Guitar Gear

Got this press release this morning:

GIBSON INTRODUCED three new guitar collections at an event in Nashville on April 29: the Original Series, the Modern Series, and the Custom Shop Original Collection.

Gibson’s Original Collection evokes the guitar maker’s “golden age” in the ’50s and early ’60s. Gibson Chief Merchant Officer Cesar Gueikian explained, “With this classic line we are paying tribute to our iconic past, bringing back the guitars which shaped the sounds across all generations and genres of music.” The collection includes faithful reproductions of the Les Paul Standard ’50s; Les Paul Standard ’60s; Les Paul Special in TV Yellow; Les Paul Junior in Tobacco Burst; SG 61 Standard with factory stop-tail; Maestro and Sideways vibrolas; SG Special and Junior; classic ES-335 Figured and DOT; Firebird; Flying V; and Explorer. For the acoustic market, the collection also includes J-45, Hummingbird, and J-200 models.

The new Gibson Modern Collection builds on Gibson’s tradition of innovation, incorporating in-demand features such as lighter-weight bodies, push-pull systems to switch between pickup configurations, innovative slim-taper necks with asymmetrical profiles, and shaved heels for easier access to higher frets, as well as improved sustain and stability. The Modern Collection includes the Les Paul and SG Modern; Les Paul Studio and Tribute models; new ES-235 and modern versions of the ES-335; Flying V and Explorer B-2; and modern Hummingbird, J-45, and J-15, as well as the Parlor acoustic models.

With the Gibson Custom Shop Original Collection, the company “offers the pinnacle of craftsmanship, quality, and sound excellence. Each instrument celebrates Gibson’s legacy through accuracy, authenticity, and attention to detail,” said Gueikian. “This year we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the 1959 Les Paul Standard, the holy grail, with our most historically accurate re-creation of the most iconic guitar in history.”

What’s great about this is that for years, Gibson didn’t clearly segregate the different products into specific groups. They just called certain product lines “Traditional” or “Tribute,” and being absolutely unclear as to what the product lines actually represented; leaving it up to the consumer to do their research as to what was the most appropriate guitar. It confused, and frankly, pissed off a lot of people. Being a longtime Gibson fanboy, I could only shake my head and sigh, wishing the company would get their shit together and help players in their decision-making process.

I realize that there will be some people that will say that nothing has really changed. The guitars are still all the same. But you have to realize that by creating groups in their merchandising, it makes it so much easier to separate the guitars in their catalog, be it online or hard copy. It used to be so daunting to go to the Gibson site because they lumped everything together. Now it’s so easy to see the guitars in the collections – it’s much more mentally manageable.

Kudos to Gibson for finally wising up!