Henry J is a stupid asshole who deserves to be penniless but will probably walk away with a fortune leaving another smoking wreck behind him.

Guitar sales aren't down, the problem is that Gibson bought the Philips consumer electronics division and can't make it profitable.

If the kids aren't buying guitars then is Rock and Roll really dying?

The kids couldn't afford Gibsons anyway.

I blame techno.

i went to one of my local music stores recently and asked the owner why he didn't have any gibsons. he told me the company won't send them any unless they have at least $75,000 worth of their stuff hanging on the wall. i mean what the bloody hell???

They think they can still get away with that shit like they did during the Golden Age of Rock. Asian guitars used to suck, now they're just as well made as American guitars, and they're practically giving them away.

They've been getting away with it as long as they have because their real product isn't guitars, it's bullshit authenticity fetishism for rich middle-aged dentists wallowing in their failed teenage rockstar dreams. What's slowly catching up to them is the fact that as time goes on, fewer and fewer rich middle-aged dentists grew up listening exclusively to guitar-based rock music.

Harley-Davidson has the same problem.

Would you say the same thing about writers in their 70's writing like jack kerouac on a typewriter, or painters that emulate francis bacon with real oil paints? How about street photographers that buy $8K leica's because they like robert frank?

It seems rock and roll is only for young people? Even though the rolling stones toured into 2016 in their 70's.

Gibson guitars are iconic. So are le corbusier chairs. Does that make anybody that wants an eames chair an authenticity fetishist?

Stripped of the vitriol it means the company is chasing a shrinking consumer base. That they are more focused on the brand than what made that brand famous in the first place. You can be rolls royce, or honda. But you can't be honda chasing rolls customers and vice versa.

It's all about choosing the right tool for the job.

If you prefer the tactile response of typewriter keys vs. computer keyboards or find that word processing software interrupts your workflow by making it too tempting to stop and edit as you go, then a manual typewriter is probably the right tool for you. Just using a typewriter doesn't make you an authenticity fetishist, but if you spend a ton of extra money on a real 1933 Underwood Portable instead of a hypothetical reasonably priced model of the same design made by a different company, and insist that real Beat authors only get hopped up on name brand Benzedrine, you just might be.

Similarly, if you're looking bang out some Page riffs or Slash licks, a dual humbucker 24.75" scale length mahogany guitar is probably a good place to start. The Gibson Les Paul is an iconic guitar style , but the only unique features that distinguish a Gibson brand Les Paul guitar from "LP style" guitars made by other quality guitar makers (basically just the words "Gibson" and "Les Paul" and the trademarked aesthetic details of the headstock and cutaway) contribute nothing at all to the way the instrument sounds or feels, despite the best efforts of Gibson's marketing department to convince you otherwise.

The Stones haven't put out a decent album in almost 40 years.

The entire purpose of a chair is to keep your butt off the floor when you sit. Anyone with strong opinions about chairs should consider a hobby or volunteer work to fill the obvious void in their life.

Because I feel particularly ornery today. . .

Sounds a lot like anti-perceived snobbery, snobbery. What’s good for you might not be good for someone else.

The history of art and design must not mean anything to you. What’s bullshit authenticity fetishism to you, is an inspiring “tool” for someone else that they enjoy and appreciate, increasing the productivity of their craft, hobby, art, whatever. If you remove human emotion and character, then sure. Objects have no value other than functionality. But I understand you are entitled to your opinion. What’s particularly clear is your disdain and condescension.

And your statement about chairs is just plain stupid.