Gibson's acoustic guitars have been a mess for at least 10 years now. I know, some here have gotten good ones, but they shipped way too many defective ones out to the stores. At one store, I pointed out three really obvious defects on a brand new Songwriter to the manager; he said "Yeah, I'm gonna have to talk to the supplier about that."
Talk to the supplier? If it were me, that guitar would have been shipped straight back to the supplier with a note like "Don't send me any more crap like this."
The problem is, Gibson's acoustic manufacturing culture somehow deteriorated to allow these guitars to move on down the manufacturing line (where the defects were produced,) through final QC (you can't inspect quality into a product) and off to shipping. All with high pressure from the corporate muckity-mucks to meet production numbers and ship product. Having spent my career in Manufacturing and QC, I know how it works
Take a brand new Martin, Collings or Taylor, and try to find even the slightest defect. The Gibson name is still iconic, but they'd need a complete re-birth to compete in the American-made acoustic market again.
Talk to the supplier? If it were me, that guitar would have been shipped straight back to the supplier with a note like "Don't send me any more crap like this."
The problem is, Gibson's acoustic manufacturing culture somehow deteriorated to allow these guitars to move on down the manufacturing line (where the defects were produced,) through final QC (you can't inspect quality into a product) and off to shipping. All with high pressure from the corporate muckity-mucks to meet production numbers and ship product. Having spent my career in Manufacturing and QC, I know how it works
Take a brand new Martin, Collings or Taylor, and try to find even the slightest defect. The Gibson name is still iconic, but they'd need a complete re-birth to compete in the American-made acoustic market again.