Recently, a strange video—showing hundreds of Gibson Firebird X guitars being lined up and run over by a construction vehicle—surfaced on YouTube.
As the video began to spread, questions
Recently, a strange video—showing hundreds of Gibson Firebird X guitars being lined up and run over by a construction vehicle—surfaced on YouTube.
As the video began to spread, questions arose as to its origins, and who was responsible for the demolition. Now, Gibson has addressed the video in a statement to the press.
"The Firebird X destruction video that surfaced months ago was an isolated batch of Firebird X models built in 2009-2011 which were unsalvageable and damaged with unsafe components," the company said.
"This isolated group of Firebird X models were unable to be donated for any purpose and were destroyed accordingly."
The video was shot by former Gibson employee BJ Wilkes, who confirmed the company's explanation in an interview with Guitalogist.
“They literally could not sell these guitars and they were on the books,” Wilkes said. He also called the Firebird X—which famously featured all manner of electronics, from robot tuners to Bluetooth accessories—a “horrible guitar with too much technology all based on Windows 98 or something.”