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2012 sg standard, high and low E slipping off fingerboard


headies

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Hi all first post and hoping to get some real advice from SG players.

 

I bought this guitar through my local dealer in July of 2012 and they had to have an SG shipped to them from another store. I received the guitar and played it until about December when I had just about had enough of the high and low E strings pulling off the fretboard with very little effort... producing a very noticable and unwanted 'plink' sound when the string 'catches' the nib of the binding (where it meets the fretwire). This happened more the further you get to the nut. Fed up, I took it back to my dealer and they informed me they successfully got gibson to take the guitar back and it was repaired for free under warranty.

 

I recently just got my guitar back (3 months later..) and the problem is reduced but still occurring. The repair slip said that, quote, "level/dress frets to eliminate issues with strings." Doing any kind of open pull-off (pulling off to the open "e" note) on the high E is next to impossible without getting a very noticeable plink. Doing any kind of fast pull-offs on the 1st string around frets 3 through 1 is simply not possible. I do not believe this to be a technique issue, attempting to do a simple pull-off from fret 1 to the open nut is simply not possible without the plink (ANY speed). For my style this is simply unacceptable for me .

 

The guitar is beautiful and sounds amazing but I would love some advice here. I plan on going back to my dealer but I wanted to see if anyone could take a look and maybe see if it could be a nut issue, all the info and research ive done points to that conclusion (funny how a simple google search brings up many posts with people having the same problem as me..)

 

thank you very much for your time

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Mine plinks when I play Spirit of Radio (pull off on the 2nd fret high E) unless I'm very careful and keep a very light touch. I know that it's possible for me to play without plinking as long as I'm careful, but I still can't really do it on my SG. I learned the song years ago on a normal-fretted guitar (that binding business is pretty but dumb) and my fingers just learned to pull further than the SG will tolerate.

 

It's the only time I run into the plinking noise, and because I'm aware of it, I am mindful to avoid pulling too far in other situations. I can get by on everything else I play, but that Rush riff is a tough one to relearn and I still plink on it.

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I've heard the technique argument before, but why can I play any other guitar and not recreate this effect?

 

I admit it's the first Gibson I've owned, but I spent a lot of money and the guitar does not play the way I want it to.. Shouldn't I be able to perform a simple pull off from 1 to open without a loud 'PLINK' ? It is simply IMPOSSIBLE to pull off any sort of lick like that with any sort of articulation on the open note.

 

thank you for your continued replies.

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I'd also like to mention the string gets caught in a very noticeable groove between the nib and fret wire on fret 2 (producing the 'plink'). It's very small and the string snaps back as soon as its released but yeah..

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The Nut, is the first thing I replace, even before I leave my dealer's, with

any new Gibson (especially)! It gets a bone nut, as part of my "deal," with

them. They now just do that, automatically, for me. Solves most if not all

of any tuning or "sustain" issues, I've ever encountered. Bad "tuners/machine

heads," are possible, but very rare!! Strings slipping off the fingerboard, CAN

be a "nut" problem, also...maybe bridge string saddles groove spacing, as well.

Or, it can be a "technique," issue...which, of course, all of the above won't

correct. But, the nut, and string saddle spacing, are good places to start...

IMHO, as always.

 

CB

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  • 5 months later...

It must be a factory fault - either poor design, in which case they should have changed it by now, or poor build/quality control. I have been playing guitar for almost 50 years (I started very young!), have played numerous makes and models including Fender, Yamaha, Burns, Hofner, Gibson (335 and Flying V), but I have never encountered this problem until I bought my SG. It certainly is not a 'playing technique' problem. A friend, another experienced guitarist, tried it recently and said after about 10 seconds, with no prompting from me, "I don't like the way the E string slips off". I though mine must be a rogue, but judging by the comments on here it seems to be a common problem.

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I agree with everyone. It's part technique, because a pulloff at the first fret is a pretty hard pull, I could get any guitar to fret out if I wanted to. And the nut could be a little tighter.

 

I'll raise you the bridge location. It isn't all that unusual for the bridge to be incorrectly placed by only a very little bit, causing the skinny string to slip off, Fedner did it for decades, I have a fine example of it in my #1 Telecaster.

 

rct

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I had EXACTLY the same problem with an LP Std PP 2012 TA. I had bought it in July, 2012, returned it a week later and got me another one. They offered me a repair of that simply unplayable guitar, but that would have costed a lot of fret height, and they would have grooved a new nut with a smaller spacing despite of the fret work. Since I have very wide fingers, I rejected this kind of repair attempt. I think Gibson had a problem to set the milling machine correctly that routs the seats for the fretboard bindings.

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I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one with this problem. I have a 2011 Gibson SG Standard and experienced the same thing initially, i.e. the high E String slipping off the fret board during a pull off on the 2nd and 3rd frets.

I had the original nut replaced with a bone nut (like Charlie Brown mentioned) slotted by the guitar tech at Alto's Music in Wappinger Falls, NY and that did the trick. I also notice for some strange reason the since my

headstock was snapped and repaired, my SG plays better than ever. Go figure that.

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I haven't seen this problem with an SG (although I haven't played an unbound SG neck since the 70s) but I did see it with several Taylors. And not just the lower end guitars. I saw this up through the 714. The problem was that the fingerboard edges were rounded over considerably. It caused the strings to slide right over them, both high & low E strings just like you're experiencing. For all the great reviews of these instruments I was stunned that no one ever mentioned it. After trying to play several for a few minutes each I knew they weren't for me. I have no idea how anyone can play them.

 

Since the SG has a set neck you don't have the option of swapping the neck out for a custom version. You either have to modify your guitar - probably with a custom cut nut & a bridge with narrower spacings (not sure if that's even possible) - or replace the entire guitar. Look for an SG with a bound fingerboard, I think it will have more material at the edge for the E strings. I like the SG but if it causes more aggravation than pleasure there's no point in keeping it.

 

Good Luck

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It looks like - from the picture - that the string spacing is maybe a little too wide at the nut for the particular cut of your neck and fretboard. If the strings are pulling off the edge at the first few frets, you could have a new nut installed with a slightly narrower string spacing. That would help.

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I haven't seen this problem with an SG (although I haven't played an unbound SG neck since the 70s) but I did see it with several Taylors. And not just the lower end guitars. I saw this up through the 714. The problem was that the fingerboard edges were rounded over considerably. It caused the strings to slide right over them, both high & low E strings just like you're experiencing. For all the great reviews of these instruments I was stunned that no one ever mentioned it. After trying to play several for a few minutes each I knew they weren't for me. I have no idea how anyone can play them.

 

Since the SG has a set neck you don't have the option of swapping the neck out for a custom version. You either have to modify your guitar - probably with a custom cut nut & a bridge with narrower spacings (not sure if that's even possible) - or replace the entire guitar. Look for an SG with a bound fingerboard, I think it will have more material at the edge for the E strings. I like the SG but if it causes more aggravation than pleasure there's no point in keeping it.

 

Good Luck

Sadly the exact opposite is right. The usable fretboard width is narrowed by bindings with nibs, especially when poorly crafted.

Studio or Tribute models, or Epiphone guitars without nibs can be more comfortable to play. The faulty Les Paul I returned was so extreme that a soft downstroke blew the E1st from the 2nd or 3rd fret even when I bent it towards the fretboard center a bit. Playing open D and open G chords was possible with upstrokes only - on a EUR 2300 instrument.

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I get this now and then on my 2013 LP Studio.

 

I had put it down to light strings, a very clean and new (ie slippery) fret board and me being a bit rubbish but, from the numbers on the forum, it looks like it could be the guitar.

 

Like others on the board I've never found it with my previous instruments.

 

 

Regards

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a '61 RI and the high E exhibits the same behavior in the first 3 frets area. I have learned to adjust my technique, but I am planning on a bone nut replacement and will be asking my luthier to bring the string in a small amount from the edge.

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  • 1 month later...

I just bought a used 2007 SG Standard in November 2013. I've noticed the same problem with the high and low E strings slipping off the edge of the frets. Curious, I had an SG Special in the 1960's and never had such a problem. I suppose I could have a new nut installed with tighter string spacing; just hate to do it! (sigh)

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  • 1 month later...

I have experienced this issue when I was looking for a LP. I tried 10 or so different guitars from 800 to 3800 at my local Gibson dealer both lp's and sg's. All the LPs I tried had this issue ( not the studios) and most of the sgs did as well other than a lower end sg. I ended up getting a 76 LP pro from a buddy. It does not have this problem.

 

now I have the itch for an sg but am thinking used again for the same reason. I don't live close enough to a lgs anymore to sit and dink around with 10 or 12 guitars to find one that is not defective. I could go with one without binding but I like my gibsons bound. I have fenders that are free of binding for that but the nibs just feel a little different in a good way on the gibsons. that sticky string issue is bs. They need to tighten up on the QC. The lgs I was at had 9s on every guitar there and I don't think that helped any. 11s for me usually. I could have been playing the bottom of the barrel but this was only a few months ago and that's a lot of guitars with the same defect.

 

I hear super glue works but who wants to super glue and sand brand new Gibson?

 

just my 2cents. Good luck and happy picking.

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  • 4 months later...

I bought a used 2007 Gibson SG Standard in December 2013 and I've also experienced the high E and low E strings slipping off the frets. I know it happens on both strings on the third fret; I haven't taken notes to see if it occurs elsewhere. However, it's very annoying. I thought I was buying a quality instrument and I'm very disappointed with it. It's clear that the two E strings are too close to the ends of the fretwire. It appears that I can replace the nut with modified string spacing and that might fix the problem, but I wonder if having the strings closer together will hamper my playing.

 

I had a Gibson SG Special in the 1960's (I beat myself up for having sold it) and never had such problems. I can't figure out why guitars needfingerboard binding. It seems they just cause problems by narrowing the usable width of the fingerboard.

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