Problem with my Lifeson Axcess and Gibson's Warranty Repair System

[zGrooveMeister]

Are you sure that's not buffing compound residue? I had some of that in the corners of the area routed out for the Floyd. A little solvent and a cue tip and it came right off and looked perfect.

 

Hmmmmm. Well it sure looked like bare wood to me, but after reading your post I licked my finger and rubbed on it for a bit and it seems you're right because it got all sticky! You da man!

 

What kind of solvent did you use? I would hate to actually create a bare spot trying to remove the buffing compound...

[SolitaryPine]

I'm not sure as I didn't do it myself. I brought it into my dealer, who was aware of the problem already as they had already done it on some other AL guitars, and they did it right in front of me. But hey, if saliva works, I doubt that would hurt your finish. If not, bring it into your dealer like I did.

[zGrooveMeister]

You would think that they would clean that area out after the buffing. I swear it looked like bare wood to me, and I most likely would have just gone on thinking that, had it not been for your previous experience. A little more attention to detail on Gibson's part would have averted that miss-perception of piss-poor quality control.

[zGrooveMeister]

OK, I am now officially done with Gibson. I ordered the 12 string SG back in September and just found out that Gibson has pushed the ship date all the way back to March 2012.

 

F that - order canceled. It is a shame that this once great guitar company has deteriorated to the point where they are pushing gimmick robot computer guitars instead of crafting my 12 string SG.

 

Goodbye Gibson.

[Rock2112]

OK, I am now officially done with Gibson. I ordered the 12 string SG back in September and just found out that Gibson has pushed the ship date all the way back to March 2012.

 

F that - order canceled. It is a shame that this once great guitar company has deteriorated to the point where they are pushing gimmick robot computer guitars instead of crafting my 12 string SG.

 

Goodbye Gibson.

 

Can you just buy the double-neck and saw it in half?! Seriously, though, if I worked for Gibson I would apologize, but I don't. Even if they didn't have their government and wood troubles, they clearly have bitten off way more than they can chew. I don't understand why they can't limit their product line to the number of models they are capable of producing in the reasonable near future. They really need to scale it all back for a while. Of course, if they had done what I'm suggesting, that means they would not have offered your 12-string SG in the first place. I once waited 9 months for a PRS 12-string electric that I had made with my own custom choices. But I knew up front I was looking at a long wait (I was originally told up to 1 year). But I expected the wait and was getting a custom instrument. Now, both Gibson and PRS seem to be on a mission to pile on the models. Gibson clearly can't handle it, and this is probably the worst time to place an order due to the raid. They should scale it all back, even if it means cancelling models, until they get things under control. They're hurting their long term rep with this stuff.

[zGrooveMeister]

I'm also now having intermittent electronic issues with AL499. It pops, crackles, has signal drop-outs, an overall weak signal and is easily the noisiest guitar I have ever owned. I thought my problems were behind me when I got my replacement guitar, and for a few weeks they were. But overall I have had nothing but an absolutely horrible experience with Gibson and the expensive broken junk they're cranking out. I am seriously considering just getting rid of it and washing my hands of Gibson altogether.

[LerxstLee]

I'm also now having intermittent electronic issues with AL499. It pops, crackles, has signal drop-outs, an overall weak signal and is easily the noisiest guitar I have ever owned. I thought my problems were behind me when I got my replacement guitar, and for a few weeks they were. But overall I have had nothing but an absolutely horrible experience with Gibson and the expensive broken junk they're cranking out. I am seriously considering just getting rid of it and washing my hands of Gibson altogether.

 

zGM,

Hang in there and send it back while it is still under warranty. You only get one year on electronics. I hear your frustration , I have had your

frustration dealing with Gibson. Yet, get your guitar fixed. I cannot stress this enough. Don't let them stick their lack of customer service to you nor their lack of quality control. Send it back as you did in the past. If you get it fixed then you can probably sell it. If it is not working correctly it would be a hard sell. I am with you on "washing my hands of Gibson" as I did that in 2008, and almost broke that promise and bought an axcess. I sure am glad I did not. Go to your "authorized dealer" and let them deal with it. If they won't then get an RA# and send it back and do it soon.

I truley hope all goes well for you. I am stuck with a $3800.00 Al-355 junkyard, yes the one with the artist approved volute landing between the nut and first fret. I would love to sell it , but it is the guitar that sits in a closet and I would not sell it , I would not feel right selling it with the issues it has. Yes , issues gibson will not fix, "those are finish issues and they are not covered under warranty" Don't end up like me. Get yours fixed, then keep it or sell it. I see at least a dozen Al-Axcess's on ebay, that just sounds odd to me if they are so great. Don't let what is left of the gibson company get the best of you.

/cheers

[Rock2112]

I'm also now having intermittent electronic issues with AL499. It pops, crackles, has signal drop-outs, an overall weak signal and is easily the noisiest guitar I have ever owned. I thought my problems were behind me when I got my replacement guitar, and for a few weeks they were. But overall I have had nothing but an absolutely horrible experience with Gibson and the expensive broken junk they're cranking out. I am seriously considering just getting rid of it and washing my hands of Gibson altogether.

 

What you do from here depends on how you feel about the guitar when it is in working condition. If you love it when it works, then you really should consider having the hot side hot mod done. That really has cured every problem I had with the AL. I happen to love the guitar when it works -- it is the best playing and sounding rock guitar I have. And now it just works all the time. I share your frustration with the road I've had to take to get there with this, including a ridiculous wait, purchase of one I had to send back, then sound drop-outs, and then having to drop $120 on the mod and a setup. But after all that, I'd do it again because the AL has become my go-to guitar and is now pretty much a dream LP to me.

 

Given the infamous volute shafting, I am fairly sure Gibson will never sanction the hot side hot mod, much less authorize it gratis through their service guys. But they should -- the blending feature was NOT implemented correctly, period. But if you paid what you paid for your AL LP, you probably would have paid $60 more for it without that being a deal breaker. So why not spend that $60 to get a guitar you're happy with. If you're NOT happy with the guitar when it works, then just send it back and be done.

 

By the way, I have to respectfully disagree with LerxstLee about sending the guitar back again to Gibson for repair. Gibson is a disaster right now. Nobody deserves the headache they will get sending their guitar back and forth only to have people tell them the wrong problem or that there is no problem, and to lose use of the instrument endlessly and repeatedly. It is too late to "train" Gibson into being an effective service company. They're hopeless on that. I realized my sanity was best preserved by taking matters into my own hands, letting a luthier I trust solve my problems, and move on even if it involved a modest additional expense. I lost use of the guitar for three weeks but now it's good. With some of the stories I have read around here about what customers were told by Gibson's authorized techs, why on Earth would anybody send their prized instrument back to them?! No one needs that aggravation.

[elvtnedge]

My buddy is doing the hot side hot, cold side cold mod tonight on my AL Axcess... I wonder if my crackly volume pot won't be after the mod....

[zGrooveMeister]

What you do from here depends on how you feel about the guitar when it is in working condition. If you love it when it works, then you really should consider having the hot side hot mod done. That really has cured every problem I had with the AL. I happen to love the guitar when it works -- it is the best playing and sounding rock guitar I have. And now it just works all the time. I share your frustration with the road I've had to take to get there with this, including a ridiculous wait, purchase of one I had to send back, then sound drop-outs, and then having to drop $120 on the mod and a setup. But after all that, I'd do it again because the AL has become my go-to guitar and is now pretty much a dream LP to me.

 

Given the infamous volute shafting, I am fairly sure Gibson will never sanction the hot side hot mod, much less authorize it gratis through their service guys. But they should -- the blending feature was NOT implemented correctly, period. But if you paid what you paid for your AL LP, you probably would have paid $60 more for it without that being a deal breaker. So why not spend that $60 to get a guitar you're happy with. If you're NOT happy with the guitar when it works, then just send it back and be done.

 

By the way, I have to respectfully disagree with LerxstLee about sending the guitar back again to Gibson for repair. Gibson is a disaster right now. Nobody deserves the headache they will get sending their guitar back and forth only to have people tell them the wrong problem or that there is no problem, and to lose use of the instrument endlessly and repeatedly. It is too late to "train" Gibson into being an effective service company. They're hopeless on that. I realized my sanity was best preserved by taking matters into my own hands, letting a luthier I trust solve my problems, and move on even if it involved a modest additional expense. I lost use of the guitar for three weeks but now it's good. With some of the stories I have read around here about what customers were told by Gibson's authorized techs, why on Earth would anybody send their prized instrument back to them?! No one needs that aggravation.

 

I do love it when it works. But when it doesn't, this little guy pops up on my shoulder and says, "You paid $4000 for THAT? Bwaaa haaaa haaa haaaa!". God I HATE that guy!

 

It's pretty obvious that the blend feature that sends the mag signals through that circuit board is the root of all the problems that people have been having with this guitar. I never intended to use the blend, so yes, I will have the McDLT mod done at some point. I may or may not wait until the warranty expires first.

 

 

On another note, since Gibson could not deliver on the 12 string SG, I took the money earmarked for it and ordered one of these...

 

http://www.fender.com/products/americandeluxe/models.php?prodNo=011910

 

 

HA! Take THAT, Gibson!

[elvtnedge]

I do love it when it works. But when it doesn't, this little guy pops up on my shoulder and says, "You paid $4000 for THAT? Bwaaa haaaa haaa haaaa!". God I HATE that guy!

 

It's pretty obvious that the blend feature that sends the mag signals through that circuit board is the root of all the problems that people have been having with this guitar. I never intended to use the blend, so yes, I will have the McDLT mod done at some point. I may or may not wait until the warranty expires first.

 

 

On another note, since Gibson could not deliver on the 12 string SG, I took the money earmarked for it and ordered one of these...

 

http://www.fender.com/products/americandeluxe/models.php?prodNo=011910

 

 

HA! TAKE THAT, GIBSON!

 

So I had the mod done last night and although I was only plugged into the computer interface and into guitar rig, it's quieter. I will report back after tonight's gig where I'm cranked through my H&K head and 4x12 cab. It involved basically unhooking the jump wire between the two jacks, moving all the wires from the regular jack to the piezo jack. The green wire from the piezo board just gets taped off, I remember a red and black wire get taped together and then you need two new wires. One is a ground that goes to the mag jack and then you hook the second wire to the tone pot and thats it. (Thats the short version...lol)

[SolitaryPine]

So I had the mod done last night and although I was only plugged into the computer interface and into guitar rig, it's quieter. I will report back after tonight's gig where I'm cranked through my H&K head and 4x12 cab. It involved basically unhooking the jump wire between the two jacks, moving all the wires from the regular jack to the piezo jack. The green wire from the piezo board just gets taped off, I remember a red and black wire get taped together and then you need two new wires. One is a ground that goes to the mag jack and then you hook the second wire to the tone pot and thats it. (Thats the short version...lol)

 

K, if you or your buddy who did it could make a diagram that would be awesomeness.

[elvtnedge]

K, if you or your buddy who did it could make a diagram that would be awesomeness.

 

Most of it was done with trial and error honestly. I can take pics and most if that would make it easier. If you're doing it yourself and don't really know about tip, ring etc then the pics will help however if you have a guy to take it to, he will know quickly.

[SolitaryPine]

Most of it was done with trial and error honestly. I can take pics and most if that would make it easier. If you're doing it yourself and don't really know about tip, ring etc then the pics will help however if you have a guy to take it to, he will know quickly.

 

OK. Yeah, I was thinking about doing it myself. Maybe I shouldn't. The one wrinkle I was going to try to add to what people have done so far is to have the push-pull pot for the piezo be an on/off switch for the battery so I don't have to unplug the cable all the time. If it's possible to do photos easily that show the "after" situation at all the places where the wires changed that would help (circuit board, jacks, etc).

[Alex Wannabe]

I've had my AL Axcess for a few months and I never noticed until today that I have an issue with my pick up selector switch. When it's in the middle position it only picks up the bridge mag pick up, not the neck mag. I have seen others report issues with this as well, but never noticed I had the same issue. Now I have to decide how to go about getting it fixed :-(

[zGrooveMeister]

So I returned from my self-imposed exile to Stratland and started playing the Lifeson again, only to discover that I now have yet another annoying problem to report - the piezo signal cuts in and out if you strum the strings too hard.

 

Anybody else notice this?

[SolitaryPine]

So I returned from my self-imposed exile to Stratland and started playing the Lifeson again, only to discover that I now have yet another annoying problem to report - the piezo signal cuts in and out if you strum the strings too hard.

 

Anybody else notice this?

 

Weird. Does it also happen if you turn the piezo volume down and do the same thing?

[SolitaryPine]

I've had my AL Axcess for a few months and I never noticed until today that I have an issue with my pick up selector switch. When it's in the middle position it only picks up the bridge mag pick up, not the neck mag. I have seen others report issues with this as well, but never noticed I had the same issue. Now I have to decide how to go about getting it fixed :-(

 

I have this on my LP Studio. Haven't had a chance to fix it. It seems to be a recurring theme with Gibsons in general from what I have read.

[zGrooveMeister]

Weird. Does it also happen if you turn the piezo volume down and do the same thing?

 

Yes. I think I'm jarring a loose connection. At least I hope it's something that simple.

[zGrooveMeister]

I have this on my LP Studio. Haven't had a chance to fix it. It seems to be a recurring theme with Gibsons in general from what I have read.

 

Yep - my Epiphone Dot came with this same problem.

[zGrooveMeister]

After further investigation, the problem also affects the magnetic signal, but not to extent of cutting it completely out like the piezo signal. It pops and the volume briefly fades before returning. I hope it's just the power connection or something simple (I did change the battery, so that's not it).

 

Guess I'll have to ship it back to Gibson Monday, since their local service contractor has washed their hands of my guitar (with Gibson's blessing). Good thing I haven't done the McDLT mod to it yet and still have a valid warranty.

 

This is what you get from Gibson for $4000, folks.

[Rock2112]

After further investigation, the problem also affects the magnetic signal, but not to extent of cutting it completely out like the piezo signal. It pops and the volume briefly fades before returning. I hope it's just the power connection or something simple (I did change the battery, so that's not it).

 

Guess I'll have to ship it back to Gibson Monday, since their local service contractor has washed their hands of my guitar (with Gibson's blessing). Good thing I haven't done the McDLT mod to it yet and still have a valid warranty.

 

This is what you get from Gibson for $4000, folks.

 

This is a similar problem to what drove me to do the McDLT mod. My bridge mag pickup was hemoraging volume and cracking in and out, and tweaking the piezo volume seemed to affect it. It was caused by a bad grounding and I think a bad connection. I wasn't about to go in circles with Gibson, so I just went the mod route. Anyway, good luck wherever you go with this. If you and I are more the norm than the exceptions, then I hope the ALs come back in droves and force Gibson to up their game. But it seems like maybe ours went through the wiring department on a Monday morning at ole Gibson. I keep going back to it -- if you like the guitar when it works, give one last thought to the mod option. This guitar is so worth a divorce from Gibson and $60 in labor to make it a reliable rocker. But good luck either way. We all can live without headaches like this.

[zGrooveMeister]

This is a similar problem to what drove me to do the McDLT mod. My bridge mag pickup was hemoraging volume and cracking in and out, and tweaking the piezo volume seemed to affect it. It was caused by a bad grounding and I think a bad connection. I wasn't about to go in circles with Gibson, so I just went the mod route. Anyway, good luck wherever you go with this. If you and I are more the norm than the exceptions, then I hope the ALs come back in droves and force Gibson to up their game. But it seems like maybe ours went through the wiring department on a Monday morning at ole Gibson. I keep going back to it -- if you like the guitar when it works, give one last thought to the mod option. This guitar is so worth a divorce from Gibson and $60 in labor to make it a reliable rocker. But good luck either way. We all can live without headaches like this.

 

I'm still planning on doing the mod, but the nature of this problem makes me think it could be a defect that removing the mag signal from the circuit board would not correct, at least as far as the piezo signal is concerned. It could be a loose connection, or it could be a cracked circuit board. If it's a bad board, I want a new one for free, then I'll do the mod.

[HectoRocker4]

Thanks, men, for reinforcing the idea I heard several years ago, that Gibson is really riding on their old reputation, and not producing quality guitars anymore. Although I was incensed that those fat-piggy jack-booted thugs from the USF&WS invaded Gibson factories carrying Glock 9mm's, the straw that broke the camel's back was when I talked to "Roger" at Gibson Cuss-tomer Service a couple of days ago about a Steinberger Synapse TranScale I'm trying out and he didn't responded as promised.

 

I complained that the ST-2FPA not only came with 10-46 strings (on a baritone guitar???) instead of the Baritone Light strings (as the owner's manual specifically stated) but also the strings were worn out (I could not adjust the bridge mechanism on the E2 (6th) string) back far enough to set the intonation properly. Plus, the setup sucked very badly; strings were a "mile" above the fretboard, the intonation was not set, and the rolling capo had not been adjusted. Can you guess what he said to that? That he'd never bought a guitar from a music store that was set-up! Is that laughable or what???

 

EVERY guitar I've ever bought has had a least a setup attempted, and when it wasn't right, they fixed it, be it Mississippi Music (thanks, Richie) or Sweetwater (thanks, Chris and Matt), but unfortunately not Amazon, where my sweet wife ordered a Transparent Blue (more like Opaque Blue) finish. I'm keeping it, only because it makes a great travel ("smaller") guitar, which pleases Sally! I have a good mind to send it back to Amazon because this a.m. when I was warming up, the sheet-metal strap hook (by the neck) finally cut through my prized Levy Jimi Hendrix strap Sally suprised me with on Christmas! Lots of luck trying to get Gibson to correct that!

 

I'm rambling on about that to say this to Gibson and Sweetwater: CANCEL MY ORDER OF THE $4,000 CRIMSON RED ALEX LIFESON AXCESS LES PAUL...IMMEDIATELY, IF NOT SOONER!!!!!!!!!!! Again, gentlemen, you're input has helped me make an informed decision; I'm going for that sweet placid blue Line6 James Tyler Variax that I've wanted for a while now and priced about a third of the $4,000 mistake. Thank you, thank you, thank you....

 

HectoRocker4

"Rocking until I'm 100"

P.S. I'm now going to post on the Steinberger Synapse forum....

[HectoRocker4]

WOW...my SINCEREST APOLOGIES to "Roger" in Customer Service. Today, the Postal Service delivered a factory-fresh set of Steinberger Double-Ball Baritone Standard strings.

 

I'm still not going to buy the Alex Lifeson LP because of the problems I've read about here; but I'm definitely keeping that Translucent-Blue Steinberger Synapse TranScale ST-2FPA! Sounding and feeling better and better all the time now. While heavier than what the factory put on (Baritone Light), I actually prefer the Baritone Standard strings. Can't wait until I put them on.

 

Thank you, Roger, so very much!