Gibson teams with ski maker

By Geert De Lombaerde Posted on October 29, 2009 at 7:55 am

Gibson Guitar has developed a handful of one-of-a-kind instruments in conjunction with winter sports gear maker Marker Völkl. The guitars will be auctioned off in a few months to help raise awareness of climate change.

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Tags: climate change, Gibson Guitar Corp., manufacturing, Marker Völkl USA, music business, philanthropy, Protect Our Winters, sports business  

Les Paul, 1915-2009

By E. Thomas Wood Posted on August 13, 2009 at 12:07 pm

From Gibson Guitars, a tribute to the man who gave his name to the company’s best-known product:

The year was 1950, and Paul had just signed on as the namesake of Gibson’s first electric solidbody, with exclusive design privileges. Working closely with Paul, Gibson forged a relationship that would change popular culture forever. The Gibson Les Paul model—the most powerful and respected electric guitar in history—began with the 1952 release of the Les Paul Goldtop. After introducing the original Les Paul Goldtop in 1952, Gibson issued the Black Beauty, the mahogany-topped Les Paul Custom, in 1954. The Les Paul Junior (1954) and Special (1955) were also introduced before the canonical Les Paul Standard hit the market in 1958. With revolutionary humbucker pickups, this sunburst classic has remained unchanged for the half-century since it hit the market.

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Tags: Gibson Guitar Corp., Les Paul f/k/a Lester William Polsfuss (1915-2009), obituaries  

Gibson Guitar’s philanthropic wing to give to Big O’s leadership academy

By Kleinheider Posted on April 14, 2009 at 8:42 am

From a press release:

Gibson Foundation, the philanthropic division of Gibson Guitar, has announced a five-year commitment to work with the music department at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa through year 2012, providing both instruments and financial support to the school’s music program. With a common goal of making the world a better place for children and educating the leaders of tomorrow, the Gibson Foundation has committed resources to help broaden the power of music in education and build upon an already remarkable educational environment.

“We are grateful for the Gibson Foundation’s generosity. This grant has allowed us to establish a music program for our talented girls to develop new skills, express themselves musically and even create a small orchestra,” said Joy Moore, Deputy Head of the Academy.

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Tags: Gibson Guitar Corp., nonprofit management, Oprah Winfrey, philanthropy  

Gibson Guitars downsizing

By Kleinheider Posted on March 20, 2009 at 2:22 pm

A spokeswoman says the guitar maker’s corporate operations have laid off 50 people worldwide. The cuts amount to less than 5 percent of total payroll. From a press release:

Nashville, Tennessee…March 20, 2009…World Wide sales for musical instrument product categories in which Gibson Guitar compete have dropped more than 20% in the US and most of the world in the first quarter of 2009. While Gibson has continued to gain market share, the extent of the slowdown in retail purchases, and the uncertainty of when this market will recover mandates that Gibson makes changes to insure the size of our organization is appropriate for the anticipated sales levels. This large drop in purchases is being experienced in virtually all consumer product categories.

After implementing these changes, Gibson is positioned to continue to be profitable even under more severe stress, as it has been consistently since 1986. It will allow the company to continue to maintain a conservative balance sheet and be positioned for continued market share expansion.

Henry Juszkiewicz, CEO of Gibson Guitar Inc. stated, ”We regret that the company had to reduce our work force today to meet the economic challenges faced by our industry. We believe our streamlined team of talented people will continue to serve our valuable customers in an increasingly excellent fashion. We expect to continue to build the finest instruments in the world and lead the industry in quality and innovation.”

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Tags: Gibson Guitar Corp., layoffs, manufacturing  

California judge: Gibson’ Guitar Hero suit almost frivolous

By Geert De Lombaerde Posted on March 4, 2009 at 12:12 am

The Nashville-based company’s claim against Activision over the blazin’ hot Guitar Hero games gets shot down in flames.

The court added that Gibson’s interpretation of its patent could be extended to cover things from a “button of a DVD remote…to a pencil tapping a table.”

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Tags: Activision Blizzard Inc., copyrights and trademarks, Gibson Guitar Corp., litigation, music business, video games