Never heard of Gibson

[merciful-evans]

Yesterday my son turned up with a guitar that was given to him. He wants to start learning now at 36 years of age.

 

Its an old Stagg acoustic that had been kept in a shed for several years. The strings were dead & a little rusty. We cleaned it up and I polished the frets (they are brass coloured?!). We put new strings on and I showed him the chords to an Oasis tune he likes (cant recall title now).

 

While talking it transpired that has never heard of Gibson.

He has heard of Fender, possibly because I played one for so long. This included his childhood.

 

Its a harsh reminder that the public are likely to be very unaware of stuff we take for granted. Brands and models included.

 

 

I was extremely surprised at how pleasant the Stagg sounded. Its quite loud also. The lining and struts appear to be properly glued inside and there are no visible splits in the body. We'll see how he gets on.

[capmaster]

I'm glad to hear about your nice surprise at the old Stagg guitar.

 

Unawareness of instrument brand and model names among non-players comes as no surprise to me. Some brands also make other products like Yamaha that sell a wide variety of musical instruments and musical electronics but motorcycles, too, or Sennheiser that offers professional and consumer audio as well, so they are known to a lot more people. However, all of my experiences say that merely musicians' brands are no household names.

 

Most people I met knew Stratocaster and Les Paul shapes, some remembered the look of Telecaster and SG, but very few knew about model names or manufacturers.

 

On the other hand, when about me, if you put a row of different Gibson acoustic models in front of me, I wouldn't recognize them. I'd rather keep quiet than risk to change a J-15 and a J-45 by mistake.

[Larsongs]

Like to see pics of the Stagg. I recognize most Guitars but Not sure I've seen one of those though.

 

Thanks,

 

Lars

[merciful-evans]

Like to see pics of the Stagg. I recognize most Guitars but Not sure I've seen one of those though.

 

Thanks,

 

Lars

 

Ok, I can ask him for pics. :)

 

Obviously anything Stagg is very cheap.

The surprising things were the blue body varnish and the synthetic (pretty sure) fingerboard.

[merciful-evans]

 

 

On the other hand, when about me, if you put a row of different Gibson acoustic models in front of me, I wouldn't recognize them. I'd rather keep quiet than risk to change a J-15 and a J-45 by mistake.

 

I would be EXACTLY the same Cap!

[MichaelT]

I would be EXACTLY the same Cap!

 

Me too. I'd know a Hummingbird if I saw it but the other acoustics, not so much. My kids know all about Gibsons, after seeing mine over the years. I actually bought the white Flying V for my oldest son and he plays it some but he said he'd rather have a black Fender Strat with white pickguard. I was surprised that he knew what it was, since we were always a Gibson household. I got him a Squier Strat to start with and I've been showing him that he can get a real Strat for about $800.00 used all day long. We saw a real deep red, almost black Strat the other day with a white pickguard. He started drooling a little over it. I told him it's $799.00 and that's about what a used one goes for. So, he has incentive to save money. My kids can tell you what a Gibson Flying V, Les Paul and SG are. They can't differentiate between the different models and nuances but they know Gibson, Fender, Marshall and Randall pretty well, after seeing them and hearing them since they've been born and they're 19 and 15 now.

[AngelDeVille]

Kids these days with their fancy Kalamazoo's and Airline guitars!

 

I blame jazz music!

[merciful-evans]

finally the pix

 

 

 

BTW

He is figuring out strumming now.

 

BTW the tune is 'Talk Tonight'

[theflyingturtle]

It is a harsh truth that outside of forums like these, guitars are not important in most people's lives. They don't know, they don't care, and they're not interested in finding out. Sometimes I wonder if we, I mean the collective guitar-obsessed nerds, just come off as a guy at a party that wants to tell you about how exciting his fishing lure collection is. "But honey, it's a Klon!!!" Sigh.

[merciful-evans]

Well, the first reaction is usually "poor sucker just starting out doesnt know anything.'

 

But what he/she does know is that they feel the desire to make some music. Thats where we all started. Do we all feel the same way? I hope so.

['Scales]

We have at least 5 guitars on display in this house all the time and if I asked my wife to name the brands she would look blankly at me.

 

Then again, in my kitchen there is stove, fridge, microwave and dishwasher that I use or walk past many times everyday....and sitting here in my bedroom I couldn't tell you what brand any of them are either.

[MichaelT]

We have at least 5 guitars on display in this house all the time and if I asked my wife to name the brands she would look blankly at me.

 

Then again, in my kitchen there is stove, fridge, microwave and dishwasher that I use or walk past many times everyday....and sitting here in my bedroom I couldn't tell you what brand any of them are either.

 

I'm very proud of my wife. She can tell the difference between Gibson and Epiphone, knows some of the differences. She knows the difference between a Les Paul, Flying V, and SG. She knows the difference between Fender and Gibson, Fender and Squier and the difference between a Strat and Tele. She recognizes a Paul Reed Smith by seeing them from when I went through and played a LOT of them.

 

She tends to gravitate towards ones with a wood finish or "pretty" guitars, regardless of the brand or whether it's a guitar or bass. She said the other day that it's a shame that some guitars have a really pretty wood back and don't show it on the front.

 

She knows the difference between Marshall, Randall and Fender amps, because that's what she's heard me play at home and in stores. She can tell you the difference in look between a single coil, humbucker, mini humbucker and P90 pickups, though not the different varieties or brands of them. She does recognize the difference in sound.

 

It's nice that she's taken interest and has taken the time to learn some things. Most of our major appliances were researched and purchased together, so I can probably recite the brand names, but not the model number. I'm not sure that she could either.

[OldCowboy]

I've had both kinds of experiences with people recognizing guitar brands. Up here, so close to the nest, just about all the folks know about Gibson and tend to comment favorably (as in "Hey! That's a Gibson!") when they see you playing one, no matter whether they play or not. Fewer people take note of Martins, though, unless they're players who can't afford one or bluegrassers who likely own one and sleep with it regularly😄 Rural people, for the most part, don't seem much aware of Guild. More than once, I've had someone squint at the headstock logo and ask if it's pronounced "Geed". Texas seems to be Gibson territory, and I've not met many who didn't almost expect to see a Gibson or two in my home if they knew I played. This whole thing with guitar recognition fascinates me. The parallel with breeds of horses is very close to all this, but that's a whole 'nother topic, and probably best left alone for now😂

[MichaelT]

This whole thing with guitar recognition fascinates me. The parallel with breeds of horses is very close to all this, but that's a whole 'nother topic, and probably best left alone for now😂

 

My sister and I have been around horses all our lives and she has horses at her house and could probably tell you all about them. She knows Gibson by name but usually calls my Gibson Flying V "that crazy looking geetar." She was surprised I still have it after all these years.