# Gibson Theodore



## dmc69 (Jan 20, 2011)

Did not see this coming at all. Kinda funky. I like the body shape! I'm not so sold on the headstock though, but it's not the worst thing either. 



https://www.guitarworld.com/news/gibson-theodore


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

Body reminds me of the Tokai Talbo.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Also looks like an old Gretsch. Switch in totally the wrong place.


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## zztomato (Nov 19, 2010)

Tokai should start a lawsuit over that one. Oh the irony.


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## Sketchy Jeff (Jan 12, 2019)

the shapes of those 'junk' guitars that people had kicking around in their panelled basement rec rooms in the '70s are having a day 

i'm not sure i can separate that look from the smell of mildew, skanky shag carpet, stale smoke, and sweaty polyester

but they are probably cool for those who can

j


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

Me: "Well, that's titillating."

Gibson: "5 grand"

Me: lol.


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

Okay Player said:


> Me: "Well, that's titillating."
> 
> Gibson: "5 grand"
> 
> Me: lol.


Jesus, didn't realize it was $5k... swing and a miss Gibson. That's a $1000 guitar.


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

keto said:


> Also looks like an old Gretsch. Switch in totally the wrong place.


Totally like some of the Baldwin era Gretsch guitars! And some Rickenbacher, Kay and Teisco guitars.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Not my cup of tea.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Nothing about that guitar makes me even curious about how much it is.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

I'm always looking for new and interesting body shapes, but that looks like something made in a high school shop class (or worse).


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## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)

I would like to see the body in ebony or dark cherry. I am a double cut person so I don't mind the design. The headstock .... well at least it isn't a Dean spread eagle.


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

I like it! I'm not sure about the headstock, Firebird or V would have been nice.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

zztomato said:


> Tokai should start a lawsuit over that one. Oh the irony.


I think Rickenbacker could probably make a pretty good case too…


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

I'd prefer the Tokai Talbo that gtrguy posted.


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

gtrguy said:


> Jesus, didn't realize it was $5k... swing and a miss Gibson. That's a $1000 guitar.


At that sub-$1500 (1200ish) price point, they'd sell a pile.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Would make a decent Fish-style board


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

Definitely not a $5000 guitar. At $1500 I'd buy one.


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## dmc69 (Jan 20, 2011)

Robert1950 said:


> I would like to see the body in ebony or dark cherry. I am a double cut person so I don't mind the design. The headstock .... well at least it isn't a Dean spread eagle.


It comes in both Ebony and Cherry!


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## terminalvertigo (Jun 12, 2010)

Shouldn't the wood be korina?..especially at 5 large?


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## zztomato (Nov 19, 2010)

I'm sure there's a reason Ted never went past the sketch phase on that idea. He probably looked around at all the weird space age guitars coming into the country and thought, no f'n way am I turning Gibson into a laughingstock.


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## aC2rs (Jul 9, 2007)

I'm not really sure about Theodore Gibson 

But I do like Theodore Tugboat ...


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## MFW777 (Aug 3, 2017)

BlueRocker said:


> Definitely not a $5000 guitar.


I agree, swing and a miss at 5 Grand.


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## StevieMac (Mar 4, 2006)

The body vaguely reminds me of a Frank Bros guitar. Unlike the Frank though, @ over $5K, the value just isn't there on the Gibson IMO.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

Yeah, no.


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

I'll take the Talbo. Cast aluminum body for those who didn't know


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## Relic (Mar 19, 2011)

Definitely a Rickenbacker vibe, except for the fugly headstock. I'd rather play a Ric, personally...

Edit: really, that headstock, sheesh. "Sorry honey, I just can't seem to, er, get it up tonight."


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

knight_yyz said:


> I'll take the Talbo. Cast aluminum body for those who didn't know


They made both aluminum and wood versions. Tokai did a lot of neat stuff.


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## Parabola (Oct 22, 2021)

Looks like some of the Japanes/ Teisco “Tulip” shapes of the day.

In typical Gibson fashion they limited production to 318 and slapped $5k on it. Makes sense to me as the Gibson collectors will snap them up, and probably all the other models that will follow in the line.

From a business perspective, that’s just over $1.5M on those 318 guitars,..so even with materials,labour etc they are pocketing well over $1M for essentially a few days and 318 slots on the production schedule. Thats a quick win, and certainly helps as they recover financially.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

Will it face the same fate as the Firebird X?


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

The YouTube guitar whores are on the case


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## John123 (Jul 22, 2020)

No design thought or concept behind this future failure!!


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

gtrguy said:


> They made both aluminum and wood versions. Tokai did a lot of neat stuff.


The Talbo is aluminum, the Talbo Woody is made of hollowed out maple. 

Tokai
ALuminum
BOdy....
TALBO


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## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

Ugg


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Parabola said:


> *Looks like some of the Japanes/ Teisco “Tulip” shapes of the day*.
> 
> In typical Gibson fashion they limited production to 318 and slapped $5k on it. Makes sense to me as the Gibson collectors will snap them up, and probably all the other models that will follow in the line.
> 
> From a business perspective, that’s just over $1.5M on those 318 guitars,..so even with materials,labour etc they are pocketing well over $1M for essentially a few days and 318 slots on the production schedule. Thats a quick win, and certainly helps as they recover financially.


Exactly.


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## OttawaGuitarGuyGSA (Jan 13, 2020)

Sorry Nope.. should have left the drawing in the archive…. Fugly


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## Roryfan (Apr 19, 2010)

Not with your di€£ and somebody else pushin'!


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## benum47 (Oct 13, 2013)

Ugly, but it looks better in red. In fact, based on the Rhett youtube title screen, I think it would look much better in red with white binding.


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## Parabola (Oct 22, 2021)

I think they are fugly in the modern context, however for its day, it would have been a pretty cool design. Japanese manufacturing firms certainly had no trouble Selling whatever funky designs they cranked out In those days.

Historically, I think it’s pretty cool to see the president of Gibson was forward thinking and innovative, and checking out what others were doing at that time. We tend to think of Gibson these days are resting on their history, however the McCarty era of Gibson (1950-1966) is nothing but pure technical innovation and bold designs, that are still the definition of what the electric guitar is today in many ways. 

Not my cup of tea, or in my budget, but I appreciate it for what it is and look forward to seeing the rest of the collection.


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## mick.335 (Sep 23, 2020)

Gibson is selling the story as much as they are selling a guitar. They only made 400, the price doesn't matter. They will be sold out to collectors and will never see the light of day, or the inside of a skanky bar.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

I think Epiphone should do a version of this at a more reasonable price. I guess it'll depend on the popularity of the Gibson model.


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## vokey design (Oct 24, 2006)




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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

knight_yyz said:


> The Talbo is aluminum, the Talbo Woody is made of hollowed out maple.
> 
> Tokai
> ALuminum
> ...


Yes, aluminum and wood VERSIONS. As well as clear lucite.


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

I can’t decide if it’s a fish cracker or a tulip. Ugly in either case.


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## superfly (Oct 14, 2021)

and this is why design (and other matters, for that matter) should be left to trained professionals. because natural talent is rare...


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## fogdart (Mar 22, 2017)

I’ll take this one, please. 

View attachment 408522


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

I think it sounds good based on the couple of videos I've seen. Also hats off to Gibson for trying a new design. But $5K is just stupidity and greed.


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## SurfGreenTele (Jan 24, 2010)

keto said:


> Also looks like an old Gretsch. Switch in totally the wrong place.


Yeah, they even went ahead and posted the drawing in which McCarty made special notes on the switch placement, and just said “nah”.

Also, the original sketch’s headstock and lower horn shapes match…not the Explorer headstock.

Either way, it’s not an appealing guitar to me at all.


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## Parabola (Oct 22, 2021)

BlueRocker said:


> I think it sounds good based on the couple of videos I've seen. Also hats off to Gibson for trying a new design. But $5K is just stupidity and greed.


I’ve been thinking about the Cost part of it, and looking through the website. I think for Gibson there are two markets, the players and the collectors. There’s a ton of guitars that are for players of various price point, and then there are the collector guitars, and they get stupid expensive fast! If you look at it as a player, this price is insane, if you look at it as a collector item that you’re going to put away and hope the value increases, it’s not a bad deal compared to other models.

I’ve been playing for 35 years, but only recently (2018) been introduced to Gibson. During Covid, I’ve done a lot of buy/sell/trade on Gibsons ( probably 12-13 guitars) and explored the player range and discovered what I like and don’t. I’ve seen a few of the expensive collector type guitars and honestly they do nothing for me, I’d be afraid to play them lol. But to each his own and there certainly appears to be no shortage of buyers for that stuff.

As for this guitar, it’s obviously a love or hate response, so they are smart to make it a limited collector guitar and not risk a major production run. I’d probably buy a cheaper version, just because I dig those old Japanese guitars, but I suspect I’d probably not be happy with it, only because the secret sauce for those guitars are the pickups!


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## Parabola (Oct 22, 2021)

BlueRocker said:


> The YouTube guitar whores are on the case


This type of marketing is a whole other discussion.


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## Fuzzy dagger (Jun 3, 2016)

I’m with @Parabola on this one. I have a lot of Gibson guitars and I’m a player, I’ve no desire for CS anything. I don’t get knicker twisted about anything they produce. That guitar is basically an SG special which I have covered.


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## Clypher (Jan 5, 2007)

I like almost every gibson guitar shape, and I'm not always opposed to unique or funky designs.. Hard pass on this one.


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## DavidP (Mar 7, 2006)

A basic 2-P90 'designer' guitar for $5K USD? Forget it!!


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## CDWaterloo (Jul 18, 2008)

reminds me of a Frank Brothers guitar.


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## StevieMac (Mar 4, 2006)

All recent examples I saw on Reverb have been priced at $15K+. It's an even bigger PASS now


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Not exactly to my taste, but someone will love it.


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## Blonde Vengeance (10 mo ago)

Thought I would try to fix it a bit, amateur photoshop job


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

CDWaterloo said:


> reminds me of a Frank Brothers guitar.


Hmm .. Wonder if Gibson caught wind of this and chose to release Theo to launch a suit against Frank?
Then again, maybe Frank should launch a suit against Gibson?


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## Parabola (Oct 22, 2021)

I don’t think anyone could successfully sue for trademark on this, the tulip shape has been used on countless models since the 50’s, it would be pretty tough to make a claim on it.


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

I wouldn't fvck that with a stolen dick


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Blonde Vengeance said:


> Thought I would try to fix it a bit, amateur photoshop job
> View attachment 408644


I'd still want 4 controls--I like individual ones for each pickup.
But on the real one the controls look so crowded together.

But the biggest problem is the price--for what is essentially a variation on an SG or LP Special.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

aC2rs said:


> I'm not really sure about Theodore Gibson
> 
> But I do like Theodore Tugboat ...
> View attachment 408445


Theodore stopped right here in Gananoque a couple of years ago. Of course, everybody went to see him


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

I wouldn't kick it out of bed but I don't much like P90s. It would be nice to see some photos of it actually in use -- that might improve things.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

BlueRocker said:


> The YouTube guitar whores are on the case


He's going through so many pedals he keeps toggling the switch and it makes _no_ difference to the sound.


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## Strummer70 (Dec 12, 2018)

Looks like a pineapple. I’m sure there will be enough people that will scoop up a limited run of 318 and they will probably keep value but I can’t see them catching on as a mass sale instrument.


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## Parabola (Oct 22, 2021)

When I looked at the Gibson site last night they were already sold out.


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## Archeonn (Sep 8, 2021)

If they didn't make it a limited edition, there would be tons of unsold product. It should have been priced at SG/LP Special ranges, max. Too bad they didn't do fancy colors and market it to women, considering so many new players are female.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Here we are on the 4th page, and nobody has mentioned just exactly *why* it is called the "Theodore".

Pop quiz: What's the nickname for someone named Theodore? Do you know anybody with that name who was associated with Gibson during their "golden era"?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

mhammer said:


> Here we are on the 4th page, and nobody has mentioned just exactly *why* it is called the "Theodore".
> 
> Pop quiz: What's the nickname for someone named Theodore? Do you know anybody with that name who was associated with Gibson during their "golden era"?



Well, it's couldn't be Ted McCarty, so it must be the Beav.


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## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

I'm good with the hockey stick headstock. I'd play it, but not for 5k. Could be a bit more lower cutaway though.


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## NotFromToronto (Dec 10, 2009)

mhammer said:


> Here we are on the 4th page, and nobody has mentioned just exactly *why* it is called the "Theodore".
> 
> Pop quiz: What's the nickname for someone named Theodore? Do you know anybody with that name who was associated with Gibson during their "golden era"?


I'd have thought this was too obvious.

For what its worth... I like the design. I would never pay 5K for this when an SG special is less than 2K. But I agree with others... this is basically a guitar marketed squarely at collectors that will pay 5K to have a limited design in their museums.


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## BlueRocker (Jan 5, 2020)

According the the Rhett Shull Shill video, it's like an SG that doesn't feel like it has a long neck. I could never get used to the position of an SG, so as a normally priced production model it might have some appeal for this reason.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

My first visual impression was of Kang and Kodos (The Simpsons aliens), but yeah, I see the tulip. There's something else too...oh wait...grade nine shop project.

It ain't no part of nothing for the coin they demand.


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## Whammer Jammer (Sep 7, 2019)

Wow, Gibson have a secret vault with a “treasure trove” of a secret number of secrets that they’re going to trickle out to the faithful. I hate it because they’re not selling it on its virtues as a guitar, they’re selling it on pure marketing bull shite and promises of collectability. I mean, I get it – it’s a private equity company trying to turn “brand value” into cash, but everything Gibson does seems awkward, forced, and _in_authentic. I wonder if the McCarty family is getting anything out of this. At least Paul Reed Smith gave McCarty praise during his lifetime and no doubt residuals from the PRS McCarty.

What really set me off was seeing the Premier Guitar video of the Yamaha Revstar Pro:




If I wanted something different, here’s a guitar that isn’t one of the “pre-approved” guitar body shapes burned into my lizard brain and they’re not trying to invoke nostalgia. It’s being sold as an innovative guitar by an instrument manufacturer. The made in Japan version is USD $2000 vs. the Theodore at $5000 USD. You know the MIJ is going to be quality. The Gibson level of quality has to be explained away – “but it’s a Gibson…”.

The current guitar scene reminds me of the late 70s / early 80s when the alternatives (Hamer, Tokai, ESP) were better than the standards and people were open-minded to alternatives. Gibson are still playing the nostalgia card.

I wonder if Frank Bros have trademarked their shape. If so, they might have grounds for infringement. Trademarks don’t care if someone drew a picture in 1959. Trademarks depend on a design being registered and actively protected (or per Gibson’s MO, intimidating advisories with inordinate legal resources). I’d donate to that lawsuit.


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## paraedolia (Nov 26, 2008)

Should be $150 on CL


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## Parabola (Oct 22, 2021)

I’d take the Teisco any day, I love those quirky Japanese guitars!


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