What are the darkest years of Gibson QC?

[Dave Locher]

I have never even seen a '50s Les Paul up close, but I am sure that is true just based on my own personal experience with two 1962 SG Specials that felt like they were built by different companies! One (mine) had a very small neck, a 10" radius on the fretboard, and nicely rounded edges everywhere. Just a joy to hold & play. The other had a wide, fat neck and sharp edges on all the body contours. I hated it.
Same model, same year.
So yeah, some of the best and worst guitars I have ever tried in shops were Gibsons. Most were fine but some were just wonky. 1960s through early 1990s. After that I stopped constantly shopping guitars and have had almost no contact with any made after 1996 or so.

[Aceman]

I have 5 Gibsons ranging from 2002 - 2019 and they are all great guitars with no flaws. There is a saying that happy customers tell no one, unhappy customers tell everybody. I think the QC thing with Gibson is more myth than fact.

I have 4 Gibsons. Only one is jacked up...but it was supposed to be that way!

That said...at their price - there should be no issues a screwdriver can't adjust (note I did not say fix)

[Ascension]

I can attest to the anchors they sold as guitars. I had a 78 pro deluxe that was over 13lbs and an utter hunk of junk.

Had a black 77 one of those and yep they were absolute back breakers!

[LLL]

I've had 5 Gibsons over the decades:

'89 LPC
'90 SG Special
'08 CS '61 LP/SG Custom
'13 Tikibird
'13 LP Traditional

I can't say any of them sucked QC-wise. The Custom Shop SG, however, is of course the best.

I just hate Gibson's yearly hundreds-of-dollars price increases. What extra value are we getting? Jack ****. Not to mention their buying up of other quality companies and letting them rot.

[Aceman]

Some of the late 70s and early 80s were the heaviest Gibsons. On some guitars, you can see the multiple asymmetrical pieces of wood glued together (you can see the seams through the paint). They had a handful of good ideas then (ES Artist, Firebrands, my Howard Roberts Fusion), but Norlin wasn't really a guitar-centric company.

There was a lot of not so much "Bad" as "Bad idea"

[dave74]

They left out the part about QC issues in the past.

[Securb]

I
I just hate Gibson's yearly hundreds-of-dollars price increases. What extra value are we getting? Jack ****. Not to mention their buying up of other quality companies and letting them rot.

I must say I am cool with their prices

[Demanic]

I must say I am cool with their prices

Imagine that.


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[nexion218]

I must say I am cool with their prices

Yeah, well, not everybody gets the Bruce-rates. For 300 USD, I would get one too. Maybe even two...

[chadd]

I must say I am cool with their prices

The prices are largely in line with the cost of guitars in the 50s when adjusted for inflation