I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

[Forbes]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

It's very dissapointing how a once great company is now conducting itself.

 

[ex-250]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

wow......thats just regoddamndiculous. i got the only gibson i really need, and i guess i lucked out, but i doubt id order another again after reading this

 

[Tom M]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

A couple years ago, I saw some new Gibsons sitting in stores. My dad (who doesn't know the first thing about guitars) and I both agreed there was something wrong when you could see the imperfections in the paint/wood from 10+ feet away.

If I'm paying that much money for something, I want it done right... the first time.

 

[accipiter]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

I think this kind of B.S. that they sent you is just going to help drive up the prices of the older "quality" L.P.'s (quality is always debatable, every era had its lemons). I've seen a better grain on high grade plywood, your friends top looks great though. I'm sure you felt sick after this, what with all the money you spent and the final product delivered to you and then you wonder if it's just you being too picky. You ain't being too picky Bro', that's some F'd up so-called 'merchandise' they dropped on you. And to think I was contemplating selling my 23 y.o. L.P., I think I'll just hold on to it. Good luck man, we're feeling your pain.

*The pic of your guitar might not have shown the grain at its best, it looks like it might need to be buffed out. They might have hastily rushed yours out without proper q.c. If they sent out the parts for you to assemble it I could see making a mistake, but that's what these builders are payed to do. :smack:

 

[lex666]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

I'm liking my Epiphones even more now, thanks to Gibson.

Les Pauls gives me GAS. Gibson QC cures that right away...

 

[joelap]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

It is for these reasons I'll only buy Les Pauls from other companies... or from a while back when the quality was better. They get away with it because they have the name.

Then, there are people who buy JUST for the name. This just perpetuates the cycle. Buy it cause you like it, not just for the name. This doesn't apply to anyone on these forums, all of us seem to have an accord on this matter.

 

[WITH FULL DISTORTION]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

I´ve Always Crushed Ibanez guitar, now i bought one
ahahahahahaahh and i´m liking, uhnless for the CRAPPY stock Pups.
Q

 

[Scott_F]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

Wow, this was a bad case for TC, but I have a 98, 02 and 04 Custom Shop Les Pauls that are fricking incredible. Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

I would agree that I thought i was done buying new Gibson after their recent internet policy, but I got my 04 from a good internet dealer in Colorado, but I was actually in his shop and I got to play them all, laying my hands on them, inspecting them, getting exactly what I wanted.

 

[Rich_T]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

I still don't understand how they can justify selling thier £1000 guitars without a case. Fender include a case with thier £650 guitars.

Gibson really have got to get thier act together. There is n guitar in this world that i would like more than a Gibby LP Custom in Black, but i'm almost certainly going to go used when I take the plunge.

Send it back TC, that is not anywhere near the quality that I would expect when playing this kinda money for something. Piss poor.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

Wow, this was a bad case for TC, but I have a 98, 02 and 04 Custom Shop Les Pauls that are fricking incredible. Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

I would agree that I thought i was done buying new Gibson after their recent internet policy, but I got my 04 from a good internet dealer in Colorado, but I was actually in his shop and I got to play them all, laying my hands on them, inspecting them, getting exactly what I wanted.

You got some really nice ones Scott, to be proud of. Those are excellent specimens. But you gotta admit, look at what a lot of us other guys are ending up with. And consider why we feel this way about Gibson. It's one thing to get burned once, but multiple times? It's happened to me too. I'll buy a guitar if it's quality regardless of the name on it. The same goes for the opposite. If it's a brand name guitar but is total crap I don't care if it's a big american name I'll buy a korean import for 1/3 of the price that sounds/feels/looks better and not think twice. A guitar at that price point with a sharpie mark? Tuners installed wrong? Strap buttons not even inserted correctly. You may not think this is a good or direct comparison but go to a music store and see if you can find any Schecters or ESP's with that kind of sloppy work. If you want a more even comparison see how many USA parkers, music mans, hamers, heritages, G&L's, etc that you can find with any kind of the slips in quality that Gibsons have. All of those American brands were perfect no matter which model I picked up or tried. With Fender and Gibson it seems a majority of the stuff they put out is garbage with 25% or less being great quality and a smaller percentage of that, gems like you have.

 

[Hot _Grits]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

Wow, this was a bad case for TC, but I have a 98, 02 and 04 Custom Shop Les Pauls that are fricking incredible. Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater.

I would agree that I thought i was done buying new Gibson after their recent internet policy, but I got my 04 from a good internet dealer in Colorado, but I was actually in his shop and I got to play them all, laying my hands on them, inspecting them, getting exactly what I wanted.

yeah, that's the way to go. To be honest, it's a good idea to get hands-on no matter what brand you are after.

There are still some fantastic Gibsons out there. The finest new guitar I've played period was an R9. Mind you, in the same shop, I saw countless examples of poor workmanship on other models. Things look even worse when there's ten PRS guitars sitting alongside them with not one flaw to their names. QC can be achieved, if the will is there. It's a shame it isn't.

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

Here's an example of Gibson corporte policy at work:
I was recently in the market for a resonator guitar. My brother has a Gibson Hound Dog that he loves, and I dig it a lot too, so I started looking into them. They were selling for $799 at MF, Amazon, Guitar Center, and everywhere else. Just a couple of weeks ago I was thinking about putting an order in, so I looked at MF again, but the Hound Dog was not listed on their site. Nor at Amazon, nor any other big online music store. I did a search through Gibson's confusing and lame website, and found about 10 dealers of their O.A.I. (Original Acoustic Instruments) line in the country. Curiously, all of the dealers' websites said Call For Price. I did, and the price for a Hound Dog at every single dealer is now $1071. I talked to a guy at Guitar Center about this, and he said that Gibson demanded that all dealers carry the full line of O.A.I. instruments. When some dealers balked at this (not every dealer has a high demand for banjos, mandolins, and Dobros), they pulled their dealer status. So now they just have a handful of dealers in the country. Oh, and they jacked the price up by 30%.
When a company is so arrogant in their policies that they will treat their customers and dealers with no respect and allow shoddy quality control on premium priced product because they are convinced that people will always buy their brand, they have lost me as a customer. What goes around comes around, and (though it may take a long time) I believe that this will catch up with Gibson. And when it does, hopefully then another party can buy the company and set it straight. I believe that one day the Juszkiewicz Gibson era will be mentioned in the same breath as the CBS Fender era.
I love the look of those Heritage 535s....

 

[TattooedCarrot]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

I already talked to the dealer who said they come LIGHTLY flamed, and he was surprised about the strap button. He said the sawdust is normal and all the Gibsons he receives have to be cleaned of sawdust. He said he can fix the button, send me the warranty card, and I can keep it, trade it for another one, trade it towards something else, or return it outright. He just wants me to be satisfied. I think I'll drive the two hours to his shop this weekend and show it to him, talk about the options and see if there's something in the store that looks better.

It plays and sounds nice; I cannot find any other issues. Again, I'm normally oblivious to little imperfections, but the totality of these things with two guitars back-to-back in two weeks put everything under a magnifying glass to me. I'd rather have all flame or no flame, but a hodge-podge of both with weak flame at the edges looks crappy. And the specs say flamed, I just expected better.


And Gibson deos specify flamed top. sides, and back ontheir 335 specs page (but they don't specify a grade of flame).

 

[grams]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

the maple top really looks "awfull"
The look of a guitar is very important but the feeling also must be right. when I bought my epiphone LP I played almost every guitar they had in the shop. it came down to two LP's which costed the same. one was looker nice (more flamed top) the other had the better feeling and sound - that was the one I bought
I can also recommend epiphone - you only have to add some stuff to it (pup's, nut, potis, switch) - than it's a really good guitar that costs less than half a gibson.
If I had the money for a real gibson I'd go with a PRS. I love how it feels, how it sounds and of course the look :smoker: I also played a Nik Huber guitar which is very PRS like (Mr Huber is a former "student" of PRS) and feels also great...

 

[RiffGuy]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

That sharpie marking UNDER the finish is beyond terrible. Unbelievable. Did they even LOOK at the guitar before sending it off? This really pisses me off. Gibsons are so expensive, too.

I was considering buying an SG from Musicians Friend. Won't be doing that now.

 

[jimmy]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

I've bought two Gibson SGs in the past, before even seeing them and had Exceptional results; they are two of the most well playing guitars I've ever owned and played.

But all this BS with TC's guitar is just out of the ****ing question; a Gibson should NOT come out of the factory looking like a half-assed whore, ready to sell her body to some desperate rube.

What ever happened to Gibson's "Lofty" standards? What ever happened to "Only a Gibson is good enough?" What ever happened to getting your monies worth?
Gibsons used to be the Rolls Royce of guitars and now their becoming the used car lot, ready to sell to anyone just to make a buck.

I hope they really turn things around, and quick.

As for the guitar, I'd return it and get a new one. If that one is still jacked up, then trade it for something really, really nice.

good luck and Keep Rockin'.

 

[Boston Joe]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

If Gibson believes that in the end they can rely just on boutique Custom Shop orders comparable to Heritage or even Callaham guitars, they'll be shocked to learn the true meaning of earning a living wage.

And if searching for a guitar you can actually play becomes in vogue again, well, that's what put the nails in the coffins of Fender and Gibson back in the 70's and 80's.

 

[strat_master]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

i cant really say anything on this, i dont own an enw gibsons and the oens ive played blow my guitars out fo the water, but i do believe in only buying somehting you can see, thats why i stay away from ebay and online orders, unless i know for sure what im getting. I would return it for a refund and that price any flaw is unacceptable.

 

[LesStrat]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

Sorry to hear it. Not surprised.

To Scott, et al. who offered mild defense of Gibson: I disagree COMPLETELY!

For the price they charge, there should be NO FLAWS! As someone pointed out, compare the Gibsons to ANY PRS, ESP, HAMER, etc., and they're not even in the same ballpark. Shoddy QC for $2G and up is inexcusable.

TC: check the finish on the back, especially around the neck joint...it's a safe bet that you'll find paint bubbles. Also, check around the headstock/nut area on the back.

I have a Parker Nitefly...retailed for $1299...flawless. I have an ESP LTD B304 bass...the 12 year old Korean kid who assembled it did a flawless job. The only flaws on LesStrat resulted from damage caused by the store manager where I bought it...at a significant discount, I might add. IF a 12 year old Chinese kid can assemble a Squier Strat without finish flaws, what's stopping the Gibson factory?

Again, TC: it's inexcusable. Send it back for a refund.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: I've always defended Gibson QC, now I got burned - Twice

I have a Parker Nitefly...retailed for $1299...flawless. I have an ESP LTD B304 bass...the 12 year old Korean kid who assembled it did a flawless job. The only flaws on LesStrat resulted from damage caused by the store manager where I bought it...at a significant discount, I might add. IF a 12 year old Chinese kid can assemble a Squier Strat without finish flaws, what's stopping the Gibson factory?

My parker nitefly is absolutely perfect in build also. Jesus you should see the neck on this thing, perfection to a T. Also, on the ESP EC-1000 I owned that UPS destroyed, there was not a factory flaw of any sort on it, the fret work was also superb.