Why New Bands Don't Play Gibson Guitars

[Foggy72]

I have noticed in the last few years that I'm seeing an awful lot of Fender strats in current bands, and footage from festivals. Not very much Gibson product at all. It seems Fender is winning the war. One obvious reason is cost - Gibson being much more expensive. But I also think there's some kind of cultural thing going on. An "old" versus "young" bias against Gibson.

 

[jb_abides]

Wise Man Say: Age and Guile Beat Youth, Innocence, and a Bad Haircut.

It's not a war... It's a process.

 

[Hemi]

Well lets see.
Dirty Honey
Greta van fleet
Three days grace
Social Distortion
Dead Daisies
Marcus King Band
Anyone else?

 

[Bob Womack]

You know guys, the guitar world goes through style periods, fads. For a few years you can't sell a Fender. Then for a few years you can't sell a Gibson. It goes 'round and 'round. Don't get rid of your favorite stuff because one day a kid will offer you $4000 for the guitar you paid $400 for. More HERE.

Bob

 

[J.D.]

It's the '80s all over again

 

[Nifty]

I can think of two reasons. Cost and access.

Twenty years ago you could buy a Gibson in a few local shops. But at some point they got cut off when Guitar Center arrived. My first LP I bought at one of those local shops. I'd rather shop locally than at GC any day, but with that being the only place that sells Gibson I have to digest that. There is a difference when you go in there vs GC. Guitar center keeps the LPs 30 feet up the wall and no one can get to them. The local shop keeps all they stuff within reach. I see more serious musicians there. And at GC? A bunch of dudes who don't have money and just go sit and play their shred BS for 20 minutes.

Cost is just ridiculous. I like LPs like anyone, but good night I have issue with the price tag on some of them.

My last purchase at GC was a LP Classic. New, 1,700 a little over a year ago. Now they are over 2k.

 

[Iguana]

Don’t forget, the Les Paul’s popularity was fading before Slash came along and made it cool again. I too believe that price is a factor. As a general rule, people don’t get that it takes more labor to build a Les Paul or an ES-335 than it does to build a Strat or Tele.

 

[jrgtr42]

I think part is the trends in music the past few years. I've been getting Premier Guitar magazine for years, and routinely flip with Vintage Guitar. Yeah, there's a lot of people playing Fenders, partly because they're cheap, and partly because of who else has played them in the past.
Besides that, the players of more heavy music go other ways. There are quite a few SGs involved, but mostly ESP and smaller brands like Mayones, Caparison and so on.

 

[jb_abides]

Yeah, things would look more like parity if you counted all the Gibson design derivatives of various manufacture... although offset by super Strats and the like.

Plus, PRS created what constitutes a new genre i.e. the hybrid. And their Number 3 standing takes many a customer away from the Big 2.

 

[Pat Boyack]

It's all based on musical trends and to a degree, cost. Right now Smokey the Bear hats and Roots based music are popular and Fender style guitars are generally used. But I will say I do see an uptick in interest in ES-335 guitars.

 

[RocknRollShakeUp]

Slash Jr. will eventually come along and make them cool again.

 

[El Gringo]

It's the '80s all over again

I keep thinking it's the 70's all over again along with the latest fashions in everything .

 

[El Gringo]

Yeah, things would look more like parity if you counted all the Gibson design derivatives of various manufacture... although offset by super Strats and the like.

Plus, PRS created what constitutes a new genre i.e. the hybrid. And their Number 3 standing takes many a customer away from the Big 2.

Could not have said it any better

 

[NIckS]

There are a lot of things that run in a 20 year cycle. It's just that a new generation has to rediscover what's old and make it new again.

 

[Hayduke]

When I was a teenager, a local shop had a bunch of Made in Japan Epiphones. At that time they used the Gibson open book headstock. All the local guitar dudes had those guitars. There weren't a lot of Fenders/Squiers floating around, and I remember seeing zero Epiphones with the "normal" headstock.

Small sample size, I know, but we all thought those guitars were cool. Desirable. And they were. And speaking for myself and two other guys from that same time and place, we all went on to become Gibson freaks. One of those guys has probably 30 Gibsons.

Call me vain, but I think if Epiphone were to adopt that headstock, they'd sell more guitars, and they'd be a gateway drug to Gibson. Right now it's a lot easier for a teenager to get their hands on a really good squier that looks really cool for only a couple hundred bucks. That's one small way in which Fender wins the "war."

 

[El Gringo]

When I was a teenager, a local shop had a bunch of Made in Japan Epiphones. At that time they used the Gibson open book headstock. All the local guitar dudes had those guitars. There weren't a lot of Fenders/Squiers floating around, and I remember seeing zero Epiphones with the "normal" headstock.

Small sample size, I know, but we all thought those guitars were cool. Desirable. And they were. And speaking for myself and two other guys from that same time and place, we all went on to become Gibson freaks. One of those guys has probably 30 Gibsons.

Call me vain, but I think if Epiphone were to adopt that headstock, they'd sell more guitars, and they'd be a gateway drug to Gibson. Right now it's a lot easier for a teenager to get their hands on a really good squier that looks really cool for only a couple hundred bucks. That's one small way in which Fender wins the "war."

FYI ,Epiphone is owned by GIBSON .

 

[jb_abides]

When I was a teenager, a local shop had a bunch of Made in Japan Epiphones. At that time they used the Gibson open book headstock. All the local guitar dudes had those guitars. There weren't a lot of Fenders/Squiers floating around, and I remember seeing zero Epiphones with the "normal" headstock.

Not a total derail (but a diversion) relevant to your post: See link here.

=> Back in September 2019, Gibson CMO Cesar Gueikian posted a photo that included a bunch of vintage parts and templates on Instagram; three of them were templates of Epiphone’s “Kalamazoo” headstock, which looks like a variant of the much-coveted headstock Gibson use on the Les Paul, SG, the ES series, and on their acoustic guitars. A user nicknamed “cwwoodhead” commented that Gibson should bring this headstock back to the entire Epiphone range, and Mr Gueikian responded “it’s coming”.​

​

Goes on to discuss the various styles and opines.

More on Kalamazoo here.

...good reads.

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​

 

[Hayduke]

FYI ,Epiphone is owned by GIBSON .

That's my point. If Epiphone looked more like Gibson, they'd sell more Epiphones. And thus, in time, more Gibsons. Instead, people looking for a sub $1000 instrument end up with Fenders and Squiers, and that can lead to a lifetime of product loyalty.

 

[El Gringo]

That's my point. If Epiphone looked more like Gibson, they'd sell more Epiphones. And thus, in time, more Gibsons. Instead, people looking for a sub $1000 instrument end up with Fenders and Squiers, and that can lead to a lifetime of product loyalty.

Disagree strongly . There has to be a "tell" between one model instrument and the next .

 

[roxrob]

I've been playing in various bands since 1976 and I have Fenders, Gibsons and Epiphones, and for what its worth, I find the Fenders are MUCH more percussive instruments and lend themselves to a lot of the current music styles which tend to be more melody focused and not much soloing.....Dont get me wrong, I use my Les Pauls for percussive stuff as well, it's amazing what you can do with two handed damping, but I do prefer a Fender, either my Strat or my Squier Tele for some stuff.

Regards

Rob