Wow, i would never believe it. I guess i have one more reason to not buy Gibson gear. This is truly puzzling and disappointing. Doesn't Gibson know that even musicians have pride? You know, there are other guitars out there just waiting to be picked... i took a Breedlove over an Ovation, i love a great underdog.

Why hasn't he contacted the organizers of the contest, this would be the folks over at Lolapalooza for help in this case? Wouldn't they potentially help out since it reflects badly on their competition to have a prize go so awry?

By the way, was there a "i play an instrument that you're giving/making" prerequisite to enter the contest? isn't the whole point of these promotions to put Gibson gear in the hands of non-Gibson users? Show people how cool and altruistic the brand is? how geared towards musicians and the hardships of being one the brand is? One thing has been shown here, is that Gibson obviously doesn't think much of the people they make the gear for. And thats one more reason to buy a competing product!

On the linked blog where Tonedeff describes in detail what happened, he says that the Lollapalooza people did actually get in touch with him recently to check that everything was okay, and when he told them that no, he'd never gotten the stuff, they said they were working on it.

Isn't Gibson a big enough company that they can afford to give away $10k worth of stuff (that they legally agreed to) without being such dicks about it?

@socritic: i took a Breedlove over an Ovation, i love a great underdog.

How is Ovation better than a Breedlove?? I'd take solid wood over plastic any day.

I find it funny how in like 5 or 6 of the comments, they respond.

"Go to consumerist.com and submit the story."

This guy should contact the same relentless, pit bull lawyers, that represent the RIAA/muscians when they sue college kids for downloading music. These guys could put a big leg bite on Gibson to pay up.

@Chiieddy:

He dealt with the Gibson reps at first and they eventually dumped him back to dealing with some of the lolapalooza people

This looks like an awesome opportunity for another company to come in and give him $10k of gear (after he agrees to not accept any Gibson gear from the contest).

Gibson is a lifestyle brand just like Harley Davidson. The quality of their products have slipped considerably since that have put the emphasis on brand image. When I worked in instrument retail (Guitar Center), we used to count the flaws on guitars from Gibson's custom shop line, more often then not these flaws would be unacceptable on a $400 Korean made guitar.

That they would not hold up a promotional deal does not amaze me. Trying to charge retail over MAP is a trick practiced by the most devious guitar shop owners. Nice to know that Gibson has no problem being on the same level as some of their dishonest vendors.

I'm guessing the bad PR generated by one Consumerist.com mention wipes out the 10K they tried to save by ripping him off (and then some)

Hmmm....tough call. Give away $10k in free stuff or lose more than $10k in business? How is it that idiots get to work for these huge companies?

@gorckat:
Excellent thought. Perhaps Baldwin would be interested, as that was his first choice.

Small Claims court as well. $5K cash is probably worth more to him than $10K MSRP of random gear anyway.

Playing devil's advocate here...

The whole part about actual value and suggested retail price is crap. Why should he expect to be able to price match a prize? If the manufacturer's price matches what guitar center has as their list price (not what they are selling it for) then it's a fair deal. As far as I can tell Gibson doesn't even sell direct to the public

@wkzero: You got it. Its sad too because I started on Epiphone equipment (a division of Gibson like Squire is for Fender) and moved up to legit Gibson stuff, but Gibson equipment has just gone downhill. Honestly the sad thing is with most of that stuff your buying the name now. Its all mass produced unless your spending 2-5 thousand on the guitar and even that is likely to only be minimally handmade.

Your better off buying some of the smaller brands if your want quality now.

@rndmideas: Well when the company won't supply you with a price list, or even a catalog of their stuff, all but forcing you to go to a reseller's website to find what you want to buy, why wouldn't you expect to pay what the reseller is charging for the gear? Besides, if Gibson wanted to cheap out on the stuff they should just work out a deal with Guitar Center anyway for this guy, after all Guitar Center already paid for the merchandise so they're not losing any money on the deal, and Gibson sells to GC for way way under what they charge anyway, so $10k in retail money is probably like $2k in Gibson money.

Yes, gibson promised him the prize and should deliver. They also should have given him a price list.

I can't really fault them for using MSRP, though - it's standard to quote prices as MSRP, and of course they are going to use them for the value (and it's probably buried in the fine print somewhere).

And I can understand why they would be a little irked. Obviously, they donated the prize in the hopes of getting some publicity from the person who won, and not expecting that the person would be just planning on selling the prize on eBay.

Go to your local luthier (you have one in your area, trust me). Get one of their basic guitars for between $1000-3000. You will wind up have a better instrument than even the best "top of the line" Gibson could ever be, a great conversation piece, and the beginning of an awesome business relationship for less money than Gibson would charge.

OK, so I am a first time guitar buyer who was looking at the Epiphone. Since that is out what should I be looking at? Needs to be left handed and I am a true beginner but I am pretty good at guitar hero.

@madanthony: Oh they're getting some publicity alright. Maybe he'd shout them out on a track instead of subjecting them to this well-deserved public blog shaming. What they "expected" to happen with the prize has absolutely zero bearing on what their obligations are here.

Bummer that they screwed this guy out of the stuff they promised the winner of that competition. Gibson's quality has been on a steady decline for the last 10 years.

Les Paul would be spinning in his grave, if he was in one.

I used to work at a Gibson plant, and believe me, it's really a joke. They really put out some real POS's. I finally just left in disgust one day.

@rndmideas:
Playing devil's advocate here...

The whole part about actual value and suggested retail price is crap. Why should he expect to be able to price match a prize? If the manufacturer's price matches what guitar center has as their list price (not what they are selling it for) then it's a fair deal. As far as I can tell Gibson doesn't even sell direct to the public

Fine. Even if that is all correct, now, long after the event, they are offering him nothing at no price at all. They've quit responding to him. They got publicity out of the deal - you just know they were listed as sponsors or prize providers, but now they want to give him nothing.

This is in no way fair.

@minnock: That depends on what kind of music you want to play. If you're a rock/blues cat, look at Fender or their downmarket sister, Squier. If you like to play Metal, look at Jackson/Washburn or Ibanez. Don't buy the House Brand (carlo robelli) and if you can, save for a real guitar. Even if you spend a few hundred more than you'd planned, you'll be happier in the long run if you decide to stick with it, and if you don't you can get more of your money back on craigslist or ebay.

F U gibson...i will not be buying from you again.

@minnock: I would definitely go to the pawn shop. Being left handed is definitely going to hurt your chances of finding one, but it's also harder for them to sell (take it from a left handed golfer). I still have my first guitar, a used Ibanez roadstar along with many others. The first one always has a special place in your heart. If you dedicate yourself and get better, there is no better reward than getting a new guitar later on. Just grab something with decent action and start playing.

@gorckat: No kidding...I'd love to see another company like Fender step in and honor the prize. The free publicity they'd get out of it would be worth far more than the money it would cost them.

It's such a good idea, in fact, that I just emailed Fender.

@gorckat:

Great idea.

@rndmideas
If you read the article you would know he finally chose a $9,999 MSRP guitar and they just ignored the request. So then he finally settled and chose a couple items from a list based on MSRP and still got nothing.

@minnock: Consider used as well. I learned on a spectacular Fender P-Bass from the mid-70s. I loved that thing. A lot of people buy guitars and get bored very quickly; there's always a good used market. You can buy something used for half price or less, and when you've played a while and know what you like, move up.

"Needs to be left handed"

There is no "handedness" in guitars (or other instruments -- flutes all point the same way). I realize there are "backwards" guitars out there, but they're a marketing gimmick, or for people who learned wrong.

If you're left-handed, you may have an easier time than your right-handed counterparts on a traditional guitar anyway, since more fine motor control is required for the fretting hand (left) than for the strumming hand (right).

@winstonthorne: Did you read the story? This dude has no money to buy anything, let alone spend $1-3K on a guitar from someone else. He was hoping to get some decent gear to kickstart his studio, and sell what he couldn't use to finance the rest of his dream. I read his blog, trust me.

@madanthony:

And I can understand why they would be a little irked. Obviously, they donated the prize in the hopes of getting some publicity from the person who won, and not expecting that the person would be just planning on selling the prize on eBay.

A) They donated the prize because getting their logo all over the marketing collateral and festival materials is worth more than the $2000 in actual cost to them. They have little interest in what happens to the actual prizes.

B) They could have given him the piano which he wanted to keep for himself.

C) They skipped the photo shoot.

I find it embarassing that the people from Lollapalooza don't appear to be doing anything more than nicely asking the guy from Gibson to play nice. They have more resources to sue or blackball Gibson from being used during Lollapalooza events, etc.

i had a girlfriend once who i told to enter a contest at a local guitar store. we both entered and she won. it was like $500 in merchandise. when we showed up to pick something out they were ready to take a promo photo and all that but were totally horrified it was a girl who won. i think they were expecting some shredder guitar dude. anyway, they quietly skipped the photo. they did give us the stuff though, i have to give them credit for that.

@Eyebrows McGee: Actually, there is. Left-handed guitars are designed so that you strum with your left hand and hold the neck with your right (I don't play but I'm a leftie so I notice this stuff). The strings are reversed so that they're in the same order top-to-bottom, I think.

Lots of things are mirrored for lefties even when you'd think they're ambidextrous. Guitars are one of those things.

This truly is pathetic. I've always liked the Gibson Guitars, however I've never bought because of how the company treat people. Mind you I would have never entered the contest either; I mean 10k in prizes does seem a little too good to be true. Also whenever you win something of considerable monetary value a certain percent of it has to be claimed, it's like if I were to win 100,000 dollars I am not going to see that exact amount legally a certain percentage would have to be knocked off. Now I am not siding with Gibson here, They should know better as well and not advertise such a grandiose prize. Instead they should advertise contests in a way that doesn't deceive. Mind you enough of this rambling I say F*** Gibson!

I wonder when large companies will finally realize that the weight they carry is only as good as the customers who support them. No Gibson products purchased from me.

Harumph - if I were them, I would have had fun with it: asked your gf if she wanted to get made up as a Goth, Rock n Roller, Lilith Fair... Clothes, makeup, have them pose her w/ a Rebel Yell. The works. Would have been fun for everyone and been a great publicity thing.

Sigh. Retailers have NO imagination.

I'd also like it if, somehow, he ordered 2,000 copies of Guitar Hero (w/ Rawk Guitar bundled, of course). Just to drive the Gibson Guy insaaane.

@Minnock @minnock: I'm a lefty an I play a right-handed Squier Stratocaster. Fretting with my left is easy because of that hand's manual dexterity.

Heck, probably the most famous left handed guitarist, Jimi Hendrix, played a Fender Strat strung backwards. Dusty Hill (ZZ Top Bassist) plays basses with both left and righthanded Strat style cuts. They're just strung for a rightie.

For the most part it doesn't matter. You just need to know whether you're using the lower frets. If that's the case, you want something with a cutaway where your hand will be. Otherwise, it really doesn't matter.

No Gibson for me either. Super lame.

Tonedeff needs to set up a donate button on his website. He's pretty good.

When I just saw the big promotion for Gibson's "Robot Guitar" I knew they'd jumped the shark. Part of being a musician - and I proudly call myself one (though I also admit to being a crappy one) - is knowing how to tune your instruments. It's part of the learning process and it's how you become a better musician. Gibson has become more focused on selling overpriced instruments to aging baby boomers than on actually being a musician's company.

i'm a fender telecaster kinda guy.

Maybe I am naive, I can't believe these guys didn't just give him the stuff...

OMG now that poor man's site- which I visited about an hour ago- is dead! Hopefull, though, that bodes well for Gibson getting an earful over this...

What agreement or release did you sign to enter? What does your lawyer say about all this? Sue the Gibson bastards or at least file a lawsuit!
Glad you're digging it because Gibson may now respond.

Gibson's quality has definitely gone down over the years. At one point I owned a Les Paul Studio, and it was a great guitar - but for the $1K it cost at Guitar Center, I can now go buy THREE equivalent-quality-or-better guitars from Rondo Music.

Paying the extra money for the Gibson logo on the headstock just isn't worth it anymore.

I was once told that one reason Gibby's quality is sucking down the drain is that they are still using the same toolsets as when they started. They fear that replacing/updating them would not imbue the instrument with that mythical "Gibson" quality. This may/may not be true, but it would explain their recent handiwork.

@minnock: I'm always torn when recommending to beginners. On the one hand, spending only a little money on a decent guitar is a good hedge against growing frustrated with learning and giving up playing. On the other hand, I know that if I had my PRS when I started out, I would have practiced so much more because it's so easy to play, and would now be a better player.

Not knowing your finances, I'll say: spend carefully, go for value. Epis are good, and if you can find a used Fender, try it.

@Buran: Guitars are one of those things that some hacks feel they need to have made "left handed," but there is no technical need for them to be so. IMO a left-handed guitar is about as whacky as a left-handed piano.

BTW @Tonedeff, if you read this, workable pianos are *extremely* easy to come by free or cheap, especially if you are willing to take a console or spinnet. When I was searching for a piano I had no less than 3 people offer me them for free - "You come get it and it's yours." Just a few weeks ago, my next door neighbor offered to give me her full upright for free! Look around, ask around. $200 for a piano mover (or $20 for a case of beer, 4 strong guys, and a pickup truck) and another $200 for tuning/repairs and off you go.