New direction for Gibson ?

[DrBGood]

That is a nice Studio prototype, I like it a lot.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/264157066592

Beautiful piece of wood, with a belly cut and an interesting heel treatment.

Look at that headstock ridge !

 

[Gahr]

Nice. That's pretty much a Les Paul Special.

 

[rotorhead]

It seems like they're heading in the right direction with the 2019 line. They're weeding out the excessive fluff and dialing things back a bit, emphasizing their core past with little tweaks for now.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

I like that, an awful lot.

 

[gball]

Stick a set of humbuckers in it and I would buy it today, this minute.

 

[papagayo]

Nice Les Paul proto.

2018 Classic is very sexy too

 

[DrBGood]

Nice. That's pretty much a Les Paul Special.

I don't think it's a slab, which defines the Specials.

It seems like they're heading in the right direction with the 2019 line.

That looks to be a 2018 prototype. Not sure it'll make it in the 2019 line. Could be one of a kind.

 

[bwotw]

I like the SGs and LPs for the 2019 line. In SG's, they'll offer the batwing Standard, the small guard '61, the Maestro '61 and the Sideways trem '61. I think they went back to the thinner binding too! They look pretty good (other than the headstock inlay being lower than it should for a true '61 reissue, like we mentioned somewhere else).

I think most guitars in the lineup get an upgrade from past years, or at the very least stay the same. Good job, Gibson.

The exception to the rule has to be the Flying V, though. I'm sorry, I just can't get behind the weird 50s-60s mix of looks here.

 

[gball]

I'm actually a big fan of the headstock treatment on that V

 

[Col Mustard]

Flying Vee and Firebird are always exceptions to the rule.
That's their nature. It's what they were designed to do...
Violate the rules... Destroy all Monsters... Rage against the Machine,
A Spanner in the Works...

For players who play by rules, there's the Les Paul, and the ES-335.
For players who like to defy generalization, there's the SG.

 

[Gahr]

I like the SGs and LPs for the 2019 line. In SG's, they'll offer the batwing Standard, the small guard '61, the Maestro '61 and the Sideways trem '61. I think they went back to the thinner binding too! They look pretty good (other than the headstock inlay being lower than it should for a true '61 reissue, like we mentioned somewhere else).

I think most guitars in the lineup get an upgrade from past years, or at the very least stay the same. Good job, Gibson.

The exception to the rule has to be the Flying V, though. I'm sorry, I just can't get behind the weird 50s-60s mix of looks here.

To begin with I didn't really like the pickguard on the newer V models, but I'm starting to take to it. It looks great on the korina model.

 

[SG standard]

Video discussing the changes at Gibson, and reviewing the range:



SGs are covered at 27 mins, with the Modern models following that.

 

[bwotw]

Reallly like this SG range, and the LPs too (that Bourbon finish in the 60s style looks great) I had to laugh a bit at the finish on one of the semihollows, though, lol. The one they start playing at 53.55. WTF is that?

 

[Gahr]

It's interesting how they present all the Les Pauls one model at a time, but the SGs are all shown at the same time (not even showing the SG jr). The SG sells really well, but is treated like the ginger headed stepson.

 

[DrBGood]

They still mention tonewood on LP, like nitro letting the wood breathe for better tone.

 

[Gahr]

They still mention tonewood on LP, like nitro letting the wood breathe for better tone.

Yep, I noticed that too. Interesting how they keep on doing that. Still, a pretty good demonstration.

 

[Biddlin]

Boring, boring-boring. Tighten up the belt, make do with the do-do, try to bring the guys who already own their guitars back for another just like the ones they already have.
I see nothing to grab me so far.
If you've been trying to sell one, you know how many are out there on the used market. Why would you spend nearly two grand on a new SG special when you can get a nice 2000-2003 for $500 or less?

 

[AngelDeVille]

 

[SG standard]

Boring, boring-boring.

Why would you spend nearly two grand on a new SG special when you can get a nice 2000-2003 for $500 or less?

To a degree I also find the whole 'same old' thing of 'repro' guitars boring. But that's an interesting question, and one that's important to the future of Gibson - being too innovative hasn't worked out too well for them.

Comments on other guitar forums have been overwhelmingly positive, with plenty of comments from people that suggest they're suddenly in the market for a new Gibson this year. A good sign.

Why? Well, maybe there's just the appeal of owning a 'new' guitar - which is sort of the polar opposite of owning a vintage guitar, but both are somehow different to simply buying a 'used' guitar.

Maybe it has something to do with the way Gibson (and Fender) market - these guitars are (apparently) ever more faithful to the 'original' specifications, so buying one of these is, ahem, like taking a time machine back to the 50s/60s and buying a new Gibson. Which of course implies all those Gibsons from recent decades are not as good/authentic/whatever, and therefore not worth looking at, even if they're to be had much cheaper. (No offence - it just seems to be the marketing message, rather than the truth!)

Custom shop have been playing this 'ever more authentic' game for years, and though we mostly laugh at it - it seems to work. I doubt Gibson USA will ever take it to that level, but it's interesting to see that they're (sensibly) not afraid of encroaching on the CS market - that's always been a silly argument.

IMHO, there's a big positive to be had from Gibson finally dropping the daft 'model year' thing and settling into a core line up of popular models, leaving space for special runs, custom colours, limited editions, etc., to grab the NAMM attention each year.

But for those of us who find this a touch boring - Gibson still seem keen to also be innovating - but it's early days, they've put all their attention into getting this core line working, I'll be interested to see what happens when they turn their attention to the more innovative end of their range. The 'modern' model seems just a stop-gap updated name for the High Performance model of the last couple of years. If they just wrap those innovations in a slightly more traditional (or just attractive) package, I might be interested. Equally, I might be tempted by a '61 Standard with Maestro & Pelham finish!

I think Gibson sales are going up soon - at least for a while, who knows where the saturation point is for repro guitars. :)

 

[Gahr]

To each his own. One man's boring is another man's exciting. The "vintagey" Gibson guitars excite me. Now I just wish they would reissue their classic amps (the late 50s-early 60s GA-40 models, for instance) with the original specs.