Gibson Guitars named 'worst company to work for'

[Escondido Bound]

EB,
I hear you and agree with you. Both companies have their good and bad points!! I just hate to see an American institution like Gibby go down like this...but...I feel we both understand where the other is coming from and that is a good thing!!
ADK

I agree with you on both points, the first sadly and the second gladly.

EB

 

[cowboytwang]

They should take an "approval" poll of all those who contribute to the Huffington Post. I hear complaints about them all over the journalism community. I'm sure they published that article with a straight face.

Not defending anyone on that list, but Huffington isn't the most reliable source.

The study on corporations and CEO's was done by Glassdoor.com, they do this every year. Their gig, is that they evaluate jobs and employers.
The story has been reported by several news sources, including Huffington Post, but they have nothing to do with the results of the study.

 

[Zmatko]

The quality issue confuses me. I see equal numbers of excellent and junky instruments arriving in my local shops from Fender and Gibson. The middle level is about the same, too.B

It confuses me too, so a $2,3k guitar is equally perceptive to having an issue as an $1,4k guitar?
That's some dedication.

 

[Pinball_Wizard]

I knew Autozone had to be up there. Working there is hell.

It outdid all other retail outlets.
The CEO there is ridiculous. The first thing he did was ban the phrase "Welcome to Autozone" by Autozone employees. Which had long been the standard greeting. Everything else he's changed has been just as ridiculous.

 

[ac15]

EB,
The price point I am making my arguement on is this... I had a LP Standard paid $3300 for it. The number of problems I had with it..lets see...fretwork..terrible, pups wired incorrectly...nut poorly done, bridge posts..uneven, missing screws on the tuning pegs...and when I brought it back Gibson said I had to PAY to have it fixed. My MIA Fender Tele...no issues perfect form the start. I paid $1100 for it....my MIA Strat which I just got...perfect..nothing wrong...that is the point I am making...a $3K guitar which was poorly made and the customer service was just as bad. Does that mean all Gibsons are bad...no...but I choose to go with Fender...burn me once shame on you burn me twice shame on me..
ADK

If it was so horrible, why did you buy it in the first place?

Also, you're citing a very small sample size. I have one Historic 54 Les Paul and guess what? It's about the best guitar I've ever played. I've picked up Fender guitars off the rack that were total dogs - bad fretwork, warped pickguards etc. So using a similar sample size to your example, I've concluded that Gibson makes great guitars (they do).

 

[ADK Teleman]

If it was so horrible, why did you buy it in the first place?

Also, you're citing a very small sample size. I have one Historic 54 Les Paul and guess what? It's about the best guitar I've ever played. I've picked up Fender guitars off the rack that were total dogs - bad fretwork, warped pickguards etc. So using a similar sample size to your example, I've concluded that Gibson makes great guitars (they do).

I was overseas...and ordered it from a dealer. When it arrived that was the condition it came in. As was said in earlier posts by me and a couple others...there are good and bad things for each company...I just choose not to buy Gibson again after that experience. Do they make great guitars, I am sure that they do, my experience wasn't good with them. As you have a good experience with Gibbys and bad with Fender...I have had good with Fender...it's all good my friend.
ADK

 

[prawnik]

The "harley" of short scale guitars.

That's about right.

JJ

Ding ding! We have a winner!

To the extent Henry J "saved" Gibson, this can be attributed to three things:

1. Epiphone producing vast numbers of budget-priced instruments;
2. Gibson's resurrection as a "lifestyle brand" largely catering to nostalgic and well-heeled boomers; and
3. Slash. Before GnR hit, Gibson was very much an old man's guitar. Pre-Appetite, some of the kids I went to school with liked Zeppelin, but they talked about how much better Jimmy Page would have been if he had access to "today's technology." After GnR hit, a Les Paul suddenly became the guitar to have.

Henry and his management minions can be fairly said to be responsible for 1 and 2. 3 kept Gibson afloat long enough for 1 and 2 to take effect.

How long 2 will continue to be viable as a business plan remains to be seen.

 

[timmytVA]

I came across this interesting article on why it will be hard to revive manufacturing in America.

http://www.tnr.com/article/economy/wagoner-henderson

Maybe the phrase "first, kill all the lawyers" should be replace with "first, kill all the MBAs".

My local two store chain dropped Gibson shortly after Guitar Center arrived. The manager of one of the stores told me that he's glad he doesn't have to deal with them anymore.

Tim

 

[rand z]

imo, mba's or no mba's, we're not wise enough to carry on as the world leaders in corporate financial anything. we're to abusive...

so, we're smart enough... just not wise enough.

i.e., locally we have hershey food corporation, (hershey chocolate) heading south to mexico for their mfg. so, they got rid of a significant part of their workforce.

company founder and philanthrophist milton hershey would be livid.


rand z

 

[jim_pridx]

Same here. In fact, I just spent the last hour delighted by the offerings on the Heritage Guitar Co. website and finding out that I have two dealers very close by. I know where I'm spending part of my Christmas vacation!

EB

I honestly can't say enough good things about Heritage guitars. I've had four of them (still have two), and they were all great instruments. Heritage also went through some troubled times two or three years ago, primarily because their elder craftsmen were managing the company while building guitars at the same time. I'm not sure who stepped in to help recover the company, but they seem to be doing quite well today.

 

[tonewoods]

The story has been reported by several news sources....

I want to thank the moderators here for letting this thread flow...

I first heard of Gibson's #1 status on the ABC Evening News, and later that day on NPR...

The next day I posted--without comment no less--a link to the story at the Mandolin Cafe, a group that would be very interested in knowing that their favorite mandolin-making company made the news (yet again).

Here's that thread, including the mod's note that my posting was "Totally out of bounds of Cafe Guidelines".

So-ooo, since when is a leading story on the ABC Evening News and NPR--posted without comment--"out of bounds" on a discussion group??

Me thinks one has gotta watch out for who butters your bread...

Again, thanks to the mods for letting this one roll...

 

[clydethecat]

Every time they put out a new product that features even slightly new designs?

My point was, why should Chris Martin care about Henry and his moods? Does Henry have any power over Martin at all?

 

[Bill Hullett]

A Gibson employee told Glassdoor.com: “Good people overall…[but] An absolutely bizarre culture that top-to-bottom seems to revolve solely around trying not to upset the CEO.”

Well isn't him coming in #1 , in this article going to just increase the problem of not upsetting him...

Bill Hullett

 

[Biz Prof]

I'm an MBA, however I can assure that most seasoned and intelligent business analysts will tell you that Henry J. has made some huge strategic blunders to go along with his better decisions in managing Gibson.

What stumps me (as a bang-for-the-buck buyer) is why so many purchasers are infatuated with the brand name (resale experience is inconsistent and somewhat anecdotal). Generally speaking, I like Fenders and Gibsons. My hands-on experience has shown me that G & L makes a better regular production F-style guitar than FMIC, and that Chicago or post-Chicago Hamer makes far-superior versions of several G-style models. I have yet to play a Gibby acoustic off the rack that sounded better or played better than any Taylor off the rack at the same store. I think that the economies of scale that have made the larger name brands what they are makes their product quality more of a crap shoot.

So...if you need the brand name, more power to you!

 

[tonewoods]

My point was, why should Chris Martin care about Henry and his moods? Does Henry have any power over Martin at all?

Henry is famous for threatening lawsuits--and actually going through with them--for what he perceives as infringements on his designs...

I'm sure that Chris is very familiar--possibly firsthand--with this...

What bothers me is that Gibson threatened legal action against many friends of mine--some of who were building less than a dozen instruments a year--for "infringements" that, in my opinion, were totally absurd...

But having the Gibson legal machine breathing down your back will cause you to re-think things, and absorb the loss of thousands of dollars in brochure costs that need to be re-printed, design changes, etc.

It will also create a huge backlash of ill-will towards the Gibson Guitar Company among those small-time luthiers who build guitars for a living--an ill-will that now seems to be spreading throughout the world, and now winding up on the ABC Evening News...

 

[TG]

Well isn't him coming in #1 in this article going to just increase the problem of not upsetting him..

If he's wise he'll learn from it and try to fix the situation. But they say that the first and most important step towards solving a problem is accepting that there is a problem, and it sounds like Henry is having difficulty in that regard. At least, he doesn't seem to be able to admit/accept that his company's problems might have something to do with himself and his decisions.

 

[Mike Bruce]

I want to thank the moderators here for letting this thread flow...

I first heard of Gibson's #1 status on the ABC Evening News, and later that day on NPR...

The next day I posted--without comment no less--a link to the story at the Mandolin Cafe, a group that would be very interested in knowing that their favorite mandolin-making company made the news (yet again).

Here's that thread, including the mod's note that my posting was "Totally out of bounds of Cafe Guidelines".
So-ooo, since when is a leading story on the ABC Evening News and NPR--posted without comment--"out of bounds" on a discussion group??

Me thinks one has gotta watch out for who butters your bread...

Again, thanks to the mods for letting this one roll...

I'm a long time member there (Mandolin Cafe) and even I am surprised by some things that get pulled. My off hand Michael Jackson remark accompanied by an explanation got pulled and I'm sure the mod never read past the opening statement, or took my past offerings into consideration. I was disappointed in what I see as increasingly strict enforcement.

Be that as it may, discussion of the business of music should be fair game in forums. We are the business, just as the church is its people, a sports franchise is its players...whatever...there would be no business without the consumer.

Peace, Mike.

 

[jjkrause84]

Gibson (like to many other corporations!) is more worried about how they're gonna look next quarter than how they'll be next decade. Result? Coprorations like that might not SEE next decade......

 

[tonewoods]

I'm a long time member there (Mandolin Cafe) and even I am surprised by some things that get pulled. My off hand Michael Jackson remark accompanied by an explanation got pulled and I'm sure the mod never read past the opening statement, or took my past offerings into consideration. I was disappointed in what I see as increasingly strict enforcement.

Be that as it may, discussion of the business of music should be fair game in forums. We are the business, just as the church is its people, a sports franchise is its players...whatever...there would be no business without the consumer.

Peace, Mike.

I think the folks at the Cafe--many of whom have spent 20-25K on a Gibson mandolin--should be allowed to see news reports on the company that they are supporting, no?...

It might give them second thoughts as to why they are sending their hard-earned $$ to Henry, as opposed to supporting one of the fine mandolin builders (and their families) who--IMHO--are building a much better instrument than Henry's outfit ever has under his rule...

 

[stephent2]

Gibson sued Brian Moore years ago and they were suing for the use of the term "Custom Shop" in relationship to the Moore guitars.

I do believe that Brian once worked for Henry,...

Hey,.. it takes ego to do big things, but then it's a good thing to understand one's limitations too. The newest products are,... strange.

It seems that Martin has taken a wise approach to the thousands of Martin copyists out there. I think they did sue or at least have legal works with Takamine when they were making logos in the style of Martins to put on Martin copies. But in general they take a mature viewpoint. Martin is a class act.