Antique Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookkeeper's Son Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 "Normal" or not, that just looks WRONG. I can see how that would be a serious problem for playability. I'd return it and get something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Yes, this lack of clearance on the first string is typical of many Gibsons. If you like everything else about the guitar, have a new nut put on it with string spacing that suits your preferences. At the same time, you can upgrade the nut material to bone, or at least to tusq or something that looks better than the stock bleached-white nut! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 It looks a little closer than normal to me, but I wouldn't call it "defective". What matters is if it works for you, as a QUALITY guitar only matters if it does good for the player who uses it. Gibsons with neck binding tend to be like that, and the actual frets can end up narrower on the board. The advantage to it is you get a really good feel to the neck because the binding covering the fret ends is smooth on the fingers on the edge of the neck, and when the string happens to slide off, it tends not to catch as much. Compare that to a guitar where you can feel the ends of the frets when you move your hand up and down the neck. If you have a fret all the way to the edge of the baord with not much angle, it may feel sharp and the strings could catch. String spacing also has an effect. You can have the string spacing set where ever in relation on the neck. Notice how on one of your guitars in the pics that the bass string is closer to the one side that the high E on the other. It looks to me that your PRS has MORE space than the average. If you are used to that and it is an advantage to you because you do a lot of wide vibrato on the high E, then it would make sense that you would have to 1) find a Gibby that has a unusually higher angle to the frets 2) recut the bridge and nut to move the strings over or 3)both. Either way, wether the guitar is just one that slipped through and has a problem or if it doesn't suit your technique, there are options. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Either way, wether the guitar is just one that slipped through and has a problem or if it doesn't suit your technique, there are options. Agreed, there are many solutions. Aside from bone, Tusq's options include pre-cut nuts made specifically to fit a Gibson. They'll be wider than necessary, so you can leave as much clearance as you desire & trim the ends accordingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdntac Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 The 339 may have a narrower fretboard compared to your other guitars and therefore the string spacing is tighter in comparison. Sometimes things are just different and you just have to adapt to the feel of a different guitar. But if you were to change something, I wouldn't be looking at the nut. I don't quite understand how a new nut (even if it is slotted slightly farther away from the edge) is going to solve this problem. It may make a very, very slight difference at the first few frets (though not much IMO) but once you get farther down the neck a new nut isn't going to make any difference if the saddle is the same. Think about it.... How is a nut slot in a slightly different spot going to affect the position of the string in relation to the edge of the fretboard at the 10th fret? The string is still going to the same saddle position and it's the saddle that is going to affect positioning along the fretboard more than anything. Message boards often seem to be full of "Get a new nut...that'll solve the problem!" replies. Not sure why..... If it were me, I'd get a new saddle and slot it slightly more towards the centre so that the string is moved away from the edge of the fretboard. But first I'd give yourself some time to get used to the guitar. Adjust your technique a bit. That might be all you need to do. I have two PRS' and a Gibson Byrdland. The Byrdland's fretboard is more narrow than other Gibsons --- and much more narrow than the PRS'. The Byrdland feels different and needs to be played slightly differently too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 But if you were to change something, I wouldn't be looking at the nut. I don't quite understand how a new nut (even if it is slotted slightly farther away from the edge) is going to solve this problem. It may make a very, very slight difference at the first few frets (though not much IMO) but once you get farther down the neck a new nut isn't going to make any difference if the saddle is the same. Think about it.... How is a nut slot in a slightly different spot going to affect the position of the string in relation to the edge of the fretboard at the 10th fret? The string is still going to the same saddle position and it's the saddle that is going to affect positioning along the fretboard more than anything. Message boards often seem to be full of "Get a new nut...that'll solve the problem!" replies. Not sure why..... If it were me, I'd get a new saddle and slot it slightly more towards the centre so that the string is moved away from the edge of the fretboard. My advice to start with a new nut is based on the observation that many guitars coming out of Memphis have nuts which place the first string much too close to the edge of the fretboard. For some reason, this seems to be less of an issue with solidbodies from Nashville. Indeed, the saddle slots are the other piece of the equation, and should be evaluated as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Just checked my 339, and it could benefit from a bit of a string shift towards the bass side at both the nut and the bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyGibson Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Must be a Gibson thing. My Les Paul Trad plus is pretty close to how your 339 looks. I figured it was how it was designed and I just play it differently than my Sherri, which has more space to the edge. It took some getting use too, especialy playing a D chord. But now I understand how it plays and feels. If you're not satisfied with it, does your store offer a 30 day return period? Maybe it's not the right guitar for your style. Or perhaps, just a little more time is needed to get use to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antique Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G McBride Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 My advice would be play it. You will get accustomed to it in a short while. MIne bothered me a little at first but I quickly forgot about it and the issue went away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocketman Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 Yeah I second that advice. My Les Pauls are the same way as my 339. When I got the PRS wide thin neck it actually felt weird because the distance between the strings felt miles apart. I got used to all of them after a while. Give it some time before you do anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vincentw Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 The PRS and Tak do not have neck binding. Gibsons with neck binding have the nibs on the fret ends. This does shorten the amount of actual available fret remaining under the string. This is not a defect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antique Posted November 11, 2011 Author Share Posted November 11, 2011 --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerial Man Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 Agreed, there are many solutions. Aside from bone, Tusq's options include pre-cut nuts made specifically to fit a Gibson. They'll be wider than necessary, so you can leave as much clearance as you desire & trim the ends accordingly. When I tried the pre cut Tusq nuts they were not a good fit for my board. The spacings were wrong. Instead I used a Tusq XL nut blank and made one from scratch in this thread. http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/75105-339-nut-problem/ I the guitar is otherwise good and has a good vibe to it, dont send it back at the risk of getting something worse. Just get the nut sorted! the original nuts tend to be pretty shite anyway, and any guitar you end up with is gonna need some amount of setting up to do, so why not just go all out and make that OK guitar into a really great guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sok66 Posted November 12, 2011 Share Posted November 12, 2011 I've had the same issue with my 2006 LP '59 VOS, and an '09 ES335 '59 RI. On both I just did a new nut myself. Gibson is and has been very hit or miss with their nut and setup work. In far, bot the Les Paul and the 335 needed bridge saddles replaced. Have a qualified luther get it the way you want it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.