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31 minutes ago, kizanski said:

Couldn't they have donated them and claimed them as such?

It’s a Risk v Reward proposition.   The reward in that case is simply not worth the alternative.

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The statement Gibson released leads me to believe the electronics didn't meet ROHS.  

What are the restricted materials mandated under RoHS?
The substances banned under RoHS are lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), cadmium (Cd), hexavalent chromium (CrVI), polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), and four different phthalates (DEHP, BBP, BBP, DIBP).

That's just the basic standard. Without the documentation there's no ROHS.  It doesn't mean the guitars contain hazardous substances. You can't sell or give them away.  You can't give them to schools or poor people.  They are worth more as tax write off than it would to pay people to recycle parts like bridges & tuners.  

 

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2 hours ago, cmatthes said:

This has been going on for years, and Gibson isn’t the only musical instrument company that does/has done this.  I’ve seen pallets of stringed instruments heading for the crusher/dumpster in New Hartford, seen nearly perfect, expensive  PRS guitars get band-sawed, and much more

Great point.  At a former job the boss showed up with 2 sledgehammers.  Our crew destroyed 10s of thousands of dollars in control valves.  Because of the law, employees we were forbidden to scrap out the metal but they didn't care if our friends retrieved it later that night(which we did). The guitars are useless without the electronics and have no value.  I figured people would get a kick out of this video.  The firebird x was so hated. Instead outrage, and claims of bad PR and bad management.  Same shit different day.

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59 minutes ago, BubbaVO said:

And in a few years, they will collectable by Gibson addicts...worth $$$$.

And just watch how Gibson addicts will make them "collectable" and skyrocket in "value."

If anybody actually paid anywhere close to the MSRP of $5570 for one of these corporate turds when they were new, that'll be the only way they'll see even a fraction of their money back.

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9 hours ago, HamerDave said:

What a waste. I know the aren't particularly good guitars but they ARE, or at least were, servicable instruments. There are a lot of young people who can't afford even a cheap guitar. How about donating these to a program that teaches music? There are a couple programs in my area that give lessons to kids and vets living in homeless shelters or who attend classes at the Y or community centers. Get the young'uns interested in playing so us old guys have someone to sell ours to wgen we finally hang it up.

 

8 hours ago, lincsman said:

Its total madness, they could have been given to Schools and youth centres.

 

 

5 hours ago, Bennyboy-UK said:

First Offender?

No one needs to see that meme ever again.

 

5 hours ago, cmatthes said:

Guys - simply donating these was really not a viable option - that’s not how corporations work.  Gibson spend millions (reportedly) on the R&D and production of these turdful instruments, they tried to force them on an unreceptive dealer and customer base, and ultimately, had to recall and store a TON of these unsold abominations in a warehouse...for years.

This is all an incredibly expensive proposition, and while I’m sure it seems super easy to just box these up and send them to inner city or depressed rural school music programs, that’s not the way that works either.  There’s a research cost involved with that, paperwork and labor expense and also determining what (if any) potential tax implications exist - favorable or not.  In the end, it is far more fiscally and justifiable to write them off as a loss, which requires them being declared unfit/unsafe, and then destroying them.  

This has been going on for years, and Gibson isn’t the only musical instrument company that does/has done this.  I’ve seen pallets of stringed instruments heading for the crusher/dumpster in New Hartford, seen nearly perfect, expensive  PRS guitars get band-sawed, and much more (yet, somehow, Heritage and Carvin still sent out their crap, but I digress...😆).

At the end of the day, it’s a corporate financial decision, and emotions and charitable thoughts have no place in that realm.

As overly complicated as the electronics in those things were (Bluetooth, USB, programmable effects, rechargable battery, robot tuners) it seems like a breakdown/need for repair was more of a when not if situation which would probably be a financial burden for some.

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Cmatthes and Shark are exactly right. Accounting rules (and associated tax laws) force corporate entities' hands on such matters.  It makes much more sense (and cents) to declare inventory damaged or spoiled than it is to donate it whilst seeking a charitable deduction against earnings. That said, a somewhat more creative and inherently riskier means of doing the same thing would have allowed for some of the brand's metal-genre endorsers to smash a "loaned" Firebird X at each of their live performances. Technically, that's not kosher in the financial/legal sense, but it would have been infinitely more entertaining to watch.

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This happened as Gibson was coming out of bankruptcy with new owners and management.  The new guys knew that the brand image was at or near an all-time low.  They also knew that the Firebird X was a complete failure in every respect.   Probably the worst thing they ever made.  So, being busy trying to dig out of the rubble, resurrect the brand, take their losses and cut and run from the ghost of Henry J, I'm sure they had neither time/money or interest in doing anything but putting them under the treads.  They sure didn't want a crapton of these out there making their image even worse.

Sure, donating or repurposing them is a nice idea and there have been times when I would have been eternally grateful for *any* electric guitar, I don't think Gibson had the time or resources to do anything like that.  BTW I'm told that these things couldn't even function as a basic straight ahead guitar.

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4 hours ago, LefThanDed said:

Back then you didn't need a track hoe...

20190802_165604.jpg

Ok!! Naked woman with hands on her tit’s a chainsaw ripping into a Les Paul??? WTF was I when this show was going on??? I guess it never hit the midwest.. damn!!

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6 minutes ago, Dutchman said:

Ok!! Naked woman with hands on her tit’s a chainsaw ripping into a Les Paul??? WTF was I when this show was going on??? I guess it never hit the midwest.. damn!!

WOW was not to be trifled with.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
50 minutes ago, Moose said:

Anyone able to sum it up for me?

A heavy set older guy with long gray hair broke the necks off of around 20 ES custom shop guitars by stomping on them at the neck heel and then band sawed the bodies in two and whacked a portion off of the tops of the neck. 

Summarized 🧐

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