Like the blues giant Robert Johnson, whose mastery of a Gibson guitar was said to be the result of a deal with the Devil, the company has come to a crossroads.
After 116 years, the Devil’s knocking on Gibson’s door. Debt of as much as $560 million is due this summer, and investors are whispering that Chief Executive Officer Henry Juszkiewicz has got to go.
Juszkiewicz traded a slice of Gibson’s soul in an attempt to become more than just the maker of the world’s most beloved guitar. He bought pieces of consumer electronics companies to relaunch Gibson Guitars as Gibson Brands Inc., a “music lifestyle’’ company. It didn’t work out as planned.
Elvis Presley changed history on a Gibson J200. Eric Clapton’s famous solo on the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps’’ was played on a Gibson, and when young B.B. King fled a burning building and realized he’d left his Gibson behind, he risked his life by going back inside to retrieve it. The fire had been accidentally started by two men fighting over a woman, and King gave his hollow-body guitar her name — Lucille.
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3 comments:
Mr Orville gave my grandfather a whole bunch of guitars when Gibson needed room.I still have 30 of them.I call them my retirement,but I could retire by just selling 2 or 3.
They had the world of guitar making in their hands into the next millennium and then somebody got greedy and started making bad decisions.
They are way too expensive. Fender can make guitars in America for half as much. I always wanted one, but couldn’t get past then $3000 price tag, when a Fender is $1000.
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