Josephmang Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 Bought a new Gibson standard 60s in unburst, and yesterday it arrived. I was excited to open it up, but that quickly turned to disappointment when getting the guitar out of the case. Chips and scratches out of the fingerboard, including a large one near the nut. I'm usually not too fussy, and the small scratches I would have let go, but combined with the larger chips, it's just too much poor quality for me to be happy with the guitar. Is this the normal for Gibson? I haven't had many of their guitars, and I don't know what I should be expecting, but I would hope that it matched the quality of other guitars in that price range that I have. Anyone else seen these issues? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 Scratches on the rosewood from fret filing seem to be common these days. Some guys have posted photos much worse than yours. It's not something that makes us as buyers all that happy, but it is just cosmetics. If you are so inclined to try, a rub down with 0000 steel or brass wool might help to reduce the visuals. (Tape over your pickups first) Whoever is doing the fret work at Gibson, needs to be retrained. They are doing a crappy job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josephmang Posted March 18, 2022 Author Share Posted March 18, 2022 42 minutes ago, kidblast said: Scratches on the rosewood from fret filing seem to be common these days. Some guys have posted photos much worse than yours. It's not something that makes us as buyers all that happy, but it is just cosmetics. If you are so inclined to try, a rub down with 0000 steel or brass wool might help to reduce the visuals. (Tape over your pickups first) Whoever is doing the fret work at Gibson, needs to be retrained. They are doing a crappy job. The scratches aren't too bad, I could live with those. It's the actual chunks taken out of it that concern me, especially the one near the nut. Feels very disheartening at this point though, going through the motions of having to send it back, or to do work on it myself. Feels a little redundant spending so much on a guitar only for it to need repairs/touch ups out of the box. But I also don't know if it's worth the risk trying for a different one and ending up with a worse top, or other issues 😬 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 yea, I agree, but you'd have to see the replacement up close before you can make that call.. For me, and my location, good luck even finding a Gibson dealer I won't buy from Guitar Center, so it's online purchase, and take yer chances.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 That bit by the nut is unacceptable (or at least it would be by me). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forsaken Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 Given the price of Standard's I would be sending it back. Mine was perfect. I bought it through a store and they checked it over before even handing it to me and of course I looked it over too. Can you send it back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josephmang Posted March 18, 2022 Author Share Posted March 18, 2022 7 hours ago, Forsaken said: Given the price of Standard's I would be sending it back. Mine was perfect. I bought it through a store and they checked it over before even handing it to me and of course I looked it over too. Can you send it back? Yeah I can send it back. But that also means taking the chances on another top that I may not like as much. Which I guess is my only option. Puts a real sour taste in your mouth about buying the guitars though. 😕 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josephmang Posted March 18, 2022 Author Share Posted March 18, 2022 10 hours ago, kidblast said: yea, I agree, but you'd have to see the replacement up close before you can make that call.. For me, and my location, good luck even finding a Gibson dealer I won't buy from Guitar Center, so it's online purchase, and take yer chances.. I have some dealers near me, but I'm also in Australia. Which means we kind of get whatever stock we get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josephmang Posted March 18, 2022 Author Share Posted March 18, 2022 9 hours ago, SteveFord said: That bit by the nut is unacceptable (or at least it would be by me). That's my feelings also. The others I could forgive, but I see that bit by the nut whenever I play, so it would haunt me to no end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forsaken Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 13 hours ago, Josephmang said: Yeah I can send it back. But that also means taking the chances on another top that I may not like as much. Which I guess is my only option. Puts a real sour taste in your mouth about buying the guitars though. 😕 It is a ***** I agree. I went through it when Allan's music sent me a guitar case that turned out to be cut wrong and didn't fit my Explorer. On the bright side after a lot of back and forward I ended up getting to keep it and got a refund. Had to threaten them with small claims court though! I was able to fix the case too, just had to cut the foam to fit. 13 hours ago, Josephmang said: I have some dealers near me, but I'm also in Australia. Which means we kind of get whatever stock we get. I'm in Australia as well. I have bought a lot of guitars unseen online but when it comes to more expensive ones I put an order in with Coleman's music and when it arrives I check it out in store. My 60's Standard took about 6 months to arrive but it was perfect when it did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josephmang Posted March 19, 2022 Author Share Posted March 19, 2022 1 hour ago, Forsaken said: It is a ***** I agree. I went through it when Allan's music sent me a guitar case that turned out to be cut wrong and didn't fit my Explorer. On the bright side after a lot of back and forward I ended up getting to keep it and got a refund. Had to threaten them with small claims court though! I was able to fix the case too, just had to cut the foam to fit. I'm in Australia as well. I have bought a lot of guitars unseen online but when it comes to more expensive ones I put an order in with Coleman's music and when it arrives I check it out in store. My 60's Standard took about 6 months to arrive but it was perfect when it did. I ended up spending a couple of hours at Sky music today, as they let me go through all the standards they had in stock. Not a single one was entirely perfect, but I found one with an insane top for a standard with minimal fretboard marks, and nothing like what I am sending back. So I have ended up with a better guitar which I am happy with and can live with. But you're right, with Gibson I really do need to be inspecting in person as otherwise I run the risk of having to send back and forth. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NighthawkChris Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 (edited) Yeah the job around the nut is unacceptable 100%. Just another voice to say that this is not right. I would not keep that one. Let Gibson blame it on COVID. They also had a price hike recently, so wonder WTF we are paying more for... Honestly, I get the sour taste in your mouth. I for one don't like to buy new Gibsons. I only buy used because the latest runs of these guitars for the money are not worth the cost IMHO. YMMV. I also like Nighthawks, and those stopped being made in the 90s. TBH, I have only gone Custom Shop because these are impeccable MOST of the time. But you shouldn't have to pay CS dollars to get the binding scraped properly. Even then, I question if I really needed to buy my CS Gibsons... I have a better playing experience on my Indonesian made guitar that cost a fraction of what I paid for my CS Gibsons. Overall, it is a shame what Gibson USA has become. Your experience reminds me of when I bought a new 2018 LP Classic. I went through 2 of them and they both are not in my possession today. That's because they sucked. I returned them, that's how I got back at the man. No sale... Edited March 19, 2022 by NighthawkChris 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John P Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Yeah, I would return that one. Now you know why there are so many in the Gibson Reverb Shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteMarko Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 That inexcusable, mine was like new with no visible faults. If you pay for a new guitar, then it needs to be mint. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 22 hours ago, Josephmang said: I ended up spending a couple of hours at Sky music today, as they let me go through all the standards they had in stock. Not a single one was entirely perfect, but I found one with an insane top for a standard with minimal fretboard marks, and nothing like what I am sending back. So I have ended up with a better guitar which I am happy with and can live with. But you're right, with Gibson I really do need to be inspecting in person as otherwise I run the risk of having to send back and forth. Glad to see you have a resolution. As has been said, we've seen several complaints of this nature. Every buyer deserves to be satisfied. I only ever bought one Gibson online and I suppose I was lucky. It seems perfect. Post up some pics of your replacement when you get it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulie 26 Posted March 21, 2022 Share Posted March 21, 2022 No question, send it back. what does it say about Gibson QC that one is afraid the alternative may be worse??!! A guitar of this nature should always reach you in perfect condition- if the manufacturer cannot guarantee this- people should vote with their feet and buy an alternative 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josephmang Posted March 24, 2022 Author Share Posted March 24, 2022 Got the refund for the guitar, so picking up the other one tomorrow. Will post pictures once I have it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josephmang Posted March 25, 2022 Author Share Posted March 25, 2022 Got the new Les Paul today. Fairly decent top for a standard model. Much better than the previous guitar, with the fretboard being much, much cleaner, though in need of some oil. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merciful-evans Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 That's a beauty. Hope its everything you expected. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 That one looks really good and yes, all the new ones seem to come through with really dry fret boards. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michal Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 That's a great top - I'm glad this turned out well! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted March 25, 2022 Share Posted March 25, 2022 sounds like a happy ending... we love happy endings. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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