rainydayman82@g Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 (edited) I've got to say, I'm having trouble getting past the inconsistencies on the fretboard of this guitar. It is a 2019 Gibson SG. I've had it for three months and due to my inexperienced eye, failed to notice this when I first bought it. I've also been grappling with tuning stability issues since I've got it and so far, a good setup and playing the guitar in does not seem to have done the trick. I'm starting to worry that I have ended up with a lemon. What is going on here? Edited January 24, 2021 by rainydayman82@g Spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickc Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 I've never seen anything like this before. It's hard to believe that it left the factory that way. Please post more pictures of the whole guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainydayman82@g Posted January 24, 2021 Author Share Posted January 24, 2021 It's crazy I didn't notice it straight away as the guitar does sound and feel nice but this sloppy craftsmanship is in fact, glaring and extremely messy work and it really bothers me. I can't figure out if the person who was scraping the binding went too hard and lowered the profile of the individual frets or whether the fretboard was shaped this way before the binding went on hence the awkward angle of the binding. The guitar doesn't seem to intonate very well either so I'm wondering if this is a setup issue or is due to the inconsistencies found on the fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 That is some odd looking frettage going on there. Guitars don't seem to intonate very well, they either do or they don't. The intonation doesn't care about that weird looking fret stuff there. rct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainydayman82@g Posted January 25, 2021 Author Share Posted January 25, 2021 (edited) 21 minutes ago, rct said: That is some odd looking frettage going on there. Guitars don't seem to intonate very well, they either do or they don't. The intonation doesn't care about that weird looking fret stuff there. rct Looking at it again it does look as though the frets are not at all level either. Basically, I find myself having to make tiny adjustments to the tuning constantly as it doesn't seem to sound in-tune in certain positions. I can never seem to get it 100% right. I would like to see the dealer or Gibson address this as it becoming apparent to me that the guitar is somewhat defective and needs to be reviewed under its guarantee. As you can see more ugly and wildly inconsistent profiling: Edited January 25, 2021 by rainydayman82@g More info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 4 minutes ago, rainydayman82@g said: Looking at it again it does look as though the frets are not at all level either. Basically, I find myself having to make tiny adjustments to the tuning constantly as it seems to sound out in certain positions. I can never seem to get it 100% right. This is a guarantee issue, right? I would like to see the dealer or Gibson address this as it becoming apparent to me that the guitar is somewhat defective. It is some weird looking fret stuff. I'm not breaking your balls, but there is no "seem" in tuning. It is or it isn't. It intonates or it doesn't. Some whacky high fret could cause you to have a problem with that string when you fret there, that would be very obvious and very repeatable. I don't about warranty issue. If you are inside the return time I would just return it. If you are not I would have it looked at by somebody competent if you have anyone around, and get an opinion. rct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainydayman82@g Posted January 25, 2021 Author Share Posted January 25, 2021 The no quibble return time is 14 days and I'm way past that by this point. However the dealer gives a 3 year guarantee and I would say the given the severity of the defect, it should be covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NighthawkChris Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 (edited) Hopefully you get some help with addressing that mess. But the good news in reality is if your neck can be made straight, this issue CAN be fixed. I don’t think you’d need a refret necessarily but you need someone to make sure your frets are level and someone who is good with a file that can do some cleanup on those fret ends. IMHO you only have a lemon when you have a guitar with some cracked wood, twisted neck, or a truss rod that doesn’t do what it’s supposed to. Overall I hope you get some help from the place/guy that sold it to you. If they care about you buying more gear from them they better do what it takes to make it right for you. But in the meantime, if you’re in the business of playing guitars, they’re gonna wear them out so either you know who can fix your fret, nut, whatever issues or you do it yourself with all those expensive guitar tools. I take my stuff to a guy I know isn’t going to hack up my $2k Les Paul. Had to go through a couple guys, but the guy I know now is awesome AF. edit: I had this same issue with 2 LP Classics from 2018. By this I mean I tried one, turned it in for another, then same crappy craftsmanship on the replacement. So consequently I stayed away from these and haven’t looked back. My Custom Shop guitars are perfect but you shouldn’t have to pay CS prices to get a halfway decent job in fretwork. Edited January 25, 2021 by NighthawkChris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainydayman82@g Posted January 25, 2021 Author Share Posted January 25, 2021 I have found a luthier in my area that should be able to go down that route should the eventuality arise. Although I know nothing about guitar repair, it is becoming apparent to me that the binding is the least of my problems. It's sad to say I bought a 400€ Chinese made Epiphone for my son that has none of these issues. I know it is not fair to compare as they are kind of on different entry levels but come on Gibson! It is telling that you had the same problems with two LPs. I'm afraid that if I had the SG replaced, there would be similar issues. It is not a good feeling to spend 1300€ on your dream guitar only to come to the realisation that it needs major work done on it in order to make it playable. It really takes the fun out of what should be a satisfying experience. I have no problem paying for a set up from time to time, hell a refret after years of playing but paying hundreds for what I consider to be work to rectify a very serious quality issue straight out of the box is quite frankly embarrassing and completely unacceptable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NighthawkChris Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 @rainydayman82@g you haven’t said anything I disagree with. If fretwork is the only real issue I wouldn’t call it major necessarily. For a new guitar it is a major failure this got by, but from your perspective getting fretwork done as inconvenient as it is shouldn’t break the bank. I can get a fret dressing with my guy for about $150. I get your point about this being something you have sought after for a while and you get something that is unacceptable. I empathize with you in this situation. Since you’re stuck with the guitar you have only a couple options that will help you out here. Sell it or live with it. If you live with it, do what you can to get this resolved with the seller or take it in to someone that can fix this on your dime. There’s really nothing else to do if your return window is closed. Best of luck to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainydayman82@g Posted January 25, 2021 Author Share Posted January 25, 2021 18 minutes ago, NighthawkChris said: @rainydayman82@g you haven’t said anything I disagree with. If fretwork is the only real issue I wouldn’t call it major necessarily. For a new guitar it is a major failure this got by, but from your perspective getting fretwork done as inconvenient as it is shouldn’t break the bank. I can get a fret dressing with my guy for about $150. I get your point about this being something you have sought after for a while and you get something that is unacceptable. I empathize with you in this situation. Since you’re stuck with the guitar you have only a couple options that will help you out here. Sell it or live with it. If you live with it, do what you can to get this resolved with the seller or take it in to someone that can fix this on your dime. There’s really nothing else to do if your return window is closed. Best of luck to you. It does have a 3 year guarantee and as I consider this a manufacturing defect, I should be able to get them to do the work on their dime. The company is called Malaga 8 in Madrid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 (edited) 19 hours ago, rainydayman82@g said: I've got to say, I'm having trouble getting past the inconsistencies on the fretboard of this guitar. It is a 2019 Gibson SG. I've had it for three months and due to my inexperienced eye, failed to notice this when I first bought it. I've also been grappling with tuning stability issues since I've got it and so far, a good setup and playing the guitar in does not seem to have done the trick. I'm starting to worry that I have ended up with a lemon. What is going on here? That there is some iconic fret and binding work. I guess it was the binding scrapers (that is how they get the paint off the binding and I am not kidding) first day on the job unsupervised. Edited January 25, 2021 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NighthawkChris Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 4 hours ago, rainydayman82@g said: It does have a 3 year guarantee and as I consider this a manufacturing defect, I should be able to get them to do the work on their dime. The company is called Malaga 8 in Madrid. Well I hope so because yeah that job looks like poop. We live and we learn. Guitars aren’t the only thing I’ve lost money on or spent good money on to get crap in return. Sometimes you have to speak up to those that sold that thing to you and don’t let up until you get some resolution or they lose your business forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 If it was me, I'd take it to a luthier first. SG's can be kind of tough to set up. There's lots of things that have to be right for the whole thing to be right. It's hard to say it's a problem with the guitar until it's been dialed in as well as possible. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainydayman82@g Posted January 25, 2021 Author Share Posted January 25, 2021 3 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said: That there is some iconic fret and binding work. I guess it was the binding scrapers (that is how they get the paint off the binding and I am not kidding) first day on the job unsupervised. I actually think they scraped off some of the fretboard in the process. It's easy to see with the naked eye, less so in a photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 Just now, rainydayman82@g said: I actually think they scraped off some of the fretboard in the process. It's easy to see with the naked eye, less so in a photo. Yeah you can see where it slopes down on the edge of the fretboard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainydayman82@g Posted January 25, 2021 Author Share Posted January 25, 2021 3 hours ago, NighthawkChris said: Well I hope so because yeah that job looks like poop. We live and we learn. Guitars aren’t the only thing I’ve lost money on or spent good money on to get crap in return. Sometimes you have to speak up to those that sold that thing to you and don’t let up until you get some resolution or they lose your business forever. I already have but I'm still waiting for their reply. The company is called Malaga 8 in Madrid. It is Gibson's fault for shipping out crap with huge blunders like this on it but the dealer's fault for not sending it back in the first place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainydayman82@g Posted January 25, 2021 Author Share Posted January 25, 2021 Just now, Sgt. Pepper said: Yeah you can see where it slopes down on the edge of the fretboard. I swear the notes don't sound one hundred percent in that area.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 (edited) 2 minutes ago, rainydayman82@g said: I swear the notes don't sound one hundred percent in that area.. If its new and under warranty send it back ASAP. If not I guess its yours to deal with. And that blows. Edited January 25, 2021 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainydayman82@g Posted January 25, 2021 Author Share Posted January 25, 2021 2 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said: Yeah you can see where it slopes down on the edge of the fretboard. If the company I bought it from don't take it back and do the necessary work to rectify the problem, I intend to take it to a luthier. I'm pretty sure the only reasonable option would be to have the fretboard level and the whole thing refretted. Maybe, I'm wrong, perhaps someone could educate me on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 (edited) 3 minutes ago, rainydayman82@g said: If the company I bought it from don't take it back and do the necessary work to rectify the problem, I intend to take it to a luthier. I'm pretty sure the only reasonable option would be to have the fretboard level and the whole thing refretted. Maybe, I'm wrong, perhaps someone could educate me on that. Do you have a good long straight edge ruler that you can check to see if the frets are all level once the strings are off and you adjust the truss rod? I bought one from Stew Mac when I learned how to set up my acoustics. Edited January 25, 2021 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainydayman82@g Posted January 25, 2021 Author Share Posted January 25, 2021 1 minute ago, Sgt. Pepper said: If its new and under warranty send it back ASAP. If not I guess its yours to deal with. And that blows. It has a three year guarantee for factory defects, which this is. I will let you guys know when I receive a reply. I'm certainly not interested in spending X amount of money trying to solve somebody else's mistake. Apart from that the guitar sounds nice, the neck is really slinky. I want to keep but cannot accept the crappy fretwork. It could and should be the best guitar I've ever had in my life but Gibson have somehow deemed that impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainydayman82@g Posted January 25, 2021 Author Share Posted January 25, 2021 Just now, Sgt. Pepper said: Do you have a good long straight edge ruler that you can check to see if the frets are all level once the strings are off and you adjust the truss rod? I'm not entirely sure if the frets are 100% level. The neck seems straight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 (edited) 1 minute ago, rainydayman82@g said: I'm not entirely sure if the frets are 100% level. The neck seems straight You need some relief in your neck when under tension. Your neck should bow up just slightly with strings on. Edited January 25, 2021 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NighthawkChris Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 3 minutes ago, rainydayman82@g said: If the company I bought it from don't take it back and do the necessary work to rectify the problem, I intend to take it to a luthier. I'm pretty sure the only reasonable option would be to have the fretboard level and the whole thing refretted. Maybe, I'm wrong, perhaps someone could educate me on that. No refret necessary. If your neck - i.e. the WOOD - can be made straight via the truss rod, then the frets can be leveled. And you have tons of life on those frets to allow for a small amount of material to come off as usually happens in a dressing. To verify the wood can be made straight, you need a notched straightedge, because if you do have high frets, a solid straightedge will not help you out. Overall, possibly a dressing is necessary and some fret end work. After that, should be able to set it up to spec and adjust to your liking to get it in perfect shape. Like I said, this isn't a "death sentence" for the guitar that some frets are out of whack. When you have cracks, truss rod pinned, etc. these are what you worry about. Everything else can be fixed typically. In your case, if it's only the frets, focus on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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