<![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised! - Consumerist Comments]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised! - Consumerist Comments]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> As someone mentioned, $10k cash is a bigger payout than $10k in equipment. For Tonedeff cash is best as he'd pay income tax on the prize (prizes are taxed as income, not resale) so that's more like 25-30% rather than 8%. If he was planning on biying $10k of equipment then that's a good deal, but otherwise he'd have to scratch up $2500 he didn't expect to pay off the taxes. The cash prize means he actually has $7500 in his pocket on April 6th.

As for rappers or hip-hop artists and their "talent", who's to say here? Jeez, because that's his genre you conclude he can't play an instrument (did I miss an interview where he says he can't and doesn't want to)? Ever hear the Beastie Boys' "The In Sound from Way Out"? Here are so-called (ok, white, middle class) rappers that most people know from "Fight for Your Right" playing live jams and jazz instrumentals. Kick ass musicians who front as rappers. Like saying Ella Fitzgerald can't sing after only hearing her skat. I'd love to hear good rappers sit at the drums and translate their (at times) amazing timing and attack to percussion. Or guitar for that matter.

roymond

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> I didn't realize he was a rapper himself. Not a douche.

@matt1978: It's "MacGyver."

joemono

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]>

    What a stink! That's pretty low-down of Gibson, on the avoiding-paying-off thing. They had the definitive sound, back in the day. Now, there are a ton of options, from wood density, to pickups, to the electronics the axe is plugged into. I always loved the classic Les Paul sound, but what am I most likely to play? see avatar pic. I like an arched fingerboard, skinny neck. Fender used to have those, back in the day. You could work with the electronics, to get a heavy sound. But now, Fender necks are just as huge (flat fretboard, too) as Gibson's. Bah.

    These days, you can look at a catalog, and those USA Gibsons will be right up there in the upper end of the "insane" price range. Chances are, if you are patient, you can go through the racks of cheap Peavy's and Ibanez's, and find a heavy axe with decent action. A pickup change later, you'll sound just as good, tone-wise.

    That said, I love the Gibson 62 SG reissue I bought in the late '80s. It had a brilliant white paint job, with black hardware. 20 years later, it looks like ivory. It has aged magnificently. Someone in finishes knew what they were doing! The neck and jumbo frets feel just as awkward as ever, though.

    I don't fault lefties for wanting to play their own way, i.e. right hand on the frets, left hand picking. Play that way with a backwards-strung right-hand axe, and you can't reach the top frets. If you'll look, the cutout in the body is less on the "top!" OK, I guess that doesn't matter these days, since most guitarist recording contracts specify that NOTHING above the 7th fret is allowed, anyway...

    I most totally disagree with sentiments in the comments, of the initial post, that guitarists should all be institutionally taught the "correct" way to play. Sounds very constrictive, and it's totally opposite of the initial spirit of the electric guitar. Go wild, kids!

AcidReign

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> I'm glad that this hit the blogosphere, so that Gibson was able to make things right. The CEO really more than made things right by cutting a check for $10k. Keep in mind that $10k worth of merchandise would cost nowhere near that to Gibson -- a friend in the industry tells me it would cost them more in the neighborhood of $2500.

fiddlechick

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> Tally another win for the little guy.

D-Bo

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> @ex_ea_slave: Record beats maybe? Ever thought of that?

arch05

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> As a former Gibson employee, this truly saddens me that Don is 'getting toasted' in the press. I wasn't going to respond to this blog; however, I feel that it is necessary to spare a Gibson (ex or current) employee that is potentially being treated unfairly. Henry mentioned in his response, that he has ultimate approval on all things at Gibson, which in my experience is true. He often would require approval of $200 expenditures. If there was a Gibson sponsored event in which $10K was the prize, you can be assured that Henry had approved this in advance and was fully aware of its existence. Henry may or may not have known if the prize had been paid out, but Don had nothing to gain nor lose from rewarding the prize. Gibson is a private company and Henry is the owner so essentially it's Henry's wallet that feels the pain. I worked for Gibson for 2 years and in that time, I witnessed numerous suppliers who did not receive payment simply because Henry didn't want to pay them. I was astounded by the lack of business ethics, but again it's a private company and there is no accountability except for the bottom $$ line.

Gibson (in addition to making a good guitar) is a marketing machine. Henry pays close attention to when and where Gibson guitars are mentioned in the press and other material outside of Gibson published marketing. He knows that Gibson's bread and butter is the name brand and for that I give the guy a lot of credit. He's ethics might be questionable, but he is smart. Afterall, he has an MBA from Harvard. In my opinion, it comes down to the simple fact that bad press outweighed the $10K. Thank goodness there are forums/websites/blogs like this to hold the henrys of the world accountable.

To others, please leave Don alone. I don't know him, but I know enough of Gibson to feel fairly certain there was more going on behind then scenes than we're privy to.

bigfuss

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> This story was hitting the music blogs pretty hard when I Googled Don Pitts/Tonedef. I figure the Gibson head saw the bad advertising, heard from his customer sales/support how people were responding to the story, and heard from Don how folks were calling him and telling him to screw. The cost of dealing with the issue in bad press and employee time was probably way more than $10,000.

Now Tonedef better remember to declare it as I am sure Gibson will submit the prize info to the IRS...

econobiker

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> What is a rapper going to do with actual instruments? Wouldn't they be better used by people with real musical talent and not someone with a knack for rhyming words?

Trust me, I'm a doctor

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> I posted a mildly reproachful message through their website contact form, and they actually replied to me, telling me that the problem had been resolved. Big props to Gibson for making this right.

WhirlyBird

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> cheers mate, you've gotten what's rightfully yours, kudos on the initiative, it's a pleasure to see you win. I am curious as to how Gibson explained the reps behavior. Was he working for them? was he working on his own? how did he come to be in a position that he could give the company such bad publicity? will this happen again?

socritic

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> @joemono: No. I hate rap too.

ColoradoShark

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> cosumerist lookin luminous
bad business is tumourous

...oh i don't know

no.no.notorious

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> @Buran: No, actually. Tonedeff was promised $10,000 worth of Gibson equipment, not cash.

Since we, as outsiders, weren't privy to how much info the CEO had about this particular case, it's really not fair to say he was trying to weasel out of anything (unless the company has a history of promising prizes and then not delivering).

I'm not so anti-Big Business that I don't give credit where credit is due.

Imaginary_Friend

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> @Imaginary_Friend: Yes, he did. HIS COMPANY made a promise it failed to keep. If an employee does something while on the job, he is acting on the company's behalf. This guy's blaming it on a "rogue employee" is just disgusting.

Gibson tried to weasel out of it and it's as simple as that, and only stood up and did something as basic as keep a promise because they got ratted out for the liars they were.

Buran

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> Back on topic: Yay internets!

Gibson CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz should be commended. That was truly classy to give tonedeff a check for $10,000; he didn't have to do that.

I haven't bought a rap album in years, but after this story broke, I googled tonedeff and listened to his music (FYI: he doesn't just rap) - and I gotta tell ya, I was really impressed. He's crazy talented. I'm looking forward to hearing what he comes up with in his new and improved studio.

Imaginary_Friend

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> @lightaugust: @joemono: Hrrrrmmm yeeeah the guy's a rapper. He um raps. He's saying he would wish pain on OTHER RAPPERS. Like, talking trash. Not wishing pain on anyone that likes rap. Because, ya know, he's a rapper. Just clarifying that one for you.

cryrevolution

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> @LilKoko: Exactly.

matt1978

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> @yourbffjill: Yeah. I read it like that, too. Rappers talking trash to other rappers -- part of the game.

LilKoko

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> @joemono: good lord take a joke. find me a rapper who doesn't rhyme on other rappers.

you take one sentence out of context and use that to determine someone is a douchebag? sounds like kind of a douchebag thing to do.

yourbffjill

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> So, is he gonna use the check to buy gibson stuff? or what? these cliffhanger endings just make me feel unfufilled.

off to polish my bazooka. I'll get you next time, comcast!

m4ximusprim3

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> Kinda read that to mean, he's dismissing rap, since they're the only folks worth wishing pain and malice to. So, yeah, he qualifies. Plus, I stuck up for this guy in the comments when the OP went up. After that, I'm kind of sorry about that.

lightaugust

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> @joemono: I always thought that MacGuyver as your avatar made you a douche.
The guy raps. Get over it, jerkoff.

matt1978

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> @headon: Heck, I would be happy with a "secret sub-society" kick to it. Some people still like it, I'm just not one of 'em...

Crymson_77

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> @JOEMONO: nah that's not enough. I mean he may be a douch and all but it's time for rap to go the way of disco.

headon

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> @Arch05 Your rap skills are sweet!

hhole

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> @arch05: Hey, what about Walters...

Chris Walters

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> wooot!

Tank

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> "I've never been the type of person to wish malice or pain on anyone (unless they rap)..." Is that statement enough to qualify this guy as a douchebag?

joemono

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> Popken & Marco writin blogs for Consumerist
Clownin corporations like a newspaper humorist.


arch05

]]> <![CDATA[Gibson Awards Prize To Artist As Promised!]]> Yay! I'm glad the artist finally got something out of this. I wonder what happened in Gibson internally? In Tonedeff's blog, it sounds like some really bad decisions by one or more employees really backfired on their company.

SVreader

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