For those who have loved Gibson instruments, this you won't like. From an article in Vintage Guitar it appears Gibson sent a letter to all its dealers last fall, announcing some new policies:

-Only four dealers (Elderly, Guitar Center, and 2 others) will now be allowed to sell new Gibsons on the Internet, and they also will be the only dealers allowed to advertise their inventory of new Gibsons in any kind of national advertising (including guitar magazines), AND they will be the only dealers allowed to sell new Gibsons at guitar shows.

-Gibson will be able to demand that a dealer stock other (non-Gibson branded) Gibson products, and if the dealer refuses Gibson can cancel the dealer's contract.

Needless to say, dealers are pretty angry. Several major dealers have announced that they won't be participating in guitar shows this year because of Gibson's action. Others have placed all their Gibson inventory on closeout sales, in effect saying that they no longer care to be Gibson dealers.

Interesting, since all these dealers are largely responsible for helping Gibson regain its credibility as a maker of high quality instruments. Doesn't seem very smart to me! It sort of reminds me of Taylor's stupid move a couple of years ago, when they told all their dealers they were forbidden to advertise any used Taylor guitars. (I guess they thought that would make everyone think they had to buy a new one.) -- Yours, Tom