Welshman Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Another new, frustrated member of the group! I too ordered mine a few weeks ago - just before the price hike! It would be nice if Gibson just kept us informed - the info on the website hasn't been updated since the 2nd of January!!!! Also, I have noticed plenty of glitches, firmware updates etc mentioned in the forum, are the DFs going to arrive fixed or will we have to implement the firmware updates ourselves when they arrive? Surely Gibson can start to get at least SOME information flowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitareal Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 For me, firmware update is not an issue, since the need for updates will continue to exist in the future and we will have to do it ourselves (this is normal for the technology that the guitar includes - we are talking about a mini-pc here). I think the main issues addressed here for gibson representatives are: - MCK functionality problems: hard to pull, not poping up after short press, noise issues (maybe there is no fix for this last one) - Fret ends sharpenning - tuning issues for some sttings (some people have reported specific strings do not come in absolute tune) - RIP unit inclusion in the initial guitar package (important at least for EU customers) - (any other known issues that have to do with hardware and i forget or am unaware...) IS Gibson working on the above, so that the customers waiting during this period can have the "flawless" product? Maybe we should create a separate topic for these questions so that Gibson reps. can see them and hopefully reply. If people here feel the same way, i can start the new topic. Expecting your feedback... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 ... Thing is it has to be near perfect when it arrives over here as an RMA will not be as simple as in the States so I can see how Gibson want to minimise this risk.. I'll admit ignorance over this. Are you saying in the long run Gibson will not have the capability to service these guitars anywhere outside US? Do you think they will have to ship each faulty unit from Europe to US at their cost? That would be horrible. Hope they can spread the parts & knowledge to their service centers around the world. Thats certainly what I'm counting on! Keep well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MLB Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 Just my .02 cents: I think, given a short time, training and parts will be available at your local Gibson service center as like any other Gibson product. It will take some time for the knowledge transfer and the parts to be readily available. But, I really don't see this as a large training curve. A simple understanding of the electronics and the differences between non-tuning types of guitars is not that different, plus the GOR has already been out for a year or more. The ability to recognize an issue and troubleshoot it down to the failing component should be a relatively easy task.....there really is a small amount of parts in the DF....assembly-wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elantric Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 For Europe - what is the current status for Robot 1 service? If 14 months after the GOR release, Robot Service for Europe still does not exist - then this may be a bad indicator of when Dark Fire Service will arrive in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 That's a good point. Anyone know? Personally, I don't think this will affect us much in the long run. The electronics are covered under warranty for a year anyways. I will make sure the basic issues are sorted out in this year and then buy some spares when I can (ie 1 x left & right tuning head, 1 x MCK etc) and hunker down. The rest is basic guitar maintenance which should be possible to procure almost anywhere in the world. I must applaud Tronical and Gibson for the design of the electronics. They fit the guitar in the most un-intrusive manner. Very easy to service from what I can see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elantric Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 True - it would be OK if you could actually buy spare Robot / Dark Fire parts - but even after 14 months - Robot 1 parts are still not available for purchase. Hopefully Gibson will change this policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted January 26, 2009 Share Posted January 26, 2009 I didn't know this. Hope the policy changes along the way. It would be a shame to buy a second DF to cannibalize parts along the way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steveyp Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I'll admit ignorance over this. Are you saying in the long run Gibson will not have the capability to service these guitars anywhere outside US? Do you think they will have to ship each faulty unit from Europe to US at their cost? That would be horrible. Hope they can spread the parts & knowledge to their service centers around the world. Thats certainly what I'm counting on! Keep well. Hi MCK, I do not know for sure just a gut feeling that because of the problems releasing this guitar I doubt very much that any UK or European service centres will have the resources to fix problems on this guitar and that any initial problems will require either a long wait for parts at such a service centre or a return trip to Nashville. Because US customers are in the country of origin (albiet a very large country) it is at the moment simpler for Gibson to effect RMA repairs there. Sometimes distance is not the issue but all the red tape at customs points. I'll admit much ignorance over and what I said is just my opinion, but I do find it frustrating that there is even more ignorance among the majority of UK dealers about this guitar. Any future or current purchaser will be at least a week ahead of these dealers on info just by reading these forums. Which makes me wonder why they do not read them! As I have said in another post I cancelled my online order after waiting since November 2008 on a pre-order. If there are any left when they arrive in the UK I will travel and handle the guitar in the flesh before purchase (kinda hoping for a flame top like elantrics). If they are all gone then that's tough on me and I shoul;d have been more patient and taken the risk. It is still 6 weeks until they are expected over here and they have not yet been officially reviewd in any of the UK guitar press, I am waitin on the Feb issue of Guitarist who claimed last month they will be doing a full review. Anyway good luck to all current DF owners and hopefully one day I will join your ranks and be able to post with hands on knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLexxiTronic Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 But... But... But... Tronical is a German company. It's got all the parts (albeit, very proprietary parts)! Just "take a quick drive" over there and see they guys. hehehe.. (yeah, right). My thought is, forget about US, Europe, or rest of world for parts. If I were owner of proprietary technology, I would want to keep it that way as long as possible. So, I would not offer parts at all... Instead, I would have the guitars sent in (somewhere) for repair where I could swap out old for new AND KEEP THE OLD parts!! Yep... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bwanadik Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I am waitin on the Feb issue of Guitarist who claimed last month they will be doing a full review.. I have the February issue (# 312) of Guitarist magazine (it came out on 20th Jan). The promised exclusive review of the Gibson Dark Fire is not there. It has now been scheduled for next month’s magazine. "Coming next month Exclusive Reviews Gibson Dark Fire It will turn up this time, we promise" So look out for the March issue (#313) available in the UK on 17 February 2009. It might be a good idea to check the review is definitely there before handing over your £5.50. http://www.guitarist.co.uk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 But... But... But... Tronical is a German company. It's got all the parts (albeit' date=' very proprietary parts)! Just "take a quick drive" over there and see they guys. hehehe.. (yeah, right). My thought is, forget about US, Europe, or rest of world for parts. If I were owner of proprietary technology, I would want to keep it that way as long as possible. So, I would not offer parts at all... Instead, I would have the guitars sent in (somewhere) for repair where I could swap out old for new AND KEEP THE OLD parts!! Yep... Makes sense in order to protect IP as long as possible but not effective in reality. First off patent documents filed are public domain and reveal a lot. Secondly whatever one can gain from parts can also be gained from a guitar already purchased and dismantled. That is to say, Gibson has no way to avoid having a person in China buy a unit, dismantle it, reverse engineer it and then manufacture something similar. They would do it if if they knew they could sell it. Look at Meizu vs iPhone. Not condoning IP piracy here. Just saying parts censorship will not help Gibson at all IMHO... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I have the February issue (# 312) of Guitarist magazine (it came out on 20th Jan). The promised exclusive review of the Gibson Dark Fire is not there. It has now been scheduled for next month’s magazine. "Coming next month Exclusive Reviews Gibson Dark Fire It will turn up this time' date=' we promise" So look out for the March issue (#313) available in the UK on 17 February 2009. It might be a good idea to check the review is definitely there before handing over your £5.50. http://www.guitarist.co.uk/ [/quote'] This is real funny. Even a magazine reviewer can't get his/her DF... Can't believe I managed to get mine already. Flame or no flame... its a keeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steveyp Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Thanks for that info Bwanadik, Not got my Feb copy yet so you just saved me some dissapointment. I thought with their contacts they could blag one from a certain J Hawkins!!!!!!! just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamH Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Just ordered my DF from GAK (guitar amp keyboard) and got an e-mail aying estimated dispatch ened of Feb/Early March Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPaul Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 :D With great regret I have to leave the “have nots” to join the won’t haves. I have had to cancel my DF order, as I have just been made redundant. Hopefully I will be able to get one later. For now I will take it out on my GOR. I will have some time to practice. Many thanks to Elantric for his patience and words of wisdom, I will be watching the forum to be up to speed when the winds change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimy Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Dont know whether to laught or cry here, seeing that price was £1999, I put a deposit down yesterday and the price is up to £2399- whats the reason , any ideas? What a ripoff!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elantric Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Its the simple fact that the US Dollar remains strong vs British Pound Sterling - major changes occurred between September 2008 and January 2009. http://www.propertywire.com/news/currency-watch/dollar-gains-euro-sterling-200901202434.html The British pound fell to a six-year low versus the dollar after the UK government said it would spend an extra £100 billion ($142 billion) to support the nation's banks, a second lifeline in three months, and increase its stake in Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. Its a volatile time for currency all around the world. On the positive side - at least you do not reside in Iceland and are trying to purchase the Dark Fire with Iceland Krona this month. Friday, January 30, 2009 3,500 US Dollar = 402,885 Iceland Krona http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/europe/uk/currency.htm Friday, January 30, 2009 3,500 US Dollar = 2,460.16 British Pound Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimy Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 Thanks for that, wont be moving to Iceland any time soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Welshman Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Elantric, that may be true this time, but Gibson have been ripping off UK customers for years. When the exchange rate was 1.9 USD to the pound, we were paying almost DOUBLE what you were paying over the water - especially on accoustics. I thought it would improve when Gibson started selling the guitars themselves rather than using Rosetti, who were obviously taking a cut as well, but Gibson have merely acted to make even more money out of us. The trouble is, I love the sound and feel of Gibsons so much, I just can't help myself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Heh heh... thats the love you get from Gibson despite hordes of brand ambassadors that came out of the UK... I wonder if anyone did a tally. As in number of trend-setting Gibson players out of UK vs US and then look at the same for Fender players. I have a hunch UK may outnumber US for Gibson players. Not trying to get a new Boston tea party started here but just stating my humble opinion. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spindrift Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Bump thanks for information elantric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCK Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 The Have-Nots Club is accepting registrations!!! Don't be shy Click here to enter pending delivery orders Click here to view the Pending DarkFire orders list Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spindrift Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 lol ok Kerem you're faster than me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyurq Posted May 22, 2009 Share Posted May 22, 2009 Hi MCK, Details added, thanks for the hard work and great idea. Hopefully we can get the bigger picture around the World. Cheers Johnny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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