fretmeister Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 http://www.cakewalk.com/Gibson-Announcement Cakewalk is no more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 Didn't Gibson and Fender buy up a load of rival guitar and amp manufacturers in the late 90s/early 2000s, then let pretty much all of them go to the wall? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 Yup. SWR went the way of all flesh after Fender bought them. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tauzero Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 Genz Benz too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skybone Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 Trace Elliott is a classic example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted November 21, 2017 Share Posted November 21, 2017 Hamer were bought by Fender. Crying shame, but at least my FBIV will appreciate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 I don't know the figures but this doesn't entirely surprise me. Cakewalk must be way down the ranking in terms of the market that it is in competing in... and the market is getting ever more saturated and fiercely competitive. If you look at every one of their products, there is a more successful offering from the competition... or a cheaper/free/open source one. I hate to see brands die But Gibson is a business and they'll be looking at the figures above everything else. SWR and Genz are interesting examples too... Give it a few more years and SWR and Genz will not even be a memory. Doesn't mean that they weren't great products... but the F name still carries more weight from a marketing point of view... whether the interested party be 12 or 92 years of age. Even somebody with no particular interest in music will be able to recognise the Fender name. The same will never be able to be said for SWR or Genz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 (edited) 6 hours ago, EBS_freak said: I hate to see brands die But Gibson is a business and they'll be looking at the figures above everything else. I believe Gibson are supposed to be $600m in debt. The brand has been mismanaged for years; they've been passed from one holding company to another since the late 1960s, they've misguidedly acquired too many businesses and closed them down indiscriminately, too much litigation against other brands for copyright infringement, the recent issue with the illegality of ebony and mahogany imports led to a huge fine and loss of most of the wood as well. They also have one of their manufacturing plants up for sale. But what do Gibson do? Rather than buck the trend and shift some manufacturing overseas to take advantage of cheaper labour costs, they stick with USA production and hike prices annually. Little innovation and what they have bought out recently has admittedly been awful. Look at their 2018 range...I mean honestly, who is going to pay £7,000 for a Les Paul because it's got a 'collectors edition' mark on the headstock and a number, when they can pick up a 2017 model for a third of that? It's a nonsense. They're not a bijou maker turning out small numbers (like Gabriel Currie or Frank Diemel), so they need to stop thinking they are; Andertons list nearly 200 [edt] Gibson guitars on their site with a retail of over £1,000; nearly half these retail for over £2,000. Edited November 22, 2017 by NancyJohnson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 I didn't say they would do the right things with the figures! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SICbass Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 6 hours ago, EBS_freak said: SWR and Genz are interesting examples too... Give it a few more years and SWR and Genz will not even be a memory. Doesn't mean that they weren't great products... but the F name still carries more weight from a marketing point of view... whether the interested party be 12 or 92 years of age. Even somebody with no particular interest in music will be able to recognise the Fender name. The same will never be able to be said for SWR or Genz. Genz Benz re-emerged last year as Genzler https://www.genzleramplification.com/category/17/Bass-Cabinets.html Same family and he was even willing to pick up some of the maintenance work that disappointed customers didn’t get when Fender folded Genz Benz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 4 minutes ago, SICbass said: Genz Benz re-emerged last year as Genzler https://www.genzleramplification.com/category/17/Bass-Cabinets.html Same family and he was even willing to pick up some of the maintenance work that disappointed customers didn’t get when Fender folded Genz Benz. Umm... right. Not sure of your point. Guys do have a habit of starting again especially when the no compete agreement usually put in place after the sale is over. Other examples is when people are ditched by the company that has purchased them... Mark Gooday and Ashdown rising from Trace for example following the original Kaman sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
visog Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 Gibson bought Tobias basses too. So there goes onward compatibility with my Cakewalk CWP files then... What a stinky poo M&A strategy they have... no wonder they're on their knees. "Gibson Brands announced today that it is ceasing active development and production of Cakewalk branded products. The decision was made to better align with the company’s acquisition strategy that is heavily focused on growth in the global consumer electronics audio business under the Philips brand." Their press release is hockum too - 'better align' means write of the debts they never made up because they did nothing with the brand - idiots. And Cakewalk was never 'consumer electronics audio' anyway! Can they not tell the difference between DAW hardware and software and a radio! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SICbass Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 5 hours ago, EBS_freak said: Umm... right. Not sure of your point. My point is, that the fact that they‘re a functioning/trading company (albeit with a minimally altered name) with great products and not a fading memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 So Gibson own Philips the Dutch electrical brand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgehouse Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 Well, there's rumours floating around the internet that Gibson's CEO has departed.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted November 22, 2017 Share Posted November 22, 2017 Uncle Henry has gone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bridgehouse Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 10 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said: Uncle Henry has gone? They are the rumours I have heard. I stress they are only rumours. Massive health warning "the internet is often wrong" rumours.. But, there are rumblings tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 Might be the best thing they could wish for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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