Think Gibson USA QC Has Improved...

67plexi said:
What other brand of guitar would go up in value like that please chime in.
Click to expand...

Very few others, none consistently or at that level.

All the great players, icons, who used Gibsons, and the classic songs and all the videos (Marc Bolan's LP won't suddenly become a PRS SE in the classic videos that are played over time after time...), our culture is based upon Gibson, Fender, Marshall, Vox, and they all don't suddenly disappear because somebody complains about Gibson quality control (hell, I complain about Gibson quality control) or the crap speaker in the Marshall DSL5C.
 
Robert Herndon said:
My brand new (then) 2003 SG standard had cracks in the binding around the fret ends and cracks that connected frets like this one, brand new out of the box. Gibson's Nicholas Chemsak wrote me an email (i still have it) and said that was "normal" and wouldn't affect the guitar.

My life is so peaceful since I just moved totally away from Gibson. No refretting brand new guitars, no shielding brand new guitars....just playing.....
Click to expand...

This is why I keep imploring people who don't like Gibsons to stop. buying. them. Those things are normal and have always been present, and for those of us who love them that's part of their identity. It's part of what makes them inspiring to play for me.

I love the damn things. I love the quirkiness of nitro, how it's almost a living thing. I like how much hands-on work is still done on them, making each one unique. I love to see tool marks on the binding proving that a human being made it. I love all those little things about them that have always been there but are somehow now considered a defect.

Put simply, whenever I pick up an Asian-made guitar it just feels like an appliance, not an organic thing made of wood by human hands.

 
Last edited:
gball said:
This is why I keep imploring people who don't like Gibsons to stop. buying. them. Those things are normal and have always been present, and for those of us who love them that's part of their identity. It's part of what makes them inspiring to play for me.

I love the damn things. I love the quirkiness of nitro, how it's almost a living thing. I like how much hands-on work is still done on them, making each one unique. I love to see tool marks on the binding proving that a human being made it. I love all those little things about them that have always been there but are somehow now considered a defect.

Put simply, whenever I pick up an Asian-made guitar it just feels like an appliance, not an organic thing made of wood by human hands.
Click to expand...

I get what you're saying and I'm not opposed to flaws and things that show hand craftsmanship, but if these guys are true craftsmen they should take more pride in their work. Again, for me it comes down to the premium they are charging...the only thing I see missing from my new Epiphone is the Nitro finish. That would be fantastic if they offered a Nitro upgrade!

I'm not sure why an Asian made guitar doesn't feel like it was made by human hands to you. Gibson uses just as much CNC as Epiphone. There are plenty of factory tours of the Asian factories. Many of them show more hands on work because they didn't have the $$$ for the high dollar CNC until recently.

It's cool you love Gibson, hell I love Gibson. Someday I will hand pick one and keep it forever, but I think I'll go on the used market. No more online Gibson orders. With the addition of online sales tax there is no reason to go that route any longer...

Here is a 3 year old factory tour narrated by a Japanese reporter. Then there is a new interview video with the Epiphone Director of Operations.


 
gball said:
This is why I keep imploring people who don't like Gibsons to stop. buying. them. Those things are normal and have always been present, and for those of us who love them that's part of their identity. It's part of what makes them inspiring to play for me.

I love the damn things. I love the quirkiness of nitro, how it's almost a living thing. I like how much hands-on work is still done on them, making each one unique. I love to see tool marks on the binding proving that a human being made it. I love all those little things about them that have always been there but are somehow now considered a defect.

Put simply, whenever I pick up an Asian-made guitar it just feels like an appliance, not an organic thing made of wood by human hands.
Click to expand...

Absolutely!!! I quit buying and playing them.

A Gibson with a hump in the neck doesn't feel good in the hands. I've now owned several with that anomaly, brand new...including a neck pocket on a new 2016 Studio Les Paul that was cut at an angle, to such a degree the bridge had to be floored on the treble side and raised on the bass side to compensate. You could see the headstock was rotated.

Now you want to talk about feel....our bandleader's Ibanez....look really close at the details on this one...

20200307_132610.jpg
 
Sp8ctre said:
I get what you're saying and I'm not opposed to flaws and things that show hand craftsmanship, but if these guys are true craftsmen they should take more pride in their work. Again, for me it comes down to the premium they are charging...the only thing I see missing from my new Epiphone is the Nitro finish. That would be fantastic if they offered a Nitro upgrade!

I'm not sure why an Asian made guitar doesn't feel like it was made by human hands to you. Gibson uses just as much CNC as Epiphone. There are plenty of factory tours of the Asian factories. Many of them show more hands on work because they didn't have the $$$ for the high dollar CNC until recently.

It's cool you love Gibson, hell I love Gibson. Someday I will hand pick one and keep it forever, but I think I'll go on the used market. No more online Gibson orders. With the addition of online sales tax there is no reason to go that route any longer...

Here is a 3 year old factory tour narrated by a Japanese reporter. Then there is a new interview video with the Epiphone Director of Operations.


Click to expand...
If Epihone did offer a nitro upgrade, as suggested above. It would KILL their parent co.

I have no doubt that I would one by one start replacing my Gibsons. None are irreplaceable vintage guitars, and I have no doubt of being satisfied.

When I bought my 2017 Gibson Classic Plus, I also purchased an Epiphone Plus Top Standard, and every person that has played that guitar comments on how great it feels, and I'm not talking one or two people. I ended up giving it to a friend of mine out of work and wanting a Paulie type guitar, and it just kills.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: Let em' build em'. The market will prove it out.

But come on, when I saw Epi making long tenon guitars, Gibson won't even think of that detail without a huge upcharge, and I understand labor, material costs, but just look at the retail prices.

Here's to Epi, the new Gibson lol.
 
I do love the FEEL of old nitro over new poly
and your never going to get this kinda checking in a poly guitar (mind you this is a 1962!)-- so it TAKES A WHILE --

1583958694974.png
1583958717907.png

that poor thing has been too HELL N BACK -- at least 3 times----- but it still plays like butta and sounds LIKE MUDDY THUNDER
1583958789990.png

think I need to fire up the Hartke and take her for a little spin...............................................................
 
eSGEe said:
I do love the FEEL of old nitro over new poly
and your never going to get this kinda checking in a poly guitar (mind you this is a 1962!)-- so it TAKES A WHILE --

View attachment 39972
View attachment 39973

that poor thing has been too HELL N BACK -- at least 3 times----- but it still plays like butta and sounds LIKE MUDDY THUNDER
View attachment 39974

think I need to fire up the Hartke and take her for a little spin...............................................................
Click to expand...
definitely looks like you've been rubbing this one too much...
 
steveb63 said:
If Epihone did offer a nitro upgrade, as suggested above. It would KILL their parent co.

I have no doubt that I would one by one start replacing my Gibsons. None are irreplaceable vintage guitars, and I have no doubt of being satisfied.

When I bought my 2017 Gibson Classic Plus, I also purchased an Epiphone Plus Top Standard, and every person that has played that guitar comments on how great it feels, and I'm not talking one or two people. I ended up giving it to a friend of mine out of work and wanting a Paulie type guitar, and it just kills.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: Let em' build em'. The market will prove it out.

But come on, when I saw Epi making long tenon guitars, Gibson won't even think of that detail without a huge upcharge, and I understand labor, material costs, but just look at the retail prices.

Here's to Epi, the new Gibson lol.
Click to expand...

I don't agree with it would kill Gibson (and after all, Epiphone is Gibson) but all other things being equal, would you be willing to pay the huge upcharge to add nitro? It's not a 1-to-1 change. Nitro requires far more labor and far more time to apply, sand, reapply, sand, reapply, sand, buff, buff, buff, etc. It would likely double the cost. So is an Epi really worth it at that point, considering all the other factors like resale (I know a lot of us don't buy them to sell them but it nice to know you can get your cash back if you really needed to)?

As for the tenon, it's never been demonstrated to me that it makes one bit of difference in feel, sound, stability or longevity. Some of the best sounding guitars I have ever played have rocker tenons and some of the crappiest have the vaunted long one. I don't care if they hold it out for certain models or the Custom Shop as a marketing gimmick, it makes no difference in how a guitar performs and if they can get people to pay more knowingly for that "feature" that's just PT Barnum effect IMO.
 
gball said:
I don't agree with it would kill Gibson (and after all, Epiphone is Gibson) but all other things being equal, would you be willing to pay the huge upcharge to add nitro? It's not a 1-to-1 change. Nitro requires far more labor and far more time to apply, sand, reapply, sand, reapply, sand, buff, buff, buff, etc. It would likely double the cost. So is an Epi really worth it at that point, considering all the other factors like resale (I know a lot of us don't buy them to sell them but it nice to know you can get your cash back if you really needed to)?

As for the tenon, it's never been demonstrated to me that it makes one bit of difference in feel, sound, stability or longevity. Some of the best sounding guitars I have ever played have rocker tenons and some of the crappiest have the vaunted long one. I don't care if they hold it out for certain models or the Custom Shop as a marketing gimmick, it makes no difference in how a guitar performs and if they can get people to pay more knowingly for that "feature" that's just PT Barnum effect IMO.
Click to expand...
Yes, I was exaggerating, I don't think it would kill them. But I do think their numbers would see a change

For me, I don't care about tenon's, glue, specialty dies. But their is the other crowd, those features are very important to them.

I do like nitro guitars finish looks and feels, just amazing to me, how close those two co.s products are.
On some of the "other" sites the die hards demand certain features, and a level of finished quality. Epiphone seems to be tackling some of our old complaint's.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top