Proof Gibsons aren’t always prone to headstock breaks and tuning instability!

[InTheEvening]

With all the talk about Guitar Center shipping disasters, I remembered this unboxing of a Les Paul Junior I got in October and figured it would be fun to share.

I noticed the box felt crazy light when it got to my door and found out why…Guitar Center put one single layer of bubble wrap around the guitar itself and then put it in the box. No case, no gig bag, not even a second inner box, just shipped the guitar as is without even tuning it down. I was worried there would be a headstock break or some surface damage…but to my surprise, not only was it intact and scratch free, the guitar was almost fully in tune! This is after it spent several days crossing multiple states in the cold!

For all the flack Gibson gets for their guitars supposedly going out of tune or a headstock snapping if you even look at it funny, I thought this video was a nice surprise. I also did a quick playing/tone demo in the second part of the video. More just sharing for fun because I was surprised by how robust and stable this LP Jr. was, maybe Gibson deserves a bit more credit. I now regret letting it go!

 

[mjross]

With all the talk about Guitar Center shipping disasters, I remembered this unboxing of a Les Paul Junior I got in October and figured it would be fun to share.

I noticed the box felt crazy light when it got to my door and found out why…Guitar Center put one single layer of bubble wrap around the guitar itself and then put it in the box. No case, no gig bag, not even a second inner box, just shipped the guitar as is without even tuning it down. I was worried there would be a headstock break or some surface damage…but to my surprise, not only was it intact and scratch free, the guitar was almost fully in tune! This is after it spent several days crossing multiple states in the cold!

For all the flack Gibson gets for their guitars supposedly going out of tune or a headstock snapping if you even look at it funny, I thought this video was a nice surprise. I also did a quick playing/tone demo in the second part of the video. More just sharing for fun because I was surprised by how robust and stable this LP Jr. was, maybe Gibson deserves a bit more credit. I now regret letting it go!

Glad to see everything worked out alright! I do not understand what the hell is going on with these dealer and shipping lately, something funky is going on. I recently purchased an expensive gig bag from a reputable dealer and they literally stuffed it in a box that was way to small an wrinkled it up real bad, looked like hell. Customer Support acted like they just did not care and I was over reacting. This will be my last purchase from these guys and I’ve purchased thousands and thousand of dollars worth of gear from them over the last few decades.

 

[InTheEvening]

Glad to see everything worked out alright! I do not understand what the hell is going on with these dealer and shipping lately, something funky is going on. I recently purchased an expensive gig bag from a reputable dealer and they literally stuffed it in a box that was way to small an wrinkled it up real bad, looked like hell. Customer Support acted like they just did not care and I was over reacting. This will be my last purchase from these guys and I’ve purchased thousands and thousand of dollars worth of gear from them over the last few decades.

Thanks! There was definitely a moment of relief when I unwrapped it and saw if intact.

Sorry to hear about the gig bag, the poor shipping is bad enough but the poor customer service with it is just inexcusable. Hope they at least made it right and gave you a new bag or refund when all was said and done. Their loss for sure. My only guess is that with the increased demand, and limited supplies, manufacturers and dealers are being stretched thin and have gotten more sloppy or careless as a result. Hopefully this is temporary. I’ve been fortunate with my other purchases but I’m more often looking used and doing local sales now.

 

[CB91710]

My Flying-V husk shipped from Stratosphere in not-much-better conditions.
It was in a Glarry padded bag and put into a box.
The tip of the headstock had penetrated the bag and was halfway through the outer box... another couple of days with UPS and it probably would have come through.

 

[mjross]

Thanks! There was definitely a moment of relief when I unwrapped it and saw if intact.

Sorry to hear about the gig bag, the poor shipping is bad enough but the poor customer service with it is just inexcusable. Hope they at least made it right and gave you a new bag or refund when all was said and done. Their loss for sure. My only guess is that with the increased demand, and limited supplies, manufacturers and dealers are being stretched thin and have gotten more sloppy or careless as a result. Hopefully this is temporary. I’ve been fortunate with my other purchases but I’m more often looking used and doing local sales now.

I kept the gig bag, looks pretty bad with all the wrinkles that should not be there! However, it functions as protection for the guitar. Yeah, I’ve had other issues with shipping lately like no padding in the box at all, item just flying around loose in the box. That why I said something funky is going on. In all my years of purchasing from some of these dealers I’ve never seen such poor preparation for shipping. They must be just pulling inexperienced people off the street to do their shipping.

 

[cooltouch]

There is also the serendipitous possibility that the shipper read and paid attention to the "Fragile" stickers on the box -- assuming there were "Fragile" stickers on the box, of course.

 

[mjross]

There is also the serendipitous possibility that the shipper read and paid attention to the "Fragile" stickers on the box -- assuming there were "Fragile" stickers on the box, of course.

This is what happens when you put “Fragile” on your box, they see it as a target! It’s pretty obvious that someone was pissed and put their fist right through where fragile was written. Delivery person left a trail of styrofoam peanuts all the way to my door.

 

[cooltouch]

Wow! It looks more like they drop-kicked it!

 

[CB91710]

Back in the 80s, I bought my first hard drive.

$600 for a 64meg Miniscribe, with external housing and power supply.

When it arrived, it was no good... the drive had crashed.
I returned it, and when they shipped the replacement, they said "This is packed so well a UPS truck could back over it"

A week later I got the replacement.
The box had a tire mark on it.

 

[RoonyMcNish]

Purchased a jack cassidy epi bass from a so called reputable dealer and it turned up in a shit fitting epi box,2 pieces of bubble wrap floating around loose,that wouldnt even cover the headstock (i have no idea what that was about??) and i felt the guitar bounce from one side of the box to the other when it was handed to me by the postie.
I instantly thought "Oh No"...but very fortunately,everything was OK.
They got the worst review i think they've ever had...and it went live too, so good!
They didnt appreciate my phone call either : )
That was the first, and the last time i delt with those careless morons.

 

[Torren61]

Last week, I had my '99 Classic hanging in a Zither guitar stand. I had been playing it and I hung it up for a minute while I went across the room to do something. The guitar was still plugged in and my foot caught the guitar cord and I turned around to see the Les Paul falling forward onto the carpeted floor.

Everything was like in slow motion. My mind raced ahead to see the headstock break and I was thinking "WAIT! I JUST GOT THIS GUITAR!". It landed on the strings. It was like I was holding it with the bottom strap button on the floor with the guitar leaning forward a bit and then just let go...

That's how hard it hit the floor.

It's fine. No cracks and no breaks. So far...

 

[ArchEtech]

I’ve only broke one guitar. 1975 CONN acoustic Martin copy, my dads that I learned to play on. It fell off and busted the headstock right off. I glued it back on with epoxy, not caring what it looked like. That was 25 years ago. Still works.

Never had that happen with a Gibson. I hope it stays that way.

 

[kookaburra]

I’ve been lucky so far.

 

[cmjohnson]

The "fragile" and "handle with care" stickers on the box just give the throwers a target to focus their attention on. Don't use those. Keep it plain.

 

[fiveightandten]

I bought a use Les Paul from GC last month and it also shipped without the case, with a layer of bubble wrap around it. It survived.

When I called them to locate the case, this conversation took place:
“Les Paul without a case, are you Dave?”
“No, I’m Nick”
“Oh, some guy named Dave from Ohio called a little while ago about his Les Paul that was sent without the case”
“Well, I’m Nick from Connecticut, but I have the same problem”.

A week later they informed me they found my case and mailed it out. That was nice, but they sent me an SG case. They never found the case that goes with my guitar. Perhaps Dave in Ohio has it. They did provide a partial refund and I bought a case direct from Gibson.

Anyways, it seems this is a common occurrence at GC. They technically value the cases at $0.01, and I suspect there’s potential these things are walking out the back door and being sold.

 

[jamjax]

My 2019 special DC tribute has a maple neck. I'm not sure what yours has but that could be part of the explanation.

 

[Gpass1]

Glad to see everything worked out alright! I do not understand what the hell is going on with these dealer and shipping lately, something funky is going on. I recently purchased an expensive gig bag from a reputable dealer and they literally stuffed it in a box that was way to small an wrinkled it up real bad, looked like hell. Customer Support acted like they just did not care and I was over reacting. This will be my last purchase from these guys and I’ve purchased thousands and thousand of dollars worth of gear from them over the last few decades.

I get this. I bought a 335 TSA case through Amzon from chicago mus exchange. The shipping(ups) delivered it to the wrong apartment and it was gone forever. I never saw it. They refunded me and i bought it elsewhere.

 

[mjross]

I get this. I bought a 335 TSA case through Amzon from chicago mus exchange. The shipping(ups) delivered it to the wrong apartment and it was gone forever. I never saw it. They refunded me and i bought it elsewhere.

They do not seem to care! Noticed a big change lately. Glad to hear CME made it right.

 

[lwchafin]

I've read the horror stories, but in 25 years of buying new and used from GC, MF, Sweetwater, Reverb and individuals through eBay I've never received a guitar that was damaged in shipping. I will say that the best packing tends to be from individuals.

 

[cooltouch]

When it comes to packing guitars I've bought, I guess I've been lucky. In fact, the only guitar I got that was packed poorly came from an individual. It was wrapped loosely in an old blanket and stuffed in an ill-fitting chipboard case and the case was stuffed in a makeshift box with almost no packing material. Fortunately, the guitar wasn't worth all that much, but even better, it survived intact.

I've bought guitars from Sweetwater, Guitar Center, Reverb and -- here's one for you -- shopgoodwill.com -- Goodwill's internet auction site. I've bought a few guitars from them. Now, goodwill always adds a handling charge to their shipping charge. Fortunately, you get what you pay for with them, cuz, if anything, they overpack their stuff. The guitars I bought from them -- in fact, everything I've bought from them -- were packed very securely with literally yards and yards of bubble pack. I keep that stuff. I have enough packing material from goodwill alone to last me for years with anything I'll be selling on eBay.