Defects with Les Paul Standard Plus Top Pro

[Spoon]

Hello fellow LP Std. PTP owners. I'm sharing this:

 

I have now had two of these guitars in a row that will not intonate.

 

The unwound stings will just barely intonate. The high E saddle is all the way forward. The TOM bridge is angled from high E to low E, thus it is impossible to get the D saddle far enough forward for even rough intonation, it's at about 12.6" from the 12th fret, with the saddle all the way forward.

Rotating the saddles doesn't help.

 

Just thought I'd give a heads up and solicit anyone else with like guitars to check theirs out to see if this is systemic.

 

As all-modern manufacturing on these guitars involves CNC cutting and drilling, I suspect an error in coding has resulted in a production run of defective guitars.

 

 

Your Mileage May Vary.

[SGgypsyboy]

you could try the Gotoh tune o matic bridge (with large metric posts) that has more saddle travel than the Epi's for about 20 bucks from stewmac.com. It's a direct fit.Item # 1511 at stewmac.

My link

[Spoon]

Thanks for the suggestion. I'd considered that as one solution.

 

A local luthier suggested a Wilkonson (sp?) roller bridge as it has grub screws for even more latitude. He also informed me the nut on my Epi was better suited for 9 gauge strings and would need to be filed to get proper intonation and fretting (it was painful to play on the 1st fret) with the recommended/supplied 10g strings, but he suggested replacing the stock nut as "it is junk" he also suggested upgrading to locking tuners.

 

Shouldn't it have arrived with at least the nut and bridge to specification?

 

Lets see, new nut, strings, tuners and bridge. I'll be about $285 lighter and then it will be ready to play?

 

I must have missed the sticker on the guitar that said "starter kit", or "You shoulda bought a Gibson".

 

I'd expect to have to do this type of work with a Squier Bullet, not a Les Paul.

 

As a matter of fact, my $99 Squier was better out of the box. Upgrades were optional, not required in order for it to play.

 

True, the LP is prettier, but form does not trump function.

[charlie brown]

Spoon...If this is "brand new," take it/send it back, yet again, and get a "non-defective" version.

Are you buying "mail order/on line?" If so, get your money back, and change dealers.

Try Sweetwater, or Wildwood Guitars.

 

If it won't intonate, after turning the saddles, etc., that is a defect, and should be covered

by the life-time warranty, regardless. So, it's really up to you, as to what (exactly) to do

about it. Replace the bridge, yourself, or...replace the gutiar, with a non-defective one.

 

Good Luck!

 

CB

[Old Rocker 59]

If you have the recipt , then return it for either another one or a full cash refund. If you do decide to get another one, I would have the intonation checked at the store where you got the others at. This way if it's good, you'll be happy and if not, you won't leave the store with a dud . Also like CB said, you could switch dealers and go with Sweetwater. They give every guitar a thorough checkup before it leaves their warehouse.

[Magneezo]

It's not uncommon to turn each saddle around, you'll just have to unscrew the culprit carefully and then turn it around and screw it back in. You'll notice it gives you a tiny bit more room to intonate/compensate. Try that before you buy a new bridge...or return the guitar.

[BobF_]

I have the same LP and the 3 treble saddle slopes face the stop bar and the 3 bass saddle slopes face the neck.

 

I just received and Ultra-339 yesterday that is the same.

 

They both intonate fine, BTW.

[pauly]

spoon, I feel your pain and don't feel alone. I ordered a 60's tribute plus (epi) and it arrived this morning. I apparently got a lemon too. I expected more for the money spent. The neck pup is loose in it's cavity, from the 15th fret and below the bottom E string hits the frets and doesnt note, I cannot get the b and d string to intonate..not enough travel in the saddles, even with saddles turned around, and the frets were advertised as medium jumbo but are jumbo. Three of the latches on the case don't want to stay latched. I called customer service and am waiting for an RA # to ship it back for a refund.

I'm not any happier with a Gibson 70's Tribute I recently bought either. Fret ends are sharp, the fit and finish overall isn't too good like sloppy glue work around the neck/body join area and where the fingerboard is glued on. The bridge pup is really thin sounding. I just expect a little more from an Epi that costs 599 and a Lester that was nearly a grand. And to all the hardcore Gibson fans out there ready to pounce.....yes, I do realize it isn't a 5k custom guitar. I also realize I didn't get what I paid for...two playable guitars. I got a $499 off brand guitar that out plays and sounds better than both of these lemons and it actually stays in tune well even with a lot of bending. I'm going to be more careful in the future about where my hard earned dollar goes when its NGD time. I hope you get your issue squared away spoon.

[Spoon]

Thanks for all the replies.

 

I guess my attitude is what it is because I'm being told, in the same store where I purchased both guitars NEW that I should expect to "upgrade" this guitar (that sells for $499), in the first 3 weeks of ownership just to achieve basic functionality. Coupled with this is the lame response of Epiphone, when I informed them, that I should just "send it in" for them to "look at it".

 

As I told them, "yeah I'll get right on that and spend $40 more of MY money to ship it to Nashville. Meanwhile, I have no guitar and I'm $539 poorer."

 

 

Back it goes to the store, and I'm washing my hands of this.

[indiekiduk]

if a string doesn't intonate from the factory then put a new string on and that'll fix it. Intonation is on their checklist so although it was perfect, the string got old by the time you got the guitar. Don't make adjustments to the saddle when you have an old string on because you'll have to undo the change when you restring and might not get it as perfect as the factory setup guy.

[Spoon]

I had already put a new set of Ernie Ball slinkys on. As far as the "age" of the guitar, it was shipped direct from Epiphone.

No improvement with new strings. The string change is what prompted me to measure the bridge.

The bridge is physically out of spec.

 

Epiphone's advice to me was to change strings one at a time, so as to not allow the bridge to "rock and rattle".

 

Thanks for the suggestion, though.

 

 

IMO, the stock TOM bridges on these guitars are worthless. My $.02, YMMV.