Defending Gibson

[politenessman]

i still dont understand why you guys would buy a guitar that has all those problems. put it down and pick up the next one. if you are buying online, and you get a guitar like that shipped to you, dont buy online. its a fairly simple fix. buy the one without all those issues. or buy some other brand. and complain about its issues on the my schecter forums or the my dean forums.

 

[drugprowlingwolf]

i still dont understand why you guys would buy a guitar that has all those problems. put it down and pick up the next one. if you are buying online, and you get a guitar like that shipped to you, dont buy online. its a fairly simple fix. buy the one without all those issues. or buy some other brand. and complain about its issues on the my schecter forums or the my dean forums.

Ding!

My Gibson Studio has a small cosmetic flaw. I noticed it in the store. I personally don't care but I made sure to bring it up to the shop-owner. He gave me a discount and some freebies. If he wouldn't have budged on it, I would have still bought it.

I guess the big difference is there are players and collectors. And not everyone is honest with themselves what group they belong to.

If you must buy online, I suggest you do so with a reputable seller. I bought my best Paul from a very straight shooting forum member. He described everything very accurately and gave me a great deal to boot. If you want to buy new, I suggest you go with sweetwater. They're the best big online music store, bar none.

EDIT - Sweetwater also has pictures of in stock guitars and you can actually talk to the sales reps and have them investigate any particular fiddles you're interested in.

 

[dangerdog]

What I don't understand is the attitude of "If I pay such and such an amount my guitar should be perfect!!"

Some people start that "such and such" amount at $500 and some at $2000 and some start it at $1899 (after it has been marked down from 4k no less) but it is all relative. There is no such thing as perfect on a guitar. Some of you will claim you have a guitar that is perfect but there is always someone more anal than you that WILL find an "issue". Or imagine one.

Lets take the $2000 mark. So if that guitar should be perfect than what should a 10k guitar with the exact same features be? Should it make you fly? Smell better? Read minds?

You should be getting what you pay for so a 10k new guitar should be that much closer to perfect than a 2k guitar but there is no perfect.

Bottom line, if you don't like it, don't buy it.

 

[dspelman]

the return dimished value of a gibson les paul ( theres what 60$ tuners , 30 $ tailpiece , 50 $ bridge , 10 $ nut , 100 $ pickups and 20 $ of pots and wiring . = 270 $ of harware on a les paul ) and the guitar sell for 2500 + . )

All of those numbers are full retail for the individual parts. No pickup costs a volume manufacturer more than $5. The rest of that hardware can be found on guitars that are currently selling for around $200 out the door.

 

[skysc]

All of those numbers are full retail for the individual parts. No pickup costs a volume manufacturer more than $5. The rest of that hardware can be found on guitars that are currently selling for around $200 out the door.

agree with you .. i was giving the maximum price for the hardware ( retail ) .


so when people say that they expect the 2000 + guitar to be FLAWLESS , they have the right since your paying ( or supposely ) for that extra craftmanship and attention to detail and its a lot of money . whats the purpose of a hand made instrument by a skilled luthier if the guitar come out with flaws from the factory . the luthier is suppose to make sure if doesnt get out of the factory if its not perfect .

so yes when you buy a 2000+ guitar , you pay for an extra care and craftmanship above the chain production . and it should reflect in the quality of the instrument .

if gibson quality control is as average as people say here ( mine is a 2001 standard and its very nice ) , then they arent worth paying the big price .


i went to my local store last month with 2500 $ cash in hand .. i wanted a les paul .. they had a few model .. tryed them all .. couldnt find anyone that was worth .

 

[Stinky Kitty]

Lets take the $2000 mark. So if that guitar should be perfect than what should a 10k guitar with the exact same features be? Should it make you fly? Smell better? Read minds?

Sweaty sex in the backroom would be nice...

 

[ACELUEK]

i've got three..

wonderful!

 

[Shawn Lutz]

I don't have a problem with legitimate QC complaints or consistency complaints as they do exist and it is just not Gibson either. I have a problem with the threads by guys who probably really don't play or whatever going over to with a magnifying glass looking for things that are not there looking for imperfections.

Then you have the folks who walk into GC or SA and play LP's on the rack that have been played by numerous people who don't know their asses from a hole in the ground and complain that Gibson sucks because they can't set up a guitar or they played 20 that all sucked....like the 200 or so folks who touched the guitar before you didn't tweak on the thumbwheels and raise or lower the bridge to ass sucking playability.

What I do understand is high expectations. A guitar with a price tag of 1700-5000 range should be perfect in my opinion after all we see guitars come from Japan and Korea for 300-500 that are perfect, just have cheaper pots, pickups, switches and parts.

I was never int Gibson's until early 2012 when I bough a 2012 Trad + on a whim never setting my hands on it before I bought it (online) againts many who claim I'd go through 3 or 4 before I found a keeper...first one was a keeper. I liked it so much I bought my second LP online and not playing it first...2008 BB7 3 PU 57 RI...I'm 2 for 2

I think a lot of the playability issues we see here are from people who may not understand there is no universal bridge height, it is a players personal preference. They also don't let the guitar get acclimated to its new environment and adjusting accordingly. These are the more inexperience in the buyers not knowing a guitar will need to be set up to HIS/HER preferences and adjusted than any Gibson QC issue. I'm not defending Gibson or saying there are no valid QC issues as I have seen them myself.

 

[politenessman]

i would bet many of these guys buy $20k or $30k cars and dont go over them anywhere near as closely.

 

[old mark]

The only NEW Gibson I have bought was last winter...a 2012 Les Paul Junior Special, TV Yellow. I got it on an end of year blow out special online for dirt cheap.

It was perfect.

The ONLY complaint I have with it is the terrible job Gibson did when packing in its box at the factory...It was just sitting in a gig bag, in a very thin cardboard box with no padding or support - and most of the top half smashed and torn when it arrived on my porch.

Byt hey, that was the BOX - the guitar, now in a strong hard case, is great to play and is one of the reasons I have been selling off some of my other guitars recently...

I have 3 Gibson SG's and 3 Gibson Les Pauls*...all lower end models. I think they are fine guitars, and I don't mean "for the money"...I have owned several Gibson LP Customs and I like these newer guitars better.

mark

* Actually, I have 4 Gibson Les Paul's - Forgot to include my 71 Les Paul Recording Guitar...

 

[Stunshine]

Complaining is negative. Negativity is going to be met with negativity. Complain about anything, in any forum, and some people are going to act on the natural impulse to return that negativity. Complaining about the way complaints are often met with complaints; clearly you understand this facet of human nature, even if only on a subconscious level.

Add to that, the complaints under discussion are against Gibson, and are instigated on a Gibson fan forum. You'd have to be totally ignorant to expect no negativity in return, whether your complaint is legitimate or not.

Lastly, my own take on the Gibson QC threads… I don't understand the impulse to rant to a forum, let alone a fan forum of the thing I'm complaining about. If I got a lemon, I would try to rectify the situation. Complaining to anyone other than the perpetrator of my situation would not occur to me as productive. If I don't like it, I take steps to remedy. I don't need anyone to agree with me. No one is even remotely as qualified as myself, as to my own satisfaction.

Regardless of how much anyone spent on a thing, no one forced you to buy THAT one! The issue I have with most of the QC threads is the sense of entitlement. "I paid X amount, I expect perfection!" Grow up. Take responsibility for your actions. You bought it. Put on your daddy pants and pretend you're in charge, ffs.

 

[Bill h]

I've only bought 1 Gibson brand new and aside from normal set-up stuff there were zero problems with it. Gibson needs no defense, when you make as many guitars as they do mistakes are going to happen and something will slip through the cracks and if you get one like that deal with it through warranty or whatever suits you and enjoy your damn guitar.

 

[voggin]

Well, you have to admit, complaining about a guitar is a lot less work than practising scales.

 

[The Wedge]

Lets take the $2000 mark. So if that guitar should be perfect than what should a 10k guitar with the exact same features be? Should it make you fly? Smell better? Read minds?

It should be more perfect

 

[Biddlin]

 

[old mark]

It should be more perfect

PERFECTLY perfect, dude...


Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

mark

 

[TA462]

I've played and looked at around 20+ Les Pauls over the last year and have only seen one that had a small ding in it. It was a display model that who knows how many people played. Maybe up here in Canada Yorkville Sound does their own QC check before distributing them to stores?

 

[demon_onion]

well my custom shop R8 was not. The ABR-1 screw keeps popping out when i adjusted them. Had to take a hammer (!) just to hold it down. sold that guitar finally.

 

[LP Bob]

Gibson's QC may not be as consistent as USA PRS's (many LP's have badly cut nuts from the factory), but the Gibson's tone is just plain better IMO. I have a USA PRS 1992 CE-24, a great axe no doubt, but my Gibson Trad Pro is the go-to axe when I need the extra tone. Whether it's through a Marshall, a processor, etc, the LP's are bigger sounding without cluttering a mix, but also more dynamic and articulate when using a soft touch. Then when you hammer a power chord it jumps out at you like none of my other guitars do. The 57/BB3 combo is seriously dynamic and versatile, plus it growls and crunches like only a LP can. I was a PRS guy for 20 years and thought Gibson was overhyped until I played the Trad Pro...then I realized why Jimmy Page never parts with his!

 

[upl8tr]

Gibson's QC may not be as consistent as USA PRS's (many LP's have badly cut nuts from the factory), but the Gibson's tone is just plain better. I have a USA PRS 1992 CE-24, a great axe no doubt, but my Gibson Trad Pro is the go-to axe when I need the extra tone. Whether it's through a Marshall, a processor, etc, the LP's are bigger sounding without cluttering a mix, but also more dynamic and articulate when using a soft touch. Then when you hammer a power chord it jumps out at you like none of my other guitars do. The 57/BB3 combo is seriously dynamic and versatile, plus it growls and crunches liek only a LP can. I thought Gibson was hype until I saw the light!

Well this would be such a great post, if the thread was titled "Why I like Gibson better than PRS" but as it's not, not so much...

Perhaps you should start a new thread about how much better Gibson is than PRS, that'd be original and unexplored on MLP.