The Guitar Magazine – September 2019

I

t all seemed like it was going rather well for

Gibson. Rejuvenated under new ownership

and with fresh investment, the goodwill

generated by the company’s NAMM Show

return in January was palpable. Led by former

Levi’s main man JC Curleigh, Gibson seemed

ready to move forward, focus on making great

guitars again and exorcise the ghosts of the latter

part of Henry Juszkiewicz’s troubled reign.

Then came June, that Mark Agnesi video, and

a laundry list of news stories about trademark

infringement, litigation, counter-claims, statements

about “shifting from confrontation to collaboration,”

and a lot more besides. And as we type this, a week

GIBSON

2019 LES PAUL STANDARD ’50S

& LES PAUL TRIBUTE

WORDS CHRIS VINNICOMBE

From the Original and Modern Collections

comes a pair of new production Les Pauls

that might just prove less is more...

or so prior to Summer NAMM, it looks like it’ll be

some time before the dust settles. However, away

from the lurid social-media posts and the sound of

hundreds of lawyers rubbing their hands together

with glee, there’s the small matter of some electric

guitars to write about. After all, that’s what got us

here in the first place.

In July, we featured Gibson Custom’s flagship 2019

model, the 60th Anniversary 1959 Les Paul Standard.

Now it’s time to check out what the production-line

Original and Modern Collections have to offer.

FACTORY RECORDS

Back in April, we flew out to see Gibson in Nashville

and witnessed first-hand the improvements that

have already taken place under the watchful eye of

new chief merchant officer Cesar Gueikian. Simple

things – better lighting and extraction, more efficient

workflows – have already had a positive effect on

REVIEWS

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