MichaelT

I certainly can't speak for all but the ones in my 2017 Tribute and the ones in my 2018 Classic sound VERY similar. I'd be hard pressed to tell the differences in the pickups alone.

Crossfire - Stevie Ray Vaughan - playing it in the band.

I played my new Classic the other night from 7 PM to 1 AM. I wouldn't have thought two extra pounds would make a difference but going from 8 to 9 pounds to an 11 pound guitar for 6 hours made my left shoulder pretty sore. And, that's with a thick 3 or 4 inch strap but yeah, I'm still feeling it today. Tomorrow and Wednesday, I'll be playing some lighter guitars. But, it sure did sound good! The band loved it.

My Norlin era guitar is my 1981 "The V" and quite frankly, it's the best sounding and playing guitar I've ever touched. The funny thing is, the whole 2015 debacle has people saying how Gibson quality has gone down and how bad it is these days. I couldn't be any happier with my 2017 Standard, 2017 Tribute and 2018 Traditional. If there's quality issues these days, I haven't seen it. It probably got started with a couple guys saying it and has spread like wildfire. I'm sure there were some duds out there somewhere but mine, other than the bad PCB which was replaced, have been amazing.

My lovely wife is a granny. And, yep, she's lookin' good!

My new 2018 Les Paul Traditional did the same thing for a couple of months. I got it in February. Now that it's broken in a bit and we have more humidity in the house, it's not an issue at all. I played it for a couple hours last night and no static.

My 2018 Traditional had a fairly light colored fretboard and I put some Gibson Luthier's Choice Fretboard Conditioner on it and it darkened it right up. It's supposed to be rosewood but was pretty light in color when I first got it. A couple applications and it's slightly lighter than the others but much darker than it was.

My stage tuner has big bright letters that I can read at my age and it cuts off the sound to my amp when tuning. It stays in my pedalboard and I have a Korg tuner/metronome that fits easily in my cases when I'm not playing through the pedalboard. I don't think I'd want a tuner built into my guitar. They just don't go out of tune enough to require one onboard all the time. And fitting one on 7 electrics just wouldn't be feasible to me. The pickup ring tuner is a great idea but I'm not sure I'd be able to see that very well. I need reading glasses to see things up close and small like that.

I didn't like the strings either and I replaced them with Ernie Ball Super Slinkies (9's) as I've done for years. I also adjusted the neck on my Tribute after replacing the strings and letting it settle for a week or two. Then, I adjusted again, lowered the bridge a bit, set the intonation and that little Tribute plays every bit as well, if not better, than my Standard. This is a pretty good guide for a setup: http://archive.gibson.com/backstage/tech002printable.htm My understanding is that the COA (certificate of authenticity) only comes with the Custom Shop models/Historic models. I didn't get one with my Tribute or Standard. I got the picture, the warranty card, the inspection card, a strap, truss rod tool and padded gig bag. I'm glad you like the guitar. I'm real happy with mine too.

Yeah, that's a picture of it on the bench at the factory. I got one with my 2017 Standard and 2017 Tribute. Just cool case candy. Hope you love the guitar.

I saw a GNR concert on Axxess the other day. The only original members in that concert were Axl and Izzy. And, Izzy did a guitar solo that blew me away. I knew he was good but I had no idea he was THAT good. Good stuff.

I was in a cover band in the 80's when Guns N Roses came out. We had learned every song from the Appetite for Destruction album. We would play different ones each night we played, usually about 4 songs by them each night. People went nuts because we were the only band at the time doing those songs. This was before Sweet Child O Mine had been released as a single. We'd listen to the album on the stereo and a lot of times they'd isolate Izzy's and Slash's rhythm parts on different sides of the stereo, so me and the other guitarist would work out those parts separately because it makes a huge difference in the sound. I really enjoyed Slash's style at the time and learning the lead guitar parts, the solos and everything. I haven't studied anything of his since that album though but I like him as a guitarist. We met the band when they opened for Alice Cooper on that tour and they were all friendly and signed our tickets.

Pride and Joy - Stevie Ray Vaughn

Never say never when it comes to buying guitars. :) I love my Flying V's too. I tend to play one for a week, then swap out, rotating them. The Tribute always sits on the guitar stand next to the couch for easy access. The others stay in their cases in the closet until it's time to play. I'm really enjoying them through the Marshall DSL40C and DSL100H half stack. I'm pretty happy with that investment too.

Custom Truss Rod Covers search I haven't used any of these places but there's quite a few places that do custom engraving online. Was playing my 2017 Tribute through the amp last night and I wish I had found it first. I might have saved myself a few thousand dollars. But, I'm real happy with my Standard as well.

I have a 2017 Tribute and I absolutely love it. Mine has P90's in it but I've played the other ones with the 490/498 pickups and they sounded great in my opinion. It seems Gibson is sending them out with dry fretboards but a little fretboard oil occasionally will fix that up. http://www.gibson.com/News-Lifestyle/Gear-Tech/en-us/How-to-Clean-Your-Guitar-for-Better-Tone.aspx Overall, I'm very happy with my Tribute and highly recommend them for someone wanting a Gibson Les Paul look, feel and sound on a budget. I play it every bit as much as my Standard and it was worth what I paid for it and more.

A wide leather strap with suede back worked for me when I had an SG. I don't remember it having any neck dive even before getting the new strap but I haven't had that guitar in years.

I think both of my 2017 Les Pauls came with 9-46 strings. I can't remember what the manual said they were. The first thing I did with each was change the strings to my preferred Ernie Ball Super Slinkies (9-42) on each. I did try Ernie Ball 10's on them and it didn't click with me since I've played the Super Slinkies for 30+ years. They're just what I'm used to.

Thanks. I honestly didn't know. I figured you could but have never tried one to test it.

Yeah, those things are fine when they work but when they don't, big problem. Can you even tune it regularly when it doesn't work? It reminds me of Spinal Tap and their wireless system.

Oh. Crap. We're all screwed if they start enforcing THAT one.

Hey Chris, I did read the rules and I didn't see where what he posted wasn't allowed. Maybe I missed it but you were a little harsh on the guy. Bad day? I like to look at a guitar's potential rather than what's wrong with it off the rack, unless it's really bad. But a little neck bow, bridge height and string change isn't going to keep me from buying a guitar I love otherwise. The 2018 Classic I played at GC was pretty amazing and made me want to buy it. I would have said, "I'll take this home right now, paying cash, after you set it up properly and show me it's a guitar worth $2,200. If not, get me one that is and I'll buy that one." And, then we'd discuss price.

Hold on by John Lennon. It was playing on the TV on one of our music channels and I started playing along with it and liked the riffs, so I chose to learn the entire song. It's not too difficult and fun to play.

It won't hurt anything to try out other guitars. I love all four of my Gibsons and they each have a unique sound but play similarly on the neck and fretboard. I still go out every few weeks and play other Gibsons, just to play them. The guys at the music stores I go to call me "the Gibson guy" because I go in and play all their Gibsons. I occasionally pick up a few others. If and when I find another guitar I really love, it will come home. I think putting the black plastics on that guitar will make it look amazing and gold pickup covers will be the icing on the cake, so to speak. I wouldn't worry about the little scratches and dings too much because you can't see them in the picture. You might try that polish and see if you can buff some of the swirls and pick scratches out but if not, the guitar looks great. I love the white Les Pauls with black plastics and gold hardware.

It sounds mostly like Guitar Center QC. You'd think they'd inspect the stuff they get in but they're more about quantity over quality. I've worked at two music stores and have a good friend who owns a music store. If something comes in broken, they don't sell it and send it back. Stuff happens during shipping sometimes. Usually minor things like that are covered under warranty and if you like the guitar, that's the route I would have taken. I'd make Gibson make it right. I don't count on Guitar Center for much of anything other than to check out different products in their store. I had a problem with the PCB in my brand new Les Paul. I called Gibson, they sent me to GC for warranty support. After much BS and a month and a half of more BS, they finally fixed it. I don't know what happens from the time it goes into inspection until the time it's shipped nor what happens during shipping. I'm sure other major manufacturers have similar quality issue if they're producing many thousands of products. Look at all the factory recalls on cars, the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and other major purchases. Many of them will make it right but it's sure disheartening when you pay that much money for a musical instrument, expecting perfection for the price and then there's something wrong. Stuff happens. And, Gibson will certainly respond to you if/when you email or call. I've called them four times since February and I got a live human being who spoke English every single time.