JVsearch said:
The CS-336 on the other hand was a pretty revolutionary design from the construction point of view, even if it looked like a downsized 335
from the out side, in fact it is nothing like a 335. Ok, the design has its roots back in Orville Gibson's time, but still, it was the more modern
Gibson Co. that got the thing made.
Innerestin'. I'll check it out.
Both Gibson and Fender have been totally burned in the past when they tried to introduce new designs, those designs have mostly been
universally shunned. The Explorer and the V were failures when they were released. It's pretty much the same today, guitarists just buy the
usual old stuff, mostly because those designs really can't be beaten. In the end the major factor is going to be the player, and the old designs
are entirely adequate for anything that a human player would want to do on a guitar (playing wise).
Now see I don't buy this. The classic Gibsons were made in a short space of time. Many were not runaway successes, but people kept coming back to them. Each had something wonderfully special. Was it just time? Well, who's pining to get a Gibson L-6?
There's a small core of nighthawk fans. Now that's a guitar that was not built to the kick-*** design approach of McCarty's Gibson. But at least it was a new design with it's own characteristics - something that continues to appeal to a handful of players.
Those classic Gibsons (besides the Les Paul of course. That, like the Stratocaster, is a 1 in million
) are not still loved today because of what they were then. They were great designs. I'm positive that, if they'd never existed and they were brought out now, they'd still become famous guitars - the same way that, like 'em or hate 'em, the Jem and the Fly have become.
The problem with Gibson in the 70's and now, is they wanted technology or heaping bling on their guitars to win the game. The RD is a cooler guitar than the Dusk Tiger, but it didn't have "it." The Les Paul Supreme? Embarassingly kitsch.
I mean, look at the SG. Slinky, asymetrical devil horn guitar in scarlet and black. Brilliant. No one had thought of making a guitar look like something you'd buy in a sex shop. And maybe because of that, they didn't take it too far and ruin it.
And then the V and the Explorer. Off the covers of Amazing! magazine. Just wild creativity, but always with a Gibson touch - although the Firebird is so way out it doesn't even look like a Gibson, although it kicks ***.