NighthawkChris

Agreed. I would bet they don't do this easily IF they even do. I could easily buy some Chibson, request some COA, voila! I could only see you getting a replacement if you sent the guitar in to them directly to ask for a reissue of a COA. But OP, it is really simple to call them. Maybe time zones could be an issue, but how much does it mean to you to have this I suppose... And I don't think that customs will fully validate the COA as OK to have enter the country if found to be some source of credible threat. It's not like a passport or certified ID. Hope you don't have any issues traveling with the guitar though. Best of luck.

You issues are aesthetics, but if you aren't happy with it because of this - i.e. always going to irritate you - I'd return it. I'm sure it wasn't a cheap guitar and why pay for something that doesn't make you happy? The fret marks look like something went wrong at some point in time. Where it happened - i.e. at Gibson or dealer - that's anyone's guess. All I know is that is not normal stuff unless you aren't taking care of your nitro finished guitar like exposing to temperature swings, leaving in dirty area, stuck in case for years, etc. Regarding the MOP inlays, I personally wouldn't be that affected by that, but again, your money and you should be happy with your guitar. There are other guitars out there that will not suffer from these issues. You have the money, you're hosting the party is the way I put it. So that being said, get your money's worth or get it back and keep hunting. Best wishes and hope all works out for you.

Honestly, I get it that the SB is a dump of garbage ads and mostly awful - if not all - halftime shows, but I tune that crap out. My friend invited us over for tons of food, drink, and smoke. While we were indulging in the goodness of that, the SB was recording in the background so later in the evening, we could FF through all the garbage including the halftime show. It was a great night for me and had very little to do with the big game. Then again we have the Lions here so we have been practicing how to have a good time during any game for the last 50+ years that has little to do with football. True story... and we will never see the Lions in the SB - or amount to anything successful. I digress. Yeah, proud to not have seen any ads or halftime garbage.

Cheapest tickets this year I heard were record high. No problem, I was home setting my own record high.

Yeah, that just looks right to me. Nice job and nice looking guitar!

I’d buy a used one if I had GAS for one. The point is that you have a Gibson that by default costs thousands - and to add you’re not the fondest of it - then you go dump more money into a guitar hoping that it works out... well like others said, not their money and guys like Joe have cold hard cash to blow. He also has more guitars than the rainforests have trees. Hell I’d be bored with them too where I’d say to try the whole makeover business for one of his million guitars he has duplicates of.

I don’t ever think about a guitar “makeover”. If you don’t like something about the guitar you get rid of it. No value of dumping in a lot of money into a guitar that you might not be happy with after and no value keeping a guitar you want to makeover. If you want to replace something like knobs and such that’s a different story but to start dumping money for finishes, top carves, etc comes down to why not just count your losses and stop putting good money to bad.

Well, glad you're happy with the guitar. I know it feels awkward, but you have the money, you're the one hosting the party if you follow what I'm saying. Not saying to be uncivil here, but be happy with the money you doled out for your Gibby. I would do the same thing you did first too - talk to dealer. Hope it doesn't get this far, but I would simply return the thing if it was a deal breaker - the poor case that is. Some may think that turning in a guitar because the case isn't up to par is a bit extreme, but again, your money, you should be happy with what you bought. Negotiate maybe? I know GC itemizes the cases when you buy a new guitar... Maybe upgrade to a Custom Shop historic case... Those are very nice and IMHO better than the USA cases. Not that the USA cases are garbage, but just a thought... Best of luck. If you have opportunity to get the thing off your hands with the return of your funds, then take advantage of it. IME, be nice and use all the leverage you need to to get your money's worth.

String height - or action - changes if the nut changes or the bridge changes generally. Yes the neck does some bending and bowing, but if your relief is what it was when all was good, then what changed... Did the top of your acoustic change - i.e. lift or move somehow? I know with acoustics, you have to handle with more care than a solid body... In the end, it's pretty simple stuff here and if you're not experienced enough to diagnose this, take it to someone who does. In the future, being that you want an acoustic, you're going to have to be more careful how you regulate the environment conditions that are exposed to the guitar most likely. Water is not a guitar's friend. Conversely, it could be perceived as the enemy.

Hi @sunking101, I understand your sentiment. You pay a good chunk of change and expect the smaller pieces of the deal to be of acceptable quality. I not only understand, I share your sentiment based on what you have described and what you have gone through. I have not had that experience with the latest cases that come with the USA guitars as the cases I have received have been of good quality - not suffering from the issues you described. My only advice to you is that yes, you could share your input on the subject here about quality issues, but in the end, you want something in your hands that makes you happy. You may have to inquire with Gibson first-hand or the dealer you went through. That's the only 2 ways about this unfortunately. Even if I wanted to share my stories of Gibson QC blunders, it's not going to help you or anyone else in the end. FWIW, I sincerely hope that you get this resolved and you like the guitar first and foremost. Best wishes!

I'm in! My dad really loved Star Trek and got me into it when I was a little one. The Next Generation was the best IMHO and I think Patrick Stewart is a great actor. Some of the other "versions" of Star Trek weren't my thing at all, but again, really liked the Next Generation. Make it so! haha!

Hi Rabs, I am not insinuating that you're making click-bait. It's the YT stuff that is. I only shared my opinion about YT stuff and what I think of Rick's content. Not faulting anyone who has watched this video either. He has subscribers and all that so all the power to him. My point is that these days on YT, the titles are purposely misleading to get clicks. You're a positive contributor here, a skilled luthier, great person AFAIK talking here on Gibson's forum, so please don't take anything I said intended towards you. I just say it as it is these days and try not to break the rules here to maintain civility. I am not a fan of YT these days. As a matter of fact, I don't believe in social media - well the mainstream stuff. I don't consider this place like Facef*** or Twatter, etc. We all like guitars here and that's what I want to talk about. No one selling me stuff, spreading fake garbage... Nice place we got going on here 🙂

Yeah, I'm glad I didn't lose the time of my life watching the Grammys. Actually, I pride myself in the fact that I never watch any of that mainstream award garbage. Cheers to you man, I share your sentiment 100% nearly every post of this thread. Sorry, the radio was talking about this garbage today and I got triggered, haha!

Isn't this considered click bait then? Misleading text that helps you get the views???

ditto

I don't watch YT like I used to. It's just full of a lot of click bait these days and loaded with advertisements - even though you don't know you're being advertised to IN THE VIDEOS by the video itself. Trust me, do a couple searches for Gibson Les Paul, and NAMM 2020 will bombard your feed and you'll also get every **** and Jane video made by every hack out there doing poor comparisons on their pedals, amps, whatever. Only if I had some project and I search for something specific MAYBE I will find something that is actually worthy of my approval. The comments on YT are just trashy as well. So mean these days. It's a big "like" war or something or other. Pertaining to the Beato video... This guy makes so many videos, his content has suffered IMHO. When you full-time pump crap out, YouTubers content suffers. I mean, YMMV, you might like the video and YT. I don't really care if you do or not. Just my @$$ - I mean opinion. I know I use the right strings. I really need a video about it? Even if the video isn't about this, why is the title misleading? I defense, Rick's a good guy, very knowledgeable, but his videos aren't what I prefer to watch. Seen some in the past, know his style, so he can do his thing, but I don't want to watch this channel. Best wishes to him and those that like his content.

I like metal and hence why I probably never got into the Aerosmith stuff of my MTV generation - when they actually played music videos. I was never really turned on by any of their old stuff, but when I saw Testament covered an Aerosmith tune, I recognized them for this one song. And when I say I like metal, nothing that’s just downtuned chugging. I like bands like Pantera, Megadeth, Testament, and bands of the like. MAYBE throw in the early Metallica stuff but even now I have a hard time listening. I learned to play guitar by buying the Kill em All, RTL, MoP books decades ago, but now I just don’t like them. That’s another story though and constitutes another thread IMHO. Either way I never thought of Aerosmith as anything other than rock plain and simple and it wasn’t my gig. I could have lived without ever knowing about them - not to talk smack on their success. They are living a lot better than me with the exception of Mr Kramer apparently. Even then, I’m sure he’s got a few more bucks in the bank than me... good for him. Good for them.

I almost forgot to add that Aerosmith song I like that Testament covered was Nobody’s Fault. That song rocks - but I like the Testament version more. Aerosmith does a great job playing it of course too.

I’m going to add I really don’t know jack about anything important to this. The idea of me losing out on something I do with a lot of passion and getting cut out for no good reason - not that this Aerosmith situation pertains to me or is the actual case here - would be painful on my account. That’s where people might insinuate the trouble with all of this. Whatever really the deal is here it happened and not on either side of this thing as I don’t lose sleep over it. Just saying again I’d hate to be left out of something I love to do that I put in a ton of work for.

I mean, what are they going to play that this guy hasn't played with them for 40+ years on stage that he couldn't handle? It's not like Aerosmith music has this astounding drum stuff to do - especially for a song or 2... It obviously ticked off Joey to the point he tried to go to court. How long should it take for this band to do a song or 2 they've done for many years at a live Grammys performance to celebrate the anniversary of the band? He's coming back now ready to play and I think that decades of founding and work - through thick and thin - should be good enough track record to say welcome back... What if you left your job on disability and come back to find that someone replaces you. Mind you you would have to have had significant experience and time put in at some place where you have a good track record of getting the job done just fine. I think that would tick me off too. It actually might be heart wrenching especially if I had some passion in my job. In then end though, not my business, nor do I really care what happens to this band, but the whole thing just sounds like something is afoul. Not trying to ruffle feathers here, but the optics as I said look very bad for someone who is looking in as a fan of this band. If I were in this guy's shoes, I'd be flabbergasted. He's only given this band the best years of his life only to be denied the once in a lifetime experience he wishes to have. Serving the likes of the Steven Tyler and Joe Perry as a lesser known member of a band giant for decades... Yeah, I'd be more than upset too. It's not like this guy was coming back from a drug-fueled binge AFAIK. And it's not like the guy asked to have health problems either. I'd be putting years of alliance into question given these circumstances. So I do understand what you were getting at, and in reality, I know only the smallest part of this whole story most likely. But based on what I heard and hearing fan reactions - which themselves may not be worth anything at all (willing to concede that) - it sounds like the band is treating him like he's just a replaceable piece of the project he's been part of for decades - i.e. the better part of his lifetime. Sucks you spend decades working on something only to live now and look back and think this is what it all came down to?! Wow... Funny game life is.

My desktop amp is SS, my band practices and performances will always use a tube amp. I don't get into effects that much other than a nice reverb. As well, I always prefer tube distortion to something coming out of electronics or DSP. I mean, modelling is what it says, modeled. it will always have some sort of lacking to the real deal, so you would have to take it for what it is. As a keyboardist in a band I play in, I can't play classical music on it like my home upright (that weighs probably close to 500lbs). Even the highest end keyboards/synths I have ever seen can never truly replicate the sound of the sympathetic tones that are made from a real piano - even a tiny spinet sounds better to me. And to add, the feeling of the wooden keys actuating the piano's action. There's a reason bands typically use keyboards and orchestras use full 9' Steinway grand pianos. I digress... So in a nutshell, the more digital and convenient we get, the more we are actually losing from the true sound we are trying to emulate. If you're going to get better software that controls the sound output, going to cost more money for the design details. Not knocking electronic/processed sounds for guitar tones, just that we all know it is what it is and will only go so far. Like anything in life, there are trade-offs going on here. To me, depends on the application I am using the stuff. Home stuff is OK for processed sound, but I prefer to get the richest tone when practicing and performing which I feel is a better experience for me and the listeners.

Some of their old stuff before my time was OK. IDK, I was born in 1980. First I ever heard of them was when they were on MTV with Alicia Silverstone (hubba hubba back then). I mean, yeah, the optics look very rotten since I am hearing this guy was the founder of Aerosmith and they are basically cutting him out because he doesn't "match the energy levels" anymore or something like that after he had some sort of injury - heard from radio announcer saying this. He had to re-audition for his band that he created??? In today's world, nothing surprises me anymore though. Personally what I think about the band, don't care about them. They have been irrelevant to me forever. To each and to their own, not an Aerosmith fan here. When I hear their stuff on the radio - and yes, I listen to the air waves still - I change the station.

It has the historic badge on the back of the neck, so probably has long neck tenon. Pull the neck pickup out and see what set is has. While you're at it, in the neck pickup pocket, you can see if it has a long or short neck tenon. It's pretty easy to see the difference between ebony and rosewood - as I couldn't imagine it would be something else on the fretboard. I am confident that it isn't Richlite. That stuff came after 2012 I believe. Other than that, it's a LP Custom - MOP inlays, bound body front and back, split diamond on headstock... Commenting on the price you paid, I wouldn't worry about it. A guitar like that won't come cheap being that there are probably no more out there like it - and if there are, definitely VERY few around. Cool guitar man, best wishes and enjoy!

I know what you need to do, but you're not going to like it. Honestly, I know it's new and all that, but now, you don't have to worry so much about being gentle with it. ALL guitars that get played are inevitably going to get scratched, dinged... you name it. At least the first one was on the back where no one will see. It could always be worse.

Nice LP congrats! As advice from here on out and your own good since you asked the forum about this stuff, trade ins are guaranteed to short cut yourself. Your best option to get the most out of your guitars and what your hard earned money got you is to sell it yourself somehow, someway. Unless you needed insulin, no way would I ever consider short cutting myself in any sort of deal as you were proposed. I’m just confused and I don’t want to get into your finances whatsoever, but if you had the means for a LP Standard, you have about half the money at least for an R8... Why trade for it in a seriously unbalanced deal (IMHO) when you can get it with cash? Keep your collection going my friend if you have the money and you’re not shorting your kid lunches. If you don’t care for a guitar, best value is to sell yourself - again. Nothing wrong with flipping a guitar, but don’t make facetious deals like you shared with us. Just trying to give you honest advice looking out for your interests. Keep your GAS in check always. Just know that there’s always someone selling something out there that will catch your eye so usually there’s nothing out there you have to screw your self on to get. Unless you’re some high profile collector, that’s different. But if you were, you got tons of cash and they don’t trade - they hoard!