Re: Any thoughts for Gibson Mgt?

[Scot Gresham-Lancaster <scot@csuhayward.edu>]

At 09:57 AM 9/16/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Do you want to share communicate something about the Oberheim EDP to
>managers at Gibson?

I have been a lurker on this list for a 6 months or so, but events of
yesterday have lifted my cloaking device. On a tip from a friend, I went by
the now defunct offices of Oberheim in Oakland. They are in the process of
moving the entire operation to the main office of Gibson in Nashville. This
goes a long way to explaining the delays that everyone has been
experiencing. All the echoplex business both on paper and actual units
(including the new ROMs and the new run of Echoplex Digital Pro units) are
in transit to their new home in Nashville. End of Story. (Hopefully) If
Gibson has any business sense, and I am sure they do, they will feverishly
shipping and filling orders as soon as the new set up is in place.

I should note that if production would have continued in Oakland there
would have been a fresh shipment of Echoplexes earlier this month by way of
Oakland. This means that the units are assembled and tested and just
waiting processing to be shipped. So hold tight. If in two weeks they don't
have this sorted out, then I would recommend going berserk.

With regards to thoughts about Gibson's management. I think it is a pity
that Tom Oberheim, through no fault of his own, lost control of his
company. I worked at Oberheim in the late 70's and have great deal of
respect for Tom as a designer and innovator. This is a case where the
pitbull aspect of global economics sucks and works to no ones advantage.
Tom genuinely cared about the products he helped develop in an ineffible
way that respected the bottom line, but, ultimately, put music making
first. First with the move from LA and now this one to Nashville we see the
legacy of this concept weakened. Gibson must, of course, keep the profit
margin in sight with each of these decisions, but what will make this
division thrive and be profitable is the infusion of integrity and just
"giving a good god damn" that makes anything of worth rise above the rest. 

 
Scot Gresham-Lancaster
< Composer, Performer, Instrument Designer, Consultant, Educator >
ph: 510-885-3150   fax:510-885-3146
email: scot@csuhayward.edu
www: http://tesla.csuhayward.edu/~scot   
(click on my picture there to get a bio)

The market place is where greedy people cooperate. A community takes
imagination....Robert Haas