Gibson guitar company, which has been a staple brand among various musical instruments since 1902, is facing bankruptcy.
According to the Nashville Post, Gibson’s chief financial officer, Bill Lawrence, left after six months on the job and just as $375 million in senior secured notes mature and $145 million in bank loans become due, if they aren’t refinanced by July.
The departure of Lawrence was seen as a bad sign for a company trying to re-organize.
Gibson Guitars facing imminent bankruptcy. Oh, there's a story here. https://t.co/gqemdRH7WB
— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) February 16, 2018
The company, which generates $1 billion a year in revenues, recently moved out of its Nashville warehouse, where it had operated since the mid 1980s.
The company owner since then, Henry Juskiewicz, is trying to re-order the company according to the Post but is facing a battle with creditors over bad business decisions. The company recently sold Baldwin piano, and is hoping to see a boost in cash from the various electronics companies it had purchased the last several years.
Gibson began in 1902 in Kalamazoo, Mich., producing various instruments, including acoustic guitars. In 1952 the company brought in famous guitarist Les Paul to sell a guitar based on his own name, which would become one of the most iconic instruments ever made.
Our kind of sunset #gibson pic.twitter.com/shzpN5KrKU
— Gibson (@gibsonguitar) February 16, 2018
The Gibson Les Paul began production in 1952, and became a staple of the rock and roll movement since. The company since developed other iconic guitars such as the SG, Firebird, and has sponsored hundreds of musicians.
The company moved from Kalamazoo to Nashville in the mid 1980s.
.@gibsonguitar's long-teased, radically redesigned Modern Flying V has arrived https://t.co/8LO9jbaTnm
— Guitar World (@GuitarWorld) February 15, 2018
Well that’s certainly bad news.
I’d rather see it fall, than China to buy it. 🙁
Les paul will live on.
The inventor of multitrack recording. And a damn fine axe.
Gibson… Oh well.
only have 1 Gibson ES-335 DOT, Love it
Im really a Fender guy , but when George and Leo weren’t involved in Fender I bought a GL Strat , like it better then the Mexican built “American Strat”( a bad joke in my book) Call It what it is ..a Mexican Stratocaster
G&L Strat is wayy better IMO
My love of the blues has me on the fence between the Fender Stratocaster , and the ES-335, both unique sounds for those styles of guitar
I’m a Fender guy as well, E o t S.
Telecaster is my choice.
The Les Paul is a sweet fatty git box, but I never found it as comfortable to use.
The Les Paul is a sweet fatty git box, but I never found it as comfortable to use.
My fingers arnt long enough for the fat neck of a Les Paul, I tried one for a few years ,I couldnt make it happen as nicely as the Fenders..maybe the same case for you?
Not mentioned in this article is the attack they sustained by the Obama administration for allegedly using unlicensed imported wood.
It’s an American business that’s not owned by a Jew, and that’s why they’re being put out of business. You have to own a “made in China” guitar if you want to be a good global citizen.
I had no idea that Gibson owned Baldwin Piano. They made a fine product that will be replaced in the market by some chink-made crap.
If my guitar hero novel character who uses a Sunburst Special was for real, I’m sure he’d help to bail them out… And yes, I actually got to play one once. I played okay. I can maybe still play an electric guitar, but an acoustic? Getting too damned old and too damned spastic (because the frets are too far apart and my fingers are too damned short!)
They don’t tell about the phony FBI charges against the Co that bankrupt the Co