Brand Loyalty...

[JayinLA]

Being a Gibson forum, I thought it would be a good question to ask...How come their are so many Gibson freaks out there? Myself, I believe that their solid body electric guitars are a great jumping off point to play a huge variety of musical color, in lots of styles.

 

Having worked at a Music store, I have had the opportunity to play most guitars out there. Now if money was no object, I would own alot of them, but if I have to put my "musical eggs into one basket" so to speak, I went Les Paul. (Studio at first) then doubled down, by getting a Standard about 10 years later. Those are the two electric guitars I actually play. My experience at the music store taught me that no matter what style of music was being played, the Gibson solid body guitars seemed to do all of em fairly well.

 

So I suppose I am loyal to Gibson guitars. I own others. ESP LTD 400 series, Yamaha, and I have a been on the hunt for a good hot-rod Tele...(I may have to kind of make my own). But even at that, I feel at home when I play my Gibson's, partly just comfort, and stuff, but also the scale length, neck, the tone and volume for both pickups, I feel that I can just operate that instrument, with any amp, any style and just have the familiarity to adjust on the fly like a pilot in his favorite airplane.

 

So, in summary, is Brand Loyalty a good thing, a possible bad thing, a collector thing, or just plain stupid? I don't know.

[quapman]

It depends.

Brand loyalty in the fashion sense is total nonsense.

But that's not the case here. Gibson makes some really fine instruments. There is nothing wrong with being loyal to quality.

I would call that being smart.

[Mikeo]

No brand loyalty here

I play fender stuff, gibson stuff, martin stuff, gretsch, rickenbacker and more.

 

Like it all for what it is and depending on the tones I want to achieve.

[capmaster]

No brand loyalty here, too. Unfortunately I also can't be loyal to quality of workmanship, or I had to have mainly guitars and basses made in Japan.

 

There are other reasons why most of my guitars and basses are Gibsons. It is about design and construction giving them good playability and superb tone. However, none of them can duplicate any proprietary design of other guitar makers. Therefore my number two brand is Fender. Then there are five more brands including Epiphone.

 

In my opinion loyalty is a thing of give and take. Remembering the 2015 model year may enlighten the context. In terms of the disagreement probably caused by the 2015 models, I hope that Gibson and Thomann find a way to deal with each other again. I think a loyal vendor shouldn't drop the retailer with highest sales.

[charlie brown]

I guess I have "multi-brand" loyalty, as I have several of each Gibson, Gretsch, Ric, Fender, Epiphone, etc.

Same, with amps! But, my "comfort" with them is two fold. A long history, with those brands, back from my

teen years, and of course, great tone, playability, and designs/visual appeal. The most, in numbers, that I

own ARE Gibson's. But, I even have a Danelectro 12-string, so I own guitars in all price ranges. They all

sound great, and play well!

 

Still, I'm always interested in new/different guitars, regardless of "brand." Was recently looking at the

new Yamaha Revstar models, with some interest. So...???

 

 

CB

[duane v]

I feel if a company consistently meets or exceeds my expectations..... I stick with them.... My first Gibson experience goes back to 1972, and I've been happy since.

 

Martin, Taylor Fender and PRS make fine guitars, but for me there is something about a Gibson that get's the attention of my wallet.

[Mikeo]

I guess I have "multi-brand" loyalty, as I have several of each Gibson, Gretsch, Ric, Fender, Epiphone, etc.

Same, with amps! But, my "comfort" with them is two fold. A long history, with those brands, back from my

teen years, and of course, great tone, playability, and designs/visual appeal. The most, in numbers, that I

own ARE Gibson's. But, I even have a Danelectro 12-string, so I own guitars in all price ranges. They all

sound great, and play well!

 

Still, I'm always interested in new/different guitars, regardless of "brand." Was recently looking at the

new Yamaha Revstar models, with some interest. So...???

 

 

CB

 

They kind of remind me of a PRS Starla, which I wanted to love so badly, but didn't like when I got a chance to actually play one.

 

not actually that much more than the Yamaha

 

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/StarlaS2DVC?adpos=1o1&creative=55280255761&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=Cj0KEQiA89u1BRDz8enExq7rvN0BEiQAaFCHmwTVrAgDAYDC-iXU8E2g-Imq5J_-3LEBWaYOZegS9-QaAkBl8P8HAQ

 

The Mira I really like, it just sat well in my paws

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbxS1xp4OM0

 

[charlie brown]

PRS are Nice guitars! But, for some odd reason, I've never taken to them. ???

 

CB

[btoth76]

Hello!

 

As far as anything more expensive than everyday consumables are concerned, I am loyal to brands. I would like to believe, that a company with 120 years of experience and heritage, would really look after it's reputation. It's a very fragile thing, though.

 

Cheers... Bence

[Mikeo]

PRS are Nice guitars! But, for some odd reason, I've never taken to them. ???

 

CB

 

 

I have a PRS CU 22. I'm not sure when I got it, but it was at least 10 years ago, maybe longer.

 

I like other stuff I have been, but it's good. It doesn't get played that much. I would look again at the Mira.

 

I'm not sure what this years guitar purchase will be, but I am thinking a Martin 00028. I actually like the Standard version with the slightly narrower fret board than the EC one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Versatile]

I like Gibsons a lot...for some reason warming to their solid and semi electrics...

 

IMO, apart from the excellent P90 guitars, they lack a presence to rival Fender, Ric, Gretsch etc

 

I like variety and have acoustics from several mfgs other than Gibson....

 

Played several Les Pauls but never been moved to purchase same....preferring 'home grown' LP Junior style guitars from luthier Gordon Smith

 

V

 

[duane v]

PRS are Nice guitars! But, for some odd reason, I've never taken to them. ???

 

CB

 

Same here.....

[J.4knee]

I am a multibrander as well. Fender(3), Gibson (1), Martin(1), Ibanez(2). If I play them and like them I am good with it. My current quest is for a Gibson SG to join the herd.

[Mr. Gibson]

Gibson is the god of thunder and rock n roll.😈

[valtyr]

Not much loyalty from me, I don't seem to own more than one of any brand these days.

 

My main 3 guitars are an Anderson Hollow Classic, Parker Fly Classic and a Gibson Les Paul Classic.

 

Apparently I am loyal to the word "Classic" though.

[kidblast]

for me, they are like paint brushes (bigger and cost more)...

 

They all have their own nitch.

 

I'm more apt to grab a gibson tho, but I love my fenders and epis

[cody78]

Gibson is the god of thunder and rock n roll.��

 

Not just rock n roll, but jazz, bluegrass and various other styles.

 

Nearly every known jazz player at some point in their career used a 175, L5, L4, Super 400 and so on and many only ever played Gibson throughout.

 

A lot of people forget Gibson make incredible mandolins and they also made some spectacular banjos and Dobros too until the floods stopped production of them.

[merciful-evans]

I confess to being a guitar tart. I have no loyalty to any brand at all.

 

I would part-ex any guitar for something I liked better.

 

That includes the Gibbys and also my most valuable guitar (a Fylde) which I've had for over 40 years.

:-"

[ksdaddy]

As time goes by, we consumers want to have a closer and closer relationship with the manufacturers. Years ago we were Gibson fans or Fender fans and that was based on a combination of our personal experiences with the brand and also what the company offered for a lineup, be it in the catalog or at mom and pop's store down the street. Company history was largely hearsay or disseminated with those low budget spiral bound books from Hal Leonard or Pumpkin Spice Hippie Press (or wherever). When I got a copy of Julius Bellson' small soft covered book on Gibson history I thought it was the Golden Ticket and when Tom Wheeler came out with American Guitars (or I should say when I bought it in 1984) I thought I had found the New Testament 2.0.

 

I didn't hear about the Fullerton plant shutting down until the loacl Fender dealer told me. Ditto for a Squier (WTH is a Squier?). I didn't learn Gibson had been sold until I went to place an order for parts in either late 1985 or early 86 and found out Henry displayed his middle digit to us repair people who counted on original Gibson parts to repair GIBSON guitars and refused to sell to us anymore (Thanks, Mr. J! I've been a fan of yours ever since!). I had no idea why Gibson was making guitars in Montana until long after they were churning them out and the local dealer AND my father raved about the nice dark sunburst on a new J-200 and proclaimed them to be worthy of God himself to play.

 

Nowadays we know who's the manager, who's in QC, what the lunch room looks like, and if Josephine in the binding scraping department farts or sneezes, we know the serial number of the guitar she was working on so we can fill up four pages on a forum connecting the gaseous or mist expulsion event to whether or not it voids the lifetime warranty.

 

It's a double edged sword. It's similar in some ways to meeting and getting to know a celebrity. Sometimes it's best to just leave them on their pedestal. If you get to know them and find out they're mere mortals and lose the hero worship aspect, things get watered down somehow.

 

I guess my point in all this is that it's okay to have brand loyalty but be careful. If you're happy with their product and service, that's fine, but don't obsess about the inner workings or politics of the company. It can ruin an otherwise mutually beneficial manufacturer/consumer relationship.

[capmaster]

As time goes by, we consumers want to have a closer and closer relationship with the manufacturers. Years ago we were Gibson fans or Fender fans and that was based on a combination of our personal experiences with the brand and also what the company offered for a lineup, be it in the catalog or at mom and pop's store down the street. Company history was largely hearsay or disseminated with those low budget spiral bound books from Hal Leonard or Pumpkin Spice Hippie Press (or wherever). When I got a copy of Julius Bellson' small soft covered book on Gibson history I thought it was the Golden Ticket and when Tom Wheeler came out with American Guitars (or I should say when I bought it in 1984) I thought I had found the New Testament 2.0.

 

I didn't hear about the Fullerton plant shutting down until the loacl Fender dealer told me. Ditto for a Squier (WTH is a Squier?). I didn't learn Gibson had been sold until I went to place an order for parts in either late 1985 or early 86 and found out Henry displayed his middle digit to us repair people who counted on original Gibson parts to repair GIBSON guitars and refused to sell to us anymore (Thanks, Mr. J! I've been a fan of yours ever since!). I had no idea why Gibson was making guitars in Montana until long after they were churning them out and the local dealer AND my father raved about the nice dark sunburst on a new J-200 and proclaimed them to be worthy of God himself to play.

 

Nowadays we know who's the manager, who's in QC, what the lunch room looks like, and if Josephine in the binding scraping department farts or sneezes, we know the serial number of the guitar she was working on so we can fill up four pages on a forum connecting the gaseous or mist expulsion event to whether or not it voids the lifetime warranty.

 

It's a double edged sword. It's similar in some ways to meeting and getting to know a celebrity. Sometimes it's best to just leave them on their pedestal. If you get to know them and find out they're mere mortals and lose the hero worship aspect, things get watered down somehow.

 

I guess my point in all this is that it's okay to have brand loyalty but be careful. If you're happy with their product and service, that's fine, but don't obsess about the inner workings or politics of the company. It can ruin an otherwise mutually beneficial manufacturer/consumer relationship.

The player's and potential buyer's situation basically stayed the same. We try to evaluate what certain gear might allow for by listening to famous musicians who we think we know of what they used for a specific song, part of a song, or sound. The very difference between then and now is probably the huge amount of false or useless informations on the web. Then we heard some rumours, now we can click them, making them seem more factual sometimes. In real life there's still nothing better than trying out for oneselves.

 

Except for quantity, marketing blurbs have stayed about the same, too. When it's about creating and supporting myths, they also work the same now as they did then. Basically independent knowledge bases join the choir of myth preachers as well. Lots of web "informations" on "tonewoods" are lacking any basis. This could be continued for pickups, capacitors, cables and so on. Nothing has changed on principal.

[stein]

I don't expect perfection from a company, and I don't go on like they owe me anything, regardless of guitars or amps or anything else. But On the other hand, I DO care who I buy from and where my money goes.

 

Where it comes to Gibson, the things I LIKE about what they make has not been duplicated, the value is there, and they continue to be made in the USA. So when it comes to Gibson type guitars, it's going to be a Gibson. Not because of blind faith- because what Gibson makes feels like a Gibson, sounds like it, and no one I have found is able to do it better.

 

Fenders, I'l buy/play anything that is good. Lots do Fenderness better than Fender, and I appreciate anything that adheres to "vintage" Fender spec or what I find great about them. For me, sometimes it's Fender, sometimes it isn't, sometimes different parts, but there is a LOT of stuff out there that is true to the Fender sound and high quality based on original Fender stuff.

 

No one been able to do that with Gibson stuff, except Gibson.

[ksdaddy]

^ well spoken! never thought of it that way.

[zigzag]

A lot of things contribute to making a guitar a good fit for an individual, and clinging to one brand for the name doesn't make much sense to me.

[vangoghsear]

True brand loyalty would not allow for experimentation to the degree that I have early on approached guitar buying. However, it is through this experimenting that I find brand loyalty emerging. If I hear of people wanting humbucker guitars or P90s, I steer them to Gibson. They're reliable, assembled with excellent materials, made in USA by an experienced company and I've purchased 4 in 2 years. My LP Studio is my goto right now. I've also got lots of Fenders and would not hesitate to buy another Fender Strat or Tele, if looking for single coil tones.

[charlie brown]

The first electric guitar I ever played, was a 1961 Gibson Les Paul (SG) Jr.

Loved it! The first electric guitar, I ever OWNED, is my 1964 "L" series

Strat! Still have it! First electric 12-string I owned, was a '68 Ric 360.

First Hollowbody electric was my '66 Gretsch Country Gentleman. On, and on!

So, I (Still) tend to favor those brands, I grew up with. Sure, I experiment,

and try out other's. But, I always end up, back where I started. They just

feel "right" and familiar! Plus, for the kind of music I tend to play, most

often, they're perfectly suited!

 

CB