Should i return my new Gibson? #2

[northernbreed]

FWIW, I don't understand why anyone would buy a guitar without buying it in person. I have a 2014 LP I bought at the store that was in Memphis where they made the hollowbodies. And one of the only other guitars I bought new was a Epiphone Hummingbird and I went through all 4 that they had in stock at GC before I chose one. They had issues like one had a gap in the inlays, another a huge nick in the binding, another was just setup so high at the nut you couldn't tell how the thing sounded.

Well here, I’ll tell you why. Because if you work with reputable online dealers who offer good pics of their guitars, it’s easy to have guitars delivered to you. And it’s easy to then evaluate them over some period of time. And if there is a problem, it’s easy to return them, usually at no cost, and often by just scheduling a pick-up from your house. Lots of people successfully buy guitars online just like this. And would I buy an Epi anything online? Probably not.

 

[Ebb Ramone]

If I paid over 4k for a guitar, it better be perfect. Those who criticize him for not wanting to accept a mediocre build would be complaining just as loud if you bought a brand new CS guitar that didn't play well, or needed hundreds in repairs. I live with worse binding issues on my 50th anniversary SG Special, but only because the only solution is the extended time Gibson would have it, and it would never be right because they have to repaint the guitar. That said, I'd never spend that much on a guitar I couldn't play first, so that OP should go to the dealer and pick the one he wants out, or if possible, go to Gibson and get it there.

Peace y'all, K~

 

[JohnnyPhatsaqs]

If I paid over 4k for a guitar, it better be perfect. Those who criticize him for not wanting to accept a mediocre build would be complaining just as loud if you bought a brand new CS guitar that didn't play well, or needed hundreds in repairs. I live with worse binding issues on my 50th anniversary SG Special, but only because the only solution is the extended time Gibson would have it, and it would never be right because they have to repaint the guitar. That said, I'd never spend that much on a guitar I couldn't play first, so that OP should go to the dealer and pick the one he wants out, or if possible, go to Gibson and get it there.

Peace y'all, K~

I agree with this. Now, I only have a 50s Standard, and was fortunate as there is nothing I see as wrong with it. But, for $4k plus, yeah....It better be perfect. Honestly, if I were spending that, I'd fly to Nashville to pick one. Especially with how cheap airfare is right now.

 

[Sinster]

All my Les Pauls have been purchased online. I only had to send one back and that was my very first Les Paul and that was in 2009. Had a replacement the next day.

I believe a guitar at any price point should be perfect, but perfect is subjective. My '12, '13', & '17 Traditional's have some tooling marks on the binding and aren't perfectly leveled. Some might find these unacceptable and far from perfect. To me they prefect as those things don't bother me. I know the binding is filed by a person. I do find the OP #2 binding is unacceptable to me and unacceptable to him as well. If they were acceptable he wouldn't be posting here.

 

[dro]

I wonder what the OP will do when he finally gets his pristine guitar. Will he hang it on a wall and never touch it? Will he leave it in a case under the bed? Or will he plug it in and crank it, Beating the snot out of it. Leaving it sweaty and scratched up. Leaving gunk building up in the bridge. And grody fingerprints all over it. HMmmmm

 

[KS 5150]

I wonder what the OP will do when he finally gets his pristine guitar. Will he hang it on a wall and never touch it? Will he leave it in a case under the bed? Or will he plug it in and crank it, Beating the snot out of it. Leaving it sweaty and scratched up. Leaving gunk building up in the bridge. And grody fingerprints all over it. HMmmmm

Judging by what we've seen, I don't think there is much chance of him beating the snot out of it...

 

[PauloQS]

Because not everyone can buy a Gibson in person. With Gibson’s requirements for retailers on the number/percentage of guitars they must carry in their stock to qualify as an authorized reseller, most local shops don’t even carry Gibsons to begin with. Then you have retailers like GC, who often times will carry one guitar of each model in stock at each store- if you’re lucky.

Where I live in Oregon, the three GC stores I have within driving distance each have ONE Standard. If you want to try the Cherry, you go to one store, the tobacco is at another, and the gold top is at the third. Mind you, that’s just production models; their custom selection is pitiful.

Point is, your apparent reality where you can simply try a bunch of different customs at multiple stores isn’t the same one every person here shares. For some, online buying is the only way.

Same here. When I got my current Standard ‘50s, the manager was surprised they had two in heritage cherry. Because of the holidays they had one Standard of each color, except the P-90s GT. When I got my first Standard ‘50s, that was the only Standard they had. Later they had one example of each model.

Custom shop, you’re lucky when you see a G0. Which, by the way, before the lockdown they had a G0 with a huge mark down. Which is interesting, because back in 2016 and 2017, they had at least a few reissues and custom shop guitars.

I got my R9 from them because friends who work at GC texted me when they got one in. Which I suspect they got it hoping I would buy it, because I would often bring up that I wanted to try a 60th anniversary R9 in southern fade. I arrived in time for the unboxing too.

Despite spending plenty of time playing and inspecting the guitar, I only really needed a few seconds to realize that guitar would never reach the display walls of a GC. It felt so familiar it felt as if I had owned it for decades. Even today, whenever I play my other guitars and come back to my R9, it feels so easy to play that R9 that it feels as if I’m cheating.

I got extremely lucky, because I had only one to try from. And that’s probably because the general store manager pulled a few strings to make it happen. They didn’t get another one after mine, as far as I know. Yet a few years back, I would often get to try a reissue and sometimes I’d have two or three to choose from.

 

[trapland]

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SEE RESOLUTION: https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/should-i-return-my-new-gibson-2.440903/page-5#post-9561898

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it's a Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Custom
besides playing like a beast and having less weight, this new one however has even sloppier finish

1. The belt pin is crooked

View attachment 464054

2. Scratched plastic parts - knobs, pick guard, toggle switch ring

View attachment 464051
View attachment 464053

3. Extremely poor neck binding finish on the bottom

View attachment 464056
View attachment 464057
View attachment 464058

would you keep it?
i'm feeling screwed right now...

I think your expectations are skewed. Sorry but you don’t seem qualified to own a hand finished instrument. Return it and get a Schecter.

 

[jb_abides]

FWIW, I don't understand why anyone would buy a guitar without buying it in person. I have a 2014 LP I bought at the store that was in Memphis where they made the hollowbodies. And one of the only other guitars I bought new was a Epiphone Hummingbird and I went through all 4 that they had in stock at GC before I chose one. They had issues like one had a gap in the inlays, another a huge nick in the binding, another was just setup so high at the nut you couldn't tell how the thing sounded.

because... my prior post.

 

[danzego]

I wonder what the OP will do when he finally gets his pristine guitar. Will he hang it on a wall and never touch it? Will he leave it in a case under the bed? Or will he plug it in and crank it, Beating the snot out of it. Leaving it sweaty and scratched up. Leaving gunk building up in the bridge. And grody fingerprints all over it. HMmmmm

So if you walked in a store with $4700 in hand to buy a brand new Custom, you would be perfectly ok buying a brand new one that has had "the living snot beat out of it, left all sweaty and scratched up, with gunk built up in the bridge and grody fingerprints all over it" in addition to the hack binding work he got on his?

I don't believe that for a second.

...and I get that's not exactly your point, but you're talking about play wear that occurs naturally, not poor workmanship on a nearly $5000 guitar out of the box. I'll gladly put play wear on my guitars all day and night, but when I go to buy that thing brand new, it had better be brand new. At that price, it better have good workmanship, too.

Hell, I myself just returned an R9 partially because the binding and fretboard work looked like the worker was rushed out the door to go drinking with his buddies (or whatever was the case) and didn't take the time to do the work to the best of his ability. For a guitar that retails for $6499, the work had BETTER be done right, regardless of what's going to happen to it once I get it into my hands. That's irrelevant.

 

[Side Burns]

IMO- these issues need to be brought up to Gibson. Not just the dealer.

The new management needs to see these guitars. Maybe they don't care, but maybe they do.

Back in 2005 I made a stink via email about a faded standard where the binding and frets had been all dyed because they cases were not left to dry.

I got a call and an email from Henry J.

Thats a point, telling Gibson you’re on your second return of a BB custom should get attention!

 

[SoManyGuitars]

I bought a BB Custom from Sweetwater last year... the binding was bizarre, narrowing out at the headstock, to cover for a mismatched binding width and a chunk of wood was taken off the headstock, and painted right over. There were other binding issues too... the neck binding narrowed way down going from the 7th to 1st fret... that looked really odd. The multiple on the bout was crimped... bad day at the binding department of Gibson.

I sent pics to SW, and had another 2 days later. It was damn near perfect, but you can still tell it was handoworked. I like that. Its an amazing guitar, and worth what I paid. Completely. Love it. Very happy. Thrilled. Sounds and plays great. Beautiful to look at. Smells good.

 

[TrippyStormtrooper]

Just my $0.02, but... I've always held that if you don't absolutely love something then it shouldn't be a hard decision to let it go. If you have to ask the question it's enough reason to return. My Std Historic has a number of qualms. But I've never once asked myself if I should sell it. It's the guitar. Hope that helps.

 

[dro]

Just can't believe he is this disappointed and asking this forum if he should return it. If you're not happy, and obviously you are not. Send it back.

 

[Ebb Ramone]

Please send this thread back to Gibson, it's Mr. Ed!

 

[onetracker]

I prefer guitars w/o binding. This is why the LP studio is such a great workhorse. Same tone and playability (when u get a good one) but w/o the frills. At 750-900 used they're a great value. And there are some really sweeties out there.

 

[T22]

Gibson is fast becoming some cult, where grown men accept expensive guitars with shoddy workmanship.

Why So Many Guitarist Are Turning Away from Gibson | Q104.3

The iconic guitar company has lost a lot of its luster over the past few years as bad karma accumulates.

q1043.iheart.com

The binding in your picture isn't just bad, its a joke. Even if you do go through a few and find one that is fit for sale, it may develop problems down the line, as mine did. Then the fanboys will continue to tell you, that you're the one with the problem. You'll also find that Gibson's customer service is full of rude idiots, who reflect the companies current lack of pride.

What was once one of the best guitar companies in the world, is becoming the company for idiots. I used to take such pride in being a Gibson owner. At one point I used to insist on only playing Les Pauls. After all these years, I'm considering calling it a day.

 

[Socrates]

Gibson is fast becoming some cult, where grown men accept expensive guitars with shoddy workmanship.

Why So Many Guitarist Are Turning Away from Gibson | Q104.3

The iconic guitar company has lost a lot of its luster over the past few years as bad karma accumulates.

q1043.iheart.com

The binding in your picture isn't just bad, its a joke. Even if you do go through a few and find one that is fit for sale, it may develop problems down the line, as mine did. Then the fanboys will continue to tell you, that you're the one with the problem. You'll also find that Gibson's customer service is full of rude idiots, who reflect the companies current lack of pride.

What was once one of the best guitar companies in the world, is becoming the company for idiots. I used to take such pride in being a Gibson owner. At one point I used to insist on only playing Les Pauls. After all these years, I'm considering calling it a day.

Maybe I just got lucky but my 2019 50s Standard came flawless from Gibson and sounds fantastic...as well as a 2018 LPC that was also perfect....maybe new management are improving everything since that article was written in 2017..and more players will gravitate back to Gibson?

 

[T22]

Got a reply back from Gibson re my problems. They suggest that if I don't like it, I get a lawyer.

Copy of the email below.


This is the relevant department.

As explained already, this will not be escalated further.

You purchased the guitars a few years ago already


If you want to start a legal case then your lawyer needs to contact our legal department: [email protected]


I want nothing more to do with this company.

 

[marksoundguitars]

Got a reply back from Gibson re my problems. They suggest that if I don't like it, I get a lawyer.

Copy of the email below.


This is the relevant department.

As explained already, this will not be escalated further.

You purchased the guitars a few years ago already


If you want to start a legal case then your lawyer needs to contact our legal department: [email protected]


I want nothing more to do with this company.

I suggest you hire a lawyer and pursue it to the highest court in the land, and post frequent updates.