Gibson LPs with THAT logo selling well?

stickyfiddle

Thing is, just because they're not popular doesn't mean they're rare. Gibson have made shitloads of these things. Maybe not as many as they made in 2012 or whatever, but still thousands. 

I do wonder if they'll eventually bring the unsold ones back to the factory, refin the headstocks and give them regular nuts & tuners. Just as they turned the unsold (unsaleable?) Firebird Xes into LP-Xs

ICBM

Teetonetal said:

Out of interest I wonder how many nay sayers have actually tried a 2015 model?

I haven't, but I have separately tried - the robot tuners (didn't like them) and have heard enough reports of unreliability to put me off ever owning a guitar with them on; I don't like the brass adjustable nuts on Warwick basses, which I have owned one of; I don't like wide necks *at all* on any guitar; and the logo is beyond ugly to the point I could not own a guitar with it on without at least painting over it. Is that enough, or do I still need to try one?

Chalky

Lets be honest, @Teetonetal, if you show even vague interest in the 2015 models when you're in the shop, the sales guy whips one off the stand to get you to try it. So if the nay sayers visit guitar shops then like me they've tried one or more of them.

Guitars are fashion items, like clothes, trainers, etc. Gibson have launched an updated 2015 product that people don't want to buy at a price they won't pay. Maybe another comparison is the revamped VW Beetle that hasn't sold anywhere near as many as VW had geared up for?

BloodEagle

Chalky said:

Lets be honest, @Teetonetal, if you show even vague interest in the 2015 models when you're in the shop, the sales guy whips one off the stand to get you to try it. So if the nay sayers visit guitar shops then like me they've tried one or more of them.

Guitars are fashion items, like clothes, trainers, etc. Gibson have launched an updated 2015 product that people don't want to buy at a price they won't pay. Maybe another comparison is the revamped VW Beetle that hasn't sold anywhere near as many as VW had geared up for?

Very true - virtually every Gibson dealer Ive been in recently has more or less tried to force me to try a 2015 model

fretmeister

thomasross20 said:

These ones might actually be worth a lot in the future as they'll never make them again...!

Only if in 1000 years they discover only a single one of them and think "ooo - look! This must have been a prototype before they got it right with the Standard."

Teetonetal

Chalky said:

Lets be honest, @Teetonetal, if you show even vague interest in the 2015 models when you're in the shop, the sales guy whips one off the stand to get you to try it. So if the nay sayers visit guitar shops then like me they've tried one or more of them.

Guitars are fashion items, like clothes, trainers, etc. Gibson have launched an updated 2015 product that people don't want to buy at a price they won't pay. Maybe another comparison is the revamped VW Beetle that hasn't sold anywhere near as many as VW had geared up for?

In which case late 2015 early 2016 should be a great time to buy if you do like the models I must admit, I am intrigued to see how gibson react to this for the 2016 lines

GuitarZero

Teetonetal said:

jeztone2 said:

@Neil I wasn't saying it was correct, just an interesting theory. Let's imagine Coke radically changed the recipe & discontinued normal Coke? Would that seem like a business strategy?

Out of interest I wonder how many nay sayers have actually tried a 2015 model? I tried a couple in andertons on my last UK visit, found the tuning to be very good (though I don't need it) and for me the new neck was very playable.

I have, I hated the neck so I bought a 2014 instead.  I didn't like the G-Force either.  The problem with those units is that they have a 'smart' system, which means they learn and improve tuning over time, but that often means in the shop they are slow and struggle to find tune properly.  Regardless, I wouldn't buy a guitar with one on, it's not something I need and I don't want to have to buy a new guitar then have to shell out £70-£80 on some quality tuners to replace the unit.  Maybe Gibson should think about shipping the guitars with replacement tuners in the case, people might be more receptive.

Kuroblack

 

BloodEagle said:

Very true - virtually every Gibson dealer Ive been in recently has more or less tried to force me to try a 2015 model

Chalky said:

Lets be honest, @Teetonetal, if you show even vague interest in the 2015 models when you're in the shop, the sales guy whips one off the stand to get you to try it. So if the nay sayers visit guitar shops then like me they've tried one or more of them.

That's because it's where the money is - straightforward and not in any way odd - their priority is to shift new stock. Imagine walking into a car dealer; you wouldn't expect them to push some ropey old classic in favour of a brand new eco-box would you..?

 

Teetonetal said:

 

I think the collective guitar community has properly got it's knickers in twist over this one.

Agreed:)

 

 

GuitarZero

Chalky said:

Lets be honest, @Teetonetal, if you show even vague interest in the 2015 models when you're in the shop, the sales guy whips one off the stand to get you to try it. So if the nay sayers visit guitar shops then like me they've tried one or more of them.

Guitars are fashion items, like clothes, trainers, etc. Gibson have launched an updated 2015 product that people don't want to buy at a price they won't pay. Maybe another comparison is the revamped VW Beetle that hasn't sold anywhere near as many as VW had geared up for?

When I bought my 2014 the store manager was blatantly slagging the 2015s off (this was after I had made my decision to pass on a 2015).  He said he was having major problems shifting them, especially since there were a lot of 2014s still left to buy.  Most people were walking out with last years models.

Chalky

Sorry @Kuroblack, you are wrong. We've been having these discussions about the 2015 model for months. You keep singing the same tune but the fact is they aint selling. Re-sequencing comments (like you did above) to apparently conclude that the guitar-buying community are confused about the product is worthy of Alistair Campbell for putting a spin on it. But again, the fact is that they aint selling.

If you dispute that fact please provide some evidence. Gibson in their desperation, plus the guitar shops I visit, provide my evidence. Where is yours?

rocktron

 I must admit, I am intrigued to see how Gibson react to this for the 2016 lines

Same here. I can't wait to see what design changes they come up with for 2016. Hopefully, they would listen to their old customers, and new prospective customer comments and complaints.

I think that generally speaking, guitarists are a conservative group who have a negative reaction to too much change on iconic instruments.

I remember when I bought a BC Rich Warlock with Widow Headstock and was told to "burn that thing". LOL 

Neil

jeztone2 said:

@Neil I wasn't saying it was correct, just an interesting theory. Let's imagine Coke radically changed the recipe & discontinued normal Coke? Would that seem like a business strategy?

They actually did.

You may be too young to remember but I was in advertising in 1985 when Coke dropped the original recipe and bought out a new version.

Of course there was uproar in certain parts of the US (mainly the Southern states)  and the original recipe was reinstated as "Classic Coke" running alongside the new version.

Later on the new version was named Coca Cola II with the original taking back the original appendage.

Moe_Zambeek

I've tried a few and the killer for me is the ridiculous neck. Way too wide. Everything else is fixable bar that.

I do like the new black sg finish they brought in for the year and the QC seems better, but for me the neck is unplayable. Actually the tuners weren't too functional either on the b string at least.

not_the_dj

Neil said:

jeztone2 said:

@Neil I wasn't saying it was correct, just an interesting theory. Let's imagine Coke radically changed the recipe & discontinued normal Coke? Would that seem like a business strategy?

They actually did.

You may be too young to remember but I was in advertising in 1985 when Coke dropped the original recipe and bought out a new version.

Of course there was uproar in certain parts of the US (mainly the Southern states)  and the original recipe was reinstated as "Classic Coke" running alongside the new version.

Later on the new version was named Coca Cola II with the original taking back the original appendage.

I'd assumed @jeztone2 was referring to that, rather than luckily plucking a company and product out the air that had back-tracked on a new product launch (good co-incidence if it was like that).

The 2016 range will be interesting indeed. It's only the neck width that puts me off the 2015 models, I've tried it and didn't like it. I suppose I might get used to it, but I've got other Gibson guitars with the original neck width so jumping back and forth would be a pain.

crunchman

If the tuner's are accurate I could live with them, but that logo is hideous but like @not_the_dj said the neck width is the killer. There is no way I'd want a guitar with that neck width.

RaymondLin

not_the_dj said:

Neil said:

jeztone2 said:

@Neil I wasn't saying it was correct, just an interesting theory. Let's imagine Coke radically changed the recipe & discontinued normal Coke? Would that seem like a business strategy?

They actually did.

You may be too young to remember but I was in advertising in 1985 when Coke dropped the original recipe and bought out a new version.

Of course there was uproar in certain parts of the US (mainly the Southern states)  and the original recipe was reinstated as "Classic Coke" running alongside the new version.

Later on the new version was named Coca Cola II with the original taking back the original appendage.

I'd assumed @jeztone2 was referring to that, rather than luckily plucking a company and product out the air that had back-tracked on a new product launch (good co-incidence if it was like that).

The 2016 range will be interesting indeed. It's only the neck width that puts me off the 2015 models, I've tried it and didn't like it. I suppose I might get used to it, but I've got other Gibson guitars with the original neck width so jumping back and forth would be a pain.

They might make 2016 even worse than 2015, in order to shifts the 2015 stocks...what they don't tell you that they'll make 2016 in very limited numbers and then back to normal in 2017.

Fortheloveofguitar

Well I've just bought 10 so I'm bound to win a refund on one of them

jd0272

Fortheloveofguitar;665179" said:

Well I've just bought 10 so I'm bound to win a refund on one of them

That's what I like to see, a man who's figured all the angles!

Kuroblack

Chalky said:

Sorry @Kuroblack, you are wrong. We've been having these discussions about the 2015 model for months. You keep singing the same tune but the fact is they aint selling. Re-sequencing comments (like you did above) to apparently conclude that the guitar-buying community are confused about the product is worthy of Alistair Campbell for putting a spin on it. But again, the fact is that they aint selling.

If you dispute that fact please provide some evidence. Gibson in their desperation, plus the guitar shops I visit, provide my evidence. Where is yours?

@Chalky - I don't dispute the fact, because it's not a fact  I think we have a different idea of what a fact is. You see, some guy said so, or you think, or my dealer mate said is called conjecture. "The fact is they ain't selling" isn't a fact - it's a viewpoint based on subjective content. If you've got actual sales data against plan, then I'll happily get back into my box/gold Gibson case

The fact is (And I've said this before) is that because Gibson Guitar Corporation is a private company, nobody, -absolutely nobody- outside of a few people have any idea of sales figures against plan. Of course we can all speculate, but they are not facts. For all we know, Gibson may be right on track in terms of their short or long term plan, there's just no way to know. 

For what it's worth @Chalky, I don't think the 2015 will be as bigger seller as some other years (I agree with you to a point) However, neither do I believe it's the family pariah with thousands upon thousands lying in crates across the world, destined to be sold for pennies to mylespaul.com outcasts come November. Neither do I believe the Gibson Corp is being run by cretinous oiks as the internet would have you think. It's a multi-million dollar business - even blind luck won't get you that far this day and age.

Apologies for the 'resequencing', the quote system is a little unusual that's all. But still, you missed my point. My point in quoting you and @BloodEagle was that a dealer will always try and sell the newer stock, to expect them not to, or to think it odd or conspicuous in some way is ludicrous.

And as for singing the same tune - maybe, or just healthy debate, that's all (genuinely!) If I defend the 2015 so be it, unlike most, I own one, so for me, that puts me in a better position to judge how good (or not) it is.

GuitarZero said: When I bought my 2014 the store manager was blatantly slagging the 2015s off (this was after I had made my decision to pass on a 2015).  He said he was having major problems shifting them, especially since there were a lot of 2014s still left to buy.  Most people were walking out with last years models.

So, do we think that's because:

a) The 2015 LP is an absolute abomination, not fit to bear the name and fit solely for the wood burner or;

b) It was at the time around £700 more expensive (they were £2499 and £1799 respectively in Dawsons in January this year)

Call me cynical, but I'm going with b)  

Sassafras

Original Coca-Cola actually contained real Cocaine and when they stopped using it in, I think the late 50s, no-one complained about that. Oh, hang on...