Gibson didn't care then because they never saw the V or Explorer as significant enough cash cows to care about copies. Now people want em, so now it's a problem.

@@jetcheneau5811or maybe because they have gone through 3 different CEOs

@@jetcheneau5811 I think that it was just the new CEO at the time, looking for any way to funnel more cash into the company. To the O/Ps point, that is exactly what I was thinking. Too little, too late, imo.

It’s all about billable hours

Gibson has been under new ownership since 2019, who waited 50 years? Seems like they took action pretty quickly considering it would have been hard to do before they actually owed the company.

They also made near exact copies of the Mustang under the Kalamazoo brand. I really like Gibson guitars. Matter of fact, I’m shopping around now for one. However, I don’t much like the way their private equity owners manage them and push their litigious behavior. Some would excuse this behavior as something that every corporation does to protect their intellectual property and brand. Fair enough. But Fender doesn’t act this way. People can say that’s only because Fender lost their suit after it was determined that the abandoned their trademark rights out of neglect. But it’s the same deal with Gibson. They didn’t assert their rights in a timely period and their designs became generic and in use by many for a long time. It’s time to take their medicine and move forward with new designs and innovations. Fender did and came up with some pretty cool stuff like the Meteora and the guitars in their Parallel Universe and Paranormal range along with Tonemaster amps. Gibson came out with the Theodore, $2000 Epiiphones, and $1500 Gibson-branded 7 watt amps that no one bought six decades ago. They are not facing stiff competition because everyone is ripping them off, they are facing tough competition because they lost their focus on providing better value at all price points. Love Gibson guitars and even thought the Falcon amps are pretty good but they need to get back to meeting the market where it is, with QC, and price points that reflect the value that is available. They should get a premium because of the Gibson name but they have to understand that if they want to sit at the high end of the market the will absolutely face competition from others that can undercut their value proposition. PRS understands this and is prospering, Fender, Yamaha, Ibanez, also get it. The only that doesn’t is Gibson.

They also made a 1:1 clone of a Gretsch (I believe it even had the G brand on the face) but that's not an issue apparently.

Lets not forget that the Gibson Les Paul was a 100% copy of a guitar design brought into Gibson by a designer in the hope of selling them the design, they just blatantly ripped it off, knowing full well he would not be able to afford to defend it. I forget the name of the original designer but it has been documented on KZfaq

There was also bc rich bich and jackson rhoads copies from Epiphone in the 80's

its just business. Not really hypocrisy.

You could probably import an Edwards from Japan

I would be buying it instantly

I hope this means guys like Seger can go back to making their V. Wanted one after seeing Pallbear play and holding Brett's. I had to 'settle' for a Dunable Asteroid which still kicks ass but I really wanted a Seger flying V

Chibson USA would *immediately* make real products to spite them :) (for $14999.999)

R.I.P. CGS

lol

Honestly I had to relisten to him spelling out "m-o-d-e-r-n" because the pronunciation of the "r" completely reset my brain

Sounded like: "m-o-d-e-OAR-n" to my upper Midwest American ears. Love it!

You can easily pick out the Irish pirates

Yet he said R-madillo in a regular fashion 😅 don't get me wrong, all in good jest 🤟

😂"orr". I thought he misspoke, but then he said it again!

Ya!! You go get em

have you got a TM or Copyright?

You can't because frame drums are thousands of years old.

I play only authentic Gibson knockoffs.

​@@TobiasC-mg4zk And why not 🎉

I authentically play whatever the hell I authentically want 😂

these days, you look at the squiers. they've gotten a surprisingly good line on the QC for the money you spend. fender proper? just seem to keep degrading. an $800 players strat shouldn't be needing a full set up out of the box when a $300 knockoff brand can have better overall quality and maybe needing some fine tuning to be up and gigging. and thats before we get into the issues with the top end lines. heck, even gibson has this same general sort of QC issue, but epiphone is making good strides. someone in each of the big dogs needs a clue by four, or they're gonna get left behind.

You may not like Gibson and that's fine but the QC issues are long gone. Mine is from before that era anyway and fantastic (98 Ltd Edition 58 Flying V) but go to a guitar store and grab any random LP Standard of the wall and it's likely to be great. They are expensive yes but consider due to inflation a LP at 1959 prices would be 5-10 grand depending if you go by monetary inflation only or purchasing power reduction which was much more dramatic. In 1958 a Les Paul cost 350 bucks. A 3 bedroom house cost 6 grand. So either Gibsons have gotten cheap or housing extraordinarily expensive because by inflation that house should be 100 grand. But it's not, it's 700 grand now. I love my Harley Bentons and Squiers and Epiphone but I do plan on eventually buying more Gibsons and I do try them in the store a lot, since they have bo qualms letting me fondle a 59 custom shop to compare with the G and Epi Standards. They're all excellent, the Epiphone being most disappointing. Dunno, my Korean made Epis are downright fantastic guitars. I stuck proper pickups in them and they're fantatic. The new Epiphones didn't make me fäcery enthusiastic. Because for 30% less you can get a Harley Benton SC550+ and that's just a better guitar. To me it was between the Gibson and the Epi but cost less than the Epiphone. Maybe I had a bad one. It looked and played great but it had high frets and buzz. My 160€ HB Telecaster has flawless frets (TE62DB in Lake Placid Blue, what a guitar!!!)... Player series Fender are good these days. About what you get with a US made one but at a reasonable price. Because Leo designed them to be cheap and easy to mass produce ublike a set-neck Gibson, Martin or the rest of the time. So while the Strat was meant to be a fancy guitar the Tele should be much cheaper. Below one grand for a US made Tele but alas no. Of course I like Flying Vs and they're unaffordable so I will build my own and find them used. Am original 70s V is only twice the cost of a current reissue 70s V haha... unfortunately I neither have 3 nor 6 grand so made in China prefab mahagoni body and neck it'll be. 67 style with a vibrola in candy apple red nitro finish with Tonerider pickups and CTS pots. Should be able to do it for 700 bucks and 100 hours work.

The biggest threat to Gibson at that time was the Yamaha SG. That guitar was miles ahead of what Gibson could produce in terms of quality and many Gibson players would switch to them at that time.

@@BrunodeSouzaLinothe biggest threat to Gibson is their lack of marketing and direction on identity. They don’t have many recognizable and known modern guitar players younger people listen to as ambassadors. No young person really knows Gibson. Fender? Sure. Other brands, too. But Gibson is kind of the boring and weird dad guitar.

@@TomJacobW I very nearly bought one.. a friend of mine did buy one. It was a golden age for guitars!

Indeed it does, i play Dean V´s almost exclusively since many years now and i have been saying just that its a perfect match with a V at both ends.

Yes, yes it does. That’s one of the things that has kept me from getting a Dean in the past few years…the new headstock is BORING! I’ve got Vs, Zs, MLS, and a Caddy…all with that great iconic headstock.

I can’t agree at all😂😂😂😂.I’ve got a schenker Dean v and I think the headstock looks damned ugly but I’m a schenker fan 🤷‍♂️.That aside though I’m pretty sure the headstock shape does something that means the guitar is far more playable.The neck is fantastic anyway but there’s something about the evenness of the tension in bending strings that means that’s the guitar I reach for first

I feel the exact opposite. Totally ruins the flow. Any designer would tell you: all the flow and energy directed upward, and then a garish headstock pointing the other way?! No!

V as in Victory, hell yes !!

Haha I'd buy it just to support

I know right, a great way to speed run nuking your reputation and fan base.

​@@walterpruitt6589 Funny cause it seems like theres a lot of young guys starting to buy dean again, so if that is the definition of "nuking your reputation" and fanbase then im all for it.

@@morbidsoyI’ll never buy a Dean because of them screwing Dimebags family. That’s as scummy as you get

@@popeye089 Thats fair, although some people never really cared about pantera or dime and im one of them. Call me ignorant but I buy dean cause I like to play them not because of the brand and its practices.

​@morbidsoy that's a very fair statement. I'm a giant dime and Pantera fan but it's not the FIRST reason id buy an ML , an ML is my two favourite guitars smooshed together the Explorer and V , the fact it's heavily associated with Dime is just a little cherry on top , same with an Explorer , I love those too it's just cool that they are synonymous with Hetfield . And there's nothing wrong with that

Old Greasy Agenesi! What a 🤡!

i remember that video, and the fear in Agnesi's eyes... "this is not gonna go well at all". At least that was my impression.

@@vyrus24 For GIBSON!

When that infamous video came out, you knew that the guy was nuts. Telling studios to remove the tape from the Gibson guitars when Gibson has to pay the studio to have product placement.

I mean, look at the side by sides photos. They have a legit case of copying. Which is very rampant in guitar world anyway, I've always wondered why there weren't more lawsuits.

@huohization It was, but even the 335 has been a copied body style since it released and even their Les Paul body could be considered a copy of the Merle Travis Bigsby, not to mention the Duo Jet. The point is that they have had so many years to do something about it and didn't until now.

Gibson gotta stop in general

Unfortunately, companies can be punished in the US for not protecting their trademark. Even for the smallest things. It’s why America is so litigious and major corps have lawyers on payroll. They can’t pick and choose unless there is a legal agreement.

@@alaskacowboy1 There's a reason all the most popular models are being copied, Telecaster, Stratocaster, Les Paul and so on. No one copies the ones that doesn't sell well by their inventors. Seems little scummy to me, and feels weird that the defense is "Well, we've copied you for so long why are you getting mad now?". I personally will buy the legendary models only from the companies that came up with them. So far I have a LP and a Stratocaster, don't care for the Telecaster personally so I'll be skipping that completely.

Ibanez did😊

Now THAT'S funny! 😂😂

pretty sure the moderne would be happy just having people buying them in a quantity worth mentioning, let alone copying.

I think eastwood does or did them. But that's kinda their thing lol

Id take that and reproductions of the MX/EXP Shapes from ESP

Duuuuuuuude I'd love an Ibanez destroyer 🤩

​@DasOmen02 Hell yeah, brother! Me too! Not to mention that it will be just as quality as a Gibson and play just as well and cost a fraction of the price of Gibsons silly ass pricing. I mean, I have tons of guitars, but if I want to get a Gibson SG like I've always wanted, (I have to admit they play amazingly), I would have to drop a couple of my guitars. Inflation right now is horrible, and so I could never justify just shelling out that kind of cash, but I'm not willing to let go of two or three guitars for one, you know what I mean? So FJB and F Gibson

@@williamdistasio9358used SGs are the most affordable of all gibsons other than double cut LP specials, I regularly see them at fender player prices, be on the lookout for a deal

Oh how I dream of a repro destroyer, I would buy one in an instant if it was anywhere cheaper than the epiphone korina explorer

Yeah, My Gibson guitars hold a special place in my eyes but I will never buy a new Gibson again because what they do to their employees! Gibson could have kept their employees going until they find other jobs and they could have slowly shut that factory down and slowly acquired those other companies 🙄 and mess a boogie is a whole different story but needless to say I won't be buying any of their crap either !

Kiesel brought out the CT6 (their spin on a Custom 24) and CS6 (their spin on a Les Paul) because PRS won their suit with Gibson over PRS's singlecut model. I *doubt* ESP would be allowed to sell their Les Paul copies (such as the satin purple Hetfield model) in the US because Gibson is *adamant* about their Les Paul trademark. But yeah, it looks like they're going to lose the Flying V and Explorer trademarks because they *haven't*, so we'll probably see ESP start making LTD versions of their Edwards Explorer copies for the US market Soon™ (VERY nice guitars).

@@auntjenifer7774How likely as a percentage would you say Gibson has a chance of losing this lawsuit? I ask because from the pics showed, the models do look very similar, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out in court. Personally I hope they lose so that ESP would be able to reproduce the OG James hetfield explorers they use to sell

@@Kylora2112 Hi Kylora, thank you for that response. I did not know any of that about the CS6 and CT6. Funny how you mentioned that satin purple LP one because an individual a couple of months ago listed that same one for sale for $20K on Reverb or eBay and claimed it is the same one that is pictured in the ESP Custom Shop Gallery. I believe him or her, it is identical. You are correct though, that single cut Les Paul type model is not going to be allowed unfortunately.

@@xXAscendingPhoenixXx Gibson will 95% lose because they took 40 years to defend their trademark, and every brand has their Explorer and V model.

I wouldn't go that far. If it was the case that Dean, Hamer etc... repopularised the V and X guitars then those would be the popular explorer style guitars but they're not. All the people who popularised them played Gibsons. And it has been continuously made since 1967 58-59 with some leftovers in 60 and 63 then 67 reissue and that pretty much remained in the catalog unchanged, adding neck binding, closed tuners, fixed bridge and hotter pickups in the 70s First of all Albert King, used a 59 Korina for most of his early career before that was lost in a game of cards and went on to custom made 58 Style V's. Hendrix played three, all Gibsons of course but back then there weren't many people making Flying Vs besides the occasional luthier who found an old catalog. Michael and Rudolph Schenker, probably the biggest contributors to the Vs popularity, especially in metal and hard rock played Gibsons until very late in their career, by then it was already legendary. K.K. Downing had and still has his Medallion Flying V, it was cherry and along with a candy apple red vibrola 67 (Gibson calls Camdy Apple Red, Sparkling Burgundy. It's just heritage cherry over a Goldtop or Silvertop). That was his main axe. Now of course he is probably most known for playing Hamers m, but that was early to mid 80s. By then the Flying V was well established. It's the popularity that caused everyone to make their own not the other way around. Randy Rhoads would be an exception being a notable early populariser of the V, he had his custom Karl Sandoval polka dot V and then the Jacksons that of course led to the now popular Randy Rhoads style asymetric V, which most copies are. But that's likely down to Jackson being less litigious than Gibson. Explorers is more debatable, originals basically don't exist. They made 20. And being a V, LP, Tele guy I actually don't know my Explorer history that well. I do think those who used them in the early 80s used Gibsons, Maiden guys used to have them before the Jackson Strats along with Les Pauls, Hetfield of course. I love Vs great guitars. I have two. A Gibson and an Epiphone both 58 style. I love them. Gonna get a not too pricey Randy Rhoads too. And a Harley Benton Explorer, they make a real nice copy of the 58 Korina X. Unfortunately very few make nice symmetric style Vs.

I have 4 Dean Zs (recently sold a 5th), and yeah, their DMT-branded pickups suck, but their models that come with stock Seymour Duncans are awesome. I got 2 of a 4-piece custom run of lefty Z Floyds from XLG back in 2017, and I love the V neck profile their put on there (same as the Select line, though that's a hardtail), and I'd put them up against my 2019 B-2 Tribute Explorer (though not my '85).

@@Kylora2112 yup, those DMT pickups blow, but Dean makes a great playing guitar. Gibson has made some good guitars, but I haven't been impressed by much of anything I've seen in the last two decades. I've got a buddy that loves Gibson, but he even admits they've let the brand go to shit. He's got some cool Gibsons that play great, an E-2 with the flame maple top, he also has one of the old (can't remember the model name) Explorer with 24 frets and a Floyd and it's another killer guitar. I don't see how Gibson can charge the prices they do for what they're producing now. Their money would be better spent on building guitars people want, and better QC than lawyers and lawsuits.

my dean dave mustaine vtmn is great

Yep, and I’m not about to part with any of my Dean’s. A couple Zs, a couple Vs, a very nice ML, and my Cadillac. I had an SG years ago and pretty much hated it. The feel & balance were not for me. I’d love to add another Z or V to the collection. I’m just not enamoured with Gibson. And it’s not about the money, many of my 46 guitars cost more than many/most Gibson’s. Mostly it’s about playability. The rest is down to wanting to support guitar companies and not lifestyle brands.

LMFAO 🎉

The $6000 mandolins are some of their "lower" priced models. I'm sure Gibson would consider them their "working man's mandolin".

Cry about being poor, harder.

​@@jfnarmourSo what if he's poor? Atleast the man has common sense!

@@jfnarmourimagine being such a A-hole that you think making fun of someone for not having money makes you better than them…

It's already been settled. Dean can't use Dime's name anymore, nor the razorback or Stealth models, since that was Dime's design. But the ML is Dean's own design, and that's the real Dimebag guitar anyway. A lot of people are gonna get that Slime Green ML when it's available.

They all compete in producing same 5 shapes for last 70 years. It’s all pretty boring really.

I am still pissed off over that small mindedness so I still haven't bought that Steinberger! Yup, missed out on that half-half "Yin Yang" black and white Steinberger, but heck, I need my money more than they need mine!

If Gibson copyrighted the design, reguardless of who designed it, it is theirs.

You don't have to be neither of those to buy a LP Standard or SG which are both great guitars.

​@@huohizationno, you just have to have poor taste. Gibson is easily one of the worst makers of G style guitars

@@drdoom8793 As if taste is a question of good or bad, it's all subjective. Point was, you don't have to be rich to buy them.

​@@drdoom8793whatever dude. Gibson makes some great stuff but to each his own.

@@drdoom8793- let me guess - you think the Gem is the “GOAT.” Am i right?

As an American as well, that caught me off guard lol

That got me too, most non-rhotic speakers pronounce the letter R with an 'a' vowel sound before it, kinda like a pirate might! But also KDH is a rhotic speaker, at least partially, so it came out of left field.

Englishman here, got me too! Turns out I’d never heard an Irishman say the letter R before. Now I know.

M-O-D-E-OR-N 😂

Just sounds like an Irish person to me 🤷‍♂️

Schecter almost do

Yeah it's pretty cool, samick Glen Bennett I think it's what the series was called and it's a V with the prs head stock.

😂 Probably doesn't matter, the brand is DEAN and that's still the name on the headstock.

Dean Zelinsky was still associated with Dean guitars when Armadillo took over, at least for a year or two. I met him a couple of times at the Armadillo booth at NAMM when it was still held in Nashville.

Yeah.That's really the only thing that's intresting here.

...and flips his hair... Again! I'm 62 and almost bald, but, cut it to reasonable.

😂 why do you youngsters have an infatuation with Goo !?

They very much are. Still make some great guitars here in Tampa.

I love the cursive logo they’ve been using. In fact, it’s the only reason I’d play one now.

Me too, his Gibsons are...not great looking 🤮

Especially true with lifestyle brands. LOL

Agreed. I have 4 Zs, and love them all ♥

Lmfao not going to happen. The banana headstock is protected.

Is that a band? “The rocking chair”? 😂

They did in 2017 when Hamer was coming out with modern imports that were better than most usa Gibson so they sued hamer into oblivion, same thing happened with Dean, Gibson seen Deans import was better than their usa guitars so they sued, it's disgusting really and the neither cases should have ever been heard in the modern day, maybe 40 years ago but not today and that's proof Gibson was just playing non competition law suit games and not actually protecting their trademark but using it as a way to sue their competition into oblivion, it worked with Hamer so they figured Dean might fall as quick but they fight and thank the guitar gods they did because they will prevail !

Dean still holds the Stealth and Razorback designs. What would they be able to offer?

Diamond guitars?

Dean Zelinsky is tasked with making the new a Dime guitars, that's already contracted to him, not Dean guitars in Florida.

@auntjenifer7774 what will they offer though? They can't use the ML, Stealth or Razorback.

Hi 👋

@@KDH your one of my favorite youtubers

It does have a willful disregard for practical engineering.