Just when guitar making giants Gibson seemed to be turning a corner, their debts being managed, new management team and new models launched they go and blow it. In a YouTube message their Director of Brand Experience – Mark Agnesi – seemed to warn other guitar makers that Gibson was out to protect their brand image, whether that be the shape of a guitar, the names used or even their instruments appearing in movies. Within days, and following a lot of ridicule online, Gibson pulled the video.
It seems that this approach was actually started under the previous management but they never quite got around to suing anyone but the new management have pushed ahead with the company behind Dean guitars being served the relevant legal papers. It will be interesting to see how they get on since Dean have been using similar guitar shapes for 30 to 40 years, so it seems a little strange that Gibson would take this long to serve papers against them.
There are lots of online comments and videos slagging off Gibson but the best comes from Glen Fricker and Henning Pauly: