Gibson guitar under seige (Putin, regular, rating, federal government)
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The company only employes about 500 people but still those are jobs that are needed in this economy. Also from the story the factory is a tourist attraction. How long will it be before Gibson has enough and is made in China with the same wood that the feds are so bent about?
Agreed. We should lower ourselves to China's standards.
Pretty sure that ebony is only used on the fret stock, nothing to do with carrying sound.
It is used because of how hard the wood is.
Actually the type of wood used in the fretboard has a very noticeable effect on a guitar's overall tone. Any experienced guitar player can confirm this. I have two different Fender Stratocasters: one has an ebony fretboard and the other is maple -aside from that they are identical. The Strat with the ebony fretboard has a darker, rounder tone whereas the maple Strat has an edgy, twangy sound. I've noticed this same basic tonal difference in other guitars with the same neck woods.
A local dealer who been selling Gibsons for 25 years quit a few years ago . he says they are hard to work with at the corporate level, he believes the Baldwin Piano company calls the shots for Gibson?
he thinks quality has gone down , Maybe its Baldwin who needs all that ebony.
Its too competitive today to just sell guitars for a company.
The way I see it is that Gibson will get sick of the raids and 500 people will be out of work over some wood. China would gladly welcome Gibson over with open arms and will not care where Gibson gets their wood.
Not knowing anything about guitars I would guess maybe that wood is special on how it carries sound. Who knows? I do know by regulating and harassing U S employers is not a good idea in a global economy and being in a recession.
The wood in question comes from threatened Plant/ Tree species protected by an International treaty known as C.I.T.I.E.S. CITES - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
BTW Gibson will price themselves out of the US market eventually. Their Epiphone brand is generally made rather poorly.
I own or have owned over a dozen Gibsons and still own Charvels, Fenders, Ibanez and BC Rich's. Gibson originally relocated to Tennessee from Michigan to avoid it's Union.
So it wouldnt be a surprise if they could make it for cheaper they would.
Actually the type of wood used in the fretboard has a very noticeable effect on a guitar's overall tone. Any experienced guitar player can confirm this. I have two different Fender Stratocasters: one has an ebony fretboard and the other is maple -aside from that they are identical. The Strat with the ebony fretboard has a darker, rounder tone whereas the maple Strat has an edgy, twangy sound. I've noticed this same basic tonal difference in other guitars with the same neck woods.
The same could be said of strats made the same day from the same specs. Even the American Deluxe series that I had with a rosewood neck felt and sounded different from the 4 or 5 I've played that were supposedley the same.
A local dealer who been selling Gibsons for 25 years quit a few years ago . he says they are hard to work with at the corporate level, he believes the Baldwin Piano company calls the shots for Gibson?
he thinks quality has gone down , Maybe its Baldwin who needs all that ebony.
Its too competitive today to just sell guitars for a company.
Pianos certainly use ebony for all those black keys. However, they stopped using ivory for the white keys some time ago. The new plastic white keys just do not have the same weighted feel of ivory. I prefer Yamaha over Baldwin.
The same could be said of strats made the same day from the same specs. Even the American Deluxe series that I had with a rosewood neck felt and sounded different from the 4 or 5 I've played that were supposedley the same.
That's why I added the last sentence in my previous post. Irrespective of the body they're bolted to ebony necks always sound darker whereas maple necks always emphasize the treble end of the spectrum. I'm an obsessive tweaker who has owned and customized dozens of guitars (often swapping necks) and I've never found an exception to this rule. Besides, I know that the two Strats I referenced are absolutely identical because I built them myself. I ordered one-piece hardtail bodies made of the same wood (alder) from the same source (Pacific Northwest) with the same paint job (nitrocellulose cream) from the same manufacturer. I then installed the same exact aftermarket electronics (Chandler Super 60's) with the same exact hardware. I even experimented with swapping the necks back and forth to see if there was some inherent tonal difference between the two bodies, but no -regardless of the body in question it sounded twangy with the maple neck and dark with the ebony neck.
I've noticed this same difference with Telecasters as well. Its no coincidence that all of the country players I know prefer maple necks -they know where the twang comes from.
I would expect that Gibson is doing everything they can do legal or other wise to compete with China. I have had more than one American luthier tell me he can't compete with the same price and quality of some of guitars out of China.
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