It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Subscribe to our Patreon, and get image uploads with no ads on the site!
Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
Guitar Bomb Giveaway – Win a FREE set of Oil City Pickups Deep Six humbuckers
Instagram
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Guitar Bomb Giveaway – Win a FREE set of Oil City Pickups Deep Six humbuckers
Guitar Bomb Giveaway – Win a FREE set of Oil City Pickups Deep Six humbuckers
With such a debt then maybe not surprising as the bank/backers will probably be demanding some better plan of attack - will watch this blog with interest
Mark
Or robot tuners for everyone! No, wait...
They could hire me - I already sussed out a totally revised, comprehensive product line for them back in July:
[originally posted by me]
Ok...
A range of cheap sub-£500 things like the current brightly-coloured Melody Makers/Firebird Zeros etc - containing:
- Firebird Zero
- The 24-fret wrap-around SG they're doing
- The Les Paul Special thing
- A '67-shape Flying V with a single P-90 and a wrap-around
- An Explorer with one humbucker and a wrap-around - not like the old Melody Maker one though. A proper pickguard.
A good basic range of "staple" models, up to about £1500, containing:
- A Les Paul Standard (more modern features, the most expensive in the series)
- A Les Paul Traditional (choice of 50s/60s necks, a couple of hundred less than a Standard)
- Fuck the Les Paul Studio
- A Les Paul Junior DC
- An SG Standard (batwing pickguard natch, and 22 frets)
- An SG Special with P-90s (again, batwing and 22 frets)
- A Firebird I
- A Firebird V
- A '67-style Flying V
- A '76-style Explorer
- An ES-339
- An ES-335 (this may cost a little more)
- An L6-S (yes really)
Then a "Custom" range at a similar level, although with prices set at a maximum of perhaps £2k. All available in black, white, wine red or silverburst, with multi-ply binding and Richlite boards:
- A current-spec, non-reissue Les Paul Custom
- A Flying V Custom
- A Firebird Custom
- An Explorer Custom
- A Midtown Custom
Then a standardised Custom Shop Reissue range, from £2k up to about £3.5-4k - no True Historic bullshit, just good accurate reissues.
- A '54 reissue Les Paul Custom
- A '55 reissue SC Les Paul Junior
- A '56 reissue SC Les Paul Special
- An R7
- An R8
- An R9
- An R0
- A '57 reissue Les Paul Custom
- A '58 reissue 175
- A '58 reissue 335
- A '58 reissue Flying V
- A '58 reissue Explorer
- A '59 reissue DC Les Paul Junior
- A '59 reissue 330
- A '59 reissue 335
- A '59 reissue 345 and/or 355
- A '60 reissue DC Les Paul Special
- A '61 reissue SG/Les Paul
- A '62 reissue SG/Les Paul Junior
- A '62 reissue SG/Les Paul Custom
- A '63 reissue Firebird I
- A '64 reissue Firebird III
- A '64 reissue EDS-1275
- A '64 reissue ES-335
- A '64 reissue ES-345
- A '65 reissue Firebird VII
- A '67 reissue Flying V
- A '74 reissue Les Paul Custom (with a maple neck, and available in black, white, wine red, cherry burst and natural, and there would be a natural version with a maple fretboard available too)
- A '76 reissue Explorer
- A '79 reissue RD Artist - yes, really. It'd definitely sell.
- An '81 reissue Explorer E2 CMT
Then a Custom Shop Contemporary range, priced up to around £2.5k:
- A CS-336
- A couple of shades of Les Paul Axcess
- A new model based on (hear me out) the Victory shape, and possibly reusing that name, but would be similar in silhouette only. We're talking about a thru-neck, 24-fret, HSS modern rock guitar to rival Suhr, PRS etc. Would be available with a fixed bridge or a non-locking trem, in a variety of solid and transparent finishes. It would be similarly contoured but have no scratchplate, and it would have the same inline headstock as the original. If it does well, introduce a lower-end bolt-on model. Maybe even introduce a 7-string version - it'd sell.
Then it would get interesting - a "laboratory" range of sorts, featuring some more esoteric creations at varying price points, anywhere from sub-£1k up to £2k:
- A '58-style Flying V with two P-90s
- A '67-style Flying V with two Firebird pickups (I would get royalties for this)
- A Les Paul Custom with only a bridge humbucker
- A reissue of the Les Paul Music City Jr., with a less shit scratchplate
- A '58-shape Flying V with a Floyd and no scratchplate, in solid colours. High-output passive humbuckers.
- An Explorer similar to the above
- A Les Paul with EMGs, aimed at metal players but with a classy, subdued aesthetic - nothing OTT.
- A Futura or a Moderne perhaps?
- An L6-S with a trem and a Sustainer
- An M-III reissue - a good one this time, with a scratchplate and a bolt-on neck.
- A US-1 reissue, but perhaps offering a choice between a fixed bridge and a non-locking trem
- Maybe offer versions of the latter two with a Sustainer...
Well, it took a very long time to dream that up and write it out, but there you go. That's probably what I'd do if I was in charge of Gibson's product development.
You'll note - only one of each model. No special runs or groups of minutely different models that all look the same. No traditional/high performance stuff - leave pretty much everything with traditional features, and then have the Laboratory series for anything more daring. Maybe the occasional special run finish like Fender does, but nothing much beyond that. Plenty of new models to appease those who want more daring, modern features from Gibson, but plenty to keep the traditionalists happy - including the introduction of several new reissues that haven't really been done before.
Oh, and on everything but the vintage reissues, all the necks would be titanium reinforced and have volutes.
You know it makes sense. Vote for me!
That's possibly their best bang for buck guitar of the last ten years and they are uniformly very bloody good! (Which is why they've sold so many of them!)
The rest of your list seems reasonable.
My Trading Feedback | You Bring The Band
Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after youMy Trading Feedback | You Bring The Band
Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you