No Gibson at NAMM

not_the_dj

http://www.musicradar.com/news/namm-2018-gibson-no-show-confirmed

Jason

I'm not surprised, a bit of dodgy journalism though

"This year's no-show follows 2017’s rather sparse NAMM stand, which featured a few new Custom models, but was more notable for its absence of a much talked-about, mysterious new solidbody design, which was showcased instead to tech-heads at CES. That guitar was eventually released as the Modern Double Cut in May 2017."

The mysterious new solidbody was there, they had about 20 of them I saw

TimmyO

Farewell then, Gibson 

ThorpyFX

Wow even my little company is going to NAMM- we must be doing better than GIBSON! 

joeyowen

ThorpyFX said:

Wow even my little company is going to NAMM- we must be doing better than GIBSON! 

You appear to have something called quality control!

Also, and feel free not to confirm/deny this, I'm guessing you aren't in 8/9 figure debt?

ICBM

This is because Gibson's only viable survival strategy is to maximise the value of its consumer electronics brands - particularly Philips - and then sell them off, to try to cover the over half a billion dollars worth of debt it has to somehow refinance before August 1st... or it's all over.

ThorpyFX

joeyowen said:

ThorpyFX said:

Wow even my little company is going to NAMM- we must be doing better than GIBSON! 

You appear to have something called quality control!

Also, and feel free not to confirm/deny this, I'm guessing you aren't in 8/9 figure debt?

Thankfully not. I do hope things pick up for Gibson, there are a lot of of peoples
jobs at stake

richardhomer

I wonder how important NAMM is? If you’re a small, relatively new company trying to break-through - I can imagine the answer is ‘very’ - but if you’re one of the two largest guitar makers in America, I doubt it is, really.

p90fool

It could mean they have nothing new to show, so must be scrapping the 'model year' nonsense.
We can only hope...

Musicman20

I've bought two 2017 Gibson guitars and they are both excellent. Especially for the prices I paid. I hope they don't just end up even more of a mess for years and years.

 

Musicman20

ThorpyFX said:

Wow even my little company is going to NAMM- we must be doing better than GIBSON! 

I think I've seen a teaser!

guitars4you

there was a story around 15 years ago that Gibson had changed dealership agreements and a few USA dealers were excluded - As such a threat was issued that they would come to the stand and smash up the stand, guitars and/or Henry - bottom line was security guys by their entrance to the room and admittance by appointment only

EricTheWeary

During the period of NAMM last year I was unemployed and used that time constructively to watch loads of YouTube videos from NAMM and read the various commentaries. 
Quite a lot about how there were notable companies absent ( although a year on I couldn't quote you which ) and newer ones not in attendance and the general decline of the event. Given the time and effort and cost of having a stall at NAMM compared to running a decent social media campaign it isn't worthwhile for many companies. For those who sell mainly online not worth it at all as NAMM is a lot about getting dealers/ distributers to look at your stuff ( as I understand it anyway). It used to be a good platform to launch new products as there were so many of the music media people there but that's no longer as much the case; posting a pedal to someone with a YouTube channel brings more dividends than standing on a stall shouting at people. 
That might not explain Gibson's decision but it might suggest that of all the things they need to do NAMM isn't all that important to them. 

victorludorum

ThorpyFX said:

Wow even my little company is going to NAMM- we must be doing better than GIBSON! 

Change the style of the signature on your pedals and stick an auto tuner on them and that'll soon change ;-)

guitars4you

ThorpyFX said:

Wow even my little company is going to NAMM- we must be doing better than GIBSON! 

reminds me of around 10 years ago after Academy of Sound had been purchased by Sound Control, then less than 2 years made a loss of over 6 digits, prior to going bankrupt - A few days later, at guitar show, I sold a set of Martin strings for around £4, made around £1 profit and was chuffed to bits to report that my store made more profit today than a 20 store empire had made in 12 months

blueskunk

What a shitty situation for Gibson. QC aside, they have made some beautiful guitars and helped produce some of the best guitar music / tones ever !

ICBM

blueskunk said:

What a shitty situation for Gibson. QC aside, they have made some beautiful guitars and helped produce some of the best guitar music / tones ever !

Very true, and in fact their current dire situation has little to do with the guitar manufacturing and most to do with borrowing a ton of money to "diversify" by buying up other companies, because that's the sort of business-management bullshit that the owners and their bankers believed. It's exactly the same sort of thinking that led to Fred Goodwin destroying the UK's biggest bank, coming within hours of collapsing the entire financial system and requiring an emergency government buyout, which we are all still paying for.

Chalky

It reflects more on NAMM than Gibson. Companies in other retail sectors are starting to lose interest in such trade events, when online activities are evidently more effective.

guitars4you

It is obvious to read a lot into this and no doubt stories and rumours will only add to the current uncertainty regarding Gibson - Yet the cost of exhibiting is high, taking into account flying 20/30 staff to NAMM + all the gear (be it trucked or flown) - hotel, wages, expenses, entertainment - Preparation of stock, marketing , promo etc etc etc - Time away from your own desk/office - Do such costs ensure a profitable 12 month to follow, based on the fact it is already one of the most established music brands brands in the world - Yet you could easily apply this thought pattern to many other brands that still exhibit and if all looked at it the same way then no show would follow

Sometimes you need to be there as it is all part of the networking' - It is a great buzz to be part of the NAMM event but will it produce more profitable revenue for Gibson ? - I'm not so sure

I'd be more interested to know what follows for Gibson over the next 3/6/12 months, as against what is a no show at NAMM

Legionreturns

I've never had any reason to even contemplate going myself. I'm sure chucking stuff at Andertons to review on YouTube returns a far higher margin than spending thousands glad handing in sector professional networkers. 

Bridgehouse

The interesting bit for me is Gibson's reading of the market. Choosing CES over NAMM clearly shows their sales strategy has moved to a slightly different target audience. 

Whilst I think @ICBMs comment about electronics brands and their ability to sell them to liquidate capital is certainly worth noting, presumably Gibson will still display guitars there. 

The big question is this: do they think that CES will have more impact on their target audience than NAMM? If so, they either think the music consumer market is changing and they have spotted a blinder and are about to announce some sort of massively inventive sector-changing guitar with a USB-C and wifi/Bluetooth interface, or they are at the point of utter desperation and they will try anything..