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Gibson SG Standard 2013 and high E string issues


Iperfungus

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Hi folks!

 

Max from Italy here.

 

In December 2013, I bought a brand new 2013 Gibson SG Standard from a local dealer and I'm still in love with this guitar ('57 Classic pickups are the best humbuckers Gibson has ever done after original '59 PAFs).

 

By the way, after 6 months, I became aware about some very annoying issues with the high E string and I've seen there's some people around the world who's sharing similar issues, with both Les Paul or SG Standard guitars.

 

What happened was that the high E string slipped away from the fret-board very easily, especially when playing hammer-ons and pull-offs using the free string as well.

In addition, there was a kind of step between all the 22 frets and the over-fret binding...generating a disgusting "tic-tac" noise when the high E string slipped away from the fret-board.

In the first 2-3 frets, there was also a gap between frets and binding, where the string got completely stuck.

 

Furthermore, due to a very bad nut and slight bridge displacement, strings centering all along the fret-board was not correct and all the strings were moved downwards, so that high E string was too close to lower edge of the fret-board.

 

Since the guitar was brand new and still under warranty, I contacted the dealer and then the Gibson Europe Customer Service to ask them to take the guitar back and give me a new one or fix the issues.

Since a new 2013 SG Standard was out of production and available no more (and I hate 2014/2015 guitars with Min E-Tune or G-Force tuners!), I asked to fix the issues.

 

They addressed me to an authorized repair center and here we go with the list of what has been done:

 

1) put some resin in the gaps to fill them, where necessary

2) remove the steps from frets and proceed with rectification

3) remove the horrible original nut (made of corian and with very bad slots) and put a GraphTech TUSQ nut with correct slots and correct distance among strings

4) remove all the saddles from Nashville bridge and put new ones where the slots for the strings are not in the center of each saddle but slightly above

 

Additionally, I tightened the fixing nut of each machine-head, since they were too loose.

 

Now the guitar has no issues and it's almost perfect.

Removing gaps and steps among frets and binding, made the "tic-tac" noise disappear.

Tightening machine-heads nuts and moving the strings slightly above (by replacing nut and saddles), made them correctly centered all along the fret-board...so that, now, the high E string has been moved away from the lower edge of the fret-board and it slips away no more.

Also intonation is now very good, while D and G strings had intonation issues in the higher half of the fret-board.

I feared that complete refretting was necessary, but it has not...luckily.

 

Anyway, it's very disappointing in my humble opinion that a brand like Gibson would allow such accidents.

Guitars with similar issues should not leave the factory: quality controls must be improved, since all the expensive "solutions" we can see in 2014 and 2015 guitars are not solutions.

If a nut is bad, it must be replaced.

If bridge is not centered, saddles must be replaced.

If strings centering is not correct, it remains what it is...even with larger fret-boards.

 

So, people....it's not your technique...it's not your hand....this is not something you've to live with and become used with.

These are DEFECTS. No way.

And they must be fixed (or guitars must be replaced under warranty).

 

Gibson removed over-fret binding in 2014 and 2015 USA guitars: is this a solution? To remove something that's 100% Gibson style since 1952?

 

Wrong way, guys.

And year 2015 will tell.

 

My 2 cents.

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I have two 2013 SG Standards and the gap between fret and binding is the only problem I have (it's a problem on both).

 

I don't have a real need to do pull-offs on the first string for the music I play so I haven't bothered getting the binding fixed, but I agree it's annoying and no guitar should leave the factory in that condition. If you're going to put binding on, do it right. If you're not going to do it right, give me a regular fret.

 

You are 100% correct that people who complain about the string getting caught in that gap during pull-offs are not suffering from technique problems. Give me 1000 guitars priced under $500 with no neck binding and every pull-off will sound just as it should.

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Oh and by the way the Iommi Signature humbucker is Gibson's best pickup. [biggrin]

 

Hi mate!

 

It seems we share similar points of view about those issues with binding.

 

I love Tony Iommi and the Sabbaths since 30 years...but I love '57 Classics over other HBs! [lol]

 

By the way, you've similar gaps on both your 2013 SGs? And the high E stucks inside those gaps?

 

Let a good luthier have a look to your guitars....because wood "moves"...and that issue could become worst in short times.

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Hi mate!

 

It seems we share similar points of view about those issues with binding.

 

I love Tony Iommi and the Sabbaths since 30 years...but I love '57 Classics over other HBs! [lol]

 

By the way, you've similar gaps on both your 2013 SGs? And the high E stucks inside those gaps?

 

Let a good luthier have a look to your guitars....because wood "moves"...and that issue could become worst in short times.

 

Yes it's both guitars. If I do a pull-off on the high E, second fret, for example, the string falls into the little gap between the fret and the binding and makes a 'plink' noise as it's coming out.

 

I guess I should have checked before I paid for them, but I just don't do pull-offs often so I didn't think of it at the time. And it didn't occur to me that such defects would be a problem on a Gibson. But I'll say I'm still extremely happy with these guitars -- they feel way better than everything else I tried, and I tried a lot before I bought.

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Yes it's both guitars. If I do a pull-off on the high E, second fret, for example, the string falls into the little gap between the fret and the binding and makes a 'plink' noise as it's coming out.

 

I guess I should have checked before I paid for them, but I just don't do pull-offs often so I didn't think of it at the time. And it didn't occur to me that such defects would be a problem on a Gibson. But I'll say I'm still extremely happy with these guitars -- they feel way better than everything else I tried, and I tried a lot before I bought.

 

Look...I didn't notice any issue when I checked the guitar at the shop, before paying for it.... :)

I don't know...maybe the issues were not so remarkable at the time and they became worst in the next months...or I did not play any pull-off... ^^

 

Anyway, I love my 2013 SG as well.

I love her a lot and I had a great feeling with this guitar 1 minute after I picked it up from the stand.

This is the reason why I preferred the issues to be fixed, rather than having the guitar changed for a new one (a 2014, since the 2013s were out of production already).

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Yep, I had the high E string problem with the Plek'd frets and nut on my new LP Standard. I could not do pull-offs on the first 3 frets with the high E next to the binding. I took the nut off and cut a new one with the high E about 1/16" inward.

 

I just used superglue on bindings that had gaps to the fret ends, filed/sand, and polished the frets. The frets just came with obvious fine leveling marks (like using 300 grit sandpaper) and no crowing. The sides of the frets had deep scratches. If you slide your fingers over the frets you can feel the sharp fret edges when playing (not crowned).

 

I guess Gibson's standard is much lower for the newer mass produced LP's. I was disappointed with this brand new guitar; but managed to remedy the poor quality in my workshop. Luckily, I'm handy with tools and enjoy tweaking. Gibson should be ashamed to call this their "Standard".

 

On the other hand my '08 SG Classic only required fret polishing and widening of the G nut slot. Good on Gibson for the nut slots were cut with the correct spacings.... maybe it's before the use of automated Plek machines.

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I've read many times about skilled people used to handle tools who got a success in doing the repair job themselves.

 

But there's a problem, in some cases: the warranty is void if you put your hands on the guitar and do the job....so, if something goes wrong, you're fooled! :)

 

Of course, if the guitar is used or old...and you are able to fix it...go that way! ^^

 

By the way, I agree with you about current Gibson's policies and quality controls.

And the Plek machine....uhmmmm...it should improve frets and fretboards quality....otherwise, do the job by hand!

 

The nut on my SG was a mess...and the new GrapTech that has been installed is a lot better.

 

I repeat: now the guitar is 100% restored and I love it more than ever.

Anyway...

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