Gibson files for bankruptcy

[Old Dude]

I've played several Gibson ES-335 models at various guitar stores. That's my personal favorite go-to guitar. All were very nice, but none were worth between five and ten times as much as my Epiphone ES-335 clone. I can buy a brand new Epiphone Dot for $449.00 from Sweetwater. A comparable Gibson starts at $2,567! That's 5.7 times more expensive! I'm sorry, I can see paying double to get a real Gibson instead of an Epiphone copy. Maybe even a little bit more. But not an increase in price of 571% That's ridiculous. And, that's for the cheapest Gibson. A mid-level ES-335 can cost well over $4,000. For the price of a Gibson mid-level ES-335, I could buy a top tier Epiphone, the Sheraton Pro, for $699. With the extra money, I could also buy a 100 watt Marshall stack, with two cabinets, for $1,407. I could buy $1,000 worth of pedals. And I could buy a spare Epiphone Sheraton Pro, and all the cables, picks, straps, stands, and other accessories I could possibly need.

 

[Old Dude]

So far it seems like nothing has happened, aside from a lot of speculation. My gut feeling is that after they find buyers for the electronic brands, that won't be enough. They'll end up selling Epiphone. Epi will continue selling most of the Gibson clones, at least for a while. Over time, they'll revive old Epiphone models, as well as making new designs. Gibson will make Maestro their entry level line, but I think their deal with whoever they sell Epiphone to will include a non-compete agreement on making cheap copies of the Gibson designs Epiphone gets to sell. Without that, the Epiphone brand wouldn't be worth much. So, we could end up seeing new designs from both Epiphone and Gibson Maestro.

 

[BikerDude]

They will probably be fine.
It was a huge mistake to buy the electronics brands that they borrowed so much money to own.
The guitar line is solid even with the ups and downs of guitar sales.
The only real danger is if one or more of the creditors decides to crap in the punch bowl in order to cash in on the Gibson brand.
The name is the most valuable asset that they have.
The extent that the creditors get to scavage Gibson depends on the conditions of the restructuring agreement.
If Gibson had to commit to unrealistic goals in order to make a deal then it might just be a matter of time. If they don't meet the performance goals outlined then the creditors get the farm.
If it's a realistic and fair deal then they will probably dig out without issues.

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