Vintage Blems?

[ylwledbetter68]

I just thought about this.. Back in the 50s and 60s, what happened if a guitar factory slightly messed up a guitar? Like they scratched the finish or something that today would be considered a factory "blem"? Did they just trash the guitar and start over or did they discount the price like they do today?

 

 

Just a random stupid question but it'd be cool to know the answer.

 

[Guttermouth]

i know gibson sawed them in half and trashed em.
not sure about fender.

[Wyatt]

I believe they were most often fixed before leaving the factory. Refinished (Fender used to love to spray their custom colors over botched sunbursts), refretted, etc. If they were unsalvageable (sp??), they were probably trashed. Though there are quite a few mid '60's Gibsons with 10" fretboard radii, these were planed down from botched 12" fretboards. And then, by '69, Norlin controlled Gibson and would just mark and sell the factory 2nds.

[nevermind]

Fender was known for repainting bodies. In some cases several times.

[headless]

Originally posted by Wyatt ...(edit) And then, by '69, Norlin controlled Gibson and would just mark and sell the factory 2nds.

 

 

I owned a ES335 in the early '80's, that i think was made in the late '70's, that was marked as a "second'.

 

I couldn't tell you what was wrong with it--I was rather ignorant about guitars back then--but it looked good to me.

 

When I went to sell it, I couldn't get much for it because of the "second" mark.

[cheesemaster]

does gibson sell factory blems today?

[wedgehed II]

Originally posted by cheesemaster does gibson sell factory blems today?

All the time according to some folks.

[sh944]

Yeah, but they aren't marked! Seriously, Gibson needs to take another look at their QC process on the guitars they are making. Stuff that wouldn't have been allowed out the door as a factory second in the old days is being sold as first run quality today. I did the tour at their factory in Memphis a couple of years ago and almost drank the koolaid, but a recent search for a decent new SG left me rather dismayed. At the factory, they stressed how nothing short of a perfect guitar would leave their shop and factory seconds weren't sold, but at the local GC, I was seeing serious divots that were painted over, separation in the body between two pieces of mahogany on a guitar that was supposed to be a one piece mahogany body, insanely poor fret dressing, etc...

I am a long time Gibson player, and am not an enemy of the company, but would advise that you take your time looking over a new Gibson purchase. There *are* nice guitars coming off the line, but you need to look each one over carefully and need to have several of whatever model you want to buy available to compare to each other if you want to find one.

Regards, ...Scott

[cheesemaster]

Originally posted by wedgehed II All the time according to some folks.

i meant at a discounted price

[Wyatt]

Originally posted by cheesemaster i meant at a discounted price

 

 

No. Officially Gibson does not sell 2nds anymore. According to them, if it isn't up to snuff, it gets destroyed.

 

Not wanting to ignite the debate about Gibson's QC, I do have to say I have seen several poorly constructed guitars from them that would have earned a 2nd stamp in the Norlin days selling for full-price. Definitely not guitars a company like PRS would have let leave the factory. I see plenty of great guitars from Gibson too, but I understand peoples' complaints about inconsistency. I see poor examples from Fender and Ric too, but at a far less frequent level than Gibson.

[leopardstar]

Originally posted by sh944 Yeah, but they aren't marked! Seriously, Gibson needs to take another look at their QC process on the guitars they are making. Stuff that wouldn't have been allowed out the door as a factory second in the old days is being sold as first run quality today. I did the tour at their factory in Memphis a couple of years ago and almost drank the koolaid, but a recent search for a decent new SG left me rather dismayed. At the factory, they stressed how nothing short of a perfect guitar would leave their shop and factory seconds weren't sold, but at the local GC, I was seeing serious divots that were painted over, separation in the body between two pieces of mahogany on a guitar that was supposed to be a one piece mahogany body, insanely poor fret dressing, etc... I am a long time Gibson player, and am not an enemy of the company, but would advise that you take your time looking over a new Gibson purchase. There *are* nice guitars coming off the line, but you need to look each one over carefully and need to have several of whatever model you want to buy available to compare to each other if you want to find one. Regards, ...Scott

 

 

sorry, but to me you (not you personnaly) would have to be pretty stupid to buy a new guitar you thought was f**ked up, and have no right to pass judgement about what was good or bad:freak: since your own mental QC was in major defect:p

[sh944]

No flame back from me, I agree, it would be stupid to buy a guitar with obvious defects. Not all new Gibsons are bad tho, I hope you caught that part of my post. The average player just needs to look carefully and compare, you will be able to see the differences pretty easily, in my opinion.

I'm confused by the second part of your post tho... did you mean that part towards me or just in general. I have been playing and buying guitars for a long time and think I know a thing or two about them...

Regards, ...Scott