Posted on 05/01/2018 4:13:00 PM PDT by cba123
Storied guitar-maker Gibson Brands Inc., whose customers have included B.B. King, Chuck Berry and Jimmy Page, filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday with a deal to hand control of the company, which has struggled with its debt load after a series of soured acquisitions, to bondholders led by private-equity giant KKR & Co.
(please see link, for full article)
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Wow.
They are not closing shop, just reorganizing. They may have to scale back their offerings until they return to profitability. Other companies have survived Chapter 11.
I’m sure the 0bamunist jackbooted raid on the Gibson facility, ostensibly because they had “endangered” species of rosewood in their facility, didn’t help.
IIRC, the thugs took pretty much all the wood, because they couldn’t tell rosewood from ebony, and never gave any of it back.
And the raid was politically motivated.
Gibson and its guitars have sucked hard for years now.
The wun and his ilk are always politically motivated.
Obama tried to run them out of business.
https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/gibson-guitar-raid-like-tea-party-intimidation/
http://humanevents.com/2014/05/30/the-true-villains-behind-the-gibson-guitar-raid-are-revealed/
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/191249/gibson-guitar-and-politics-persecution-michael-volpe
When a company goes bankrupt, look for Bain’s (Mitt Romney) fingerprints.
Surprise, surprise. Guess who loaded Gibson up with debt:
“Music instrument retailer Guitar Center was acquired for $2.1 billion by private equity firm Bain Capital Partners LLC during the tail end of the pre-recession leveraged buyout era in 2007”
Once Bain loots a company, it is rare that it will recover.
Source for quote:
https://www.pollstar.com/article/while-my-guitar-gently-weeps-gibson-guitar-facing-bankruptcy-134620
"...government raid..."
No if’s and’s but’s, the brand will live on forever. It’s just a matter if the name is licensed out to some Chinese company making crap guitars under the Gibson name. Just like Sharp, Toshiba, Hitachi, Westinghouse, Phillips........ names are licensed out to Asian Company’s making MOSTLY crap TV sets.
I wonder if any of the liberal pop-star musicians who live by Gibson guitars are smart enough to give any thought that it was the Obama administration who brought Gibson to their knees.
It’s been coming for a while now. The current CEO has a reputation for being an a$$, they’ve pretty much frozen out the small mom and pop music stores, and have made some stupid acquisitions over the past few years. Seems they’ve forgotten what gave them a 100 year history. On the other hand, if they don’t survive, my 66ish J-200, Dove, FJN, 80’s LP Custom and an old Marauder should see a jump in value!
Bell & Howell guitars? Perhaps Gibson guitars by Bell & Howell
Proctor and Gamble...
One reason for this bankruptcy may be because just like with motorcycles, embraced by Baby Boomers, fewer Millennials are purchasing guitars. Think about the gradual decline of Folk, Rock & Roll or Rhythm & Blues as forms of popular music.
There will always be a place for well performed music and performances, but the average untrained person would find it easier to participate now.
Due to the ease and low or no costs, Rap “music” has become the main moneymaker. Due to computerized forms of music, available at very affordable prices, you don’t really need to learn how to play an instrument in order to compose or perform songs. Many people of today are quite prepared to sacrifice authenticity for the right melody at the right beat and octave, all at the press of a button.
After 50 or 60 years of rap people will probably get tired of that too.
There also is a robust market for used guitars. One can buy a mint 90s Gibson guitar for half of what a new one would cost now and the quality will be much better. I have fifteen guitars and have only bought one of them, a Larrivee acoustic, new.
Wow, how things change. I know they’re not gone, but not where I thought I would see a staple of the Rock & Roll era.
You have 15 guitars?
Wow. Either you are a professional performer, have been at one time, or just enjoy getting to know the capabilities of each instrument.
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