rickc

Hi Neighbour! I'm in Gibsons and also have an ES-355 in my stable. Love it too.

I survived a slightly twisted bridge pickup for about 32 years on a black LPC until I installed cream pup rings at which point my OCD threshold was exceeded. It took just a few minutes between a string change to plug (toothpick) and redrill two holes to fix this. From the picture above, a very extreme case, it may be necessary to plug all four holoes and redrill so that the jack plate completely covers the plugged holes. Too big for toothpicks!

I lived with a crooked bridge pickup for about 34 years on my black LPC. It was just very slightly off parallel with the bridge pickup. When I modded and put cream rings on, it was just too obvious so a quick fix with toothpicks and repositioned holes and all is now well. I've very surprised to read of a stop bar being wrong as I understood the bigger holes were drilled in a jig to ensure perfect locations. The stop bar should be straight, perpendicular to the strings. This would bug me if it was my guitar.

Robzoid: The bridge saddles only need enough of a notch to stop the string moving across the top of the saddle. I've seen vids of folk tapping an old string with a hammer just hard enough to make a little notch. Factory saddles have notches but if you have replaced yours with a new one, it may not have any. You have to be careful with the non wound strings; if the notch is too wide, sitar-like buzzing can occur at the saddle.

All is now clear Robzoid. A dead fretted string does suggest an issue between the fret and bridge or maybe just a bad string. Lots of quirks with Gibsons and other guitars too. I spend a lot of time playing my guitars unplugged while watching TV or just hanging out at home. When unplugged, there's nothing hiding/masking string issues; every sitar, fret buzz and rattle is much more obvious; fix them and make them go away! Other than my weather related issues described earlier, I've been lucky with my guitars. One other thing I forgot to mention is the hump in the neck around the 16th fret and higher on some set-neck guitars; I've never experienced this but it is mentioned in many forums. Instead of a slight drop in the fret level after the 16th fret, the frets can hump up a little, usually worse in the middle as I understand, so a buzzing G can result. However, this doesn't explain the overall deadness you and others describe. A few of the girls: https://imgur.com/463bfUm

Nice guitars Robzoid. I can hear the same on your Strat. Sounds like the string is choking/buzzing a little on both guitars. How low do you go action wise? I've owned my 87 LPC since new and set it at factory specs (3/64" - 5/64") with EB 009 or 008 sets and do not experience G string issues. I find the LPC more sensitive to weather changes than my Strat and probably tweak the action two or three times a year to correct. I have an ES-335 that is the same but an ES-Artist that is solid as a rock. It has a 3-piece neck. I think this may help with stability. Check my other G string issue response: could be a saddle notch issue or slightly collapsed bridge if your LP is older. I enjoyed your video; great playing; nice amp.

Hi folks: Two more possibilities: - Pick up setup. The OP doesn't mention if the dead G is consistent with different pup selections. If not, then tweaking the pup-in-use pole piece screw may correct the problem. - Bad saddle. It's possible that the G saddle notch is too deep; it should be just a nick. Measure the G string height at the 13th fret. It should be around or a little over 3/64" if the high E is at 3/64". If it is lower than this, the string may be sitting too low at the bridge. If this is the case and all the other saddles are OK, the G string action will be too low when the other strings are good. I'd expect the G to buzz, especially up high beyond the 12th fret. This can also happen if the bridge is collapsing but there's no way this would occur with a new guitar.

Hi Sapster: It's a beaut! The only thing that would concern me is the bridge, it's technically the wrong way around with the screws facing forward and in your case the bass E, A and D saddles are all the way forward and the saddles are flat edge forward too; Not good as there is room for intonation adjustment in the forward direction. If it is intonated correctly as-is, then the bridge is too close to the pickup; I've seen this before. As long as it plays well who cares?

I'm glad the problem was solved. Back in 87, the guy drilling pup ring holes at Gibson got distracted and my bridge pup spent most of it's life slightly skewed. With black rings I could live with it but when I put the cream rings on, it looked awful so I fixed it. As my pic shows, two were OK and two were not. I simply cut off about 5mm of toothpick and carefully forced it into the two offending holes then re-drilled tow tiny pilot holes in the right location and all was well. No glue. A 30 minute job; maybe less. https://imgur.com/M5wyabz

Luke: This is not normal. If the bridge is all the way down then you have no action adjustment. I'm assuming your guitar has a conventional bridge and tailpiece set-up. As Steve noted, if the bushings for the bridge are not pushed all the way down then this could explain the bottoming out. The nut has nothing to do with this and there would have to be a lot of relief in the neck for the truss rod to be part of this problem. What you describe suggests that the neck angle is too flat; there should be a small backwards angle of the neck relative to the top surface of the body. For comparison, for my old 87 LPC, with low action (4/64" and 3/64", same as Chris) the bottom of the low E bridge thumbwheel is 16/64" from the top of the body and 10/64" for the high E end. You have zero and zero; not good. Can you take a close-up picture and share?

Hi Tim: I took a peek to see if I could get one sent to me to forward to you but the EBay site says they don't ship to Canada!!??

StewMac may be your friend: https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/tuning-machines/solid-peghead-guitar-tuning-machines/golden-age-vintage-style-3onplate-tuners.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=shopping&utm_campaign=2021-02-gp&pref_currency=H&shipcalc=CAN&gclid=CjwKCAiAyc2BBhAaEiwA44-wWznpgOrvFEpcroE8gdz3z7iLqUcIFRG8K04nv3bM-k_0rHhF4qsr5xoCzp4QAvD_BwE

Joseph: You will find that many players remove the factory strap buttons, put them in a little baggie in the case and replace them with locking devices. It does not matter what strap you use if it doesn't stay on the guitar.

Sgt. Pepper - no faux mojo; the real thing!

I understand a custom shop trying to duplicate an exact, famous guitar for an exotic collector but all other relic-ing is fake mojo. It's like buying a hardcore trail motorbike, covering it in mud and bashing the tank with a hammer to make it look like you've ridden it hard and are bad-***. Fake mojo.

I've also had image sharing issues so here's another quick test:

All the right curves in all the right places..... https://imgur.com/xrs4YT8

wayyyyyy off topic: https://imgur.com/zRalTi8

There's a massive difference between multiply binding and a single strip of plastic. If you delve deeper, you will see some guitar makers pre-shape binding using heat and then glued and simply taped in place; there must be a reason why Gibson still use the long, reusable tape method. Then there's the scraping....

If you mean the EDS-1275 there are a number for sale; Reverb, Facebook Marketplace, music stores so just Google "Gibson EDS-1275"

Hi Bert: Is this a new problem? A new guitar to you or used? If your intonation is perfect then the out of tune is probably due to the stretch in the string required to contact the fret when fingering the chord. Either the frets are too low and/or the nut slot (s) are too high and/or the action is really high. All made worse if the string gauge is heavy. I'm guessing that the D chord is more obviously out as the sound from the higher strings is more prominent as the lower E and A strings are not played; if the D chord is out then so will the upper part of a G chord and a chunk of an A chord; you just don't hear it as much. What string gauge do you use? Lighter strings are easier to bend and have less tension. If you are using heavy strings, I'd advise dropping to 0.009" - 0.042" as a start. Of course check the neck relief before doing anything and check the first fret relief when holding the strings down on the third fret; there should only be a tiny gap at the first fret. Nut slots usually get deeper with age not shallower but it's still good to check.

I've never seen anything like this before. It's hard to believe that it left the factory that way. Please post more pictures of the whole guitar.

As rct first notes above, we need to clearly understand what "buzz" means; is this fret buzz or bridge/nut sitar buzz or something else loose buzz? Also as rct notes, set-up is not rocket science. If the neck is good, frets are leveled and nut and bridge are good (strings not moving around in the slots) then it's very simple to set-up a guitar; there are loads of really good YouTube videos explaining every step. I check neck relief by pushing a string down on the first fret with my left forefinger, the same string down with my right thumb where the body meets the neck and then push down with my right forefinger about half way between the two. I like my necks to be almost flat; if I pluck the string lightly, I should hear a clear, non-buzzing note in between my left finger and right thumb, indicating a small amount of relief in the neck. Some get out feeler gauges and capos and do the same, aiming for a 0.008-0.010" relief at the midway point. Just be warned that if you do manage to set up your neck almost flat and playable at low action, when the weather changes you will be correcting the truss rod tension. I typically have to do this two or three times a year; no biggie. Kentaff: Is what you are describing a fret buzz when playing or does the buzz also occur on open strings? If open string buzzing then you have a bridge/nut/something else issue. Sitar buzzes are more metallic with lots of high frequencies and are typically caused by loose strings in the bridge saddles so look closely and see if you can physically move the strings sideways as they rest in the saddles. The same can happen at the nut but it's less likely. As the buzzing started after the new pups were installed, it is possible that the buzzing is coming from the pup cover(s) touching something; the rings, a wire underneath; all depends on what the buzz sounds like. It may even be something in the cavity but highly unlikely. Your comment about the second "luthier" having to raise the bridge suggest that the problem is fret buzzing. If it is obviously string/fret buzzing then recheck you neck relief first before doing anything else. Some numbers from you would be helpful: - What is the neck relief (using a capo on the 1st, touching down at the 19th fret and measuring the gap between the low E string and the 10th fret? - What is the 12th fret action low E and high E? Typically this would be somewhere around 5/64" or 6/64" and 3/64" or 4/64". - Did you change string gauges and if so, from what to what? Beware of "luthiers". Real luthiers can build guitars from scratch, remove glued-on necks, change fingerboards, re-fret, perform magic on finish flaws. The other guys are just guitar techs; there is a big difference. Good luck

I have an 80 ES Artist; the boards, switches and wring are the same as the LP Artist. This is the only thing I have in my files:

As stated earlier and correctly by a few contributors despite some very clear confusion of others about how an electric guitar works and is grounded, the strings are grounded through the bridge (Nashville) or tailpiece (ABR-1) via a single wire that connects the bottom bridge/tailpiece post typically to one of the pots and on to the output jack. It is common to see this ground missing in Les Paul wiring diagrams so it is possible that when a guitar is modded, the ground may be missing or disturbed. The bridge/tailpiece post ground wire is very simply pushed into place through a small hole inside the guitar before the post is installed and the post is then push fit into the guitar so that it makes contact with wire. Rather hokey, so it is no wonder that sometimes this mechanical contact fails. I have seen some pro players guitars with a very clear, external ground wire connecting to the bridge on top of the guitar; probably ABR-1, using a little wire popping out of the bottom, rear corner of the bridge pickup. Whatever, if the ground wire is working, the guitar will NOT buzz loudly until grounded by the player. I have owned three Gibsons for over 25 years and none of them have ever had ground issues. They do not buzz when plugged into an amp. The OP is describing a grounding fault. Alex Lifeson's guitar below. A Nashville with an external ground.