Lars68

Today I woke up feeling a bit extra sentimental and nostalgic for some unknown reason. So it was very fitting that I found this video and new song. I've been listening to these guys since I was a 12 years old, and the songs of Springsteen and the sound of the E-street band has been a big part of forming my view of the world ever since. So it warms my soul seeing these greying gentlemen, and lady, together in the studio again, doing what they do best. The song might not be one for the ages, but it's still pretty darn good, and if I'm not mistaken, I counted three different old Gibson acoustics flashing by. Lars

Your style has really come into it's own in the last year or so. Very smooth, Sal. You are making great recordings with minimal overdubs. I like that approach. I hope you are keeping all your recordings so you can document them for kids and relatives. Lars

Well done! I think you'll find out that you'll be happy you stayed with Gibson. Lars

Awesome! I'm not familiar with that particular version of J200. Please tell me more about it and link to some pictures if you can. Lars

Really wonderful, Sal! Lars

The fretboard can be fixed, if you really like the guitar. The finish issue is harder to tell. Do you have a photo? Lars

Okey, I was just trying to help, since you stated you wanted to sell the guitar. Using the registry, and the various features outlined for the war years, to date your guitar, especially if it has no FON, will help put many potential buyers at ease regarding the year of your guitar. Good luck with your sale. Lars

I have a 1942 J-45. It has both Banner logo and FON. Are you sure yours is a '42? You can check the features of your guitar versus the registry here: http://www.bannergibsons.com/registry.html Congratulations either way to a nice group of guitars! Lars

You are missing my point, I believe. I’m not talking about the reissue having identical specs to the original it is based on. I’m referring to the importance for the reissue to be true to the specs Gibson has currently marketed and listed on their webpage for this particular guitar model. This SJ reissue with the wrong neck (as compared to Gibson's currently listed specs) would be the exact equivalent of someone ordering a new Les Paul guitar, opening the case to find a guitar with dot inlays on the neck. How many of those would it take before word got around on all the electric guitar forums? Lars

I agree that Gibsons has always been a little quirky with the details on their historical reissue type guitars. I think that is perfectly fine, as long as the customers know In advance what they are getting. In other words, if you order a guitar online, it will show up on your doorstep with the same specs as the corresponding guitar on Gibson’s homepage. No problem. I believe it’s crucial in the internet age for customers to be able to trust the official published specs for each guitar model. What if you bought the guitar in the video and the top was sitka instead of adi, or the neck had different dimension compared to the specs. My point is that mistakes happen, but if they happen too often, a company’s reputation and eventually sales will suffer. Lars

I don't think it is the wrong guitar. Everything apart from the neck is consistent with the specs for the custom shop SJ: the rosewood (evident in the close-ups), the belly-down bridge, the rosette, the through saddle, the VOS finish, the Banner headstock, and the white button tuners. No, Gibson put the wrong neck on this guitar, no doubt in my mind at least. Lars

That would have been odd, but okey I guess, but that is not what happened here. Gibson intentionally, or most likely by mistake, seriously messed up the spec of a brand new series guitar for 2020, a custom shop guitar nevertheless. Here is the specs the guitar should have had: New 2020 Custom Shop 1942 Banner Southern Jumbo specs. Compare the neck of the guitar in the first post and the one in the link above. No parallelogram inlays, no binding, and wrong number of frets. If I had ordered a pair of custom made black leather shoes during the war, but got a pair of brown shoes instead, I would probably be just as happy because at least I got some shoes. If that happened today, I'd be pretty upset... Lars

I understand your point with the video, but those were different times. There was a world war going on and Gibson took whatever pieces they could find in order to produce guitars, but that old SJ (or whatever it actually is) is still an anomaly. These days it is different when players shop online for ages, comparing specs, reading reviews, listening to sound clips ets etc before making a very informed decision. If I ordered an SJ online and the guitar featured above show up at my door, I would be nothing less than furious and send it back without a shadow of a doubt. Lars

To me at least, this is serious enough of an issue that it could ruin Gibson's positive ”comeback” reputation. We have to see the bigger picture here. If this is the only guitar with this anomaly, and a customer walks in the store, plays the guitar and leaves with it and a smile on his or her face, there is very little damage done. However, if long distance customers start receiving guitars deviating from the specs on the Gibson's homepage AND all the marketing talk from lots and lots of product demo videos since NAMM, those customers will be seriously pissed off and the guitars will go back where they came from. I remember from a marketing class I took ages ago that each unhappy customer tells on average nine people about their poor experience. That was before the internet. That number is probably 1009 these days... Lars

Messing up the specs just means it's actually historically correct 😉 On a serious note, this kinds of thing could potentially kill Gibson's reputation fast. That particular guitar should be replaced by Gibson right away so that it never reaches a customer. It makes me wonder if Gibson changed the neck on purpose for whatever reason, or if it was a quality control issue? The later is bad, but the former is even worse... Lars