Are the new Gibson guitars any good?

Why don't you ask Fretshack?

Yeah idk why he thinks thats hilarious but yes theres a poster here who own a guitar shop in BR

Dude seems cool as shite imo. Always responds to questions with the quickness and seems eager to help out with any info he can

I dont like them, I'd much prefer an early or mid 90s.

Gibson has shot their own feet.

The new CEO is in the captain's chair, he's not on the production line floor getting covered in sawdust, metal filings and lacquer. Corporate reorganization in response to bankruptcy typically doesn't mean firing your employees and hiring better ones, it typically means downsizing the workforce if anything, meaning potentially experienced line workers may be shown the door in favor of more affordable workers who may lack years and/or training ... or no replacements at all, which strains QC in the name of production quotas and order fulfillment.

Keep in mind, too, that Gibson hired a CEO who oversaw an apparel company, not a musical instrument company. Successful marketing and branding can counteract poor consumer perception, but marketing and branding doesn't source the best maple and mahogany, or fret necks, or cut nuts, or wire control cavities. The best way to fix consumer perception is to make better guitars. I don't know if they are doing that yet. I don't know if they are tooled to do that, "tooling" being not only bodies and raw materials but also in corporate mentality and vision. I don't think they know if they are doing that yet, at least day in and day out, every shift, in each unit of the approximately 300 guitars they produce daily.

That being said, it's too early to say if Gibson's resolved their quality control issues, where it was common to see trash next to treasure in sequential serial numbers. I haven't seen enough new Gibsons to have formed an opinion that they are better overall unit to unit. Gimme a year to make that call.

In the meantime, I tell my clients interested in getting a new Gibson to play before you buy, or buy from a source with a liberal return policy should you not be pleased. Don't let the hit and miss mentality frighten you, there are literal jewels out there, just find it with your own hands, ears and ribcage, not with a mouse click haha

If you have a regular Sweetwater sales guy you deal with they will play/inspect all of the ones in stock and send you the best one. If it’s not great the return policy is very good. I got a great Tele this way last year and couldn’t be happier.

I'm looking forward to the p90s goldtop Les Paul Standard that's supposedly coming out later this year.

From my understanding, they didn't go bankrupt because of the instruments. There may have been dips in instrument quality here and there, but the main reason for the bankruptcy was their blind jump into audio electronics.

Good points above ... yep, the guitar division of Gibson was doing fine accounting wise, it was Henry's delving into washed up home audio brands that led to the financial woes and ultimately Henry's dismissal. That right there should tell you the reorg means minimal impacts to Gibson's guitar division because its books were in good health. Now as to if that's good or not so good, that remains to be seen haha.

ESP Japan builds consistent high-quality instruments with meticulous attention to detail. They are liquid and fast players, really fleet and nimble under the hands. Huge frets, slim necks; no compromise wood, hardware and electronics component selection; and bulletproof poly finishes. Their E-II production series instruments are Gibson and Fender custom shop caliber. I play hard and classic rock mostly and my two daily go-to players are ESP Japan guitars. That should shed some light as well.

Sounds like you all agree that there are some lemons out there with the Gibson name on it.

As an inexperienced guitar buyer, I'll heed your advice avoid them.

I also defer to FS on the specifics, but my take on "new" Gibsons hasn't changed in some time:

The premium simply isn't worth it. For solid body electric guitars, if you're on somewhat of a budget, Yamaha or Ibanez (or, frankly, Fender/Jackson or a half dozen other options) are going to do the same or better job at half/third the price, frankly.

For acoustics, there are simply too many other, "no question about quality" brands at literally every price point to even think about Gibson (which I was never excited about, anyway, on the acoustic side).