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*cries* had to retun my new LP Standard :(


iluvcrap2000

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well Picked out a nice one, an Gibson 2016 Les Paul Standard Plus Top. The Pictures looked really nice.... but When it arrived the picture did NOT look like the guitar I got, it was very dull, The Ice Tea Burst was very muddy looking, Very Disappointed at the Distributor for manipulating images to make it look more vibrant, than it really was. There was a few Finishing issues, a obvious neck gap on the underside near the cutout, little scuffs and other small things. There was NO Pickguard whatsoever to be seen, Eventhough I looked at six retailers and talked to seven people whom all say it's included(even the online Description says it comes with pickguard). There was a pretty

thorough inspection card and Picture of the guitar on a bench, plus other case candy. Seems like the guitar bit the Pink fluff in the case as the Bridge, strings and Nut took a hefty bite of pink fur. Nice case. 27 lbs shipped together in both boxes.

 

I was very Upset by it as spending $2800 on something nice, it shouldn't be this way, Spending $350 on an epiphone I'd expect little things, that can be forgiven, but not this. So Sent it Back and will wait for something better.

 

I do have to say, it was pretty medium weight around 8/9 lbs. My Ultra III is 7.5 lbs(chambered, and very light, Electronics suck no Coil taps even though it's 4-wire??) and my monoprice LP clone($130) is 12 lbs. (heavy brick, resonant but backbreaking heavy) The Gibson LP stand Plays really nice and pickups sounds very vibrant. The Tuners rock.

 

Now I have to say this, What's up with the pickguard?? at least add the removable one! What is cost ya 15 cents? Lose the top hat knobs use the bumbpy speed knobs and what about the easy adjustable bridge, where's that? seems like ya just picked the left overs from the bin. Add the belly cutout in next years model and Use the KOA wood tops!

 

post-65934-009413400 1443863169_thumb.jpg Add these Colors to the Standard line Please?!?! :)

 

post-65934-050860800 1443863179_thumb.jpg

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Sorry for your bad luck, mate. :(

 

Following your description I assume the finish has been too "fresh" when they packed the new guitar into the case at the factory. I believe the QC guy/girl wasn't even able to realize the finish being too soft then since the guitar seemed fine to view and touch. The pink hue may have penetrated into the finish the following days.

 

Disliking pickguards as well as needless holes, I never cared if they supplied a pickguard or not. Sadly my 2013 Traditional came with a mounted one, and since I don't even become aware it's there while playing, I left it there. I also wouldn't like the slotted pickup rings used for the detachable pickguards. I think I would have replaced them with "normal" ones if I had wanted a 2015 Gibson.

 

I'm completely with you on returning it.

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Sorry to hear this. Bummer. But this *exactly* why I won't buy any guitar (much less an expensive one) online. I've been burned a couple of times too. I just have to be able to see it in person, feel it, play it, hear it, etc. Just too many variables that need to be taken into account before I'll put down $2000+ (frankly I wouldn't buy an Epi LP online either... $500ish is still nothing to sneeze at).

 

Anyway... my suggestion, find a local store that has them in stock you like and go see/play it in person.

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Sounds like perhaps the picture of the guitar was a generic pic of that model, but not the actual guitar.

 

Or maybe at the very least, whatever the reason, the pic of the guitar is not a pic of the actual guitar.

 

But whatever the reason, this is why it is SO much better to choose a guitar or shop for a guitar in person, not from pics online.

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Sounds like perhaps the picture of the guitar was a generic pic of that model, but not the actual guitar.

 

Or maybe at the very least, whatever the reason, the pic of the guitar is not a pic of the actual guitar.

 

But whatever the reason, this is why it is SO much better to choose a guitar or shop for a guitar in person, not from pics online.

 

It is the same guitar(Same serial) but the picture displayed on website has been altered to look more vibrant.

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i saw the new les pauls 2016 and honestly i dont regret i bought the 2015 the colours sucked and i think they are cheaper cause they use less material then on the 2015...get yourself a 2015 mate

 

I saw the colors of the 2015 on gibsons website and thought that looked wrong. I was contemplating that 3 months ago, Andertons had a great deal for $2400 for a 2015 Gibson Les Paul Standard, but There was no way to pick what finish I liked, and their selection was limited. Also there were issues with the tuner and nut that I really disliked.

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i got the 2015 lp traditional and had luck with the brass nut and no problems with the gforce tuners

everything is cool on the guitar,i still dont understand why people wined so much about the 2015 models?

 

 

At the moment I feel gutted. I bought a 2015 Les Paul Standard after having read all the reviews and heard the retailers extolling the virtues of the innovations on you tube. I watched a NAMM video where the senior luthier said that Gibson had been listening to the public and had made the changes in response to their views. Then the critics came out and hated much of what was "new". Gibson have dumped their 2015 customers and returned to more traditional construction and appointments and the advertising blurb seems to say that their customers preferred the older versions anyway. They have reduced the prices and dispensed with the G Force tuners. The price reductions, in the UK, on 2015 models have been enormous and we have watched our guitars massively depreciate in front of our very eyes.

 

I have a Tobacco Sunburst Candy which is really beautiful. I'm happy with the brass nut (I've had a Strat Plus with a metal roller nut for years) and I like the wider neck over my 2001 Les Paul Standard. I am not so lucky as hoross with the set up and tuning and am taking it back on Friday. The intonation is way out (sharp) and the tuning stability is poor. The G Force tuners jam if you try and wind them manually and the guitar goes out of tune very quickly. If this can't be solved I will replace the robots with standard tuners. I understand that guitars are now a small part of Gibson's overall business and massive changes one year and reversal the next makes you wonder if they know what they are doing or even if they care.

 

I won't be buying another Gibson as my 2015, when modified, will be OK for my lifetime. I don't understand why the public took such a poor view of them. Pity that Gibson have no regard for their customers.

 

DrGolf

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At the moment I feel gutted. I bought a 2015 Les Paul Standard after having read all the reviews and heard the retailers extolling the virtues of the innovations on you tube. I watched a NAMM video where the senior luthier said that Gibson had been listening to the public and had made the changes in response to their views. Then the critics came out and hated much of what was "new". Gibson have dumped their 2015 customers and returned to more traditional construction and appointments and the advertising blurb seems to say that their customers preferred the older versions anyway. They have reduced the prices and dispensed with the G Force tuners. The price reductions, in the UK, on 2015 models have been enormous and we have watched our guitars massively depreciate in front of our very eyes.

 

I have a Tobacco Sunburst Candy which is really beautiful. I'm happy with the brass nut (I've had a Strat Plus with a metal roller nut for years) and I like the wider neck over my 2001 Les Paul Standard. I am not so lucky as hoross with the set up and tuning and am taking it back on Friday. The intonation is way out (sharp) and the tuning stability is poor. The G Force tuners jam if you try and wind them manually and the guitar goes out of tune very quickly. If this can't be solved I will replace the robots with standard tuners. I understand that guitars are now a small part of Gibson's overall business and massive changes one year and reversal the next makes you wonder if they know what they are doing or even if they care.

 

I won't be buying another Gibson as my 2015, when modified, will be OK for my lifetime. I don't understand why the public took such a poor view of them. Pity that Gibson have no regard for their customers.

 

DrGolf

I suspect a lot of folks will feel that way.

 

Personally, I would NOT base my like or acceptance of the guitar I want to play on other's perceptions.

 

The 2015 model you bought is just as good as the day you bought it. Nothing changed about that when the reviews came out.

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I suspect a lot of folks will feel that way.

 

Personally, I would NOT base my like or acceptance of the guitar I want to play on other's perceptions.

 

The 2015 model you bought is just as good as the day you bought it. Nothing changed about that when the reviews came out.

 

+1! Exactly, does it feel and sound nice to you? If the answer is yes, play it and love it.

 

And about 15 owners watching how the prices drop, If you bought it to play it and actually like the guitar what do you care for their price drop?

 

At least when I buy something I'll normally buy it to keep it, I don't care for resale value.

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I think the big manufacturers hire photographers for their photography skills. They are not guitar players so do not produce pictures of what matters to guitar players. Same thing for the writers in the marketing department. These guys have a pick list of "Good" guitar words, and they string out eloquent descriptions that do not resemble reality. A computer program or a chimp could make up the marketing drivel they write.

 

The best way to choose a new guitar is to sit alone in the sound room of a guitar store and play the guitar. This makes buying a guitar difficult for purchasers in small towns. They have very little choice and must go to the internet or mail order, hoping all the while that they will receive what is advertised.

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At the moment I feel gutted. I bought a 2015 Les Paul Standard after having read all the reviews and heard the retailers extolling the virtues of the innovations on you tube. I watched a NAMM video where the senior luthier said that Gibson had been listening to the public and had made the changes in response to their views. Then the critics came out and hated much of what was "new". Gibson have dumped their 2015 customers and returned to more traditional construction and appointments and the advertising blurb seems to say that their customers preferred the older versions anyway. They have reduced the prices and dispensed with the G Force tuners. The price reductions, in the UK, on 2015 models have been enormous and we have watched our guitars massively depreciate in front of our very eyes.

 

I have a Tobacco Sunburst Candy which is really beautiful. I'm happy with the brass nut (I've had a Strat Plus with a metal roller nut for years) and I like the wider neck over my 2001 Les Paul Standard. I am not so lucky as hoross with the set up and tuning and am taking it back on Friday. The intonation is way out (sharp) and the tuning stability is poor. The G Force tuners jam if you try and wind them manually and the guitar goes out of tune very quickly. If this can't be solved I will replace the robots with standard tuners. I understand that guitars are now a small part of Gibson's overall business and massive changes one year and reversal the next makes you wonder if they know what they are doing or even if they care.

 

I won't be buying another Gibson as my 2015, when modified, will be OK for my lifetime. I don't understand why the public took such a poor view of them. Pity that Gibson have no regard for their customers.

 

DrGolf

 

The public took such a poor view of the 2015s because they were such a deviation from the way LPs have been built for decades. Too many changes all at once and with no choice for a more traditional approach. It's really not a difficult equation to crack. Honestly, if Gibson had done in 2015 what they are going to be doing in 2016 (ie, offering a traditionally built line like we are already seeing... and an as yet unseen modern line with all the stuff they attempted to force on everyone in 2015) they'd have probably had more success. That said... the new (and as yet unreleased) 2016 "modern" line due out later this year will presumably incorporate many of the 2015ish aspects. This new modern line's future success is yet to be determined (whereas the traditionally built 2016s are already selling like gangbusters)... and if 2015's poor sales is any indicator the upcoming 2016 modern line may well have a rocky go of it as well (if nothing else it will be an interesting case study in customer preference... given both options, which line will sell best... I think I know the answer, but we'll see).

 

Anyway, as others have said... if you like your guitar what does it matter? Admittedly the G-Force is giving you fits... so just do what you know needs to be done and junk it and put on some proper manual tuners and end the suffering. You'll be glad you did. That thing was a bad idea from the beginning... sorry, it just was. I must've played 6 or 7 2015s in stores this past year... not a single G-Force worked properly for me... and I determined early on I wanted nothing to do with it. Plus it had/has no chance of keeping up with technology anyway and in a few years will look as ridiculous as 1980s brick-sized cell phone hanging off the back of your headstock. There may well come a day when the technology for robot tuners is good enough (and can be disguised well enough on a headstock so it doesn't look ridiculous)... but the G-Force just isn't it. Gibson jumped the gun on this, dumped a bunch of money in it and tried to jam it down people's throats... all mistakes they paid for (and/or are paying for now).

 

As for Gibson listening to their customers... well, they are certainly being forced to do so now because the 2015s were such sales flop. I'd heard Jim DeCola (the Gibson luthier you referenced earlier) state they were making changes after listening to customers and I always thought that sounded suspicious. A few anecdotal comments by some players about slipping off the fretboard while bending strings seems like a poor excuse to change an otherwise wildly successful and decades old much beloved neck width design. Or what they may have done was ask people who weren't LP owners why they didn't like them... and from that group of people they may well have received comments like, "I wish the neck was wider like an Ibanez" or something similar. But those aren't their customers... those were potential customers they were trying to woo... only problem, in the process of trying to win over new people they alienated their actual real customer base who prefers the traditional neck width. I know it sounds silly that just a few mm more neck width matters... but it does. Necks are very personal to players, especially LP players who all have their preference for 50s or 60s neck profiles and who argue passionately about that preference. And the thickness difference between a 59 profile and a 60 profile can be as little .020" or .030" (showing how sensitive people's hands are to neck differences). What on earth made Gibson think people wouldn't protest an across the board change in the neck? I just don't get it. I can see it as an option (like the 50s vs 60s profile thing)... but across the board? That's the equivalent of them saying, "we're only going to build 60s profile necks from now on"... that would hugely alienate all the 50s neck profile fans. Just an all around bad move by Gibson. Even if you like the 2015 neck you gotta recognize what a bad idea it was to make that a sweeping change.

 

Anyway, I would not listen to any marketing hype when buying an LP. Marketeers speak out of both sides of their mouths all the time... that's their job! In 2012 when Gibson had all their rosewood and ebony confiscated by the feds and had to go to 2 piece laminate fretboards the marketing folks told us they were "stronger" and offered better "sustain", etc, and we were all supposed to believe that 2 piece fretboards were an upgrade. Then as soon as they settled with the feds and got their rosewood back they went right back to 1 piece boards and claimed they were better. It's all hype. Just play the guitars... use your own cognitive skills to decide if any given year's "upgrades" truly are that... decide if you like it... then buy it or don't based on what you think... not what the brochure (or YT) tells you to think.

 

Anyway, sorry you're feeling so down in the dumps about things. But in the end it is only a guitar. If you really like it regardless, fix the problems you're having with it and just get on with enjoying it... or get rid of it and buy something else.

 

As for Gibson having no regard for their customers... well, those of us who didn't like all the radical changes in 2015 felt that way last year... and now feel that the 2016 models are an example of Gibson actually really listening to their customers and therefore actually having regard for their customers' negative reaction to the 2015s... so it cuts both ways.

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The price reductions, in the UK, on 2015 models have been enormous and we have watched our guitars massively depreciate in front of our very eyes.

 

I can relate to that even if I made a substantial saving when I bought my 2015 LP Classic. When you bought your guitar you payed market price for it I assume? And what is market price?

I my view it's whatever someone is willing to pay for a product or service.

So does it suck that you could've spent less and gotten the same? Yes! That totally blows! But the guitar has not changed since you bought it or the price cut. It's still the same guitar as you bought and payed for.

If it felt right then, it should still feel right now. And I assume you didn't buy the guitar for it's reseller value?

 

So, go on, enjoy it and make great music!

 

This new modern line's future success is yet to be determined (whereas the traditionally built 2016s are already selling like gangbusters)... and if 2015's poor sales is any indicator the upcoming 2016 modern line may well have a rocky go of it as well (if nothing else it will be an interesting case study in customer preference... given both options, which line will sell best... I think I know the answer, but we'll see).

 

How do you experience the pricing on the 2016 models?

Here in Sweden it's a significant increase. The LP Studio is now about the same as the old standard price for the 2015 LP Classic (differs about $100)

Could be due to currency...

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