Tega.tm

I know, it’s just one of those things where you want the best but never seem to get it for various reasons 🤷‍♂️.. it was a longtime dream to own this and as a bit of a gift after a cancer scare and major surgery, my wife took me on my birthday to purchase it.. I don’t really know what to say..

I had done that as soon as I got it home.. but obviously being in the UK it is through the dealership who have sent it in house both are Gibson authorised.. so I’m in a no win situation unfortunately. Thus the reason for the rant earlier..

I think I only had 14days to return and as I’ve been recovering from major surgery I’ve not really been in a position to deal with it properly. i could fix it myself but at 2months in and price point I thought it best left to Gibson as it’s warranty. But never mind.. from what’s been said there’s no warranty cover outside of USA. I will not be spending a penny more in that dealership for talking to and treating me like I’m stupid..

I’m now the proud owner of a $5499 custom Les Paul that has.010 relief on low E and .003 action on high e… that doesn’t play across the neck without action being raised to well above 6/64 at the twelfth fret… and won’t tune or intonate properly.. I have been told it’s normal… I won’t even go into being blamed for the issues with finish and the fact I actually touched the guitar…. I didn’t know I was not supposed to not take it out it’s case or put it back to factory setup.. obviously after my 20’odd years of playing/ setup and building my own Les Paul copy as a lockdown project.. i now have realised i am obviously stupid and have no knowledge about guitars whatsoever. I did think it strange that my other guitars tuning and intonation being bang on to hear after working on them.. and obviously now know that having sorted out the 6 other guitars I own to sound right and many others in the past both acoustic and electric with intonation issues and high frets etc.. that they are not normal as normal is not being able to tune or intonate across the whole neck 🤦‍♂️.. I will now go and correct my stupidity of making them sound in tune and pleasing to the ear… This will be the best looking classical guitar I have ever owned… I wasn’t in the market for another high action machine but now I have it I can sound just like my toddler and jam till the cows come home🤘🏼 This is an ongoing issue through uk dealership with in-house workshop, both authorised by Gibson. Only 2 months since bought new I mean no offence to anyone so please don’t take it that way.. and I have had it made clear both from Gibson customer service and the dealership that asking to resolve this issue is not happening through warranty and also because all the great’s have been playing them for ever that I’m obviously not doing it right or allowed to question any issue’s because the quality is good enough for Clapton, Hendrix etc. i was also referred to Jim De Cola’s video tour of the factory to prove my lack of knowledge and appreciation for Gibson guitars and the hard work that goes into building them… (which believe me i am well aware of the fact I have been waiting 20’odd to pluck up the nerve to actually buy one without fear of being that guy with all the gear and no idea) obviously I must be the kind of guy that just randomly bought a $5499 guitar of some brand I’d never heard of just for a something to do… not sure how other people buy things.. but being a guitar player I always coveted the Gibson line up and being in government compliance for work my choices are usually well researched but what do I know… Thoughts welcome.

Yeah, I get to the same thought process as you after a week or so 🤦‍♂️😂

I nearly gave up guitar after watching this guy play years ago, he even built his own guitars, look at some of his other videos for some crazy guitars he’s built 🤯

Thanks for commenting, yes this is what I’m trying to get to and hopefully when it’s inspected they will see the issue and replace it with one I can actually play and tune without issues.. I’m just concerned that if the shop doesn’t explain the issue properly then the assessment person won’t look at it properly and say it’s fine.. is that how it works? As I have not had to return under warranty before so I am unsure how they go about the assessment.

Let’s see if this works: https://photos.app.goo.gl/L3n4wACVUyMYQrKy8

I’m ok with it ageing but with all the other issues it has like, flat spot on the neck with a thin coating covering it, a citar sound from high strings and warble from the D string, then deep scrape marks all down the neck binding and an indent from the pick guard on the side round the screw hole, also the tuning and intonation chasing every day and it going out of tune when I play.. I just thought must be an unlucky purchase.. considering it is only an august 2021 build and I’ve bought it from the wall on New Year’s Eve.. it should have been fine for at least a few years..🤷‍♂️😂

Thanks, I think I just have to wait and see what they decide and take it from there.. yeah pictures I have when actual size you can zoom in and see the finish doing like a tiny saw blade type of thing on the side joint… don’t really know how to explain it.. but looks to me like moving up slowly 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤯😂 I give up… hopefully Gibson would be able to tell if that’s what’s happened or not but watch this space.. 🧐😂

No they are rubbish pictures 🤦‍♂️😂

Thanks for that.. I’ll try post pictures here and see how the quality is… the crack has moved slowly up from the heel on the low strings side only, round and up the side and then along the fretboard joint to the body right along to the end fretboard.. Are these pictures any good when zoomed in.. needless to say the finish around the heel is a bit bubbly and is thin under black light

Am I just worried over nothing do you think? being duped in the past has made me a bit suspicious 🤦‍♂️😂

I think I’m just hoping someone has had a similar experience and had some sort of good experience with the warranty in Europe.. clutching at straws here 🤦‍♂️😂

Thanks for replying everyone.. and sorry if I’m annoying anyone.. just a bit up in the air at the moment with it all

I took it back to the shop today for them to send on RA to Gibson Europe for assessment so hopefully they will either tell me it’s fine or fix it or replace it?? I’m not holding out much hope due to shop being in charge of explaining as they say it’s fine.. and have logged it as a neck crack… but also feel like I’m being duped somehow..

Yes I have all my guitars out.. acoustic and electric and they are fine hanging on the wall.. but the Gibson I kept in the case… the relief at last check was ok on low side but slightly starting to back bow on high strings side so not even sure how that happens to be honest.. also the is fine according to the shop 🤦‍♂️ None of my other guitars have needed to be tuned in years.. I know i know.. I should change the strings but they have been sitting for a while without being played and still sound good when I do play them…

I am a bit of an intonation ocd but like I said set my copy Les Paul to the same settings and to be honest it sounds better now than it ever did 🤷‍♂️ And intonation is fine.. and this is a kit guitar I bought for something to do during lockdown 2020.. and not even b grade wood at that..

😂 … yeah it took me a while to think about it… then I got my engineering ruler out with 32 and 64ths on it instead… 🤦‍♂️

So what’s happened is… ( I had posted some about this in the introduction page by mistake.. sorry) brought the guitar home.. and noticed after a week or so when playing unplugged above 12th on all strings sounded a bit weird as in dead/ touching the fret above whichever fret I was playing.. so stared to give it a good look over as I had only played it plugged in, I’m the shop, my own fault for being too excited I know.. but found the action seemed a bit high so did a full setup to factory settings as a baseline.. but found it couldn’t even play at those settings due to high strings being too low.. so checking the neck I noticed that above the 12th was a noticeable rise/ hump all the way back to the 22nd and the low E side was dipped down quite a bit from the 12th up to the head stock.. i left it for a few more days incase it was environmental changes settling in.. and gave the fretboard some conditioning oil then left for a few more days.. this made the dip ease up a bit so I set it up again.. but couldn’t get intonation and tuning to settle.. so checked again and it was all out.. then it became a bit of a chase to tune and intonate.. and a daily check of setup which changes daily.. I then found the twisted look I had been seeing was looking a lot straighter.. that’s when I seen a crack in the joint between the heel and the body.. this then started running up the low E side and then along the join of the fretboard and body all the way along to the end of the fretboard (22nd). so I have assumed that this the neck relieved itself to where it wants to be… On last check I had relief of .010 low E and .003 on high e… and it looks ok on low side bow wise but high side is starting to back bow as of last night.. it is going to Gibson Europe for assessment but I feel that the shop is saying that it is my fault for some reason.. I have 6 other guitars in the same room and they play fine, the room is at the same temp and humidity 24/7 so I’m just a bit miffed by the whole thing.. plus being dismissed by the shop is quite frustrating, as I’ve been playing guitar for more than 20 years and have had no issues setting up any of my other guitars.. so to be told it’s fine seems a bit odd to me.. but maybe I’m missing something.. again not try to annoy anyone, just worried about being left with a duff guitar that cost more than my car…😂🤦‍♂️

Sorry if this has offended anyone, this was not my intention as I was trying to get a bit of clarity on from what I was aware was the standard setup for leaving the factory… i will elaborate on the details shortly.. just need to pick up the kids from school.

Hi all, So I’ve just taken my Les Paul Custom back to the shop after having it for just over a month to be sent to Gibson Europe for assessment, and on inspection in the shop was told it looks fine and they can’t see the crack that has happened from a twist in the neck that has relieved it’s self by lifting the heel on the low E side. I had explained I’ve been chasing intonation and tuning and have had to setup a few times as the relief and action keep changing.. I was told when the shop guy was playing it the action was a bit high.. too which I referenced the setup issues and that it has been set to factory setup.. and was told not to listen to that as this was just for Americans… what should it be set at for uk then..??. i feel like there’s something amiss here.. any thoughts?

Sorry new to forums.. should I have posted this in a different place?

That cheered me up man.. brilliant 👍

I’m also a lefty, and started off playing my friends lefty guitar when I was a boy but moved away and didn’t touch a guitar for years.. then years later learned right handed, for the same reasons as many, no lefty guitars in my circle so just played whatever one anyone would let me.. and then found my dads old beat up flamenco guitar and took it from there.. I gave it about a weeks try a couple of months ago but to be fair I didn’t bother changing strings around 😂 and it nearly broke my brain 🤯(and fingers).. not really sure why I thought I should play it upside down.. and possibly wrong way round at the same time.. (broke my brain just thinking about it now 🤣.. that’s roughly when the idea I needed to buy a Gibson Les Paul came from 🤷‍♂️🤘🏼.. note to self.. must try harder 😂