Back to the Future

Editor Jamie Dickson says evolution, not revolution, is the future for Gibson

“Throughout the furore of the past few months, Gibson’s Memphisbuilt semi-acoustic guitars have remained widely respected by players. There’s probably a lesson there for Gibson USA, the division in charge of building the core-line solidbodies. First, none of Gibson’s semis was fitted with the opiniondividing G Force automatic tuners as standard nor any other radical bells and whistles – they relied mainly on being well-executed examples of what people wanted and expected. Ultimately, the adage: ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ was not forgotten in Memphis and they profited by it. Gibson USA’s recent ideas regarding innovation have taken the form of headlinegrabbing tech – from robot tuners to onboard effects – that worked well enough but often seemed like a 60s vision of futurity, in which built-in automation solved the musician’s every ‘problem’. But in 2018, most players like their tech to remain outboard while the role of the guitar is to be the tactile, toneful heart of their rig. Likewise, in his interview, Henry Juszkiewicz challenged us to find an inexpensive Gibson anywhere in the company’s history. Well, if recent history counts, that’s not too hard: GAK’s website shows the unorthodox Gibson USA Firebird Zero is currently to be had for a street price of £449, while the Epiphone Joe Bonamassa Firebird I will set you back rather more at £539. So the planned rationalisation of Gibson’s range seems shrewd. More widely, a process of thoughtful evolution with deep respect for heritage seems the way forward. For the moment though, it’s heartening that the core guitarmaking business is strong: a legacy Henry can be proud to leave.”