sell it to some Metallica obsessed kid for double the price.

darrenw5094

Best of luck trying to sell an expensive guitar these days.

I won't use the 'R' word.

munkydanny

Yeah, it certainly seems to be turning into a buyers market alright..

That is to say if the buyer actually has any cash!

I've taken to buying bodies and necks from luthiers and doing them up bit by bit to my own tastes. It works out a heck of a lot cheaper than paying face value and sometimes even se3cond hand prices!

darrenw5094

Where?
Any examples?

brendansmith

Yeah id love to see some of this stuff myself.

Id love to get into it and think i might start trying my hand at it soon enough.

Karl Hungus

Does anyone else think that the colour just makes this one look shockingly cheap and plastic? Looks more like a guitar hero controller than an actual guitar tbh:

CianRyan

I thought it was an Airline till i saw Gibson written across the top, its not too bad, proof's in the pudding though, i wouldn't mind it looking a bit mad if it plays/sounds nice.

But knowing Gibbos these days...

munkydanny

Yeah, if you log onto jemsite.com there is a banner on the top with quite a few details regarding luthiers and custom artists. They're mad about their JEM replicas but they could be convinced otherwise with the right kind of cash.

The thing I like most about them is the fact that they're very frank about the prices and easy to deal with (they actually reply to their potential customer's emails, thank you very much LR Baggs...).:pac:

They can do some pretty funky stuff with custom finishes, inlays, mods and even put freakin lights in your fretboard! :eek: