Gibson Corporation For Sale (Again)

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rsm said:
I agree with @shar-vell Dan - as boomers going to the afterlife accelerates there will be many gear collections hitting the market. That supply is going to drive prices down.

Brands like Gibson, Fender maybe PRS and Rickenbacker, Marshall, Mesa, and many more, are going to see their new products competing with their own used and vintage products on a much larger scale.

For example, I have around 30 guitars, I'd be surprised if more than 5 stayed in the family after my passing; same for my organs, synths, amps, etc.
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Great point, not to mention the fact that a completely new era of guitar players are more likely using Kiesels, Strandbergs, and strictly digital amplifiers.
 
Phuk Gibson. As a Mesa-fanboy it gave me already headaches when hearing, they are going to buy Mesa.
Mesa, under Randall, was a well led company able to maneuver the ups and downs of the economy. Now, their fate is tied to Gibson.

If Chinese investors step in, the „pre-Gibson“ selling term will become „pre-Chibson“
 
All the big makers are in for a heart check the next few years. You can't make a thirty different les pauls and fifty different stratocasters and remain viable when your target market is buying coffins, gravestones, and places to get buried.
 
shar-vell Dan said:


Ive had many Gibsons but this 1997 68' CS LPC is the only Gibson ive ever wanted. I can retire a happy man whenever that may be.
As the Boomers retire & die off the era of the "Guitar Hero" fanbase dies too. Not good for the Gibson brand.
Not to mention they have been releasing $30K [each] Murphy aged "Brazilian" models last several years relegating the blue collar
- working man to $1300 MIC epiphones which are at best $300 guitars.
It kinda reminds me of when the flannel guys destroyed hairbands because they all got too jacked up on themselves.

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https://wildwoodguitars.com/product...lab-aging-brazilian-rosewood-21/?cat_id=21991

My bad they're only $20K. In that case i'll take 2 / carry on.:loco: And good luck taking that guitar anywhere unless you have a US Fish & Game permit.
 
Jimty said:
Gibson was bought by KKR back in late 2018. I don’t know which of their funds made the purchase, but private equity funds usually have a 10 year lifespan (sometimes with a 2 year extension option). During that time the PE house has a period during which to invest their investors’ money (e.g. buy companies) and a period during which to turn them around (i.e. mash them together with other companies / sell bits off / shut bits down / start up new business lines, etc) to make them more valuable, before having to sell them on so that they can send money back to their investors and wind up the fund at the end of its lifecycle. Big managers like KKR will have multiple funds “on the go” at any time.

Before selling, the PE house has to decide whether to sell a company or, if they think they can make a business even more valuable, flip it into another of their funds and continue owning it.

Looking at timing, my guess is that KKR have hit the point where they have had to decide whether to look to sell Gibson or carry on their ownership. I suppose they’ve decided that Gibson has gone up enough in value to warrant selling it now and/or that getting more even value out of Gibson (or retaining its current value) will take too much time / effort / cash for them to justify continuing to own it to their investors.
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This is a good insight. Even if Gibson had stellar performance they'd still be looking to monetize since they're constrained by the life of the fund. 4-6 years is generally the typical investment period. (I currently work in PE).
 
Nothing feels as comfortable to me as a Les Paul. It just works for my stance, tone, etc. But I'd like an Edwards or ESP or whatever just the same. I love Gibson guitars though, I really do. I hate all of thr corporate b.s. but happens everywhere.
 
If I understand correctly Gibson like Fender and Marshall, etc make most of the money off of selling "lifestyle" They are selling the name.
Only a small fraction of the money comes from making music gear / equipment.
It has been this way many years.

I believe Randal Smith is 78 years old. I expect him to retire eventually.
 
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glpg80 said:
Heard through the grape vine Gibson investors aren’t realizing covid level returns post-covid and are looking to unload. It doesn’t help corporate building financing is likely up for renewal and rates are trash right now. This means Mesa and Gibson both are up for sale.

If you can find anymore info or articles on this post them here.
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If they only played authentic…
 
On the flip side of all this "Mesa selling" talk, should Mike B. bail now and hang his own shingle?
 
Ive had a MK I head, MK III combo, MK IV head and a 3 channel DR all great amps.
And i have top industry amp techs.
Problem is they all refused to work on Mesa amps and thats a problem.
Rather than ship it to Bendinelli i sold them as i have no faith in Gibson owned Mesa.
 
glpg80 said:
I’m honestly more concerned with Mesa and the agreement that was made during acquisition of current investors and how that could all change under new owners. Gibson has been trying to improve things but it takes money to make money while not cutting corners and it’s undoubtedly scary there’s potential for another Norlin type of era of corner cutting on the horizon. The only thing that saved Norlin Gibsons value wise was their happy accident to use quartersawn 3 piece maple necks not for their tone for metal, but to eliminate the warranty repairs of mahogany necks.
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You mean to say that in the last couple years gibson hasn't been cutting corners on their guitars?
 
Surely Mike B must be near retirement age himself? Don’t see him setting up his own shop if Mesa gets untennable.
 
messenger said:
Some huge Chinese company will buy it and shift all manufacturing overseas
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Unlikely, Chinese are very keen on Gibson's custom shop models. The Murphy Lab models and Brazilian rosewood models sell very well in China.
If anything it might get even more ludicrous and expensive lol. See Anta/Arc'teryx.
 
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