.

SillyOctpuss said:
I love 345s. Definitely a bucketlist guitar for me. I played a spectacular 64 in california a few years ago. It had factory nickel parts too.
Click to expand...
The 355 is 64 too
And has Pafs
IMG_1945.jpeg
 
maguchi said:
I been buying Gibson electrics and acoustics both new and used since the 1980s and never found one with any problems or faults. My question is where are all these supposed quality control issues with Gibsons that people post about on these forums? I never seen a bad one before yet.
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They get sent to Finland, I swear. This is a laundry list of issues I've seen on brand new Gibsons, in multiple local stores:
  • Finish cracked on the side of the neck along every single fret. This was on a LP Custom too, yet they were trying to sell it for like 3999 €.
  • Orange peel effect on body - basically a faulty finish.
  • Heavy tool marks on fretboard and nut.
  • Non-working electronics or scratchy pots. Scratchy pots was on a guitar that was at most 1 year old at that point.
  • Incredibly subpar fretwork. Every fret was just flat. This was on a 2016 model, and they should have been using Plek machines at that point afaik. On others I saw tool marks on frets, like the work was left halfway done.
  • Too much neck angle. This is noticeable in a bridge and tailpiece that needs to be set sky-high because there's too much neck angle.
  • Tons of filler around inlays.
  • Overspray on binding on the body and/or neck.
  • Poorly cut nut so the strings are binding straight from the factory.
Now part of the blame lies on the guitar stores selling these pieces of shit instead of sending them back, but Gibson did make them and let them go out the factory and get shipped halfway across the world.

I've seen close to perfectly made Gibsons in USA, France and especially Japan. But I just refuse to buy the brand at this point because the name means nothing to me, made in USA means nothing extra to me. It's one thing to have an occasional flaw, but I've just seen too many 2000+ € Gibsons that are made worse than the cheap Fenix LP copy I bought two decades ago for next to nothing.

It's shit like this why my "ES-335" is a Yamaha, my "Les Paul" is a Heatley Tradition.
 
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I have to agree with @Eagle as I own two Gibsons and both have QC issues. They’re not rare issues and if you have one that doesn’t have any those issues chances are you’ll find them later.

My Les Paul took a whole lot of work to get it to stay in tune. It was factory Pleked so there were no fret issues. The finish is satin so I get crackles from static electricity when I play it. I replaced the crappy pots and sold the pickups and replaced them with Lollars. After much work it is actually usable. I’d have dumped it had it not sounded so great.

My SG has some finish issues. One of the fretboard markers is higher than the fretboard. The neck cannot handle 9s as it needs more tension or else it bends too easily (SG rubber neck syndrome). It had terrible neck dive until i swapped out the tuning machines (4 oz made a difference).

So in my case I’ve had 100% of them needing fixed from the factory. I like them and probably won’t sell them but I’m never buying another Gibson. To discount the issues that many have with the brand by titling a thread like this one gets you what you got.
 
maguchi said:
New Gold Top Day! I went into my local GC to buy some nylon strings for my classical. I shoulda known better and just ordered them online, but nylon strings take a long time to stretch and stay in tune, and I have a upcoming rehearsal with a nylon string guitar.

Anyways, I saw a brand new Gibson goldtop Les Paul hanging on the wall. I din't have a P90 LP yet and I been wanting one. I picked it up and immediately noticed that it was light. I played it through a Tweed Bassman reissue in the store and it sounded and played great. I got my little fisherman's weighing scale out of the glove compartment and it weighed only 8.6 lbs. I wasn't gonna buy it because I bought to many guitars lately. But the salesman saw me and said there was a 48 month with no interest special. So the guitar followed me home.

When I got it home, I went over it with a fine tooth comb and it was pristine. Plek'd frets, flawless binding and finish! The salesman told me they had just put that guitar out that morning., so maybe it hadn't been played much.

I been buying Gibson electrics and acoustics both new and used since the 1980s and never found one with any problems or faults. My question is where are all these supposed quality control issues with Gibsons that people post about on these forums? I never seen a bad one before yet.

View attachment 30126View attachment 30127
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SWEET! I have one, as well!
 
maguchi said:
Meh, it's kinda cool I guess. The fretboard inlays are a little too blingy for my tastes and that custom made plaque covering the stoptail holes is kind of corny, like what you'd see on a bowling trophy or something. I prefer a more understated look on ES-3_5 guitars. But that's cool, you do you.

View attachment 30214
Click to expand...

I like long guard 58 style 335s but also like the early 60s block 335s too. They both have their own thing going on. Two different looks but still cool.
 
maguchi said:
Meh, it's kinda cool I guess. The fretboard inlays are a little too blingy for my tastes and that custom made plaque covering the stoptail holes is kind of corny, like what you'd see on a bowling trophy or something. I prefer a more understated look on ES-3_5 guitars. But that's cool, you do you.

View attachment 30214
Click to expand...
I prefer late 50s 335’s too but I don’t get too many in because the price is getting high.
Here is a 59 Les Paul I had in;
IMG_1883.jpeg
 
maguchi said:
It's going to be spending a lot of time out of it's case and in my hands. In over 40 years I never broke a Gibson headstock or heard of anyone breaking a headstock until I started reading and posting on these online forums.
Click to expand...

I broke a headstock on a les paul once. I had it repaired but the guy didn't do a particularly great job and it broke again in the same place about a year later. I had it repaired by Jonathan at Feline guitars in London the second time and he actually did a wonderful job but I was so annoyed with the guitar by this stage that I sold it at a massive loss.
 
maguchi said:
It's in really good condition for a '59! A lot of people love flame and figuring in their guitar tops. I kind of like unfigured wood on a guitar better. Again "bling", I prefer plaintops. And to my eyes LPs look better with their pickups covers on. But this one is a very desirable and valuable guitar to many people.
Click to expand...
I really liked it , it’s had a very well done refret and a new nut . Apart from that and the covers being removed it’s all there. I valued it at around £275k for insurance but it should only be sold at auction.
 
SillyOctpuss said:
I broke a headstock on a les paul once. I had it repaired but the guy didn't do a particularly great job and it broke again in the same place about a year later. I had it repaired by Jonathan at Feline guitars in London the second time and he actually did a wonderful job but I was so annoyed with the guitar by this stage that I sold it at a massive loss.
Click to expand...
Here is one I did.
DSC01063.jpeg

And after ;
DSC01119.jpeg

BD80188D-5F16-44BE-B018-6BB1008829E1.jpeg

Fortunately/unfortunately it is a Murphy limited Joe Walsh so I could use the relic to my advantage.
 
maguchi said:
It's going to be spending a lot of time out of it's case and in my hands. In over 40 years I never broke a Gibson headstock or heard of anyone breaking a headstock until I started reading and posting on these online forums.
Click to expand...
Honestly it’s one of my most common structural repairs. I’ve done well over 100 and 99% where Gibson.
 
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