Members radomu Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 The past month or so, I've attended various guitar shops all over tokyo and I've played Gibson Les Pauls and Edwards Les Pauls. I noticed that there's something extremely "lacking" about the Gibson's. What is it? I don't feel like I'm playing a platinum-quality guitar like I'm supposed to, unlike the Edwards ones that are just fantastically amazing. It's not bad, but I won't pay more than a thousand dollars for them. Are Gibson's declining in quality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les Paul Lover Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Well, that Edit: Got interrupted typing by HC crashing!!! Resuming the sentence started above: was a long time since we had such a thread, at least 2 or 3 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Engl Kramer Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 kill me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xSweep Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 There have been so many changes from year to year. My 90 and my 93 are the same in every playable way save for the fact that just a 3 year difference from LP studio to LP studio made neck profile seem noticeably different... And even more so on my friends post-2000 LP studio. Seems like the newer they get the less I like the way they feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Musicscotty Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Seriously ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tiltsta Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 I guess you got tired of trolling GJ and thought you would come over here??? You have to pick a more original topic to sneak by these guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mnewb1 Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ajympt Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Troll Cat is calling you out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Elias Graves Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Wow. Never heard that before. I'm shocked! EG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members catalinagooseV2 Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Give it a rest already Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Les Paul Lover Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Troll Cat is calling you out. Aaawwww I want a troll cat!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Metalrulez Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Troll Cat is calling you out. He is even wearing a tinfoil deflector cap!Does he have a radar dish on his tail?:mad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pvwolfgang5150 Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 :arg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armitage Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Surprise... A recent counterfeit Les Paul... "looks" pretty darned good... next week they'll get the bridge, plastic color and logo slant right. This one is for sale by me for $2500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members C-4 Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Gibson guitars have had QC issues in consistancy every year. They are hand made to a large extent, and this is where the inconsistancy comes from in part. The woods used also affect this, as in any guitar made by any company. No two pieces ever sound the same. The biggest flucuation to me has always been in how the necks are shaped from one guitar to the next in the same model, year, etc. Henry is not the greatest boss to work for and this will affect the attitude of the workers there in both a positive and negative way from day to day. In Japan, the workers have more pride in their individual work and it shows in the consistancy of their products. I have played several Edwards from different years and they all were equally beautifully done and felt similar. I owned a couple and found them to be very consistant in tone and playability after I set them up to my tastes. The biggest differences were in the sound of the guitars due to the wood being different from one piece to the next, which is normal, but the necks were very similar. Tokai guitars were very consistant from one to the next as well. When I bought Gibsons, I had to search through a lot of them over time to find one that I was satisfied with. Every one I ever played was different from one to the next to a greater degree then the Edwards were from one to the next. It could be the way they are tooled, hand-finished, any number of reasons. I think the people at Edwards are more consistant in their hand finishing abilities and strive for more consistancy then Gibson does, but this is just my opinion based on my experiences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarman3001 Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 my cheapie LP studio faded seemed to be just fine. Then again, I'm not a luthier and don't really know what to look for. If it feels comfortable to me and doesn't have any glaring flaws like pieces falling off, etc..., I assume it's fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armitage Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 In Japan, the workers have more pride in their individual work and it shows in the consistancy of their products. I've spent a lot of time in Japan, and Asia (months a year) and can't say I agree with that much, it's not the guys/builders, it's the company. Japanese companies generally won't ship out crap. If something isn't right, they'll stop the production and fix it, and dump bad product rather then ship it out. Every year they try to make it better, not necessarily cheaper. Quality control is very strict. They care how they're perceived and know the way they "look" today will haunt them for ages. They look long term. They call it "face." The way they're perceived by others. North American companies seem to be more interested in "today." Gotta make the money today to make the investors happy or they'll leave on a moments notice. The company I work for was big into "Ship it... we'll fix the problem on the weekend and the ones we make next week will be fine, or maybe not, but keep building, we need to make 1000 a day or I don't get my bonus!" They've gotten a lot better in the last few years, but no one's paying attention... "we bought one of those before, and it sucked, why would I buy another?" Things seem to be reversing however. In the '70s, if you bought a Sony anything, it was a great product. It didn't matter what it was... now they're in a race to the bottom. While some American products are getting better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members paulojcduarte Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Forgot you were in Japan and here in Eg, do you have any info about this? http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?p=38727554#post38727554 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Patuney Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Isn't Toyota Japanese? (Sorry, couldn't resist):poke: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armitage Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Isn't Toyota Japanese? (Sorry, couldn't resist):poke: Actually THAT'S a great example of "Face." I work in Robotics and have been in auto plants all over the world. Toyota is famous in the industry for doing invisible recalls (I forget the proper term off hand). If you have a Ford, and some part is known to go wrong, they'd send you a letter to bring your car in for a fix. Toyota on the other hand waited until you brought your car in for maintenance, then they'd do the work and you wouldn't know anything about it. Your oil change just took longer and there were three guys doing it... it just auto/prints on the work order. You'd think Ford makes crap because they called your car in for another fix, and Toyotas are great because they haven't. Until the lawsuits start from people who DON'T bring their cars into a Toyota dealer for work... and have been driving around with a known dangerous problem. "Face" doesn't always work. Sometimes you've got to stand up and say, we made a mistake... the Japanese aren't very good at that. It wasn't long ago when they'd kill themself for that kind of thing. P.S. Toyota is Sony in the 90s... in a race to the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Oldskool Texas Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Yes, as has been established a thousand times, Gibson QC can be spotty. We've all seen good ones and bad ones and we've exhausted this topic. So here are your options: a) play a whole bunch of Gibsons until you find a good one. b) buy something else /thread, please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members radomu Posted February 11, 2010 Author Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Forgot you were in Japan and here in Eg, do you have any info about this? http://acapella.harmony-central.com/showthread.php?p=38727554#post38727554 I've never seen a Fujigen before... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metal0822 Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Actually THAT'S a great example of "Face." I work in Robotics and have been in auto plants all over the world. Toyota is famous in the industry for doing invisible recalls (I forget the proper term off hand). If you have a Ford, and some part is known to go wrong, they'd send you a letter to bring your car in for a fix. Toyota on the other hand waited until you brought your car in for maintenance, then they'd do the work and you wouldn't know anything about it. Your oil change just took longer and there were three guys doing it... it just auto/prints on the work order. You'd think Ford makes crap because they called your car in for another fix, and Toyotas are great because they haven't. Until the lawsuits start from people who DON'T bring their cars into a Toyota dealer for work... and have been driving around with a known dangerous problem. "Face" doesn't always work. Sometimes you've got to stand up and say, we made a mistake... the Japanese aren't very good at that. It wasn't long ago when they'd kill themself for that kind of thing. P.S. Toyota is Sony in the 90s... in a race to the bottom. sorry, way off topic, but im actually majoring in electronics/control systems and graduate next semester. where are you located? id like to know a little more about working in the field too. id appreciate it if you could give me some advice or pointers. sorry everyone, back to topic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ExiledCrow Posted February 11, 2010 Members Share Posted February 11, 2010 Kinda OT as well, but Armitage, that was a good thumbnail sketch of the +/- of the Japanese way of business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Armitage Posted February 12, 2010 Members Share Posted February 12, 2010 You're welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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