Honest Question about Gibson QC

[No Soul]

Originally posted by math2014 Yep i believe you on this one. My mentality is that i want a Lespaul, i dont care who makes it, Tokai, Gibson ESP or other, as long as it is a good LP for the money. It just seems that in the UK , the best Lespauls on offer are the Tokais. Same applies to Strat/Tele.

 

 

I wish we could Tokais as easily as you guys

it took me 5 years to track mine down. (I dont eBay)

considering the price I get her for, Im not complaining.

[Goldsack]

i recentlly went into my local guitar shop and tried a gibson SG (

[SteinbergerHack]

Originally posted by GuitArtMan In my experience: Heritage is now plakking their Guitars - they smoke Gibson imho.

 

 

The term is PLEKking, and Gibson is doing this for all the Custom Shop guitars, but nothing that goes to GC.

 

 

Electronics - This one bamboozles me. I've seen brand spankin' new Gibsons with toggle switches that just plain didn't work.

 

 

I have seen this too, but only at GC - never at the smaller shops dealing in CS work. ????

 

 

Set Up - Does Gibson even know what this means? Most (if not all) new Gibsons will require a fret dress (level, crown, polish), nut work (almost alway too high), truss rod adjustment (why are PRS necks stable and Gibson't aren't?), and actcion and pickup adjustment to play their best

 

 

Have you played a Custom Shop Reissue lately? It doesn't sound like you have. You can pretty well bet that anything that's hanging on the wall at GC won't be worth the price. Even the 'reissues' at GC carry a different designation (G0 vs. R0, for example) because GC has different build specs - they SPECIFY that Gibson not do a full set-up on the guitar, because they don't want to pay for it.

 

Please do not compare the GC Gibson trash with their real guitars - they are NOT the same instruments.

[SteinbergerHack]

Originally posted by Rada Guitar Center was my first impression of Taylor acoustics....They all sounded like crap, and then I went to Florida for a week. I visited a few local shops that carried Taylor and they sounded pretty amazing.... Why does GC suck?

GC doesn't suck completely, but they operate on the Wal-Mart system; beat down the suppliers for the lowest possible wholesale cost, then do absolutely as little as possible to the stock before selling it. They then provide no support after the sale. This allows them to have low prices, but they are lower-wuality products, with no support behind them. For someone who is not a serious player and doesn't expect the support (or know the quality difference) it's an OK deal. For a real player, though.......

[RIC N BACKER]

Originally posted by SteinbergerHack Please do not compare the GC Gibson trash with their real guitars - they are NOT the same instruments.

 

 

 

so are you saying gibson sends the seconds to GC?

 

that would be pretty {censored}ed up.

[SteinbergerHack]

Originally posted by RIC N BACKER so are you saying gibson sends the seconds to GC? that would be pretty {censored}ed up.

 

 

No, it's not the sconds (at least, I couldn't point to evidence of that), but GC negotiates for different specs on their guitars. This is all about cost control; GC buys in bulk, and doesn't want to pay for anything 'unnecessary' - like the PLEK job that makes then play well. The GC guitars are literally NOT made the same as those that go elsewhere, and it is due to the purchasing deal between GC and Gibson.

 

Don't believe me? Go look at the '1960 reissue' at GC, then go look at what is ostensibly the 'same' guitar at a Custom Shop dealer. The GC guitar will carry the 'G0' designation, while the Custom Shop dealer's guitar will carry the 'R0' designation. The 'G' designates the cheaper GC design specs.

 

Now play them both for 15 minutes and look them over closely.

 

Does anyone who has been bashing Gibson care to actually do this comparison? I did, and I ended up dropping the coin for an R0 last week. I have yet to see a VOS reissue in a REAL Custom Shop dealer that had problems, and I've played quite a few. Contrarily, more than 50% of the GC Les Pauls I've played have had problems of one sort or another.

 

 

I recently went SG standard hunting at a guitar center. They had 4 brand new standards there. One had a route dent on upper horns inside curve. This dent was under the finish/ from the factory. Another had a really really bad cut nut. When I say bad I mean like something you would not be suprised to see on a Squire infinity guitar or something at that price range. The same guitars black finish seemed kinda wavy in places on the back. The third had a really ugly looking rosewood board. Real cheap looking. Like half light rosewood and half dark. Mabye that would look cool if done with an artisic eye, but this was just slapped on without any consideration. I didnt have time to fool around with the fourth SG. I spent time in the "isolation" room with the guitars and although I dont have pics to post I do know what I saw.

 

 

Believable, but.... Keep in mind that GC does a pretty high volume. If you assume that they run 120 LPs through a shop in a year, but at any given time there are a dozen on the rack, which 12 would you normally expect to see there? Hint: The good ones don't stay around long. When a new shipment comes in, the good ones get snapped up either by the employees or the regular customer who's been waiting to get the right instrument; thus the junk ends up lying around as the 'demo' stock. The same thing happens with cars, BTW..... Many of the smaller shops send the 'junk' back; GC just lets it sit until they have to put it on a clearance sale, when someone who doesn't know any better buys it because 'it's a great price'.

 

Sucks, but it's true.....

[SteinbergerHack]

Originally posted by guitarlady I am the only one that has posted any pics on this thread and none of them were "look how bad this Gibson I got was. Here is a close up of this (fill in the blank) problem, see how bad it is."

Good point - here's mine. No quality problems I have found yet.

[garyd]

Originally posted by SteinbergerHack Good point - here's mine. No quality problems I have found yet.

I'm not really a LP fan but damn - that flame maple is perfect, and both pieces are well matched to boot.

[RIC N BACKER]

Originally posted by SteinbergerHack No, it's not the sconds (at least, I couldn't point to evidence of that), but GC negotiates for different specs on their guitars. This is all about cost control; GC buys in bulk, and doesn't want to pay for anything 'unnecessary' - like the PLEK job that makes then play well. The GC guitars are literally NOT made the same as those that go elsewhere, and it is due to the purchasing deal between GC and Gibson. Don't believe me? Go look at the '1960 reissue' at GC, then go look at what is ostensibly the 'same' guitar at a Custom Shop dealer. The GC guitar will carry the 'G0' designation, while the Custom Shop dealer's guitar will carry the 'R0' designation. The 'G' designates the cheaper GC design specs. Now play them both for 15 minutes and look them over closely. Does anyone who has been bashing Gibson care to actually do this comparison? I did, and I ended up dropping the coin for an R0 last week. I have yet to see a VOS reissue in a REAL Custom Shop dealer that had problems, and I've played quite a few. Contrarily, more than 50% of the GC Les Pauls I've played have had problems of one sort or another. Believable, but.... Keep in mind that GC does a pretty high volume. If you assume that they run 120 LPs through a shop in a year, but at any given time there are a dozen on the rack, which 12 would you normally expect to see there? Hint: The good ones don't stay around long. When a new shipment comes in, the good ones get snapped up either by the employees or the regular customer who's been waiting to get the right instrument; thus the junk ends up lying around as the 'demo' stock. The same thing happens with cars, BTW..... Many of the smaller shops send the 'junk' back; GC just lets it sit until they have to put it on a clearance sale, when someone who doesn't know any better buys it because 'it's a great price'. Sucks, but it's true.....

 

 

 

interesting.

 

i think you may be right on that.

 

i have a local dealer whos LP`s feel much better than the ones at GC. i thought it was me being off one day or something.

 

on the other hand my local guys has a faded special that i didnt like and GC had one that made me think seriously about getting one. and shockingly the local guys price on the special was 89 bucks less than GC.....

 

in any event

 

i do not like the fact that they have an "arrangement" with gibson that might result in a lesser quality instrument. its also bull{censored} too because they are not charging any less for a Gib than anyone else

[Ronald RayGun]

WOW! still no pics of all these problems with Gibsons?

[RIC N BACKER]

Originally posted by Ronald RayGun WOW! still no pics of all these problems with Gibsons?

 

 

 

lol

[Goldsack]

Originally posted by Ronald RayGun WOW! still no pics of all these problems with Gibsons?

 

lots of the problems will be seen in the shop and you wudnt buy the guitar and therefore not be able to take pictures of them

[Attila]

Originally posted by Alchemist Why do you people buy guitars with all those problems? I dont get it, are you blinded by shiny finishes and sales pitches when you walk into a store and cant see all those faults? I would never in my life buy a guitar with as many flaws as you guys are discribing, its almost asinine! You can create a QC issue for any company if you go out there and buy bad ones, then complain about them. If people stopped buying all these horrendous guitars then Gibson might get the picture and tighten up their so called QC problem:idea:

 

+1000

 

-Attila

[Ronald RayGun]

Originally posted by the revolution lots of the problems will be seen in the shop and you wudnt buy the guitar and therefore not be able to take pictures of them

5 of the 10 top selling solid bodies at Musiciansfriend are Gibsons. These are all bought sight unseen. Seems to me if that many people are buying Gibsons without seeing them first we could at least find a couple pics of this horendous QC. Plus there are numerous posters in this thread that have stated they they bought Gibson with big quality issues, and yet, still no pics.

[Darkburst]

The only bad Gibsons I've seen and played were at Guitar Center. I've bought Les Pauls from:

 

Wildwood Guitars

 

Dave's Guitar

 

Guitar Galleria

 

None of them had the QC issues people bitch about on this forum. The only issues:

 

Nut needed a bit of filing.

 

Knobs were cracked (Gibson sent me new ones with no hassle).

 

With all the larger independent dealers available through the internet (with fair approval policies), why risk buying from GC? Guitar Center has much higher prices too.

[LaXu]

Originally posted by Darkburst The only bad Gibsons I've seen and played were at Guitar Center. I've bought Les Pauls from: Wildwood Guitars Dave's Guitar Guitar Galleria None of them had the QC issues people bitch about on this forum. The only issues: Nut needed a bit of filing. Knobs were cracked (Gibson sent me new ones with no hassle). With all the larger independent dealers available through the internet (with fair approval policies), why risk buying from GC? Guitar Center has much higher prices too.

 

 

Unfortunately, in Europe there's not much chance for that. Dealers certainly won't send those Gibsons back because it's costly and in the meantime they have no product to sell. Dealers also don't have rows and rows of Gibsons to try, here in Finland it's more like about 2-4 of the same model at best in a single store. Some time ago I played a Custom Shop LP Custom that had cracked binding on every fret end, propably due to weather. This guitar was going for about 3000

[Goldsack]

Originally posted by Ronald RayGun 5 of the 10 top selling solid bodies at Musiciansfriend are Gibsons. These are all bought sight unseen. Seems to me if that many people are buying Gibsons without seeing them first we could at least find a couple pics of this horendous QC. Plus there are numerous posters in this thread that have stated they they bought Gibson with big quality issues, and yet, still no pics.

 

fair enuf and good point

[dewees]

Sharp fret ends? Tell me about it!














JK

[k4df4l]

Originally posted by Nephilim-777 Mine overlapped the bindings and where quite rough. On the fretboard question: The cuts for the inlays. Some were uneven and had minor gaps between them.

 

 

ok so poorly cut boards was just restating your complaint about the inlays..dig.

 

overlap the bindings? what are you talking about??

 

Me thinks there is lots of fiction in this thread with a bit of truth sprinkled in between.

[guitarlady]

Originally posted by Ronald RayGun 5 of the 10 top selling solid bodies at Musiciansfriend are Gibsons. These are all bought sight unseen. Seems to me if that many people are buying Gibsons without seeing them first we could at least find a couple pics of this horendous QC. Plus there are numerous posters in this thread that have stated they they bought Gibson with big quality issues, and yet, still no pics.

I will post some pics, you regulars know I love that.

I have bought some Gibsons sight unseen from Musicians Friend, a Les Paul Special SL Humbucker, and an SG Classic, both low cost models, only because I wanted those models and they are not available elsewhere (I suppose you could special order them from Guitar Center) and I find no quality problems with them.






I bought my Gibson ES-335 from Guitar Center and have no problems with it. However I will say that before I bought it I had bought a few other high priced guitars from them, some of my Gretsches, and the guitar teacher I had at the time was good friends with the manager there and able to get me a discount, and when I asked that I was interested in a 335 they went in the back stockroom to get it for me, not off the wall, so I might have had some preferential treatment. The 335 though is not built in the Nashville plant like the Les Pauls or SG, but rather in Memphis, so Gibson quality may be better from that plant.



I have not bought any of my custom shop Gibsons from Guitar Center nor Musicians Friend.

I am happy with all the Gibsons that I have, except for my Les Paul Faded DC, but that is not due to a quality issue just that I do not like the look or feel of the faded DC model any longer.

[sunset_gun]

The most common QC issues I see are with gouged fretboards and binding that looks like a three year old cut.

[riffpowers]

Originally posted by utterhack See this thread: Why do Gibson only ever get it 1/2 right??? I'm sure it will come back, but if you get tired of waiting you could always snap up an EpElite in "Vintage Sunburst." No pesky Gibson QC issues Say like this one on ebay (no, it's not mine, just a decent pic)

Hey thats my thread!!

Cool!! Now someone bump it too!!

[No Soul]

Originally posted by SteinbergerHack No, it's not the sconds (at least, I couldn't point to evidence of that), but GC negotiates for different specs on their guitars. This is all about cost control; GC buys in bulk, and doesn't want to pay for anything 'unnecessary' - like the PLEK job that makes then play well. The GC guitars are literally NOT made the same as those that go elsewhere, and it is due to the purchasing deal between GC and Gibson. Don't believe me? Go look at the '1960 reissue' at GC, then go look at what is ostensibly the 'same' guitar at a Custom Shop dealer. The GC guitar will carry the 'G0' designation, while the Custom Shop dealer's guitar will carry the 'R0' designation. The 'G' designates the cheaper GC design specs. Now play them both for 15 minutes and look them over closely. Does anyone who has been bashing Gibson care to actually do this comparison? I did, and I ended up dropping the coin for an R0 last week. I have yet to see a VOS reissue in a REAL Custom Shop dealer that had problems, and I've played quite a few. Contrarily, more than 50% of the GC Les Pauls I've played have had problems of one sort or another. Believable, but.... Keep in mind that GC does a pretty high volume. If you assume that they run 120 LPs through a shop in a year, but at any given time there are a dozen on the rack, which 12 would you normally expect to see there? Hint: The good ones don't stay around long. When a new shipment comes in, the good ones get snapped up either by the employees or the regular customer who's been waiting to get the right instrument; thus the junk ends up lying around as the 'demo' stock. The same thing happens with cars, BTW..... Many of the smaller shops send the 'junk' back; GC just lets it sit until they have to put it on a clearance sale, when someone who doesn't know any better buys it because 'it's a great price'. Sucks, but it's true.....

 

 

 

HO HO HO

 

biggest pile of bull{censored} made on an uninformed assumption.

 

A production Gibson is a production Gibson PERIOD.

 

HOWEVER, GuitarCenter, along with Sam Ash, Musicians Friend, Music123, and from time to time a few other retailers sometimes comission Gibson to make them an EXCLUSIVE guitar.

 

The 1960 reissue you speak of is one such model. It is part of the "custom authentic" line, in that it has been lightly relic'd. And yes, is of different specs. HOWEVER, Guitar Center does also carry the strandard R0 as well. Now, if you knew what you were talking about, you also would haven noticed the price difference between the two.

[No Soul]

Originally posted by sunset_gun The most common QC issues I see are with gouged fretboards and binding that looks like a three year old cut.

look at the filler arround the inlay.
Thats exactly what Im talking about.
I find damn near 9 out of 10 Gibsons have that crap

[No Soul]

Originally posted by guitarlady I have bought some Gibsons sight unseen from Musicians Friend, a Les Paul Special SL Humbucker, and an SG Classic, both low cost models, only because I wanted those models and they are not available elsewhere (I suppose you could special order them from Guitar Center) and I find no quality problems with them.

 

 

guitarcenter stocks both of those, but only if you live in certain "A markets"