semi-hollowbody Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 I have quite a few epis 2004 dot deluxe 2006 les paul standard 2007 G400 2006 dot deluxe Ive been playing a lot of new epis lately at guitar center and JUST purchased a les paul traditional pro Many of the ones Ive played lately, including sherratons and casinos, had loose pot nuts (when it maxes out, just a tad more pressure and the pot turns in the body) When I got my traditional pro out of the noisy guitar center and home I heard a metallic clinking at the headstock...first thought was "oh no, truss rod/nut is fubar"...turned out ALL 6 tuner nuts were loose, and a few were clanking against the washers...NO BIG DEAL, I tightened them and its good to go same with the tone pots (push pull volume pots were fine) had to pop the knobs off and tighten the nuts again, this is an easily fixed issue, not a deal breaker...and I LOVE my new trad pro...but why is the hardware on these coming loose? Its march in michigan, its been a cold dry winter...could lack of humidity do this?? just curious Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted March 17, 2014 Share Posted March 17, 2014 All of my new guitars suffered from this trouble. I guess it is due to finish shrinkage which makes screws and nuts getting loose during the first months. The opposites are the bigger problems, and I sadly found these, too, dull threads in the wood and/or botched up screw heads Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semi-hollowbody Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 Why blame Epi for the shitty setup at guitar-center ? buy at a store where this doesn't happen Who is blaming epi?? And who actually thinks guitar center sets up their guitars unless you pay them too, small shops for that matter as well. I didnt think this was caused by poor quality control, more like environmental issues (humidity or as mentioned above the finish shrinkage) Do people still use clear nail polish in between nuts and washers to keep em from loosening? A lock washer wont work on tuning heads, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 I'm absolutely convinced it's environmental. No way Epi let a guitar out of the factory with strings flat on the frets. But I've seen some come in off the truck in original packaging that way. Sweetwater sent me one Epi that was flatted out and I returned it rather than mess with the truss rod - and I do believe Sweetwater's claim they do their own check of instruments and they certainly would not have sent on out like that. The replacement was almost, but not quite as bad and I did mess with it. Ditto frets sticking out a bit. Ditto a bit of shrinkage apparently loosening various nuts and bolts. I've a hunch that the distance between those pot nuts and the wood, if measured, would be significant enough to bring some concern even if the nuts were welded at the factory when snugged down. And heavens, I hope nobody would want the nut screwed down so it digs into the wood. Wood absorbs moisture; it grows, shrinks and moves because of it. But I'll take the vicissitudes of such materials over an all plastic git fiddle. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Who is blaming epi?? And who actually thinks guitar center sets up their guitars unless you pay them too, small shops for that matter as well. I didnt think this was caused by poor quality control, more like environmental issues (humidity or as mentioned above the finish shrinkage) Do people still use clear nail polish in between nuts and washers to keep em from loosening? A lock washer wont work on tuning heads, I never experienced the need for using nail polish, other lacquer or thread-locking fluid for screws or nuts on guitars in general. In particular I use nail polish for the screws adjusting the bracket holding the vibrato springs of Floyd Rose systems, and thread-locking fluid for mounting the FR vibrato block to the FR bridge plate. Nuts like those of pots, switches, jacks and machine heads didn't go loose for years on my guitars. Even the shrinkage of nitrocellulose finishes practically comes to an end within ten to fifteen months, depending on finish thickness. There never has been a need for additional retightening later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomse Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 They do make tools to fix this problem ...................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomse Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 Good stores sell guitars without the need to fix them for extra cash B) You are so right . But then again when things get old they get lose . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobF_ Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 When I find a good Epi it's good, but more than not those I've picked up at GC have had loose hardware or some other issue. This at three different GC locations. I was told by staff at one of them that 8 out of 10 show up that way. No other shops I visit sell Epiphones (except ones I've traded in :) ) so I can't say if this is just GC stock or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted March 18, 2014 Share Posted March 18, 2014 When I find a good Epi it's good, but more than not those I've picked up at GC have had loose hardware or some other issue. This at three different GC locations. I was told by staff at one of them that 8 out of 10 show up that way. No other shops I visit sell Epiphones (except ones I've traded in :) ) so I can't say if this is just GC stock or not. Eight out of ten might match if there are eight Epiphone or Gibson Les Paul guitars among them, and you check for the toggle switch nuts I never found a single one sufficiently tightened on any brand new Les Paul guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 I dont know how or why they come loose, but I do know why stores like GC dont re-tighten them. Its a warranty thing. GC has to put in a repair ticket just to tighten pot and toggle nuts. No joke. I asked them to tighten the pot nuts on a guitar I bought from them a couple years ago and they said that they couldnt do it without putting in a repair ticket and it would take several days...to tighten a couple of nuts. Yay beauracracy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semi-hollowbody Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 I dont know how or why they come loose, but I do know why stores like GC dont re-tighten them. Its a warranty thing. GC has to put in a repair ticket just to tighten pot and toggle nuts. No joke. I asked them to tighten the pot nuts on a guitar I bought from them a couple years ago and they said that they couldnt do it without putting in a repair ticket and it would take several days...to tighten a couple of nuts. Yay beauracracy! Well that explains the 2 epiphone Sherratons that have been marked down on clearance for months at my local GC, $400 roughly, and no one is buying. I played them both and they had very loose pots, couldnt figure out why they didnt just tighten the damn things. I told the sales guy a when he asked if I liked them "no, the pots are loose, what else is wrong with them"...months later, still loose... Cant they just take these marked down guitars, already at used guitar prices, tighten the nuts and hang em on the used gear wall?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobF_ Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Cant they just take these marked down guitars, already at used guitar prices, tighten the nuts and hang em on the used gear wall?? That would depend on their arrangement with their supplier. I don't *know* this, but I would be willing to bet that the "agreement" between GC and the vendors is more pages long than either of us would want to read. I would also bet there are quite a few occurrences of "shall" and "shall not". I'm of the opinion that the guitars don't get fixed up because of a pissing match between supplier and retailer over who is going to pay for the tech time. So GC takes the "screw 'em approach" and uses the opportunity to sell more expensive guitars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobinTheHood Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 The funny thing is that they had no problem doing a truss rod adjustment on another guitar I was buying from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobF_ Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 The funny thing is that they had no problem doing a truss rod adjustment on another guitar I was buying from them. Playing DA here, but a difference could be that a truss rod adjustment is part of a setup to individual player specs. Tightening hardware could be considered the completion of the assembly process, or repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 unless it's been a display model GC never even breaks the seal on the box..... off the truck, into the backroom/or warehouse, out for delivery just as it came. i've heard of entirely wrong guitars being delivered in the correct box, because GC doesn't check them......so a lot of it IS a QC issue. i've ordered guitars from GC online that arrived with p'ups literally hanging loose under the strings due to stripped out screw-holes. that's the very reason I buy online from Sweetwater only, even if I have to request a special order. never gotten a dud from them ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomse Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 If I read the OP correctly, he was talking about new guitars... I am talking i am getting old and some of my guitars are, and we are getting loose . Sorry Midtowner. You know i go into shops here in Grand Rapids Michigan and i never see new Epiphones . Only at GC none of the small shops . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomse Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 unless it's been a display model GC never even breaks the seal on the box..... off the truck, into the backroom/or warehouse, out for delivery just as it came. i've heard of entirely wrong guitars being delivered in the correct box, because GC doesn't check them......so a lot of it IS a QC issue. i've ordered guitars from GC online that arrived with p'ups literally hanging loose under the strings due to stripped out screw-holes. that's the very reason I buy online from Sweetwater only, even if I have to request a special order. never gotten a dud from them ! You are so right . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Marlowe Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 I dont know how or why they come loose, but I do know why stores like GC dont re-tighten them. Its a warranty thing. GC has to put in a repair ticket just to tighten pot and toggle nuts. No joke. I asked them to tighten the pot nuts on a guitar I bought from them a couple years ago and they said that they couldnt do it without putting in a repair ticket and it would take several days...to tighten a couple of nuts. Yay beauracracy! So true. OTOH, I've had VERY good luck having them throw "used" guitars on the bench and work on them right there for me. I bought a bass a few years back, and they had just gotten in a fretless MIM Fender Jazz. It was brand new looking. Not a single scratch. Whoever owned it before they got it had set it up superbly well, and it just needed a few very minor adjustments and blam, they did them in 5 minutes while I waited. One of the best basses I've every played, and I've played quite a few. Just smooth as butter and tight as Scrooge McDuck. Like any guitar shop, the guys at GC respond well to you if you're nice to them. So my suggestion with respect to GC is to always buy used, find what you like on their website, and then have it delivered to your local gc store to try out. I've found a few GREAT deals that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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