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Gibson quality


Mickthemiller

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Hello!

 

I have measured the 2011 Gibson LP Classic Custom and the 2010 Fender FSR Tele, yesterday.

 

The high-E string's distance from the fretboard edge at third fret:

 

- Classic Custom: 5/32"

- Tele: 4/32"

 

Still, I never heard such complaints about Fenders.

 

Cheers... Bence

 

 

 

Hey I just measured my 2014 custom, at the 3rd fret the high e-string is 1/8" from the bottom edge of the neck to the bottom Of the e-string,, I'll measure my 2012 custom tomorrow an see if it's the same..

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Sorry Brian!

 

Those are 32s, of course.

 

I just can't get along well with the English system.

 

So, the Tele has less space. Out of curiosity I will measure the rest of my guitars too.

 

Cheers... Bence

 

No apologies necessary! The entire world has gone metric and I don't know a centimeter from a milimeter! (OK-thats maybe a little bit of a stretch) Point being you know a lot more about our system than I do metric!

 

All things considered, the making of a guitar is a complex thing. For MANY years I played guitars as they were 'off the shelf' and struggled at times. Then the fact that adjustments can be made entered my thick skull via the most indirect route:

 

NOW I'm going blind looking at machinist's rules trying to figure out how I can get my action 1/128th lower! Deceptively simple...no?

 

This is all good fun, though!

 

SIDE NOTE: I NEED to do the fret ends of Scarlet and the action is finally PERFECT for me! I am SO fearful that when I go to put the strings back on, the gremlins will have messed with the delicate balance of things! [scared]

 

As my guitar tech told me- IT'LL GO BACK! YOU'LL FIND THE SPOT AGAIN!

Brian

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Hello!

 

I have measured the 2011 Gibson LP Classic Custom and the 2010 Fender FSR Tele, yesterday.

 

The high-E string's distance from the fretboard edge at third fret:

 

- Classic Custom: 5/32"

- Tele: 4/32"

 

Still, I never heard such complaints about Fenders.

 

Cheers... Bence

I have heard that complaint about Fenders. I, like many others here, just find ways to work around my instrument's short-comings. No instrument is absolutely prefect.

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...

 

NOW I'm going blind looking at machinist's rules trying to figure out how I can get my action 1/128th lower! Deceptively simple...no?

 

This is all good fun, though!

 

SIDE NOTE: I NEED to do the fret ends of Scarlet and the action is finally PERFECT for me! I am SO fearful that when I go to put the strings back on, the gremlins will have messed with the delicate balance of things! [scared]

 

As my guitar tech told me- IT'LL GO BACK! YOU'LL FIND THE SPOT AGAIN!

Brian

 

Hello Brian!

 

A proper guitar setup process needs lots of patience. That's one of the reasons I don't take my guitars to pros. It is not possible to do this within a few hours, as they do. It never worked out that way.

 

Setting the neck straight before levelling takes 24 hours - whatever techs say, wood needs time to settle. Only then, levelling can be started. The crowning, polishing, setting the bridge and nut are all delicate jobs. And techs - somehow - manage it within a few hours... Well, they not! The trick they do, is to set the action high. Just tell them: OK, nice job, but would You please set the action low, like max. 2mm at last fret? - and You will see them to start sweat heavily.

 

I have very low action on all of my guitars. But to accomplish that one has to be very precise, otherwise the instrument ends up choking (fretting out) and losing sustain. One priceless trick I have learned is to step the last couple of frets. They are not in level, but rather getting gradually lower towards the end of the fretboard. I have learned it from Gibson, when I first measured my Les Paul Recording built in the dark age of Norlin.

 

IMG_2583_zpsac79ea93.jpg

 

Cheers... Bence

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For me, "Gibson quality" is more about the dealer, than the factory. What I mean by that,

is..if you have a great dealer, they will take care of everything prior to putting any

guitar out for sale. They'll send back, or "fix it" themselves, any "problems" regarding

merchandise, they receive. I've been "spoiled" (apparently) by having a great dealer,

who does that! Gibson sends out quality gear, but in transit, it may run into all kinds

of temperature, and humidity factors (UPS and FED-EX trucks aren't known for "ultimate

Climate conditions," and at times, not even driver comfort!) So, some things are bound

to happen. Actual "fit and finish" problems, DO originate (mostly) from the factory,

but a good dealer will reject those, and request replacements, prior to putting them out.

 

So, find a good/great dealer, first! Buying "sight unseen," even from the best on-line

or mail order stores, is always somewhat of a gamble. But, places like Sweetwater, and

Wildwood (in Colorado) are pretty good, in checking things out, before they sell/ship,

to their customers. I only wish ALL of them, were more like that.

 

IMHO, as always...

 

CB

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Speaking only from my experience, I have still never encountered a Gibson that had any kind of noticeable defect or QC issue. I've bought 6 Gibson and 4 Epiphone guitars in the past 11 years and so far all have been flawless. I haven't even seen one in a shop that had a problem, either. I don't doubt that there is an occasional glitch but IME they have been very very good, and I have to conclude that some of the gripes may be exaggerated. [thumbup]

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  • 3 weeks later...

Today I changed strings on my Gibson Custom Alex Lifeson Les Paul Axcess. Other than usually I decided to pull off all the strings at once in order to remove the locking nut and picture the upper edge of the fretboard showing it's a laminated one:

 

IMG_1361_zpseqo6wpmo.jpg

 

To be honest, I can't really get over the fact they used laminated boards without notice. I don't have a problem with the colour of the upper part looking rather ochre than brown. The lower layer is darker and likely to have a more typical look of rosewood. Two experienced luthiers even didn't want to confirm that the upper layer is of rosewood at all!

 

I can't say anything bad about the tone of this guitar, but a laminated board on a Gibson Custom - come on, Henry, or was it Jim DeCola who made this decision then without public announcement?

 

When I became aware of the laminated fretboard at full cost, I was disappointed and felt betrayed. The return period was long over then. The guys at Thomann were affected, too, they even offered me an exchange without charge since my guitar still looked like new. However, as a matter of course, I would have to pay the rebuild of the non-destructive modifications I had done to mine at Thomann - I would have wanted them again, so I would have paid the bench fee twice. I finally stayed with what I got, but it didn't come easy to me.

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capmaster,

 

educate me if you would

 

are not all guitar fretboards of whatever material glued onto the underlying neck wood, are they not all "laminated"?

 

for example, I never assumed that a rosewood fretboard meant the entire neck was solid rosewood, I always thought every guitar made had the fretboard laminated on the neck, what I am missing here?

 

do you feel that Gibson cheated you because they glued or laminated the fretboard on when they should not have?

 

thanks for explaining this to me if you would as I know little to nothing about this phase of guitar construction

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Hello Norton,

 

this is about the fretboard consisting of two layers. This should be obvious from the picture since the upper layer is of much lighter colour than the lower one. By far most Gibson fretboards are one-piece. They secretly used laminated ones during a certain period in 2012, and soon it became public when customers replaced the stock nut or had it replaced which made the lamination obvious.

 

Viewing from one binding heel to the other, you may see the darker lower layer. The mahogany neck level is defined by the black finish of the peghead. In other words, there are not two layers, a massive fretboard seen from the edge glued onto the neck surface. Here we have three layers, a fretboard top layer, a fretboard bottom layer, and finally the neck.

 

I thought this was clearly visible on the picture I linked here. I hope my description helps in translating the view.

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