Sgt. Pepper Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 Just now, Larsongs said: I thought his heyday was done... I think he’s still their brand ambassador. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted February 17 Share Posted February 17 (edited) On 2/10/2024 at 8:57 PM, jvi said: wasnt it a guy named Henry that bought a dying company for 5 mil and made it productive again ? made some great guitars happen as well, no sticky necks when he ran the place,..got the AJ going as well... If that man was so great, why is he not there anymore? Well, here’s why, cause he got the boot after many poor business decisions, overextending himself, and buying way too many other businesses, instead of focusing just on Gibson, and the piece de resistance, he almost bankrupting the company. And I’m sure when he was booted. He was retained as some kind of advisor and probably still paid millions for a few years after. Edited February 17 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 (edited) Anyway..back to ‘luxury brand’ biz.... I just played my 1993 Lowden S35 and even at 31years of age, THAT is a luxury brand guitar. Lowden. Wow! They work on the various elements until they are absolutely ..PERFECT. FLAWLESS......amazing. Quality control at 100% perfect! Small factory in Ireland producing stunning guitars. Whether you like them is not the point here. Gibson, Martin, Taylor, Guild etc..are FACTORY BUILD guitars with varying quality control.......they must allow for a certain percentage of real duds to get through the system. The forums are full of faults and complaints......all build areas! BluesKing777. Edited February 18 by BluesKing777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 (edited) 7 minutes ago, BluesKing777 said: Anyway..back to ‘luxury brand’ biz.... I just played my 1993 Lowden S35 and even at 31years of age, THAT is a luxury brand guitar. Lowden. Wow! They work on the various elements until they are absolutely ..PERFECT. FLAWLESS......amazing. Quality control at 100% perfect! Small factory in Ireland producing stunning guitars. Whether you like them is not the point here. Gibson, Martin, Taylor, Guild etc..are FACTORY BUILD guitars with varying quality control.......they must allow for a certain percentage of real duds to get through the system. The forums are full of faults and complaints......all build areas! BluesKing777. Mercedes Benz is a luxury brand.. And they have their share of duds. I know from experience.. IMO, Price point has a lot to do with what is considered “Luxury”….. Whether it is or or isn’t… Your Guitar would be considered the Pinnacle of Luxury Luthier-ship! Edited February 18 by Larsongs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 (edited) 41 minutes ago, Larsongs said: Mercedes Benz is a luxury brand.. And they have their share of duds. I know from experience.. IMO, Price point has a lot to do with what is considered “Luxury”….. Whether it is or or isn’t… Your Guitar would be considered the Pinnacle of Luxury Luthier-ship! Well, I have 2 old BMWs, luxury brand but not much to buy older ones - coz the parts cost more than buying the car! But I have narrowed down to my fave mechanic, who loves my old E30. ......which in the 80s was ‘quote car mags’ - the first ‘small car luxury brand built by robots’! But a heater that...worked! Air con worked! 4 wheel disc brakes that made that Ford behind lay rubber! People use to yell rude things at me 25 years ago but now all the old dudes stare at us with their mouth hanging down! Paint still looks incredible. Looked after it the way I look after guitars - do stuff as needed but not too much! No rust because they galvoed the whole thing - my poor last Ford went off dripping rust on the back of a truck after I payed to get it taken! So, Lowden....apart from build quality, the work they put into their finish is just insane. It is shot with gloss and rubbed back so many times until it is a strange guitar with a very ethereal ‘gloss but matt’ thing going on! P.S. found my 1993 Lowden S35 at a pawn shop! What moron sold it, I know not! BluesKing777. Edited February 18 by BluesKing777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62burst Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 1 hour ago, BluesKing777 said: What moron sold it, I know not! BluesKing777. +1. Haven't we all been one of those morons before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 (edited) Well, BK777 awaits like a spider - drop your gear to the pawn shop! 😬 See how fast I move if it is anything good! Then beg my luthier to fix it for me. But not my Lowden S35 - had a K&K Trinity put in, that is all. OK, finishes and you get what you pay for.....my Martin, Gibson, Maton etc gloss feels like a cross between glass and plastic? My Lowdens feel like..........and look like....skin! Get a chance to hold a Lowden for a look, if you can. Clever stuff and kudos where kudos are due, eh? I’m thinking the Gibson Murphy Lab finish is feeling a bit like the Lowden ‘feel’. I would have to try the natural finish model to know but ...haven’t yet. P.S. Googled the Lowden finish - this is what I got: "The Lowden finish system is different in two ways at least from the more comonly used satin finish on other guitars: 1) Other satin finishes are usually achieved by spraying one or two coats of lacquer which contain a % of matting agent mixed into the gloss base lacquer, thus satin lacquer in the tin has a 'milky' appearance. Once dry, the satin coat is not touched or rubbed down in any way. After a time this usually does go glossy, as with contact it is more or less 'buffed' to a gloss. Lowden differs in that satin lacquer is used all the way through the spray coats, not only the top coats. 2) The final coat on a Lowden is rubbed down with very fine wet or dry paper used wet and then steel wooled in 'tramlines' by hand. The finish then looks great and feels very smooth. This adds to the depth of the satin effect, thus resisting the effects of use much longer. On a non rubbed finish the matting effect is achieved by the sprayed lacquer but the hand rubbed matting is reached by, in effect, creating very fine straight line scratches in the surface of the finish." BluesKing777. Edited February 18 by BluesKing777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 (edited) I don't know about the term 'luxury' - that brings me thoughts of either luxuriousness (which I wouldn't personally attribute to guitars) or something in excess of basic requirements (which I guess a guitar is, but that's unlikely to be what the question refers to). I'd say maybe a Gibson is aspirational for many players - particularly those who play acoustic or semi/hollow electric where it is a producer of quality instruments, and/or those who want to own the same type of guitar as someone they admire where their electrics have a great history among rock guitarists, or...even just to show off. It's not universal though - my band's lead guitarist, for example, is an Ibanez player and their instruments do the things he wants and are quite different to most Gibson's which he might see as old fashioned and low tech... which is just what people like myself might see as being among Gibson's assets ...So I think I'd vote for something like aspirational rather than luxury when it comes to Gibson - but we's all different when it comes to thoughts. Edited February 18 by 'Scales 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 11 hours ago, BluesKing777 said: Lowden I thought they made cough drops... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 2 hours ago, Murph said: I thought they made cough drops... Oohhhh, luxury high quality cough drops!😬 BluesKing777. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 17 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said: I had just gotten stationed in Great Lakes for ‘A’ school, and you could not escape the song Sweet Child O Mine it was always on. Basic Electricity & Electronics ?? Squeeked through. "Sitting on the Dock of The Bay" was the signature song when I was there. And that headache maker - "Hey Jude". Nah, nah, nah nahnanana.......Weekends drinking non-luxury beer in Kenosha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 1 hour ago, fortyearspickn said: Basic Electricity & Electronics ?? Squeeked through. "Sitting on the Dock of The Bay" was the signature song when I was there. And that headache maker - "Hey Jude". Nah, nah, nah nahnanana.......Weekends drinking non-luxury beer in Kenosha. BEE kicked my butt. I was originally going to be an electronics technician, but I failed out of that school and went to EM school. Thank God I did cause I don’t play dungeons and dragons. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 (edited) Richard Thompson plays Lowden’s, but what does he know about guitars? Oh, wait he’s one of the best players still alive today. I think he’s playing on in the video. Looks like Suzanne Vega and Loudon Wainwright III are sitting next to him on stage. Edited February 18 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 5 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said: Richard Thompson plays Lowden’s, Let me make a list of people who play Gibsons. Never mind. That would take a month and use too much space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 (edited) 36 minutes ago, Murph said: Let me make a list of people who play Gibsons. Never mind. That would take a month and use too much space. Sorry one of the best players ever doesn’t play your brand. I’m sure he has the ways and means to get one if he wanted one. Maybe you should make a list of who doesn’t play Gibsons that might be shorter, huh? Nope Edited February 18 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Anyway, the crux of the matter is.... We don't want Gibson to become a luxury brand - we want them to be...cheap! 😬 Like my old ones... BluesKing777. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 (edited) Hope my family doesn't find out I have a few Gibsons. They ain't aikin to any hoity-toity attitude. Edited February 19 by Dave F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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