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Had to Sharpen the new Axe


Dadgad1046

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My Close out special 2018 SG Standard arrived today. I can confirm it smells like Vanilla! I can also confirm the Gibson setup was to Gibson specs... wacky. Intonation was way off. Look at the saddles.. The bridge pickup was so high it it was almost touching the strings.

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Woohoo! Happy NGD! :)Sure is purty! Ya gotta love that smell msp_razz.gif

 

 

Yeah, the bridges and tail stops do come setup a little high sometimes. This tail is up just enough so the strings clear the back of the bridge. But believe or not, the action is set low.

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The strings were dragging on the bridge. I have been told that kills sustain and of course marks the bridge. I got that adjusted out. I had to leave the action on the High E side higher than I setup my Chinese Guitars. It wanted to Fret out on the B and E on the last few Frets.Gibson claims to Plek them all now and the neck checks out with the straight edge. The Bridge pickup was so high I could not believe it left Gibson that way. I thought perhaps somebody had opened it and messed with it. But I cut the "security" tape so it was born that way.

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The strings were dragging on the bridge. I have been told that kills sustain and of course marks the bridge. I got that adjusted out. I had to leave the action on the High E side higher than I setup my Chinese Guitars. It wanted to Fret out on the B and E on the last few Frets.Gibson claims to Plek them all now and the neck checks out with the straight edge. The Bridge pickup was so high I could not believe it left Gibson that way. I thought perhaps somebody had opened it and messed with it. But I cut the "security" tape so it was born that way.

 

Congrats again on the beautiful SG! Yeah, it is not the most pleasant thing to see a new Gibson guitar arrive with things like you have going on, but they are simple to work out and when you adjust them to your liking, you won't have to worry about these things again that much. I occasionally check my neck straightness as the weather in my region changes from time to time to make sure it is set up to my liking. All in all, all my Gibsons after they are set up the way I like don't give me too many fits. Gibson makes good guitars, and now you have one!

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I was looking through the paper work that comes with it. I noticed the "check list" showed it went though quality on 8/9/17. Its a 2018 close out SG sold in early Feb. 2019. It sure has been sitting in a box and warehouse long enough. That throws a lot on the side of Gibson doing away with "year models". I wonder if they rotate out inventory or just pile on the stack and good luck to whats in the back? This one had to have been built when the 2018 line was announced at Summer Namm. I guess the finish is cured now...I'm ok with all that but it makes you wonder what goes on at the production and inventory control level.

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I was looking through the paper work that comes with it. I noticed the "check list" showed it went though quality on 8/9/17. Its a 2018 close out SG sold in early Feb. 2019. It sure has been sitting in a box and warehouse long enough. That throws a lot on the side of Gibson doing away with "year models". I wonder if they rotate out inventory or just pile on the stack and good luck to whats in the back? This one had to have been built when the 2018 line was announced at Summer Namm. I guess the finish is cured now...I'm ok with all that but it makes you wonder what goes on at the production and inventory control level.

 

Yeah, I understand what you're saying. That's why if I find something I unacceptable about the guitar, I turn it in for another until I can hopefully find one that is right. But if the only things wrong are things that can be easily adjusted, no issues with me. I don't like (big or obvious) finish imperfections (chips and scratches), improperly cut nuts, sharp fret ends, and functional defects. Those things I listed constitute a return/exchange.

 

I bought a total of 3 new guitars in my life from GC. A LP Custom, LP Classic, and Fender Telecaster. The LP Custom was OK aside from having to go into the control cavity and resolder the neck pickup's ground that was broken off the pot... Luckily I am proficient with soldering electronics... The 2018 Classic I first got was a goldtop that had a gouge underneath the pickguard - exchanged this. It also had a nut that was not slotted correctly as the G string was "plinking" every time I bend a note... I did receive a more acceptable one thankfully. The Telecaster I bought was real nice, except that behind the body I noticed a huge ding in the back that actually was down to the bare wood. Exchanged it and got another one. When you spend a lot of money on a guitar, it better be acceptable to your standards, or you pass on the guitar and find something else.

Additionally, all 3 of those guitars were set up like crap. On the Custom, all the saddles on the TOM bridge were in a straight line all centered on their respective adjustment screws. Hey, at least they were slotted... And this is a Custom I spent over $5.5k for! The truss rod was not applying the right amount of tension to keep the neck straightened out - a lot of relief in that neck if I recall correctly. The Classic was set up a little bit better, but I still had to do some work to get things in order. At least both guitars set up beautifully, but good thing I know what I'm doing here and have the right tools to fix my expensive aZZ guitars.

 

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That one was obviously sitting in someone's warehouse for a long time plus shipping through winter cold can wreak havoc on necks.

 

Let it acclimate to you environment for at least 24 hours then look at the neck as to relief etc. The bridge saddles are laughable in your photo - like someone just set them to a pattern without any regard to intonation.

 

As mentioned none of that is problematic and can easily be adjusted to your liking.

 

But it has a sweet looking finish and once you get it set up I'm sure it will sound great as well.

 

Congrats and enjoy that SG [thumbup]

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Welcome to the world of setting up your new guitar. They never show up like I prefer. Don't worry though, you will get it to your liking!!

 

I'm ok with a guy wanting to pay a highly skilled Tech to do their work. I have two problems.. I'm too cheap to pay somebody and I think I should know how like it or not. Good thing I like it. I went though a self taught course of fixing distressed Guitars off Craigs list and a major retailers "dump" outlet. Best thing I did was buy crap Guitars and bring them back.

I must say I bought a set neck SG clone made by Oscar Schmidt that arrived setup nearly perfect out of the box. Nice fit and finish as well. Its a very good guitar for $175.00 new. Its like a $400.00 Epiphone.

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I'm ok with a guy wanting to pay a highly skilled Tech to do their work. I have two problems.. I'm too cheap to pay somebody and I think I should know how like it or not. Good thing I like it. I went though a self taught course of fixing distressed Guitars off Craigs list and a major retailers "dump" outlet. Best thing I did was buy crap Guitars and bring them back.

I must say I bought a set neck SG clone made by Oscar Schmidt that arrived setup nearly perfect out of the box. Nice fit and finish as well. Its a very good guitar for $175.00 new. Its like a $400.00 Epiphone.

Yes I do the same thing man. Have been doing it for years and I have yet to pay someone to set up my guitar. No one can tell how I like the feel of one but me. It is fun to do sometimes too. But sometimes no matter what you do one can only be set up as good as the guitar will allow. So I ditch those and go on to the next one.

 

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