The Legitimate Reasons Behind The Mass Gibson Firebird X Destruction

I’m sure that many of you have seen or at least heard about Gibson destroying hundreds of Firebird X’s by running over them with a large tracked backhoe. There’s been a huge outcry about this, but this video below by the Guitologist sheds some light about the reasons why it happened.

The original video that was posted on YouTube and subsequently removed was taken by former Gibson employing BJ Wilkes who was on the scene when it all went down. While it seemed like there might have been some ill will involved by posting the video, Wilkes seemed pretty fair in his assessment of the situation and with Gibson’s decision.

The biggest outcry coming from the guitar community was that the company didn’t try to repurpose the guitars, or at least remove the hardware to use elsewhere. The fact of the matter is that the Firebird X was a terrible guitar, too expensive at over $8k, which the marketplace decided by purchasing so few of them. They were packed with too much unwanted electronics (compression, reverb, delay, robotuners) and the wood was routed in a way that there wasn’t much left to work with in the body itself.

With the company trying to rebrand itself as the “new old Gibson” by reissuing all the old reliable standards (but at more reasonable prices), the last thing the company needed was to have more loser guitars seeping out into the public and essentially negating the new branding.

Plus, repurposing hundreds of guitars that had no shot of making a profit would drain scarce resources from a company that really needs to be focused on the future.

So don’t judge that video or decision too harshly. Take a look at the video below and hear what Wilkes has to say and you’ll get an insider’s opinion that’s pretty fair and balanced. And be happy that there’s no more Firebird X’s on the streets.

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