Gibson Let One Squeak Past

[jrockbridge]

I'm visiting family in Tucson, Arizona. I went to a local music store here called Rainbow Music with my brother, brother-in-law and nephew. The store had a big selection of guitars from a lot of the major names including, Reverend, Gretsch, G&L, Collins, Fender and Gibson. My nephew found a Gibson SG Standard that he liked for $1100. I got him to try a lot of other guitars including other SG's, but he kept coming back to the same red one. Finally, I gave it a try and it was stellar. I had to admit it played great. I warned him about the neck heavy tendency, the claims by some that SG guitars have trouble with tuning stability, and the fact that many people seem to think Gibson QC is too poor to warrant their asking price, but he insisted that he REALLY liked this particular guitar! He called his mom (my sister) and asked if he could buy it. She told him to wait and think about it. He bought it anyway and she was pissed when he came home!

 

I've been getting a lot of time playing this Gibson SG and I can't find a single flaw. In short, this SG is perfect! I like the pickups through his modeling gear, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about them through my own gear. The intonation is spot-on. It plays and sounds fantastic! As a result, my SG GAS is building.

[Padrino]

don't hate just cause of others bad experiences. All of my Gibbbys are stellar instruments

 

Props for the kid for dropping the buck on a guitar he likes though! Always loved pissing my parents off when it came to that. Best time was when i walked in with a drum kit....

 

EDIT: if he had one with 57's in it, they can be pretty bright through certain amps, that's the one thing I'd watch out for if you're thinking about getting one.

[smorgdonkey]

All of my Gibbbys are stellar instruments

 

Me too. In fact, they've let EVERY Gibson I've ever tried 'squeak past'.

[ubernerd]

All of my Gibsons are amazing and well worth the money spent. A good Gibson is a special instrument. Congrats to your nephew! I'm sure he's going to enjoy that guitar for years to come.

[Prages]

I am in the camp that thinks most of the QC complaints are overblown internet rants.

 

I've seen some of the lower end Gibson have some minor problems, but very rarely have I seen anything in the Standard or above ranges have these problems that you hear so much about.

[goodwater]

for all the complaints that I hear, I can't say that I've come across many bad Gibsons (but I stay out of Guitar Centers)

[dragoro]

My Gibson is awesome.

[Oldskool Texas]

Glad you found an SG that speaks to you - very cool guitars.

 

I'm a Gibson fanboy, but I've personally owned a couple that had some problems. In both cases it was minor "under the hood" stuff that you don't notice at first, but also the sort of thing you shouldn't have to put up with for the prices they command. I'm sure some claims of poor quality are overblown or overstated, but where there's smoke...

 

Here's the neck tenon on an ES339 that was just like mine, only mine was worse. This was a $1799 "Custom Shop" guitar, mind you. Total bull{censored}.

 

[Zledi]

I just spent Friday working in Gibson's Custom Shop. They don't let a guitar through with any type of finish flaws. They don't let anything through with wiring flaws either and they play every guitar before it passes the final inspection. They play them twice actually.

 

Gibson never sells factory B-stock guitars. Something I found interesting. They really do run a pretty tight ship. However they are human so I can imagine that the occasional lemon gets through.

[Parah Salin]

The lemons are the ones that Guitar Center {censored} up themselves then people go on the internet and cry about it. I've owned a lot of Gibsons and they have all been fantastic.

[BryanMichael]

I have had a couple of Gibsons. My new acoustic is a Gibson and it is the most beautiful thing ever...well, except for the sloppy finish and glue/binding glop haze between the end of the fretboard and the sound hole- it isn't pretty, but it's 1/4" of an otherwise beautiful guitar...and I got it for about half the going rate. But that QC...you win some/lose some. I think some of the negative stuff is warranted. Just don't look TOOO close:

 

[JMR]

just because they have bad QC doesn't mean they never make a stellar guitar.

[larry50]

My Les Paul Studio Silverburst and J-45 are both stellar. I think the whole "Gibson has bad QC" thing is mostly a myth.

 

 

[sgt mukuzi]

 

I just spent Friday working in Gibson's Custom Shop. They don't let a guitar through with any type of finish flaws. They don't let anything through with wiring flaws either and they play every guitar before it passes the final inspection. They play them twice actually. Gibson never sells factory B-stock guitars. Something I found interesting. They really do run a pretty tight ship. However they are human so I can imagine that the occasional lemon gets through.

 

 

do they make the fretboards there? or the necks, where do they make the necks? or who makes the necks?

when i watch the factory tours, no one is working on necks or fretboards, its like they are pulling them out of a box and glueing them in.

[slvrsrpnt]

There was an Episode of "How It's Made" where they did a tour of the Gibson factory. They make everything there including the necks and boards as well as installing the frets.

[soundcreation]

 

There was an Episode of "How It's Made" where they did a tour of the Gibson factory. They make everything there including the necks and boards as well as installing the frets.

 

 

Yep and in that episode they show a worker shimming a neck cause the cut is so horrific and sloppy. You can't find it on youtube anymore either. I think Gibson some how got it pulled.

 

And there have been several legitimate threads on HC over the time I've been here with people who have bought gibsons with some type of flaw that shouldn't have been there. Out of proportion with other makers. So sorry it's not all bull{censored}.

[Faber]

The Gibson QC bashing does seem a bit out of proportion from what I've personally seen. OTOH for what they're asking I as a buyer would expect Perfect, not simply good - and I've seen a lot of gibsons with minor flaws too.

[tiltsta]

My standard and blueshawk were flawless, and great guitars. I played maybe 50 LP's when shopping for the standard a couple of years back, and I didn't find any with QC issues.

[Elias Graves]

My brother owns a 70's model Marauder...a much maligned model but it's an awesome guitar. My nephew's SG is just stunning. I don't see the BS issues many report either. I always check out a few Gibbys at the shop and rarely see anything that wasn't caused by some jackass at the store.

 

EG

[New Trail]

I know what you mean. I played a brand new SG Standard just recently that I felt the same way about. It played and felt great. I used to play SG's all the time years ago, but all I have left now is my '63 Special, so I had been wanting a Standard. For $1100 I really considered buying it, but I don't really like the large pickguard when compared to a '62 RI. The guitar played great, tho...

[StillRock]

Yeah... My '93 les paul studio has been my workhorse for 17 years. intonation great, tuning stable, finish (except for my dings and dents) totally acceptable. The problems I've seen with the GC Gibbys is a lack of consistency from one guitar to another... feel of the neck, sound, etc. The chambered body LP Studios seem to be the greatest offender, but they also seem to be the Henry Ford assembly line piece of the Gibson stable. When you make that many guitars, you're bound to muck up from time to time... if it weren't for the price point, most of us would return it and life would go on...

[dcindc]

I've bought no less than 4 Gibson's that had what I (and You) would call flaws.

 

If I can buy dozens of flawless SX', I'd say they have a problem.

 

 

That said, I wanted my worn cherry back.

[Zledi]

The fretboards on all their guitars come from the US plant. The necks and everything else though is from the custom shop for the custom shop guitars. And all the Semi-hollows and hollowbodys are made with the original routers and templates from the 50s.