Gibson insists this isn’t the final axe
Guitar maker sees a more hopeful future with bankruptcy protection
Gibson guitars have been such a fixture in music history that Chuck Berry was laid to rest with his, B.B. King affectionately named his “Lucille,” and Eric Clapton borrowed one from George Harrison to play the solo on the Beatles’ While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
The maker of the iconic instrument, a constant across generations of music making, filed for bankruptcy protection this week after wrestling for years with debt.
The decision came with an assurance from Gibson that it is refocusing on its specialty, musical instruments, and moving away from its debt-plagued push to sell home electronics.
In the hands of musicians from Jimmy Page to Duane Allman and Slash, Gibson’s electric guitars have been a foundational element of blues and rock.
“It’s hard to name any guitar players who play electric or steel-string acoustics who don’t own a Gibson,” said George Gruhn of Gruhn Guitars, a world-famous vintage instrument store in Nashville, Tenn.
Gibson, founded in 1894, has the top market share in premium electric guitars. It sells more than 170,000 guitars a year in more than 80 countries, including more than 40 per cent of all electric guitars that cost more than $2,000, its bankruptcy filing says.
The pre-negotiated reorganization plan will allow Gibson Brands Inc. to continue operations with $135 million in financing from lenders.
Gruhn, an expert on guitars of all kinds, said the company’s bankruptcy was predictable after it expanded into the home electronics business. But he noted that doesn’t mean the Gibson brand will simply fade away.
“The brand name and company ’s reputation for making guitars is tarnished, but not dead by any means, and it’s very much capable of being resuscitated,” Gruhn said.
The brand name and company’s reputation for making guitars is tarnished, but not dead by any means.