Well I for one wish Gibson well.
They still make quality guitars that are coveted (
as are a few other brands) as among the very best hand crafted guitars in the world.
If they decide to enter the UKE market then I wish them luck. I'd hope they would enter at the upper-mid to high end. I'd hope they would do something that is a bit unusual or innovative. But those are just my hopes. Any decent ukulele is a positive for our hobby, and any good maker who gets some exposure for ukuleles is a positive.
We have quality Asian brands that now rival Hawaiian K brands in the form of aNueNue that sell great products at high prices and seem hard pressed to keep up with demand. We have great mid-level and high end products coming from places like the US west coast and as well as the UK and EU. There is nothing magical about building a ukulele on an island in the Pacific. Yes some of the worlds best still come from Hawaii, but even the K brands have set up Asian shops and some of those Asian subsidiary offerings (
think Pono Pro) are priced higher than parent company Hawaiian offerings. I believe that shows that there is a market at the mid-and-upper production ranges ($650 to $1500). Gibson may choose to enter that market either with a quality foreign partner or with American made products in one of their facilities. Gibson may choose to follow Fender's 'Grateful Dead' $99 series. Gibson may choose to return to guitars alone. Gibson may ...
None of those decisions will be made here on UU.
I simply know that I wish the company well, whatever they choose.
Its an iconic brand and it would be a sad day for music if it fails