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Gibson Musical Instruments
Over the last fifteen years or so, Gibson has earned a reputation for producing pricey products with inconsistent quality. But at MusikMesse the company presented convincing evidence that it is finally paying attention to trends in music and guitar.
Take the Les Paul Gothic, which joins the Flying V, Explorer, and SG in the Gothic series. In appearance, it is completely blacked out, with a semi-shiny but mostly matte finish, ebony fretboard, and black hardware. The Gibson logo on the headstock is in pearl, with a simple spooky moon and star inlay at the twelfth fret. Beneath the cosmetics lies your basic Les Paul Studio, with vintage-sounding Alnico magnet pickups. These are my preferred pickups, but the Marilyn Manson crowd would probably prefer the hotter and harsher ceramic magnet pickups. Overall, I see this as a guitar that's well suited to the style of music it's aimed at. And when the player matures into other styles, his or her instrument will be able to follow - though its owner may eventually want chrome hardware. Offering Korn fans a viable alternative to Ibanez, Gibson introduced a seven-string flying V and a seven-string Les Paul. The Flying V I tried was exceptionally light, which should lend itself to a nice balanced tone. If earth-shaking power chords were what I wanted, I'd clearly switch to a mahogany-bodied, stop tailpiece-equipped Gibson over a basswood-bodied, Floyd Rose-equipped Ibanez any day.
Other new products included the SG Supreme, which featured a Les Paul Custom-style fretboard and headstock. While it comes in three different burst finishes, the new Les Paul Raw Power has a satin finish but looks naked to the eye. While both are interesting, I'm not sure who would want these over a standard SG or Les Paul. Gibson sales representative Dennis Webster told Harmony Central that his favorite Gibson is the new semi-hollow ES-446. The 446 has a unique hand-carved spruce top, as compared to the pressed laminate (a.k.a. plywood) top of the ES-335. What's unique about the 446 is that its braces are actually carved into the top and not glued on. The body is carved into a dish out of a single piece of mahogany. One has to applaud Gibson for this sort of innovation and experimentation. None of the Gibson staff at the show was able to provide U.S. pricing for any of their new models. www.gibson.com, 800- 4-GIBSON |
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