Macronaut Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 I am in the market for a new LP, leaning towards a standard but still looking at classics and trads. My main focus has been on the 2017 models. I got a chance to play a 2017 std in Blueberry burst... Right away I notice that the action was very high, even at the nut, I have never seen any Gibson or even an Epi this out of whack. Then I noticed some fairly bad black spots in the grain of the maple top between the pups (I guessing someone might have hoped that they wouldn't be so noticeable where they were located) which might not be a big deal to someone....maybe. But, even where the color was suppose to lighter near the center, it was virtually nonexistent, leaving nothing but clear coat...it just did not look right at all. I inspected the fret board closely and found a "very" poor job of scraping/filing of the binding to the frets and board (nicks, gouges, inconsistent edge angles, and unsmoothed edges). There was also glue or finish along the edges of the rosewood where the binding meets. It was not overspray, but looked more like what you might see on a glue joint that had not been cleaned up and was in more than a few places along the fret board. There also seems to be some kind of residue left on the fret board near the body. the condition of the fret board was completely unacceptable. There was also what looked like smudge on the top neck binding which appeared to be from a dirty hand before the final clear coat. Where the neck binding meets the binding on the body didn't look proper either. There was a small gap and just didn't match up very well. The finish on the back of the headstock (apparently way to thick) made it nearly impossible to see the "Made in USA" unless you got the light to reflect just the right way, even then it was very difficult to make out all of the letters....much the same for the SN, though not as bad. I am having a hard time with how bad the workmanship seems to be, and not with just one or two minor things but a handful of in your face stuff and the fact that QC let it ship makes it even worse. Needless to say that this example of the 2017 std. really took the wind out of my sails, left me very disappointed, and even embarrassed for Gibson, especially at close to three grand or even more for the HP. I thought Gibson had been getting their act together I will not write them off from one example...but still.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zentar Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 Was this a GC guitar you demo'd? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macronaut Posted November 18, 2016 Author Share Posted November 18, 2016 Was this a GC guitar you demo'd? No, it was SA. Knowing some of the staff there, I guess I shouldn't be surprised they missed all this stuff. If they use this one for a demo, they certainly won't be selling any of this model. They didn't even seem interested in trying to find out what I was talking about. If I were them, that particular guitar would have been sent back as soon as it got there. It was really bad. The Trads and Classics I played had no such issues. I truly hope this is not an indication of what's to come, or Gibson USA will be history in short order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eracer_Team Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 I'm still not sure how GC or SA are responsible for finishing issues. Like excessive glue , not scrapped binding or spots on wood Although without seeing it. It could be just the tree grew and it's grain High action. That can't be setup at time of purchase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Posted November 18, 2016 Share Posted November 18, 2016 GC are responsible because they didn't return. That said.... What is this obsession with the idea that thee are good and bad years? Simply not the case, only good and bad individual guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macronaut Posted November 18, 2016 Author Share Posted November 18, 2016 I'm still not sure how GC or SALIMM2@TD.COM are responsible for finishing issues. Like excessive glue , not scrapped binding or spots on wood Although without seeing it. It could be just the tree grew and it's grain High action. That can't be setup at time of purchase Any dealer should have noticed all of these defects and promptly returned it to Gibson. This particular guitar should have never left the factory even if this was a lower end Gibson. Of course the action can be lowered at the time of set up, though the amount of work and time to do so should not need to be so excessive as to what it would take to "fix" this one. It would take more than the usual basic tweaks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macronaut Posted November 18, 2016 Author Share Posted November 18, 2016 GC are responsible because they didn't return. That said.... What is this obsession with the idea that thee are good and bad years? Simply not the case, only good and bad individual guitars. Right, they should have sent it back. I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination but, while researching and shopping, there seems to be some consensus that a few years ago, Gibson's quality was "generally" not up to their well known standards or inconsistent and seemed to be addressing this to some extent in 2016. I think we can all agree that no two guitars are exactly the same, even though I believe that we all expect a certain level of consistency in quality especially when forking out big chunks of cash. Something like changes in management or trying to reduce cost (for example) can affect the general quality or services of any company or product. If something this were the case, it could make it appear to be a bad year, similar to production issues with products like cars. I do not know if this is the case or not. I do know that I run across a quite a lot of 2014 LP, some of which are still new (never owned) at below the average going rate. This isn't anything conclusive, though it does seem to lend credence to what I hear about 2014 in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twang Gang Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 This is about the 3rd thread I've read about the Blueberry Burst guitars and they all had quality issues. The color shouldn't make any difference, but similar complaints about all of them - fretwork, extra glue, finish in general. Just sayin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macronaut Posted November 21, 2016 Author Share Posted November 21, 2016 This is about the 3rd thread I've read about the Blueberry Burst guitars and they all had quality issues. The color shouldn't make any difference, but similar complaints about all of them - fretwork, extra glue, finish in general. Just sayin. I was hoping that my experience was simply an isolated incident, though with you post, this just may not be the case. I have been waiting for the 2017 std HP in Bourbon burst but, ran across what seems to be a great deal on a Custom Shop LE standard I may just go ahead and jump on in light of what is starting to like a probable disappointment in the 2017 Standard HP, if the non HP is any indication. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
american cheez Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 get a 2014, those were excellent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHenry Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 get a 2014, those were excellent! I have to agree with you on that one, I have a 2014 Traditional, I deliberately went looking for a 2014 because of the pickups. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basketcase Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 GC are responsible because they didn't return. That said.... What is this obsession with the idea that thee are good and bad years? Simply not the case, only good and bad individual guitars. This Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ess Posted November 24, 2016 Share Posted November 24, 2016 I have to agree with you on that one, I have a 2014 Traditional, I deliberately went looking for a 2014 because of the pickups. Ian +1 I have 3 2014 LPs and I think that is my fav year for Gibsons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MississippiBlue Posted November 25, 2016 Share Posted November 25, 2016 Another vote for the 2014 Traditional. Mine is in Heritage Cherry Sunburst. Awesome pickups and she weighs in at just over 10 pounds. Absolute Tone Monster. Regards, MississippiBlue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omni43 Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 Take it back to the store, get a different one, or forget that guitar and look for something else. Don't keep a guitar you don't like. quote name='Macronaut' timestamp='1479429934' post='1812987'] I am in the market for a new LP, leaning towards a standard but still looking at classics and trads. My main focus has been on the 2017 models. I got a chance to play a 2017 std in Blueberry burst... Right away I notice that the action was very high, even at the nut, I have never seen any Gibson or even an Epi this out of whack. Then I noticed some fairly bad black spots in the grain of the maple top between the pups (I guessing someone might have hoped that they wouldn't be so noticeable where they were located) which might not be a big deal to someone....maybe. But, even where the color was suppose to lighter near the center, it was virtually nonexistent, leaving nothing but clear coat...it just did not look right at all. I inspected the fret board closely and found a "very" poor job of scraping/filing of the binding to the frets and board (nicks, gouges, inconsistent edge angles, and unsmoothed edges). There was also glue or finish along the edges of the rosewood where the binding meets. It was not overspray, but looked more like what you might see on a glue joint that had not been cleaned up and was in more than a few places along the fret board. There also seems to be some kind of residue left on the fret board near the body. the condition of the fret board was completely unacceptable. There was also what looked like smudge on the top neck binding which appeared to be from a dirty hand before the final clear coat. Where the neck binding meets the binding on the body didn't look proper either. There was a small gap and just didn't match up very well. The finish on the back of the headstock (apparently way to thick) made it nearly impossible to see the "Made in USA" unless you got the light to reflect just the right way, even then it was very difficult to make out all of the letters....much the same for the SN, though not as bad. I am having a hard time with how bad the workmanship seems to be, and not with just one or two minor things but a handful of in your face stuff and the fact that QC let it ship makes it even worse. Needless to say that this example of the 2017 std. really took the wind out of my sails, left me very disappointed, and even embarrassed for Gibson, especially at close to three grand or even more for the HP. I thought Gibson had been getting their act together I will not write them off from one example...but still.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megafrog Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 Gibson quality is so hit and miss right now. I am getting two 2016s worked on for warranty stuff due to defects. Hopefully my new Les Paul Trad being delivered next week will be decent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 Well, some do seem to get out, when they never should have. The fact that seemingly everyone dropped the ball, all along the way, on the LP you're describing, is puzzling! ??? I was at my dealer's in Wichita, today, picking up one of my Ric 12-strings, from having it's annual maintenance, and while I was there I naturally had to check out the stock. Everything looked great, except (1) 2017 SG Special HP. The beveling was the correct depth and width, and the horn tapering was what it should have been for that model...EXCEPT the upper horn had almost a "paddle" type point! :unsure: :o The lower bout horn was fine! I just stared at it, in utter disbelief! I couldn't believe it had even made it to the finishing department, with that blatant of an obvious carving error! I was like the machine, and/or finish carver, stopped the horn beveling, on front an back, then forgot to taper the end, giving it a "paddle" like appearance! So, the finish sander, painter, assembly person(s) and the final QC person had to have completely ignored the glaring error. I'd never seen anything like it! The fact that my normally very careful dealer, had it out on the sales floor, was VERY unusual, for them! So, it seems everyone dropped the ball, on that one?!! When I told the guys about it, they just laughed, and said "Woops!" And, immediately pulled it off the sales floor. So, I guess, sometimes even the best, most conscientious, folks just miss things! But, for that SG to get clear out of the factory, like that, is almost breathtaking. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allenjason95 Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 I think a lot of "quality issues" are subjective. Some people want a guitar to be 1000 percent perfect and want them more for show pieces and even the slightest imperfection is a "quality issue" to them. Other people are more concerned with how the guitar plays and realize it's going to develop imperfections over time anyway. I've seen threads on other forums where guys ask "should I send it back" and they show pics of the "flaws" and a lot of the time to me it just seems like they're being overly anal. Obviously if you're spending thousands on a guitar you should be happy with your purchase but some peopIe want the impossible. I wonder if the type of person attracted to this "Blueberry Burst" (I think it's hideous personally) are more collector types instead of players and are more ......picky.....than the average Les Paul shopper? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allenjason95 Posted March 18, 2017 Share Posted March 18, 2017 Also...I see people constantly complaining about how much Gibsons cost. I agree...new Gibsons are way overpriced. What I don't get is why with 60 years or so of used LP out there to choose from anyone would pay the prices Gibson is asking? I buy almost all my guitars used. I play them so I don't care if they've got a few dings on them. I laugh when I see stuff like Gibson selling a RI of a 74 Custom for MORE than a genuine 74 Custom. Why constantly complain about the prices Gibson charges when you could buy a like new used LP for much less? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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