mrMagenta -> Do Gibson guitars have a right wing image? (Mar. 3 2012 21:21:24)
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Disclaimer: I'm not out to start a debate about political ideology I'm just curious if I have been missing out on some common knowledge. Do Gibson guitars, I mean the instruments themselves, not only the company, have a right wing association in the minds of people? The Gibson raid aftermath made a big deal of Gibson being a company that funds right-wing politicians. The news was meant to come out as 'look at the democrat G-men harassing us just because we're right wing supporters', but isn't it a HUGE mistake for a guitar manufacturer like Gibson to associate themselves with right wing politics? Or any politics for that matter. Doesn't that hurt the brand a lot!?? I like some of the guitars but I DO NOT want to carry around a symbol with political connotations, especially since I don't have any sympathy for the republican party (though I'm amused by Ron Paul, even though he too, obviously, is nuts!..) But then a lot of non right-wing artists have been playing Gibsons.. Patti Smith etc. So what's the deal? How are these guitars looked upon in the public mind, today? This thought has been troubling me lately. Somehow Gibson is so tightly integrated with the Rock n' Roll image. Has the whole Gibson Rock n' Roll thing somehow secretly been pulling the scene towards 'invisible hand' and 'free market' associations? Have I been blind to this hidden undercurrent? Now with increasing subjectivity: Is it a coincidence that the whole Gibson aesthetic is a lot of rosewood fretboards and humbuckers.. sort of like dark heavy furniture, stuffy and stale. Did the Gibson-image become an answer to Jimi Hendrixes Fender induced aire? A rosewood hound of baskerville, against the agile and light maple-fretboard mountain lion? I'm probably loosing it.. but somehow I can sense a few patterns emerging. Take the Gibson Blueshawk. A really cool guitar. I want one! But it's tainted by bad taste. There's a B.B.King signature of this guitar.. and somehow, though I like a lot of B.B.King stuff.. this sort of tastes like when Ozzy played with Zack Wylde. Something is wrong. Why did Gibson TYPE on the guitar?... a guitar that has written on it BLUES HAWK is somehow trying to make a point of marrying a cultural heritage with a patriotic symbol. Like a stamp of ownership; this too now fits under the greater, right-wing umbrella, just like B.B.King cruising Las Vegas in a limo. :P Enlighten me! Ps. If you have any tips on versatile light weight electric guitars, those are very welcome.
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