Gibson - which is "running out of time - rapidly" to repay its debts - has laid off more than 15 staff at one of its Nashville plants.
According to a report from the Nashville Post, the cuts were made on Monday 26 February and affected senior workers, including some supervisors.
Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz says the staff reductions are “part of a broad initiative throughout the company to prepare for our refinancing”.
Around 100 people are still employed by Gibson Custom, although not all of them are based in Nashville.
The Custom Shop’s latest output has included the Boogie Van Les Paul and Modern Flying V, which have garnered mixed reactions online, alongside painstaking recreations of classic instruments, such as the Mick Ralphs 1958 Les Paul Standard Replica.
Prior to the latest reports, Juszkiewicz’s “spring cleaning of sorts” has included the sale of Cakewalk music software to BandLab Technologies, and the sell-off of Gibson’s own Memphis factory.
The company needs to make $375 million in debt repayments by 23 July, otherwise an additional $145 million is due.
In a recent, wide-ranging interview, Juszkiewicz discussed Gibson’s future, noting the troubles faced by musical instrument retail and the guitar industry’s unwillingness to embrace innovation.
