Gibson Guitar Reviews

Pros

Very Rewarding working for the leading manufacturer of handmade US guitars.
The brand recogniton is what make this job position tolerable.

Cons

No communication....period. company is micro managed. ALL employees run scared from CEO.
Dealer programs are unobtainable for 80% of the music stores currently in business, 10% of the remaining 20% have had run ins or have been shut down for various reasons by the CEO, which leaves measly 10% of the music stores left to do business with. Funny that they can't see that.

Advice to Senior Management

Let DB succeed from the Gibson union and go forth and multiply Epi dealers, that division knows what it takes to do business.

Pros

product; great people to work with (not for, but with!)

Cons

senior management is a constant state of turnover; the "failure" rate of senior executives is excessive even in the worst of companies - Gibson has set the bar on so high no other company can probably come close; the failure of numerous product lines by CEO who "knows" he is always right despite qualified staff who actually know what they are doing - if you doubt me ask where these products are now or why you see very few of these products in a music store - Oberheim, Opcode, Echoplex, Orange, Red Bear, Goldtone, Dawn, Tobias, Slingerland, Valley Arts, Baldwin, Wurlitzer, Kramer, Steinberger, Maestro, Zeta, digital jukebox, many failed attempts at entertainment venues as well a "lifestyle" products; you wonder why these are brought up? - the only products that do well and survive are the products that would sell even if marketing were stopped-like the Les Paul, SG, etc.; everything else Henry has bought has died a horrible death or sells so little through that the dealers staff probably don't even know how to sell them through

lack of real sales and marketing knowledge by Henry has set the tone for the failure of these brands and the failure of how to run a company effectively; the lack of any real communication (unless you consider being berated day after day communication) does not allow the staff to do anything but react-there is no real opportunities to be proactive and make the brand better

anyone who has placed a high rating in these reviews has not worked at Gibson long enough to be totally humilated by Henry yet-just give them time

Advice to Senior Management

Henry-as a former employee who left on good terms and would love to see the brand succeed - please step aside. This is the only way the company will truly succeed.

Pros

Gibson and Baldwin are great brand names.

Cons

Gibson has a negative cultural which interferes with getting your job done. HJ is a micro manager and it is either his way or not. He spends money on sending individuals to Vanderbilt Masters program then fires them soon after graduation. He treats his employees poorly and treats the dealers even worse. The only reason the dealers buy from Gibson is the name and I not so sure that the name will keep them going. As for DB, he has a blind eye to what is happening. If he wanted to improve Gibson he could of step in a long time ago. In my tenure I had witness more than 70 executive manages get fired or leave the company. HJ encourages negative behavior which includes hiding the facts on what is happening at the division level. Everyone is scared of being fired. I am one that has been fired and it was a blessing. The rumors on the street are real and I should have listen and declined employment.

Advice to Senior Management

The only thing that can improve Gibson is HJ to resign. Upper management hands are tied and DB will not step in and take charge.

Pros

Great guitars...Thanks to great workers.

Cons

Unreasonable in a soft economy. Terminated dozens of good dealers with outrageous purchasing demands. We would like to continue selling their products, but they make it harder each year. They should model themselves after great companies like Fender,C.F. Martin, and Yamaha.

Advice to Senior Management

Ask Henry to step down.

Pros

the "worker-level" atmosphere and participating in an exciting industry.

Cons

No business logic is allowed to be applied in what you do, at any level.

Directives come down with no relevant reasoning that must be followed without question at all levels. Turnover is ridiculous, whether by your own hand or by that of HJ himself (who makes all real decisions).

Again, the lack of continuity in staffing, where that could breed solid operations over long periods of time and not "starting over" constantly. I, for one, had 5 bosses in 4 years.

No real focus. As seen now, in a down market with product critism running rampant, They open an ice cream store in the middle of the Winter!! Not exactly concerntrating on core products.

Advice to Senior Management

There is only one leader and a group of rotating minions...my advice is get over your ego and wanting to rub shoulders with rock stars, sell the company to a competent operation or persons that can move it forward again.

Things change and business changes over the years...no company with control over 15 to 20 years by the same person ever suceeds; this is being evidenced now at Gibson.

Pros

Great people to work with. Wonderful to work around such a great product and heritage

Cons

Poor management communication. Report directly to CEO but have never met him

Advice to Senior Management

Please consider moving to a new CEO to insure sucess of company

Pros

Good people overall. Great to be a part of the heritage of this classic American brand. Mecca for a guitar player.

Cons

An absolutely bizarre culture that top-to-bottom seems to revolve solely around trying not to upset the CEO. Meanwhile the erratic CEO seems to always be upset or flying off the handle about, well...anything. I've NEVER seen anything like it. So many smart people, who want nothing more than to give it their all, and do great work for this company that in many cases they were huge fans of before coming to work there; are reduced to keeping their mouths shut and keeping off of the CEO's "radar" by any means necessary. You will hear the phrase "stay off Henry's radar" echoed again and again by all sorts of folks top-to-bottom in the company.
Smart, creative thinking (or just plain logical thinking) is completely stifled in this environment. Through this culture Henry has cultivated, talented folks will routinely choose NOT to do what's best for the company/product/brand, but instead will choose what is most likely to keep them from incurring Henry's wrath.
The degree to which nobody seems to be willing to make a decision about anything is staggering. NOBODY wants to be the one to have to take the blame for anything. Doing so might make them accountable to Henry, and who knows what he might do on any given day? As a result, the buck gets passed indefinitely. Either that or employees begin cutting each others throats so as to avoid blame. Seen that happen WAY too many times, and it's always ugly.
Very often important decisions that require immediate attention by management simply get "submitted to Henry" directly which is a vague, nebulous, meaningless gesture. There's rarely ever an answer from Henry, and if there is you may be waiting months for it, at which time the situation will have long since turned into a crisis.
Information does not flow in this company. Strategies, goals, sometimes even basic product information are NOT communicated.
Morale is generally very low. I've heard the phrase "the land where nothing makes sense", repeated by employees from two different divisions in two different cities. That is not a coincidence.

Advice to Senior Management

I honestly don't see anything getting better under Henry's reign. He's been running the company this way for so many years, there is little hope that he will change. I've watched SO many smart, talented people walk out of this company in complete frustration. The best and brightest leave for better opportunities and better work environments. He needs to understand that the culture that exists in Gibson right now is sick. Not unlike the "sick culture" that Henry himself says existed in the Norlin-era Gibson when he first bought the company and took over. He remedied that by firing everyone at the time. Well, it's sick again. Really sick. Only this time, Henry himself has cultivated the sickness. That toxicity has trickled down to every fiber of the company. He needs to understand that he's got a LOT of smart people willing to do great things for this company, but it's all for nothing unless he positively affects the culture from the top, down. Unlikely to happen, but that's what it will take.

Pros

Pretty good pay, if you already know how to work on guitars. Benefits are comparable to other companies.

Cons

I actually left on good terms, but feel the need to warn others about this company. You will never know for sure what your schedule is. You may be told Friday afternoon that you're working saturday, after being told all week that you probably won't. You will never know for sure when you are working, and when you will have time off. You may be approved for a day off months in advance, and then be told days before that its not happening. We once worked from 6am-9:30pm and stood around for hours with no work to do, not knowing when we were going home. As other reviewers have said, the problems start at the top. The owner Henry is terrible, and very unpredictable. I worked all over the factory and every position is the same. Literally the dumbest, most impossible to understand company i have ever worked for.

Advice to Senior Management

Management isn't the problem, ownership is. They are sadly at Henry's mercy.

Pros

Result oriented - you control your destiny. Great product. Opportunity for advancement.

The comments about the CEO on this site are slanted. When he bought the company is was worth a fraction of its current value. It was failing. If the CEO is ineffective how to explain the turnaround, the massive growth, and even many of the critics observations that it's staffed with excellent people?

Cons

Result oriented is a "con" if you are unable to produce results. It is impossible to hide yourself in the team and do nothing all day. The company demands that you work effectively.

Advice to Senior Management

Review the hiring process. Do a better job of hiring good people on the first try.

Pros

Top guitar line in world

Cons

Inertia to the point no new projects move forward in a timely manner. Lack of respect for employees. Culture unwittingly causes own bureaucratic bottleneck.

Advice to Senior Management

Roger appears to have a better handle on the day-to-day operation of the business. It may be wiser if the board were to look in that direction.