shartom Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Dropped into my favourite music store this afternoon, They had just received a shipment of Gibsons. Couldn't believe the prices. ES 335 going for $2200 CDN. LP Standards going for $2500. One of the sales persons tpld me that they were "B" istruments. They all had minor flaws. I couldn't spot the flaws. These guitars are all seconds, About a year ago I read an article in Time magazine about the new CEO of Gibson. In the interview he made it very clear that Gibson would no longer ship seconds. Interesting. In fact, he said that at the end of each week, those guitars would be piled up and set on fire. I guess he is planning on becoming a politician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoobiepatrol Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 I don't think I've ever seen a Gibson second anywhere, it just seems like bad business to release those to authorized dealers. Considering how much of a markup they charge just for the name on the headstock, I would think that they'd be more mindful of how the community views thier production standards. Then again, Gibson has been doing a few things lately that have been steadily decreasing my interest in supporting their business. Were they stamped 2nd? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 The only Gibson 2nd's I've ever seen, were really old "Vintage" ones, now and then, in Vintage Guitar shops, etc. and those were said to have been originally sold to Gibson employees, or family members, at a decent discount. I don't remember EVER seeing a new one, in a dealer's store. I can't see any need, for Gibson to do that! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesstringer Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 The only Gibson 2nd's I've ever seen' date=' were really old "Vintage" ones, now and then, inVintage Guitar shops, etc. and those were said to have been originally sold to Gibson employees, or family members, at a decent discount. I don't remember EVER seeing a new one, in a dealer's store. I can't see any need, for Gibson to do that! CB[/quote'] Back in the early 70's, you could get them from stores, CB. I bought a couple back then from the Washington Music Center in D.C. An ES-175TDC and a 335. I haven't seen but a couple since then and know that the practice of releasing seconds has long since stopped. These were stamped on the top back of the headstocks. They were fairly common in this area in the 70s. Od course they were alot less expensive then. I think I paid $500.00 for the 335 and something like $375 for the 175TDC. Bother were perfect, I never could find a flaw. I would love to see them release them again. Burn them- - blasphemous ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
layboomo Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Back in the early 70's' date=' you could get them from stores, CB. I bought a couple back then from the Washington Music Center in D.C. An ES-175TDC and a 335. I haven't seen but a couple since then and know that the practice of releasing seconds has long since stopped. These were stamped on the top back of the headstocks. They were fairly common in this area in the 70s. Od course they were alot less expensive then. I think I paid $500.00 for the 335 and something like $375 for the 175TDC. Bother were perfect, I never could find a flaw. I would love to see them release them again. Burn them- - blasphemous ![/quote'] Yup had a couple myself with a big old 2 stamped on the back of the headstock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RotcanX Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Dropped into my favourite music store this afternoon' date=' They had just received a shipment of Gibsons. Couldn't believe the prices. ES 335 going for $2200 CDN. LP Standards going for $2500. One of the sales persons tpld me that they were "B" istruments. They all had minor flaws. I couldn't spot the flaws. These guitars are all seconds,About a year ago I read an article in Time magazine about the new CEO of Gibson. In the interview he made it very clear that Gibson would no longer ship seconds. Interesting. In fact, he said that at the end of each week, those guitars would be piled up and set on fire. I guess he is planning on becoming a politician.[/quote'] Ummm... what you are failing to understand is that Gibson does not sell guitars in Canada. Yorkville Sound is the Canadian distributor, and they are the ones that make the decision to sell 'B stock' guitars on the Canadian market. These are NOT factory seconds; these are guitars that usually have been damaged in shipping or that have other problems which have been fixed by Yorkville. They offer these guitars to the music stores who are free to make the decision to buy them or not. We do a 'Gibson/Epiphone' event at least once a year where we get in a bunch of these guitars for two weeks; whatever we don't sell goes back to Yorkville. So far, our customers have been very positive about these events. I myself bought an Elitist ES-335 that had been milled due to uneven frets and ended up costing me 25% less as a result. So don't go getting your nuts in a twist about the Gibson CEO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Back in the early 70's' date=' you could get them from stores, CB. I bought a couple back then from the Washington Music Center in D.C. An ES-175TDC and a 335. I haven't seen but a couple since then and know that the practice of releasing seconds has long since stopped. These were stamped on the top back of the headstocks. They were fairly common in this area in the 70s. Od course they were alot less expensive then. I think I paid $500.00 for the 335 and something like $375 for the 175TDC. Bother were perfect, I never could find a flaw. I would love to see them release them again. Burn them- - blasphemous ![/quote'] Well sir, I learn something every day! Cool! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shartom Posted June 19, 2008 Author Share Posted June 19, 2008 I kind of figured that out this afternoon. I know Yorkville is the Canadian distributer. The music store had a sign out front advertising Gibson Days, June 21 through 28. I played a 335 and an an ES 175, Except for a couple of strings pinging when being tuned, they appeared to be a great value. I bought a Gibson LP Studio from the same store two weeks ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RotcanX Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 We'll be doing the same thing the second week of July. Probably whatever the Kingston guy doesn't sell will end up here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Zeplin Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Long and McQuade in Markham ON always has a few. FYI. They also have an Elitist SG there right now, I hear they are hard to find and quite good. About $800-900 if I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricochet Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 I myself bought an Elitist ES-335 that had been milled due to uneven frets and ended up costing me 25% less as a result. Rotcan...you lucky son.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RotcanX Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 Rotcan...you lucky son.... Oh yeah I jumped all over that sum*****. I can't say what my final cost was on it but it was, shall we say, very reasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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