Firebird X's Being Run Over By An Excavator

MLBob

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Yeah
.....except that somehow on the books they can show it's the least loss on their investment in time and materials.
A "write-off".
Maybe they had to be able to prove to auditors it was actually done?

Wonder if they were in some sort of "inventory tax state" bind and this just may be spot-on, Al??

How are you getting through to the GEAR page? My link seems to be perpetually down.

Bob
 

WayToBlue

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Guitar.com reported that Gibson has responded with a statement: “The Firebird X destruction video that surfaced months ago was an isolated batch of Firebird X models built in 2009-2011 which were unsalvageable and damaged with unsafe components. This isolated group of Firebird X models were unable to be donated for any purpose and were destroyed accordingly.

Ralf

Interesting snippet from that same article:

He claimed that the guitars were not repurposed into relic’d instruments or given away to charity because “under Henry, nobody was allowed to do that for the fear of losing their job – that’s firmly ingrained in the company now”.

Not a good look for Gibson.
 

adorshki

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How are you getting through to the GEAR page? My link seems to be perpetually down.
Bob
I just googled Firebird X, that was a return hit, clicked on it.
Maybe a cookies or browser issue for you?
Also I wasn't trying to log in or anything, it worked fine while I was just reading and the next page button worked, but that's all I did.
Just went back now and clicked on the link, still opens up the page for me.
It occurs to me that perhaps a link I post here under one browser (IE11) may not work for somebody else using another browser?
About a year ago I realized if I copied a video in Chrome for example, and tried to paste it here, I couldn't paste it while I was viewing the forum in IE11,.
Maybe a browser update screwed you up?
Have you tried to log off and re-log-in (at the Gear Page)?
 
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Quantum Strummer

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An uncle of mine worked at Fender for awhile in the mid/late 1950s. He said they'd pile up necks that failed QC (pre trussrod installation) and when they filled up a bin or rack or whatever they'd bandsaw the lot of 'em. He managed to save a couple and had 'em mounted on a rec room wall…they were both pretty twisted. :) I think one of my cousins still has 'em.

-Dave-
 

Quantum Strummer

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I can totally understand Gibson's new owners & management looking at all this piled up stuff they want no part of, and particularly don't want in any way representing what their plans for the company are, and deciding to landfill it. In a crappy situation you choose the least crappy option.

-Dave-
 

Westerly Wood

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they are getting a lot of negative feedback however from this video from public.
 

GAD

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Yeah Gibson’s hasn’t been very good at public perception lately.
 

dreadnut

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We have a local luthier who makes high-end violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. My friend's son's bass from there was $30K (He's got a Doctorate in bass.)

So this luthier also builds really high-end bows too, hand carves each one, some go for tens of thousands of dollars. In a local interview he tells how he selects the wood for the bows, hand carves the sticks, and sometimes even after they are strung he said he will break the bow across his knee after playing with it because "it will never be a great bow."
 

Nuuska

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We have a local luthier who makes high-end violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. My friend's son's bass from there was $30K (He's got a Doctorate in bass.)

So this luthier also builds really high-end bows too, hand carves each one, some go for tens of thousands of dollars. In a local interview he tells how he selects the wood for the bows, hand carves the sticks, and sometimes even after they are strung he said he will break the bow across his knee after playing with it because "it will never be a great bow."


Yes - I have a friend, who builds solid-body guitars - like the one I showed last year - and I have ben in his workshop witnessing how he smashes a guitar - good for me - because it did not meet HIS standards. And he laughed about it. No good is no good . . . - simply as that.
 
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richardp69

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Actually, I have a lot of respect for someone with higher standards like that willing to walk away from some profit because his product didn't measure up to his expectations/standards. Good on all such folks.
 

walrus

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We have a local luthier who makes high-end violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. My friend's son's bass from there was $30K (He's got a Doctorate in bass.)

So this luthier also builds really high-end bows too, hand carves each one, some go for tens of thousands of dollars. In a local interview he tells how he selects the wood for the bows, hand carves the sticks, and sometimes even after they are strung he said he will break the bow across his knee after playing with it because "it will never be a great bow."

Yes - I have a friend, who builds solid-body guitars - like the one I showed last year - and I have ben in his workshop witnessing how he smashes a guitar - good for me - because it did not meet HIS standards. And he laughed about it. No good is no good . . . - simply as that.

Actually, I have a lot of respect for someone with higher standards like that willing to walk away from some profit because his product didn't measure up to his expectations/standards. Good on all such folks.

I agree with all of this, but I would not put Gibson in this category of "hand-made" instruments. Historically, their standards have not been that high to begin with. Perhaps their Custom Shop guitars might fit this analogy...

walrus
 

Nuuska

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Here for all these years I've believed "It's the Indian not the arrow" and now you're telling me it's the bow ?!?!
:glee:


I never heard of Indian ( dot - not feather ) playing sitar with bow - but I have been soundman on a gig where sitar was played with "slide" - they had another name for it.
 

adorshki

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I never heard of Indian ( dot - not feather ) playing sitar with bow - but I have been soundman on a gig where sitar was played with "slide" - they had another name for it.
LOL.
Right. Then it'd be a sarangi.
aslam_khan.jpg
 

dreadnut

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I agree with all of this, but I would not put Gibson in this category of "hand-made" instruments. Historically, their standards have not been that high to begin with. Perhaps their Custom Shop guitars might fit this analogy...

walrus

Well walrus, when Gibson was in Kalamazoo, MI their standards were very high. I know someone who worked there, and he said Mastertone banjos that didn't make the cut were ground up and not allowed to leave the factory. Apparently he smuggled one out though...

The 60's and early 70's were good years for Gibsons. What I wouldn't give for a vintage '66 Hummingbird.
 

walrus

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Well walrus, when Gibson was in Kalamazoo, MI their standards were very high. I know someone who worked there, and he said Mastertone banjos that didn't make the cut were ground up and not allowed to leave the factory. Apparently he smuggled one out though...

The 60's and early 70's were good years for Gibsons. What I wouldn't give for a vintage '66 Hummingbird.

Agreed.

walrus
 
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