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NGD My First Les Paul (Signature T VS) Finish Imperfection


GeorgeM

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I have just purchased my first les paul, A Signature T Vintage Sunburst. The guitar sounds and plays awesome, however there are some imperfections on the finish . Have you ever seen anything similar ? The top looks fantastic but I was really hesitant purchasing the guitar because of that imperfection under the body binding on the Cutaway. Also there are some red stuff on the headstock veneer it doesn't seem to come off so its not leftover polish. Also the truss rod cover seems to be slightly curved is that normal?

 

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you mean the gouges or the different shade due to the maple cap having different grain?

 

the side of the headstock probably got that way from being placed in, or banged into a wallhanger, I have a few nitro guitars w/that exact same skid-mark.

 

if it plays & sounds great, keep it, any replacement may play and/or sound like wet poop, and 5 yrs from now it'll have plenty of other dings on it anyhow.

 

Welcome to the Forum !!

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The tops of LPs are all still given a final shaping by hand and it looks like yours was given too heavy-handed a treatment.

Added to which the filler used to rectify the situation hasn't been applied very well and it's clearly not been a great pice of finishing.

 

Having said that it's an absolute stunner in all other respects - very sweet indeed - and if, as you say, it plays as good as it looks then I'd keep it - if it were mine.

 

The hanger mark has been dealt with. The TRC bowing is a bit odd but some gentle persuasion with a fine file on the holes of the TRC should get it lying flat without too much effort.

 

Congrats on choosing a very fine playing, sounding and looking guitar - 3 out of 3 can't be bad - and welcome to the forum!

 

P.

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I have now returned the guitar, not for the blemishes but because the truss rod was loose and the guitar had very little relief which means i could not add more relief to the neck and i wont be able to have any relief if I use 9's. I will get a replacement on tuesday. Is the truss rod issue common for gibson LP's since it doesn't have double acting truss rod?

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Re: TR problem. Common, NO! Unheard of, NO (as well). Sounds like you just got

a "Problem child." It happens, unfortunatately, with all mass produced products.

Here's hoping your replacement will be as beautiful, and without any "issues."

 

But, this is one reason, among other's, that I never buy Guitars, "on-line!"

I always have to play them, and inspect them, first! So, as inconvenient as

a 2 hour drive (each way) is, to my dealer, it's way worth it, in the long run!

 

Good Luck, and Best Wishes, on your replacement.

 

CB

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Also, if you (because of circumstances, distances, etc.) have to buy from an

"On-Line" dealer, check out "Sweetwater," or "Wildwood Guitars" where they

show you, the actual guitar you're getting, and have a really good reputation,

for Great Customer Service, and in-house inspections, prior to shipping. That,

at least, will minimize the probability of getting a "lemon." It won't guarantee

you'll love the playability, or sound, but at least some of the potential problems

will be minimized.

 

Cheers,

CB

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Thanks for the info Charlie, now i am more relieved since its not that common of a problem hopefully it will be a problem free guitar. Actually i have bought the guitar from a local shop (from UK) but they didn't had that finish in stock at my local shop but had 2 of them on some of their other shops. So i had to pick one of them so asked them if they can provide me with some photos to compare them and choose which one to ship here so they sent me a few iphone photos and i went for one of them and as it turns out it was a lemon. Now I am going for the other one and i hope its going to be a nice guitar, this one its going to be a couple of months younger (27 of August 2013 I believe) fingers crossed.

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Thanks for the info Charlie, now i am more relieved since its not that common of a problem hopefully it will be a problem free guitar. Actually i have bought the guitar from a local shop (from UK) but they didn't had that finish in stock at my local shop but had 2 of them on some of their other shops. So i had to pick one of them so asked them if they can provide me with some photos to compare them and choose which one to ship here so they sent me a few iphone photos and i went for one of them and as it turns out it was a lemon. Now I am going for the other one and i hope its going to be a nice guitar, this one its going to be a couple of months younger (27 of August 2013 I believe) fingers crossed.

 

Oh, sorry...didn't realize you were in the UK. [blush] But, I think Sweetwater and Wildwood Guitars

DO ship international. Maybe the tarrif isn't worth it, though? Not sure. Surely, there must

be some "on-line" dealers (Andertons, for one) that are quite trustworthy, over there?

 

Anyway, I hope the replacement fills the bill, quite nicely!

 

Cheers,

CB

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I dont think its worth it to order from the US, I might end up paying more (import tax, shipping etc) and I might still get a lemon. Right now in the UK there are only 4-5 Signature T's in Vintage Sunburst so i don't have much of a choice. I usually buy from Thomann cause i have a month to decide if want a guitar or not and also thomann has the best prices europe but they ran out of stock of VS "T's".

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Here is my replacement Signature T. I am very happy with this one, the truss rod actually works and there are no noticeable finish imperfections. Also i think this one is more resonant and fuller acoustically.

You can see the maple top under the binding like the previous one but there are no ugly wood fillers on that one.

The only problem i have notice on that on is that after i raised the stop bar i could hear harmonics when i was strumming the high E string, I lowered the stop bar on the high e side so that the string barely touches on the bridge and it stopped.

 

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when they switched back to the thinner binding many many moons ago they maple cap is visable under the binding.

The 'historical' gang here can tell you when that switched back from a fat binding that covered that section.

 

glad you got one that is better finished overall.

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I just picked up a 2013 Les Paul Standard Premium Plus and have the EXACT poor cut away scenario. Its like the original post took a shot of mine....EXACT!!!!!!

 

Looks like they don't pay much attention when they are filling the cutaway, did you get a price reduction? What is the finish of your standard can we see a picture?

I think errors in that area might be quite common but on most finishes you cant see them.

 

Btw thanks everyone for your comments [thumbup] , i've spend a lot of time yesterday setting up everything and now it plays like a dream, the only thing i am not sure about are the pickup heights for the 57-57+.

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