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Received my 2017 Firebird NOT HAPPY!!!


norcalpiper

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I decided to FINALLY by a firebird after years of pondering (I'm mostly an SG player).

Received it...completely unset up. I'm not too bad at adjusting, but nothing is fixing this buzz..i guess I'll have to take it in to set up, but DAMN I wish they would have dobe something before it left the bench!! Nothing is worse than looking at a guitar you cant play!!!

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Don't feel bad. Mine got here 2 days ago and was not set up either. If it had been, it would not have been to my liking either. I enjoy making them play better and bringing them around. I had buzzing too but with new strings, it is exaggerated quite a bit on the buzz. Just take your time. You can do it!!

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I got two new Gibsons last week and both had issues, not just set ups. My SG CM Black has a nut hanging off the side of the neck by a few millimeters and my Flying V has a major grounding issue. Be glad it is only a set up. On the other hand, contact Gibson and let them know your thoughts and leave a review with the store you bought it at. The only way that we as consumers can get a change made is to be heard.

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I got two new Gibsons last week and both had issues, not just set ups. My SG CM Black has a nut hanging off the side of the neck by a few millimeters and my Flying V has a major grounding issue. Be glad it is only a set up. On the other hand, contact Gibson and let them know your thoughts and leave a review with the store you bought it at. The only way that we as consumers can get a change made is to be heard.

 

People have complained for decades, and it has done nothing. If a guitar is that bad, all you can do to get them to hear is to return it. That's all they listen to.

 

rct

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People have complained for decades, and it has done nothing. If a guitar is that bad, all you can do to get them to hear is to return it. That's all they listen to.

 

rct

 

I have Gibson doing warranty work on them. Hopefully I will have them back next week. I suspect they listen to that too since they are paying for the fixes.

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Hopefully you'll get a good one.

On my 2014 I had to enlarge the nut slots a little bit for the 10s that I use, go over the fret ends with some fine steel wool as they were a bit on the sharp side and a truss rod adjustment or two.

Once I did that it's just perfect.

This one will not be for sale.

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My 2017 Gibson Explorer "sweats" in the sun.

I left it two minutes in the warm sun (16°C). Then, I came back and found it covered by a haze, like the moisture that appears on a window, when lots of people are in the inside of the room, and it's damn cold in the outside.

 

The answer? "they're fingerprints. Polish the guitar with a polish, or bring the guitar to a luthier with a polishing machine".

To me, it's more like wet woods, drying in the warm weather.

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OK....this time the nut was filed too low. Wrf is wrong with Gibson??? My whole life with Gibson has been a crap shoot if I had to order online. This isnt the first time I've had to send Gibson's back more than once.

I actually think this may fall under warranty, so I may just do that instead of a 3rd replacement which will probably not be good also...

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I can understand receiving a new guitar that needs to be set up. I believe that all guitars, new and old, need to be set up for the specific player anyway. I have had brand new guitars that seemed to have a decent default set up (still not to my liking, but that is expected) and some that seemed "raw" from a set up perspective. I think that this should be expected if you are getting a guitar factory direct (untouched by a dealer's tech).

 

This business about having a nut that has been filed too low from the factory is not acceptable. I would have someone check the overall setup including neck relief and bridge height before sending it back with the assumption that the nut slots are too low. (I'm not saying that you didn't.) It should always be the case that they are too high when new so that you can adjust them down. If the nut slots are indeed too low from the factory, that is absolutely a warranty issue, in my opinion. I once had a new guitar with a b-string slot so low that the string sat directly on the first fret (not Gibson). How did that pass quality control? I just made a new nut for it myself, but this should never have to be done for a new guitar.

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It could be as simple as adding a small amount of neck relief with a small relaxation of the truss rod.

I had to do that on my Lucille to get the buzz out of the B string on the second and third frets.

I did have to enlarge the nut slots on my Firebird when I went up to 10s but that only took a few swipes with a welding tip file assortment.

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Bad news on #2. GC called me in today and have determined a slight tongue hump, so despite the new bone bridge, the E&A cant be set up without major fret work. Getting sent back tomorrow and hopefully 3rd time is the charm....

 

That stinks! I feel for you. Hopefully #3 is a hit.

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I decided to FINALLY by a firebird after years of pondering (I'm mostly an SG player).

Received it...completely unset up. I'm not too bad at adjusting, but nothing is fixing this buzz..i guess I'll have to take it in to set up, but DAMN I wish they would have dobe something before it left the bench!! Nothing is worse than looking at a guitar you cant play!!!

I bleed for you. I had a buzz in my new Hummingbird. They had a hard time getting it out so I just accepted another Hummingbird. It was set up while I waited so I could be sure there was no buzz. I am a happy camper.

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I decided to FINALLY by a firebird after years of pondering (I'm mostly an SG player).

Received it...completely unset up. I'm not too bad at adjusting, but nothing is fixing this buzz..i guess I'll have to take it in to set up, but DAMN I wish they would have dobe something before it left the bench!! Nothing is worse than looking at a guitar you cant play!!!

I bleed for you. I had a buzz in my new Hummingbird. They had a hard time getting it out so I just accepted another Hummingbird. It was set up while I waited so I could be sure there was no buzz. I am a happy camper.

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Unbelievable.....the same problem as #2. E-A cut too low. Extreme buzzing. The luthier is going to call Gibson and try to have a replacement sent from the factory. If that doesnt work, this order is cancelled and I probably will never have anything to do with a firebird.

Off the point, I was a little thrown by comment made by a couple of guys who were standing near the workbench. When they heard I'd gotten this guitar from Zzounds, these problems all seemed to make sense as they said Zzounds sold leftovers, sloppies, and other stuff bigger retailers wouldnt touch. WTF!?!?! Please tell me thats just stupid rumor!

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Unbelievable.....the same problem as #2. E-A cut too low. Extreme buzzing. The luthier is going to call Gibson and try to have a replacement sent from the factory. If that doesnt work, this order is cancelled and I probably will never have anything to do with a firebird.

Off the point, I was a little thrown by comment made by a couple of guys who were standing near the workbench. When they heard I'd gotten this guitar from Zzounds, these problems all seemed to make sense as they said Zzounds sold leftovers, sloppies, and other stuff bigger retailers wouldnt touch. WTF!?!?! Please tell me thats just stupid rumor!

 

This comes up occasionally, substitute MF, Sam Ash, whomever.

 

Just picture a company, Gibson, taking the crappy guitars that nobody wants and making sure they all get on that pallet over there. Yeah, that one, I know, that's where the really shitty ones go.

 

Then picture a company, AMS or Zzounds, calling up Gibson and placing their order for all the shitty guitars on that one pallet over there where you keep them. Yeah, them! Right! We sold out of all the other shitty guitars so we want more!

 

Really. Think about it.

 

Bad luck. Don't buy a Gibson, that's all you can do and that's the only message they are capable of receiving.

 

rct

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Sorry to hear your having such bad luck with your firebird(s). Maybe they will get it right this time. I've never ordered from Zzounds before but I believe they are owned by AMS and to rct's point, seems unlikely they would sell cast offs. They do sell scratch and dents but at a much lower price and they are advertised as such. Sounds like a bad batch of Monday morning guitars!!

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FWIW, although I have never ordered a guitar from zZounds, I have ordered three (not Gibson) in past years from AMS and I never had an issue. I know some believe that they are the same company. I do not know for sure. Now, I have ordered new Gibson guitars from Sweetwater and I have never had any issues with them. Always a GREAT experience for me with Sweetwater. Just my $0.02.

 

It also makes me wonder if the seller is performing their own setup on these guitars and just happens to be causing the issue, but from a seemingly volume internet dealer like zZounds, that's hard to believe but I wouldn't rule it out 100%.

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