Quite a collection of problems with new Gibson's listed here....
Worst factory defects you've seen on a Gibson
Worst factory defects you've seen on a Gibson
Factory Gibson Defect Thread:
- Thread starter Inspector #20
- Start date
OP
I agree, Goo...but Gibson still ignores the root cause of the problm, while charging a premium price for an instrument that needs significant work before it can be used in a professional setting. That's my beef with them...and t seems I am not alone...
Biggest defect I've seen is the price tag.
eSGEe
Ferengi Ambassador of Trade
EXACTLY!
Top 277 Complaints and Reviews about Harley Davidson
oh wait......................who are we pissed at?!?!?
Top 277 Complaints and Reviews about Harley Davidson
oh wait......................who are we pissed at?!?!?
OP
Very good point.
I can't really blame Gibson for producing a substandard product. I blame only me for buying two in a row with nearly identical issues.
Even the $4,799 Les Paul Custom at the local Guitar Sinner has intonation issues, scratchy pots, buzzing pickups and a "hump" in the binding at the 12th fret.
Relic
Well-Known Member
Funny but I just wrote in another thread about people owning a Guitar Company to make money & owning a Guitar Company because you want to make the best guitars you can make for the money!
Two different approaches that quite often have 2 different product results in terms of quality.
Flame On!!
Gibson is not owned or run by someone like Paul R Smith & the two owners motivations are honestly different. & so are the decisions being made about what gets put out to the public.
Lets look at how responsive to real guitar players needs Gibson is shall we?
Despite Gibson having over 200 available models for sale on SweetWater, the first Gibson model to have a Vibrato / Tremolo comes in at $4700+!
That just a for instance. That is countless guitar players looking for an affordable Gibson with a functional reliable Tremolo left to find that guitar somewhere else. Even as a business strategy this makes zero sense to me.
Now take a look at Gibson forcing their G-Force
auto-tune system on guitar players that want / need an HP model! No thinking guitar minded person at Gibson would do this particular move nor think it's the right way to market the G-Farce, but a businessman looking to increase profit surely would seek taking advantage of people willing to spend more money to get a better guitar with this added expense thrown on it even if they didn't want it! I'm not buying a Nib'd guitar so if I want a playable guitar for me I'm stuck having to deal with the G-Farce debacle.
Ya, I get the complaints & the QC is also undeniable as simply quality inspections should really stop a lot of these defective out of spec & flawed guitars from reaching the consumer Period!
Unacceptable Gibson!
Sadly enough, change at Gibson
is going to have to start with the head of Gibson & their priority switching back to making the best guitars they can make for the playing guitarist & away from the current most important reason being to make a profit off selling Gibson guitars!
That's my 2 cents. & now I still got 98 cents left for future posts!
Two different approaches that quite often have 2 different product results in terms of quality.
Flame On!!
Gibson is not owned or run by someone like Paul R Smith & the two owners motivations are honestly different. & so are the decisions being made about what gets put out to the public.
Lets look at how responsive to real guitar players needs Gibson is shall we?
Despite Gibson having over 200 available models for sale on SweetWater, the first Gibson model to have a Vibrato / Tremolo comes in at $4700+!
That just a for instance. That is countless guitar players looking for an affordable Gibson with a functional reliable Tremolo left to find that guitar somewhere else. Even as a business strategy this makes zero sense to me.
Now take a look at Gibson forcing their G-Force
auto-tune system on guitar players that want / need an HP model! No thinking guitar minded person at Gibson would do this particular move nor think it's the right way to market the G-Farce, but a businessman looking to increase profit surely would seek taking advantage of people willing to spend more money to get a better guitar with this added expense thrown on it even if they didn't want it! I'm not buying a Nib'd guitar so if I want a playable guitar for me I'm stuck having to deal with the G-Farce debacle.Ya, I get the complaints & the QC is also undeniable as simply quality inspections should really stop a lot of these defective out of spec & flawed guitars from reaching the consumer Period!
Unacceptable Gibson!Sadly enough, change at Gibson
is going to have to start with the head of Gibson & their priority switching back to making the best guitars they can make for the playing guitarist & away from the current most important reason being to make a profit off selling Gibson guitars! That's my 2 cents. & now I still got 98 cents left for future posts!
This is one of my main complaints about the Gibson product line. And, like you said, you don't get a decent, reliable trem until you approach 5 grand. Then, it's only available on the Les Paul Axcess, at least as far as I've seen.
I do like the Maestro...even Bigsbys. But, they require more finesse to their use to avoid tuning issues. And, their range is very limited.
Last edited:
Relic
Well-Known Member
One more thing I wanted to say about the Gibson HP line coming with mandatory G-Farce auto-tuners.
1, the auto-tuners are not quick enough nor reliable enough to use live in front of an audience. It is very UNPROFESSIONAL to hold up the playing of music because your auto-tuner isn't done tuning yet or is going absolutely frik'n haywire & not performing as advertised! Every year we hear how advanced the system is & then when the next model comes out it has the 'new & improved' version auto-tuner on it! So what was it the year before if simply not good enough by Gibson's own admission of needing improved model designs every year!?
:finger:
2,The next farcical piece of Gibson propaganda is the claims of G-Force quick auto-tuning for change of tunings on stage 'eliminating the needs for a guitar for each separate tuning'. (Here, smoke this!)You can't change from A 440 to a D natural tuning & expect your guitar to stay in tune for any reasonable amount of time because of stored stresses being slowly released that a guitar goes through over time when changing tunings in this manner. That is why 'Professionals' have & use a separate 'stable' guitars for alternate tunings!
3, As a performing guitarist that thinks like a guitarist, I think the auto-tuner would be more useful for the newer guitarist that isn't going to be performing as much as practicing, learning & appreciating the easy auto tune experience of experimenting in different tunings. I'll even go out on a limb and say that most professional / semi-professional guitarists will gravitate to the HP models where new players & beginners are more likely to buy a more affordable model like a Satin finish or a 'T' model.
So doesn't guitar player rational thinking tell us that a G-Force would be 'better suited' on lower priced models & not the HP models??
And that is why I call Bull$#it on Gibson sticking these autotuners on HP guitars and telling us how fvk'ng awesome they are! The HP playing professional doesn't need nor want an auto-tuner on his guitar. But Gibson is calculating they'll be the ones that actually cough up the extra cash to buy that HP guitar anyway!
Making Money vs Making Guitars
1,
the auto-tuners are not quick enough nor reliable enough to use live in front of an audience. It is very UNPROFESSIONAL to hold up the playing of music because your auto-tuner isn't done tuning yet or is going absolutely frik'n haywire & not performing as advertised! Every year we hear how advanced the system is & then when the next model comes out it has the 'new & improved' version auto-tuner on it! So what was it the year before if simply not good enough by Gibson's own admission of needing improved model designs every year!?:finger:
2,
The next farcical piece of Gibson propaganda is the claims of G-Force quick auto-tuning for change of tunings on stage 'eliminating the needs for a guitar for each separate tuning'. (Here, smoke this!)You can't change from A 440 to a D natural tuning & expect your guitar to stay in tune for any reasonable amount of time because of stored stresses being slowly released that a guitar goes through over time when changing tunings in this manner. That is why 'Professionals' have & use a separate 'stable' guitars for alternate tunings! 3,
As a performing guitarist that thinks like a guitarist, I think the auto-tuner would be more useful for the newer guitarist that isn't going to be performing as much as practicing, learning & appreciating the easy auto tune experience of experimenting in different tunings. I'll even go out on a limb and say that most professional / semi-professional guitarists will gravitate to the HP models where new players & beginners are more likely to buy a more affordable model like a Satin finish or a 'T' model.So doesn't guitar player rational thinking tell us that a G-Force would be 'better suited' on lower priced models & not the HP models??
And that is why I call Bull$#it on Gibson sticking these autotuners on HP guitars and telling us how fvk'ng awesome they are! The HP playing professional doesn't need nor want an auto-tuner on his guitar. But Gibson is calculating they'll be the ones that actually cough up the extra cash to buy that HP guitar anyway!
Making Money vs Making Guitars
Relic
Well-Known Member
The Gibson Kahler era was a great feeling & playing Vibrato that had sweet movement & fantastic pitch retention. By the time Gibson was factory installing them & coming with Gibson embossed on the trems instead of Kahler they were really putting out a fantastic product that to me is way preferable to a Floyd set up.
Here my favorite LP, the '78 Deluxe in Wine Red with Gibson licensed Kahler trem.
Can ya read Gibson on the trem?
How 'bout now?
Hah! Look at that, a '72 embossed mini-humbucker that I threw in there when replacing an old Dual rail Bill Lawrence 500L pick-up that she came my way with. That old Gibby pup sure is heavenly brother.
DonP
Guest
That's how you do it!
No argument there!
I've gotten pretty adept at coaxing what I need from them. But, yeah, they have their issues.
I will say, though, the Bigsby I put on my Les Paul has better tuning stability than the Bigsby-type on my '74 SG. I noticed this shortly after installing it. I think part of it may be that the main string bar has roller bearings in the frame, whereas the one on my SG just has nylon bushings. The string tension bar in the Bigsby on my Les Paul may also have a roller bearing set, but I can't tell because there is a sleeve in the way.
OP
Last edited:
Relic
Well-Known Member
Thanks Bub. Did you ever see her younger Sister??
Here's a pic (below) of the two sisters cropped from a Gibson family photo taken back in 2012.
And here she was caught photographed in the garden.
Not only does she like flowers & being outside, she also loves fast cars!!!
Not only does she like fast American Muscle Cars, she also like those Vintage Muscle Cars too!
Here she is looking for Daddy to take her for a ride in the '69 Pontiac 400 Firebird.
An interesting construction note; In 1981, a multiple piece maple top was a common manufacturing technique. I personally don't prefer this technique for several reasons but mostly they are simply purely superficial reasons that obviously don't affect tone (I hope lol).
And this girl was bought for her tone! She sounds soo frik'n sweet that I acquired her with her frets literally played down to the fretboard from simply being played so damn much!
And yes, She still has the original Gibson factory installed Tim Shaw Humbuckers!
SCHWEET!!!
Here's a close up of the multi-piece maple top.
To see those joined seems, take a close look at the shadows... Bah Hah Wah Hah Haaa...
Last edited: