2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?

Subject: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 02:04 AM

Very sad.

Just recently. They showed a film called careworn Highway on Sky Arts with footage from the 1970's of Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark and other worthies - virtually every one was playing a Gibson.

Subject: RE: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 03:11 AM

Not quite yet: Gibson guitars could be facing bankruptcy

Subject: RE: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 03:51 AM

The decline and impending self destruction of Gibson
is a keenly followed and hotly argued saga on various youtube channels over the last few years...

Key issues:
outrageous overpricing
diminishing quality control
inept corporate executive decision making
dictatorial Execs being out of touch with and alienating customer base...

Subject: RE: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 05:19 AM

So my Gibson Les Paul Junior jumps in value - £2,000 + !!!!

Subject: RE: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 05:43 AM

Gibson Guitar, the owners who are Republican supporters, were accused of using illegal wood for the guitars and the company was shut down at great loss and its employees lost income. A competing guitar company, who gave money to Democrats, used the same wood as Gibson and had no trouble with the law.

February 01, 2018 published by Newsmax 

............


Gibson described as "two hostile raids on its factories by agents carrying weapons and attired in SWAT gear where employees were forced out of the premises, production was shut down, goods were seized as contraband and threats were made that would have forced the business to close."

Gibson, fearing a bankrupting legal battle, settled and agreed to pay a $300,000 penalty to the U.S. Government. It also agreed to make a "community service payment" of $50,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation — to be used on research projects or tree-conservation activities.

May 23, 2013 published by Investors Business Daily


...............

EXCERPTS

“Henry. A SWAT team from Homeland Security just raided our factory!”

“What? This must be a joke.”

“No this is really serious. We got guys with guns, they put all our people out in the parking lot and won’t let us go into the plant.”

“Whoa.”

“What is happening?” asks CEO Henry Juszkiewicz when he arrives at his Nashville factory to question the officers. “We can’t tell you.” “What are you talking about, you can’t tell me, you can’t just come in and …” “We have a warrant!” Well, lemme see the warrant.” “We can’t show that to you because it’s sealed.”

While 30 men in SWAT attire dispatched from Homeland Security and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cart away about half a million dollars of wood and guitars, seven armed agents interrogate an employee without benefit of a lawyer. The next day Juszkiewicz receives a letter warning that he cannot touch any guitar left in the plant, under threat of being charged with a separate federal offense for each “violation,” punishable by a jail term.


What really happened at the Nashville plant?

Henry Juszkiewicz bought the troubled Gibson Guitar company in 1986. With revenues having dropped to below $10 million a year, the iconic 84-year old guitar maker was bleeding cash and on its way to bankruptcy. Since then, Juszkiewicz turned Gibson around, making it into an international powerhouse, growing at better than 20 percent a year compounded, with current annual revenues rumored to be approaching $1 billion.

A great American success story? Yes, but Gibson’s very success made it a fat target for federal prosecutors.

Feds routinely take advantage of the vagueness of many of our laws by starting from the target and working backwards, selectively prosecuting people they want to go after by charging them with crimes they often don’t even know exist.

Harvey Silvergate states, “If for some reason the authorities are eyeing you and they look closely enough at your daily activities, they can find something. That makes us all very vulnerable.”

May 26, 2014, published by Forbes

.................

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 06:44 AM

Which reminds me, I must change the strings on my Les Paul Junior which have stayed there since 2002, but reconditioned with WD40!!!

Subject: RE: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 08:16 AM

The current CEO (or whatever they call their head honcho) at Gibson has stated a goal of identifying the Gibson brand with a "lifestyle", not necessarily with top quality. Sounds like he's not sure whether his company makes musical instruments or cheap beer.

Subject: RE: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: GUEST,Some bloke
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 08:46 AM

Ive always liked Gibson guitars, mainly through heritage rather than quality. Like many big name US manufacturers, they rest on such laurels whilst the rest of the world get on with quality.

I bought an Epiphone J200 equivalent brand new for ?260.00 the other year to prove a point. Once I changed the saddle and nut for Tusq and shaved a bit of meat out of the bracing, (not easy but with the correct tools, I could be a gyneocologist yet,) it keeps up with its ?3500 stablemate on sound, volume and sustain.

My mate has a J45 and I love the sound and playability but its build quality is down there with ?150 Chinese copies. One of the best J45s Ive played recently? Had Tanglewood on the headstock.

Gibson could do much better than this. Today's acoustic buyers just know theres far better out there at a better price.

Martin may have saved themselves with cheap guitars made in Mexico but Gibson cant because of Epiphone.

Meanwhile, I look at my collection, which isnt small. Not a single US build in it, although I admit I would like to add a Collings at some point. I still borrow a dread' for recording.

Domestic markets dont save big companies any more. My son tells me its similar with electrics. Back in the day I had a Gibson SG, the only Gibson Ive owndd. Despite my son, I would say that US guitars still would fill my wish list. Not acoustics though...

Subject: RE: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: gillymor
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 09:41 AM

I hope they do survive. Their Q.C. has always been spotty from what I've seen but they're making some really nice acoustics these days. If you've got the money Collings, Bourgeois and Santa Cruz (and Martin also turns out some Gibson-style guitars now and then) are making some great guitars based on some of Gibon's iconic models like the J-45, J-185 and the Southern Jumbo. I recently picked up a used Bourgeois Slope D Adi/Mahog which has that wonderful, dry sound a bit reminiscent of a 60's J-45 I've gave up long ago because the neck was just too skinny. The fit and finish on the Bourgeois is immaculate, unlike that old Gibson.

Subject: RE: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 09:48 AM

Gibson aren't just guitars these days...

They diveresified into buying up major consumer electronics brand names...
[Philips ???, Onkyo ???]

Recent Gibson branded 'luxury' mini mobile speakers were stupidly expensive...

They also bought up Cakewalk Sonar - a massively popular prosumer PC DAW software,
which only weeks ago they abandoned, and ceased all future updates.

Subject: RE: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 10:11 AM

correction: my hazy memory...

The speakers are actually deemed 'Monitors'...

Chinese speakers tarted up in thin flame maple veneer and iconic Les Paul sunburst finishes..

Some still unsold on Amazon from approx ?350 - ?640...

Can't tell if it's genuine micro thin maple, or plastic photo flame...???

Either way, do they sound like six and a half hundered quid studio monitors...???

Subject: RE: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 11:50 AM

Gibson started out building mandolins, still one of the most desired brands thanks to Bill Monroe.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: GUEST,Bignige
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 06:19 PM

Gibson no longer build Mandolins or Banjos other than the odd special. They were built at their production facility in Nashville until the flood of 2010. The facility was totally wrecked, most woods were lost and it never reopened.

Subject: RE: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: Hagman
Date: 19 Feb 18 - 08:21 PM

>From: Big Al Whittle - PM
>Date: 19 Feb 18 - 02:04 AM

>Very sad.

>Just recently. They showed a film called careworn Highway on Sky Arts >with footage from the 1970's of Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark and other >worthies - virtually every one was playing a Gibson.

Al, that would be "Heartworn Highways," filmed around '75-'76. Essential viewing for any fan of US (almost)contemporary country music.

"Heartworn Highways"

Subject: RE: Gibson guitars bankrupt
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 20 Feb 18 - 03:45 AM

Just to avoid confusion - in the UK, the 'Monitor' name appears on a range of top-level speakers with a high reputation; I run a set of 'Monitor Bronze' on my home system. No connection with Gibson that I can see.

Just seen the follow-up movie, 'Heartworn Highways Revisited' on Sky. Lots of good music, and Gibsons in the majority.

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 20 Feb 18 - 11:07 PM

There wasn't any confusion.... [was there...???]

A 'monitor' is a a commonly used and understood international term for a specific kind of specialist reference speaker
used in the recording, mixing, and mastering of music....

In the context of this thread, it'd be a bit dopey to confuse it with the old Monitor Audio brand of domestic hi fi speakers,
monitor screens, or even monitor lizards...
Plugging a large carnivorous lizard into the end of the audio chain could result in nipped fingers.. or worse...

Btw.. the 2015 retail price for those fancy tat Gibson speakers actually seems to have been over a thousand quid,
the equivalent of a lower priced entry level Les Paul guitar...

Any surprises Gibson are failing so badly under current ownership...???
It's certainly not a brand for hard working blue collar weekend warrior guitar players...


This review of the speakers is a neat summing up of the mishandled exploitation of the Gibson trade mark..

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/gibson-les-paul-6

"....Gibson and parent company CMI were bought by an Ecuadorean company and placed under the Norlin banner. By 1984, Gibson?s headquarters had moved from Kalamazoo, Michigan, to Nashville, Tennessee, and Norlin were failing fast. In 1986 the current owners, Henry Juszkiewicz and Dave Berryman, stepped in to rebuild Gibson?s fortunes. Nowadays, Gibson are but one of over 100 well-known musical instrument, pro-audio and consumer electronics brands that operate under the umbrella of Gibson Brands, as that agglomerate moves on its journey to become ?the largest music and sound technology company in the world?......

...Having given up on the guide?s weird marketing speak (and the spurious claim therein that Les Paul held the patent for the eight-track tape recorder), I went in search of hard information on the Gibson Brands web site and came across one of the most uninformative presentations of technical specification that I have ever encountered. .....

.....I must admit that I found the Gibson Les Paul 6 monitors to be more than a little confusing. Gibson Brands have, under their umbrella, companies and brands with decades of pro-audio experience, any of which, at the very least, should have been able to write a quick-start guide and a set of specifications to pro-audio standards.

Gibson Brands also seem to me to have missed the fact that, these days, the performance levels of small studio monitors have risen as prices have headed downwards. In particular, onboard DSP and digital amplification have so affected the performance/price ratio that certain of the major monitor manufacturers may be in danger of cannibalising the sales of some of their own higher-priced products with their new, lower-priced models. As a reference monitor the LP6 will, I fear, struggle against other studio monitors with similar pricing, and will also have real trouble with those at more aggressive price points.

However, looking at the golden boxes and the black velvet bags that they arrived in, maybe I?ve entirely misunderstood the LP6. Perhaps what we?ve actually got here is a lifestyle loudspeaker targeted at a specific guitar-owning customer demographic ? in which case I think that it has fulfilled its brief.

As I said, I?m confused by the Les Paul 6 Reference Monitor. You?ll have to take a listen and decide for yourself."

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 21 Feb 18 - 03:54 AM

'The speakers are actually deemed 'Monitors'...'

I suppose it was the capital 'M' that could confuse a slow-thinking person....

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrcynicallyupt?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 21 Feb 18 - 04:36 AM

No problems..
it's mostly our 'more mature' age group demographic that Gibson Guitars depends on,
and exploits so cynicaly, because of our loyalty to such a traditional cherished iconic brand name..

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 21 Feb 18 - 06:27 AM

the eplphones are pretty decent gibson lookalike/soundalikes.

i'm not really sure the problem lies in that direction. when i was a kid gibsomn were the remote objects of desire.

the last time r.eally a gibson captured a major artists imagination was probablt the period where Mark Knopfler used a Gibson Chet Atkins for the Private Investigations album.

The Atkins model was probably the first acoustic model you could plug into small PA and fill reasonable sized hall. I bought one straightaway in '82. The japs had one on the market for a third the price by the end of that year.

I think that's when they realised that R and D wasn't the way forward.

Everything has changed. Good guitars are the right of everyone in affluent countries. The specialist music shop and manufacturer is under the same threat, Music retailers deal on the net Quality control is a given. Music wholesalers and retailers basically sell boxes. The guitars are made in China.

What Gibson could bring to the game is going to take some seriouis thought.

Top grade guitars for the main part are sold to rich non professional musicians.

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 21 Feb 18 - 06:56 AM

I believe there was a period in the late 60s / early 70s when the price of 2nd hand Gibson electrics
were just within the reach of young musicians signing record contracts,
or semi pros prepared to sign up to HP...

They still weren't cheap, but at a time when the only other option was Burns Guitars, or European imports..
it was more feasible for British players in their 20s to obtain 'affordable' used 1958 - 1960 Les Pauls
and play them to death touring, and recording what are now classic LPs.

If they lived long enough and held on to them,
those Gibsons are now their pensions...

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 21 Feb 18 - 12:04 PM

For some reason, I've never come close to owning a Gibson, though I did have a nice little Epi LP Jnr for a while. I imagine it comes from growing up in the 60's, when all the bands seemed to have Fenders. Until Eric and Peter, of course....

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: GUEST
Date: 21 Feb 18 - 05:15 PM

I paid 100 guineas for my SJN Country Western in 1964. Still playing it every day of the week and gigging with it.

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 21 Feb 18 - 05:17 PM

Most of my experience with Gibson's was in the 1960s and early 1970s. (I think the Dove my first husband bought in 1970 was actually made in 1967.) I always liked playing Gibson's because I have a small female hand and most Gibson necks are narrow. It's a more comfortable guitar for me to play.

I no longer own a Gibson -- they went the way of my first husband.

I also no longer have the body and physique I had before the 1980s when I met Tom (Curmudgeon) who was an incredible cook.

Now I have two guitars: Tom's Guild (not sure what model -- 1960s or, perhaps, earlier) and a, umm, Chinese-made "Mark II" which has a sweet tone and lovely action. I paid $50 for it at a yardsale. It's original price (and it was brand new, circa 2000)was $200. The kid I bought it from bought it and brought it home and then discovered he'd actually have to learn to play it. I got a bargain. I don't perform (guitar, at least) professionally, and it fits my needs.

Linn

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 22 Feb 18 - 02:31 AM

The Decline of Gibson...What Happened?

10 min youtube business finance economics made simple enough
for even rock guitar players to understand...

One of the best youtube vids on the subject imho...

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: Will Fly
Date: 22 Feb 18 - 05:31 AM

I bought a s/h Epiphone Texan in 1967 - mase in 1964 - which was the (cheaper) sister of the Gibson J46, both then made in Kalamazoo. It was a great guitar, though some of the fittings were plastic, with a cedar top which, eventually, went dead. I had it for 40 years and traded it in for a cheap but excellent Martin. The cost then? £90 - a lot for me in 1967.

Over the years I've had - and sold - a Gibson Les Paul, Fender Strat, Gibson SG, a Larrivee, and various others of American make. Apart from a second Martin, all my guitars have been custom-built for me, with not one costing more than £1,500 - and all beautiful instruments. I think I might disagree with the statement that only rich amateurs buy expensive guitars. I know several professional players - and I used to be fuller-time professional than I am now - who have top quality instruments.

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 22 Feb 18 - 06:24 PM

well obviously there are some musicians who insist on using top flight instruments.

however most of the luthiers i've met say the generality of their customers are wealthy so so players.

i seem to remember reading an interview with a luthier who jokingly called one of his guitars as - the dentists' model.

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 22 Feb 18 - 08:01 PM

Well PFK, that was an insightful video.

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: Will Fly
Date: 23 Feb 18 - 03:52 AM

I'd certainly agree with part of your premise, Al - I've met wealthy retirees who bought expensive Martins for themselves and showed them off at sessions by not playing them very well!

One of the problems that hit Guitar Junction in Worthing was that Dave, the owner, aimed much of his stock at that market when he first opened. However, after a time, he'd sold what he could in the area - and things slowed drastically.

The music shops that seem to do OK are those that cater to the beginners buying reasonably made, cheap guitars such as Cort, Vintage, etc. Bonners in Eastbourne is typical - and even they've retrenched in the last few years.

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt out of the many
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 23 Feb 18 - 04:43 AM

Here's a brand new youtube presentation/discussion...
I just watched it and consider it to be one of the best summaries of Gibson's problems
out of the many I've viewed in the last couple of years..

...since I bought a 2015 Les Paul special at a hugely reduced clearance price...

2015 was Gibson's 'annus horribilis', a year of sudden dramatic business suicide which they have not recovered from,
the year of the much hated design and components changes imposed upon their most popular lines of classic electric guitars...

It's 40 minutes, but the 3 guys on screen deliver an intersting and informative video...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_Xi9GQ48iY

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 23 Feb 18 - 05:42 AM

to be honest I don't know shit from sausages about wood, and I suspect most of the gibson buyers don't either.

i think the problems are a lot more basic.

its far more to do with the market place, the nature of the market place. also the technology.

i think since modelling technology took off there - why the hell would a gigging musician take an expensive instrument out on the road when he he can get virtually the classic sound with a hundred and fifty quid guitar and a couple of hundred quids worth of footpedal or a modelling amp.

i see youngsters with entry level guitars that are more playable than some of the classic models.

the whole nature of the business has changed . these days kids go to college in their droves to study the guitar - when those classic models were devised - they were for a comparatively small number of musicians. Famously Woody Guthrie said in those days seeing someone with a guitar case on the streets of New York was as rare as seeing some carrying a kayak.

I personally believe that the US government should intervene - Gibson guitars is of historic cultural significance.

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 24 Feb 18 - 03:54 AM

Watched (most of) the one-off Old Grey Whistle Test' last night, and whilst there were many Gibsons to be seen in the archive footage, the present-day artistes left them well alone.

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 24 Feb 18 - 07:54 AM

The ideal for a working musician is a 2nd hand slightly beat up but playable Gibson
at a reasonable price, that you can try before buying...

But even then there are still too many negative variables and unknowns...???

A decade ago there were scare stories about counterfeit Gibsons that looked fine in ebay photos,
but were made from plywood or even paper mache...

Recently there was a growing enthusiasm for 'Chibsons' - Chinese counterfeits costing a mere couple of hundred quid delivered,
that were reputed to have better quality control
and play better than the real thing after minor component modifications and set up.
Some rumours were that the best were made in Chinese Epiphone factories 'off the records'..
But UK customs officials have been alerted, so that's the end of that.

But anyway, official Epiphone copies have now gained a reputation for superior value for money.
Undermining and undercutting the sales of USA Gibson parent company
to the extent they started making relatively inexpensive entry level made in USA guitars to compete
with their own off shore guitars.

These 'cheap' USA Gibsons have a reputation for being shite.

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 27 Feb 18 - 10:12 AM

Astute short [8 min] analysis / opinion video by a British guitarist...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6K2BS8bH1s

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 02 Mar 18 - 05:08 PM

Checking the codes for selling ... ran across this interesting article in Fretboard magazine.


https://www.fretboardjournal.com/columns/californias-ban-sale-ivory-and-other-animal-materials/

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

It appears easiest to....

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 21 Mar 18 - 11:54 AM

The story continue to vamp...until the last chord is played.

www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-gibson-guitars-debt-20180320-story.html

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: GUEST
Date: 01 May 18 - 12:09 PM

From the Guardian today: Gibson files for bankruptcy

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: punkfolkrocker
Date: 01 May 18 - 01:33 PM

Ok.. this now ends one stage of speculation.. next...???

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: beardedbruce
Date: 01 May 18 - 01:49 PM

Zombie Gibsons?



"(Reuters) - Gibson Brands Inc, the maker of guitars played by the likes of B.B. King and Elvis Presley, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday with a plan to reorganize its musical instrument business under the new ownership of its lenders.

Nashville-based Gibson, whose legendary brands include Les Paul and SG, has been suffering under $500 million in debt linked to the acquisition of its consumer electronics business overseas, where sales have been in sharp decline.

In a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, Gibson said the overseas consumer electronics business will be wound down, allowing it to re-focus on its core guitar-making and audio businesses."

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/legendary-u-guitar-maker-gibson-files-bankruptcy-151014923--sector.html

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: GUEST
Date: 02 May 18 - 03:12 AM

Am saving up for a Gibson (or a Tele).

Subject: RE: 2018: Gibson guitars bankrupt?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 03 May 18 - 12:24 PM

Here's the Associated Press story, dated May 1 2018:

Iconic guitar maker Gibson seeks bankruptcy protection
By JONATHAN MATTISE

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The maker of the Gibson guitar, omnipresent for decades on the American music stage, is filing for bankruptcy protection after wrestling for years with debt.

A pre-negotiated reorganization plan filed Tuesday will allow Gibson Brands Inc. to continue operations with $135 million in financing from lenders.

Gibson guitars have been esteemed by generations of guitar legends. After Chuck Berry died, his beloved cherry-red Gibson guitar was bolted to the inside of his coffin lid. David Bowie favored the 1989 Gibson L4 when he fronted Tin Machine. Slash swears by them.

"It is one of the most widely recognized brand names on planet Earth," said George Gruhn of Gruhn Guitars, a world-famous vintage instrument store.

Founded in 1894 and based in Nashville, Tennessee, Gibson has the top market share in premium electric guitars. It sells more than 170,000 guitars a year in more than 80 countries, including more than 40 percent of all electric guitars that cost more than $2,000, according to a bankruptcy filing.

The company has already sold off some noncore brands, acquisitions that contributed to its burdensome debt load. Gibson has begun the liquidation process for its debt-plagued, struggling international Gibson Innovations division, which sells headphones, speakers, accessories and other electronics.

"The decision to re-focus on our core business, musical instruments, combined with the significant support from our noteholders, we believe will assure the company's long-term stability and financial health," Henry Juszkiewicz, Gibson chairman and CEO, said in a news release.

Gruhn, an expert on guitars of all kinds, said the company's bankruptcy was predictable after it expanded into the home electronics business. But that doesn't mean the Gibson brand will simply go away, Gruhn added.

"The brand name and company's reputation for making guitars is tarnished, but not dead by any means, and it's very much capable of being resuscitated," Gruhn said.

In the hands of musicians from B.B. King to Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Duane Allman and Slash, Gibson's electric guitars have been a foundational element of blues and rock. King's signature guitar, "Lucille," was a Gibson.

Legendary jazz guitar player Charlie Christian made history playing a Gibson ES-150 — one of the first ever electric guitars — through an amplifier with the Benny Goodman orchestra. The later big-bodied Gibson jazz guitars have been in the arsenal of many great players since then, such as Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass.

One of the only known photographs of iconic Delta blues pioneer Robert Johnson shows him with a Gibson L-1 guitar.

And the folk-revival of the 1950s and 1960s wouldn't have sounded quite so mellow without battalions of steel-string Gibson acoustic guitars among the Martins and Guilds.

In 1952, the company enlisted the services of popular recording artist Les Paul to introduce his namesake signature guitar. Les Paul remains one of the most familiar names in guitar models today.

Elvis Presley didn't start out with a Gibson but owned and played many of them, according to the website for Graceland, his Memphis home.

Eric Clapton played the solo on the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on a Gibson guitar he borrowed from George Harrison, according to GuitarWorld.com. And Jimmy Page, the legendary guitarist for blues rockers Led Zeppelin, was and remains a longtime Gibson loyalist.

"It's hard to name any guitar players who play electric or steel-string acoustics who don't own a Gibson," said Gruhn, the Nashville guitar expert.

___

Associated Press writer Don Schanche Jr. in Atlanta contributed to this report.