[Rick Lee]

They are a mess. They make guitars a lot faster than parents make guitar players. The market is totally saturated. And a new LP Custom is $4700 at GC. That's insane. Old ones, which are way better, go for half that. I can't see their lifestyle brand getting a lot of traction. If you don't play guitar, why would you bother with a Gibson shirt, hat, barstool, keychain, etc? And even if you do play, it's unlikely you're a Gibson-only kind of guy. I have a Les Paul and love it. But it's just one guitar and not my favorite. The folks with the real nice vintage stuff couldn't care less about the lifestyle brand or buying the new guitars.

If I were in charge and about to get all my debt wiped away, I'd refocus the company on making high quality guitars in much smaller numbers, make it more of a boutique thing, where it's kind of a big deal to see a new Gibson in a music store. When I was a kid, it was a big deal to see a new LP in the local music store. Now they grow on trees.