"USED" headstock?

[thelady]

What does it mean if you have USED on the top of the back of your headstock?

(I know it probably means its been used but still)

[NeoConMan]

I've heard of this before, so I will watch this thread with interest....

 

Speculation was that some retailer did this.

I heard it was done at Gibson, as a nicer way of saying the guitar was a "second."

 

Do I know this for a fact?

No.

[ksdaddy]

I have seen them stamped as such in the past. Never did get the truth, I just assumed they were either sales samples, NAMM samples, or maybe even returns. In the ones I've personally handled, I saw nothing wrong with them.

[deepblue]

Pics?

[KL]

I've never actually seen that. Seen "2" but never "used"

[Flight959]

Gibson often marked inferior quality guitars as "seconds", and sold them at a discount to dealers or employees. These markings were stamped into the wood on the back of the peghead. A "2" stamp is sometimes seen, designating a "second", which had some cosmetic flaw. If there is a serial number on the back of the peghead, the "2" is usually seen centered above or below it. Also sometimes stamped was "CULL", which is another designation of a second. Again, this stamp is seen on the back of the peghead. The worse Gibson reject is the "BGN" stamp, designating that instrument as a "bargin" guitar. These were only sold to employees at substantial discounts. This stamp is also seen on the back of the peghead. Sometimes the "BGN" is stamped vertically with the "N" below the "G" which is below the "B". BGN instruments weren't acceptable to Gibson as sellable to the public.

All second instruments are usually worth less than the same guitar that is not a second (given condition as the same). BGN instruments are worth less than a second instrument because these tend to have some fairly serious cosmetic flaw.

 

Taken from the net!

 

Regards

[BigKahune]

Yes, I've seen the "2" stamp, and heard of the "CULL" and "BGN" stamps, but I've never before heard or seen "USED" stamped on the headstock back. Interesting bit.

[Riffster]

Thelady if you are asking about the guitar in your avatar it is stamped USED because that is not a regular production Gibson, it is a prototype of sorts, there were like 100 of them made with different spare necks for what I understand.

 

Those guitars were for sale at the Gibson Showcase Warehouse sale last year, I saw about 10 of the them, in blue and red and they had different necks, like a Studio neck, a Custom neck, bound or unbound, mahogany or maple and rosewood or ebony fretboards.

 

All the guitars on that sale were stamped as USED.

[Laaz]

I believe StiffHand is correct & it also means no warranty what so ever.

[Murph]

Thelady if you are asking about the guitar in your avatar it is stamped USED because that is not a regular production Gibson' date=' it is a prototype of sorts, there were like 100 of them made with different spare necks for what I understand.

 

Those guitars were for sale at the Gibson Showcase Warehouse sale last year, I saw about 10 of the them, in blue and red and they had different necks, like a Studio neck, a Custom neck, bound or unbound, mahogany or maple and rosewood or ebony fretboards.

 

All the guitars on that sale were stamped as USED. [/quote']

 

I was there when they had the Showcase opened up and all of those blue SG's. I don't remember seing a "used" stamp, but wasn't really looking.

 

I remember it was all I could do to NOT max out the Credit card that day.....

 

[Riffster]

Yea Murph all of the Gibsons had the stamp that day, even the acoustics. I saw those blue SGs, kind of hipnotic looking.

 

Overall the Epiphones were the better deal at that sale because they were sales models and were not stamped as used.

 

In the past I have seen guitars stamped as used after they were in the Gibson Showcase store for a while and then price reduced, a real shame because the guitars were spotless otherwise.

[NeoConMan]

My first Les Paul was a 1986 Standard in Ebony - stamped as a second.

 

Never did figure out why, it looked fine.

[Murph]

Yea Murph all of the Gibsons had the stamp that day' date=' even the acoustics. I saw those blue SGs, kind of hipnotic looking.

 

Overall the Epiphones were the better deal at that sale because they were sales models and were not stamped as used.

 

In the past I have seen guitars stamped as used after they were in the Gibson Showcase store for a while and then price reduced, a real shame because the guitars were spotless otherwise.[/quote']

 

I thought about running over there yesterday, but the weather was kinda nasty....

[KL]

My first Les Paul was a 1986 Standard in Ebony - stamped as a second.

 

Never did figure out why' date=' it looked fine.[/quote']

 

Yeah . . . I've come across quite a number stamped as seconds over the years and have not been able to find a fault with them. I suppose one possibility is that they have been returned from a dealer to Gibson for some reason, been put right at the factory and then sold as seconds. Does anyone know if that is the case?

[Riffster]

I thought about running over there yesterday' date=' but the weather was kinda nasty....

[/quote']

 

You did the right thing, we went to dinner 15 minutes away from the house and away the storm and it was nasty anyway, on the way there we were wondering if it had been a good idea.

[thelady]

Thelady if you are asking about the guitar in your avatar it is stamped USED because that is not a regular production Gibson' date=' it is a prototype of sorts, there were like 100 of them made with different spare necks for what I understand.

 

Those guitars were for sale at the Gibson Showcase Warehouse sale last year, I saw about 10 of the them, in blue and red and they had different necks, like a Studio neck, a Custom neck, bound or unbound, mahogany or maple and rosewood or ebony fretboards.

 

All the guitars on that sale were stamped as USED. [/quote']

 

Oh, well that is exactly where i got it

thank you for your knowledgeable knowledge

[TonyI]

People,,, When a guitar is stamped "USED" it is a refurbished guitar, a cosmetic blemish that does not pass inspection.. Nothing more,, I have 3 blemished guitars that I bought from various refurbishers, some on E-Bay, to this day I can not tell where the blemish was.. So that it in a nut shell,,, these guitars are infact NEW,, Hope this clears everything up.........

[BigKahune]

... When a guitar is stamped "USED" it is a refurbished guitar, a cosmetic blemish that does not pass inspection.. Nothing more,, I have 3 blemished guitars that I bought from various refurbishers, some on E-Bay ....

 

Some of these "USED" guitars have been the subject of complaints on fleaBay. Guitars sold like this should have all or part of their serial number removed to indicate they have no warranty from the manufacturer. These refurbished "USED" guitars have nothing to do with the guitar in question on this thread.

 

Gibson does not "refurbish" their rejects, sell them to refurbishers, or sell them to the public. Epiphone has, among others. M.I.R.C guitars, standing for Musical Instrument Reclamation Corporation of Franklin Tennessee, ( MIRCWEB.com ) is an example of one of these refurbishers. The company purchases instruments from major manufacturers and wholesale distributors, with the majority of their inventory purchases being "less than first quality" guitars. MIRC has a good quality repair operation that reconditions the instruments, brings them back up to MIRC quality standards, and then in turn re-sells to dealers only as MIRC USED reconditioned guitars, they do not sell to the public. MIRC guitars are stamped "USED". If any of these refurbishers are selling Gibson guitars, they didn't acquire them from Gibson.

 

As commented above, Gibson stamps some guitars as "USED" for various reasons.

 

 

Three year old thread. . B)

 

 

.

[GibSinCity]

In the passed, I've seen both the number "2" and the word "second" above the serial number.

 

An interesting comment on the subject from Henry...

 

http://4henry.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/537-factory-seconds/

 

"I strongly believe that anything that says Gibson should meet a very high quality standard. That is what the name has meant from the founding of our company. Orville Gibson did not sell seconds.

 

That practice really became a major approach to sales under Norlin. The problem with a second is that many unscrupulous dealers would not tell consumers it was a second and we would constantly get these guitars as warranty returns. The consumers felt cheated, and often Gibson was blamed. It also told our manufacturing folks, it was OK to make mistakes. We never had a problem selling seconds.

 

When I stopped that practice and destroyed the first batch of substandard instruments, quality levels shot up tremendously. Our people realized that we do not endorse mistakes, and our mission was to insure all instruments meet our professional standards.

 

Mistakes do not have to happen. Modern manufactures achieve a quality level of 6 sigma, which means only a very tiny amount of product does not meet standard. We have continually improved our process and are on our way to eliminating mistakes.

 

This give integrity to our brand, it let's our fans know our dedication to excellence, and it is best for the business financially."

 

-H Juszkiewicz (HenryJ)-