Strange marks on binding and fretboard (LP Standard 2016 HP)

[Wildchild]

Hi all, this is my first Gibson ever and I am very excited. Just arrived yesterday and I can't stop play it! First time also I ever bought an instrument online.

So, the guitar it's IMO beautiful, the Fireball finish (or Fire Burst) it's awesome, one of the best TOP ever seen. The sound is amazing, the neck fantastic...but there is something I am worried about.

On the last fret, the binding has some "mark" on it, I tried to clean it with polish but it doesn't works. There's also some trace of "something" on the last fret as well.

Is this "normal" for a Gibson? I have 2 Jackson USA (RR1 and SL1) with binding and both are perfect in every single details, also my Ibanez RGT3020.

Thanks in advance!

Edited February 1, 2020 by Wildchild

[01GT eibach]

Shouldn't the binding be over the frets?

[Wildchild]

14 minutes ago, 01GT eibach said:

Shouldn't the binding be over the frets?

Not on the 2016 HP model for sure, I think they stop doing that since 2014 (I'm not sure!).

[Eracer_Team]

Don't think there's anything to "worry " other then some light esthetic. 

Bindings are put on, guitar is stained/painted/nitro lacquer,  then bindings are scrapped by hand with a razor blade. 

Its possible to have some stain /lacquer residue 

[SteveFord]

That's from the Bad Olde Days when the factory only had one light bulb for them to huddle around.

Shame, Henry J, for shame!

[Sgt. Pepper]

4 hours ago, SteveFord said:

That's from the Bad Olde Days when the factory only had one light bulb for them to huddle around.

Shame, Henry J, for shame!

How rich is that guy? 

[Strong Heavy]

Try to clean with Gibson pump polish or something neutral

[Sgt. Pepper]

5 hours ago, Strong Heavy said:

Try to clean with Gibson pump polish or something neutral

It looks like cracks. I don't think you can clean a crack. The binding may get cleaner but if there cracks there for keeps.

Edited February 4, 2020 by Sgt. Pepper

[Wildchild]

Thanks for your suggestion, I already tried with polish (Dunlop 65) but it doesn't works.  You can't "feel" it with the hand, so it doesn't seems like a "crack" in the binding but I could be wrong.

The guitar itself it's great, I love the way it sounds and the feel but I'm a bit disappointed on this.

I could return it in 30 days, but I think it's just a minor esthetic issue. What do you suggest?

Also, this is the last Fireball in the shop, I should change the color too to one available.

I also noticed that the mother of pearl inlay seems to be scracthed in someway (vertical lines), it's hard to described, I have 2 Jackson USA with and the mother of pearl looks very "perfect" in those.

Last thing, the guitar it's from 2016 brand new, closed case. Once opened, the strings was so much out of tune, 2-3 tones under the "E". Once tuned correctly, it needed a truss-rod adjust in order to avoid the fret buzz. Is this normal for a Gibson guitar or maybe I have to worried about this? Neck looks fine after the truss rod, action is very low and every fret sounds good now.

 

Edited February 4, 2020 by Wildchild

[NighthawkChris]

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. 

[Wildchild]

6 minutes ago, NighthawkChris said:

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. 

Thanks a lot for your point of view, I agree with you. It's not a cheap guitar for sure, so I honestly didn't expect these kind of "issues" on it. 

The guitar it's brand new but I think was keep stored in his case since July 2016, so almost 4 years now.

But it plays damn good, and I like so much the feel I have with it. I need to think about this for a while but actually I just don't want to send it back but also I'm not 100% happy due to this estethic issues. 

[Sgt. Pepper]

Here is something that cant hurt - try a MR. Clean Magic Eraser.

[Strong Heavy]

19 hours ago, Wildchild said:

Thanks for your suggestion, I already tried with polish (Dunlop 65) but it doesn't works.  You can't "feel" it with the hand, so it doesn't seems like a "crack" in the binding but I could be wrong.

The guitar itself it's great, I love the way it sounds and the feel but I'm a bit disappointed on this.

I could return it in 30 days, but I think it's just a minor esthetic issue. What do you suggest?

Also, this is the last Fireball in the shop, I should change the color too to one available.

I also noticed that the mother of pearl inlay seems to be scracthed in someway (vertical lines), it's hard to described,

 

 

The inlays on your Les Paul are real mother of pearl, not plastic.

Inlays look how they must look, don' t worry.

Edited February 5, 2020 by Strong Heavy

[merciful-evans]

On 2/2/2020 at 11:12 AM, Eracer_Team said:

Don't think there's anything to "worry " other then some light esthetic. 

Bindings are put on, guitar is stained/painted/nitro lacquer,  then bindings are scrapped by hand with a razor blade. 

Its possible to have some stain /lacquer residue 

 

That sounds very feasible.

At the very least, it looks like overzealous cleaning/scraping.

Personally, it would not trouble me in the least. I'd be happy with the guitar the OP described it. 

[Wildchild]

Thank you all for your support and opinions, I think I'll keep the guitar after all. It just sounds so good and I have a great feel with it.

Estethic it's important for this pricey gear, but I must remember that first of all it's importanti how it sounds and feels to me.

Hope that this issues could be fixed somehow by a good guitar tech maybe, I need to change the strings too cause I think that after 4 years of storage from factory they just need a replacement (tuning stability and elasticity especially during bending).

I'm in contact with the shop for all this things, I 'll ask for a partial refund maybe.

[Lungimsam]

I think it is worth keeping. If you return it, you risk never finding one that sounds and plays as nice again.

The funny thing is:

if you ever get famous, everyone will want to make their binding look just like yours. And they will be willing to pay 7000$US for the Custom Shop "Wildchild Les Paul" model with the scratchy looking binding. Gibson Custom Shop will ask you to surrender yours, on loan, so they can replicate it, and swooning fans will digitally enhance photos of you playing live to verify their model they paid top dollar for is an accurate copy of your original.😂

 

[Wildchild]

LOL... 😄 ...maybe in another life, but you know...never say never! 🙂

[Pinch]

On 2/5/2020 at 11:40 AM, Wildchild said:

Thank you all for your support and opinions, I think I'll keep the guitar after all. It just sounds so good and I have a great feel with it.

Estethic it's important for this pricey gear, but I must remember that first of all it's importanti how it sounds and feels to me.

Hope that this issues could be fixed somehow by a good guitar tech maybe, I need to change the strings too cause I think that after 4 years of storage from factory they just need a replacement (tuning stability and elasticity especially during bending).

I'm in contact with the shop for all this things, I 'll ask for a partial refund maybe.

Good choice. I've seen cracks that tiny in the binding on other guitars years and years ago, and revisiting them years later, they certainly haven' t gotten worse. 

I definitely wouldn't worry about it. Enjoy your new guitar!