New Les Paul Standard 60s Rosewood Fretboard - should I return it?

[decoy205]

I’d return/exchange that too. That open grain does not look right to me and there seems to be heavy tooling marks. My LP boards are smooth as glass no openings like that.

 

[ClassicLP]

Different view here. It does not look that bad. The camera phone lens has a way of distorting and widening. Oil it up and see how it feels. Do you like the sound? That is where the rubber meets the road.

 

[Db9091]

That's not something you fix. If it bothers you in the gut, you return it, no matter what it is.
If you're wondering about resale, return it. Don't want to have to explain it to buyers.
If you love how it sounds and like that it has a unique landscape (making it easy to identify if stolen) then ask for a discount and think of it as immediately having "character".

Im my experience with Gibson this past decade, 1 guitar in a line sounds exactly like the next one. The replacement wouldn't sound different, but hopefully it's fretboard will be more uniform and acceptable to you.

If it were me, I'd return it. Bc I'd be concerned I couldn't flip it easily due to that. And I'd HAVE to point it out on an auction b/c they buyer will be pissed if I don't. I always think it terms of equity and to keep it, a guitar has to be immediately acceptalbe to buyers, not questionable workmanship (or in this case, choice of rosewood)

 

[baconjerky]

Different view here. It does not look that bad. The camera phone lens has a way of distorting and widening. Oil it up and see how it feels. Do you like the sound? That is where the rubber meets the road.

I don’t think it does either. I’d certainly ask for a discount but if it played amazing i wouldn’t return it

 

[jtees4]

At least it looks fairly dark. Can’t say that very often anymore.

If it was me, return would totally depend on how whether or not I thought it was a really good Les Paul. If I did, I would keep it because I think those are cosmetic issues only with the board. But if I was sort of meh on the guitar, then add in the dodgy looking board, I would send it back.

You would hate to send a good guitar back for this, then receive a lesser guitar with a better board. Or at least I would.

I agree. Darkness is tough to find these days, and to me that makes a huge difference in a guitar's appearance.

 

[Cory]

It sounds like it’s going to bother you since you’re asking the question - I’d send it back for piece of mind - there’s too many other guitars out there to not be completely satisfied with your purchase.

 

[dasherf17]

It's NOT the prettiest wood, and looks rough. I would return, and inspect the hell out of the next one.

Was it from store or online? (It wouldn'a come home...)
I AM a glutton for punishment, tho, what's the rest of the guitar look like?

 

[thelegendnedk]

Hi guys,

I just bought a new Gibson Les Paul Standard 60s in Burbon Burst. I wanted to try it out yesterday but then I noticed some weired spot son the fretboard and on frets 14+ it looks VERY dry.

Can you give me your opinion on that? It's my very first Gibson guitar!
Is the quality okay or should I try to replace it with another guitar?

Advice is much appreciated

Best
Denny

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3rd + 4th fret
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5th +6th fret
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That is an unaceptable QC issue from Gibson and Vendor ! it can be rectified by expert luthier $$$ if you keep this guitar you should definately get it at reduced cost ! as it will affect any furure resale

 

[LPCrafty]

Looks like crap, especially that 3-4 fret pic. It doesn't even look like it was finish sanded and there is heavy tearout from whatever they did to plane and radius the board. I'd return it so they can burn it. Nothing that bad should be on a Gibson of any price.

 

[E.T.]

The more I see of brand new Gibsons the less I want one.. The fret nibs are gone so come winter I'd be slicing up my fingers due to sprout, the PCB approach to electronics is basically pointless beyond money saving for the company, the weight relief is undesirable and apparently if you can get one with a fretboard that's actually made of wood you only get 99% of a fretboard as someone has carved it out of the blank with a blunt chisel. Orville would be turning in his grave!

 

[NiteGoat]

If you love how the guitar sounds and plays, have Gibson pay to have your FB properly finished by one of their authorized warranty luthiers. The color of your board looks nice and dark; just oil it. The fretboard on my Trad Pro II was ashy like yours, when I pulled it out of the box, which was sealed from Gibson. I just put some Fret Dr. on it, and problem solved.

if you don’t like how your guitar sounds or plays, return it.

 

[Knoby]

I’ll never understand the need to assign female gender to a guitar.

There are a lot of things we'll never understand. This one is probably one of the least important ones.

 

[1all's Pub]

Nothing a little wood glue and light sanding won’t fix! LOL! J/K... I’d send it back.

Unfortunately, Gibson rosewood is rather notorious for such imperfections. I’ve seen it on Reissues even.

 

[Gitter]

The more I see of brand new Gibsons the less I want one.. The fret nibs are gone so come winter I'd be slicing up my fingers due to sprout, the PCB approach to electronics is basically pointless beyond money saving for the company, the weight relief is undesirable and apparently if you can get one with a fretboard that's actually made of wood you only get 99% of a fretboard as someone has carved it out of the blank with a blunt chisel. Orville would be turning in his grave!

Bound Gibsons still have fret nibs. I think you're confusing the Classic with the Standard.. The new Standards don't use a PCB or have weight relief.

 

[no jimmy p]

It's wood ... apply some Dr. Ducks and move on ...

 

[Knoby]

The more I see of brand new Gibsons the less I want one.. The fret nibs are gone so come winter I'd be slicing up my fingers due to sprout, the PCB approach to electronics is basically pointless beyond money saving for the company, the weight relief is undesirable and apparently if you can get one with a fretboard that's actually made of wood you only get 99% of a fretboard as someone has carved it out of the blank with a blunt chisel. Orville would be turning in his grave!

That sounds about right if you live by social media which is mainly full of people bitching and whining and outraged about something and everything. Otherwise, everybody else is too busy playing or admiring their gear. That reminds me........ Time to wake up the neighbours.

 

[jamhandy]

For the ridiculous price Gibson has on these guitars it should be absolutely flawless. I've never seen this kind of goop even on an Epiphone. In fact I think the Asian folks would commit Hare Kare (ritual suicide by self disembowelment) if they produced something less than perfect. You'd be better off spending about $500 on an Epiphone made in Indonesia and guttingthe electronics for all USA parts. You'd have a better quality build and a one of a kind guitar that smoke this one for tone.

Here's my conspiracy theory (LOL)... (from my experience working in a production shop myself)

Typical American worker >> comes in late, leaves early, makes excuses for not coming to work, hates his job, is over-paid with more benefits than any other worker on the planet, doesn't give a flying fugg if he/she makes a good quality piece or not, if it just barely passes quality control, it goes out the door... if it doesn't pass quality control, gets sent back to his/her work bench, he/she gets pissed off, fuggs it together and then it gets sent out with all that hate hanging over it. Calls in "sick" every third Monday.
- Guitars cost $5,000

Typical Asian worker >> lives at the factory, honors his family by having this job, makes 1/3 (or less) than the American worker does, has no benefits, would rather commit hari kari (ritual suicide by self-disembowelment on a sword) if quality isn't absolutely perfect. Works 7 days a week, and 14 hours a day without complaint.
- Guitars cost $500

 

[1all's Pub]

^^^
Harikiri (not “hare kare” or “hari kari”), aka seppuku, is a Japanese practice (usually done by someone of the samurai class of feudal Japan, but occasionally by others in more modern times).

People in Chinese guitar factories (Korean or Indonesian for that matter) are not killing themselves in ritualistic Japanese fashion over QC issues.

 

[rjwilson37]

Hmmm. OP never came back. I wonder what he did?

 

[Wrench66]

For the ridiculous price Gibson has on these guitars it should be absolutely flawless. I've never seen this kind of goop even on an Epiphone. In fact I think the Asian folks would commit Hare Kare (ritual suicide by self disembowelment) if they produced something less than perfect. You'd be better off spending about $500 on an Epiphone made in Indonesia and guttingthe electronics for all USA parts. You'd have a better quality build and a one of a kind guitar that smoke this one for tone.

Here's my conspiracy theory (LOL)... (from my experience working in a production shop myself)

Typical American worker >> comes in late, leaves early, makes excuses for not coming to work, hates his job, is over-paid with more benefits than any other worker on the planet, doesn't give a flying fugg if he/she makes a good quality piece or not, if it just barely passes quality control, it goes out the door... if it doesn't pass quality control, gets sent back to his/her work bench, he/she gets pissed off, fuggs it together and then it gets sent out with all that hate hanging over it. Calls in "sick" every third Monday.
- Guitars cost $5,000

Typical Asian worker >> lives at the factory, honors his family by having this job, makes 1/3 (or less) than the American worker does, has no benefits, would rather commit hari kari (ritual suicide by self-disembowelment on a sword) if quality isn't absolutely perfect. Works 7 days a week, and 14 hours a day without complaint.
- Guitars cost $500

oh this is hilarious