dem00n Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Last sunday i went to my local guitar center (yes yes i know OMG a GC), i talked around with the guys and then the manger was telling me of the new MM's they just got in stock. They didnt put them on the floor yet because of strange problems with wiring and the pickguards being all ****ed. So i asked if i could see them, they had a blue MM explorer with a pickguard full of scratches, like a cat was on top of it and went nuts. He then showed me the blue SG which had wiring problems with the pickup selector and the tone knob not working. These guitars are brand new, made maybe a month or two ago. What the ****? Now for story number two. I hit a music store thats a Gibson dealer and they had these brand new Les Paul studio's. The guy told me he just put them on the floor that morning, so i start playing them and checking them out. The first Les Paul had cracks near the neck meeting the body and one of the tuning keys were not straight. The thirdi les paul has wiring problems, sometimes it would go to the neck pup, you just put it in the middle selection. The 2nd les paul sounded very dull and it felt like the frets werent put right. This was about a month ago. I love Gibson guitars but now im slowly staying away from them, my loyalty is dying to them. Its like they dont care anymore and just ship out guitars without looking at them once. I'm sure you have all seen the complaints by everyone on this forum and other forums about new guitars from Gibby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S t e v e Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 fender and ibanez are the way forward... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 fender is the way forward... fix'd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 I post a serious question and i get stupid answers. I'm starting to see why people stop posting here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Gibson has had to deal with a lot of crap the past couple of years, I'd cut them some slack before jumping ship. If you see a few you don't like or don't meet your standards wait for the next batch... Just sayin'.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 Gibson has had to deal with a lot of crap the past couple of years, I'd cut them some slack before jumping ship. If you see a few you don't like or don't meet your standards wait for the next batch... Just sayin'.... But this isnt a recent thing, this has been going on for months...maybe even a year or two. I just kindly ignored but now i'm starting to see what everyone means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I post a serious question and i get stupid answers. I'm starting to see why people stop posting here. chill Seriously, Gibson's quality control has gone way down. Do they still make good instruments? yeah, but a lot of the minor stuff, its like getting a second hand guitar. I have seen a bunch of new guitars with pickguards scratched up to ****, Actions that are atrocious (and I don't mean 'well it shifted during transport', uneven edges on frets, sharp corners on plastic parts, the control cavity covers all over the place, etc.) Its disappointing to say the least. I plan on getting a MIK Sheraton, then an older SG and have that modded to more of a custom guitar specs, but no more gibsons. Its sad, and I hear you loud and clear, they need to step up their game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantha Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I would say that I'm not surprised that quality control and craftsmanship in general is declining. However, you would think that the money you pay for a Gibson would guarantee that you get a good product. I guess sometimes you're just paying for the name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantha Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 It's not like Fenders have perfect QC either.. but I'm a lot more forgiving when there's an issue with a $1000 guitar than a $2000+ one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 Thats what i think, if you look in the past if you got a Gibson you were getting something good, now its just like "Ok, that guitar looks good but its either going to be crap or great" Now about the 70's... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flight959 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 That's what happens when you shift the production to China!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S t e v e Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I post a serious question and i get stupid answers. I'm starting to see why people stop posting here. stupid in YOUR mind not in the posters/replyers, who's stopped posting here? can't be anyone important cause i can't think of any :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 . I'm getting into my 4th decade as a Gibson customer. Over those years, QC has not been even. There were good periods and bad, and the Norlin nightmare. Unfortunately, I agree with dem00n. The last two or three years have seen a dip in QC, and IMO we entering a period of bad QC. While there's the excuses of the two raids and also the big flood, QC should be catching some of the obvious flaws that are getting to the retailers and customers. There are still great guitars, but as always, the buyer has to be well informed and know what to look for to avoid problem guitars and end up with a keeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellen Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I feel with those who use their savings and get gibson that are sloppy. My sg 24 50th anniversary have some minor flaws. Fretboard looks a bit rough, the work in one of the cutaway looks a bit... well it's not perfect. One of the tone control i had to replace cause it was broken. Don't get me wrong i do like my sg 50th anniversary,it's a great player, but i kinda think Gibson should have some pride doing it flawless when they celebrate the sg's 50th anniversary. As a sg fan i wanted a anniversary sg, and here in norway they don't have it so i had to buy it on the net. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I went through the same issues when I bought my 335 about 4 or 5 years ago. I ended up with the third one I took home, and even it has a slight (but obvious) flaw with the neck binding. I see a drop in quality in a lot of US made products and in service after the sale. I attribute it to several factors. I see a lot of companies who are cutting corners and cutting costs, including salaries. A lot of this is reflective of a poor business model where the emphasis is moved to other aspects of the business other than manufacturing and QC, even though a company is in the business of manufacturing and thinks that by adopting some model like ISO, 5-S, six sigma, continual improvement, or statistical process control, that they are actually making a product improvement. Perhaps we should send the QC SWAT team to capture evidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Perhaps the qua;ity would go up if they made them in China now. I honestly believe the quality of goods now is dire. My £117 Ibanez sa 160 is great to play. I'm thinking of having a Jap Charvel but the Ibanez s470 is great value and the trem is supposed to be the dogs... My link I know this is second hand. But you can't get a cheap Gibson MM for this money. No contest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vourot Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 My AJ is a great guitar that I got good deal on. I had been looking for awhile and when I found the AJ it was "the one" . Long story short, the neck is slightly twisted and I had to get the bridge shaved to get the action to spec. I took it to a good tech and the work was done under warranty. My bad for missing it before I bought it ( and not noticing for close to a year ). So, ya I would be very wary about new Gibson's. When I was ready for some new electric's I stumbled upon a G&L S-500 and it was game over. I liked it so much that I bought another G&L ( an SC-2 )online without playing it and it arrived perfectly set up and in tune. There is no way I would do that with a Gibson. I hope to find a nice used 80's SG someday. I still like Gibson and am not a hater. But they really drop the ball on the QC. The good thing is that because of this I discovered just how good G&L is. You want great quality american made guitars that don't cost a fortune? Unfortunatly that is not Gibson right now. That being said, I don't think they will get their act together till people get so fed up they stop buying them. Which doen't seem to be happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S t e v e Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I post a serious question and i get stupid answers. I'm starting to see why people stop posting here. ok my 5 mins of trolling is over. i sold my gibsons a while back and have cash burning a hole in my pocket ready for a replacement, all the probs you highlighted is the reason i haven't pulled the trigger on another gibby yet...there are fenders and ibanez's that i'd buy at the drop of a hat...but maybe in the back of my mind i'm waiting for gibson to get their act together Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem00n Posted October 21, 2011 Author Share Posted October 21, 2011 ok my 5 mins of trolling is over. i sold my gibsons a while back and have cash burning a hole in my pocket ready for a replacement, all the probs you highlighted is the reason i haven't pulled the trigger on another gibby yet...there are fenders and ibanez's that i'd buy at the drop of a hat...but maybe in the back of my mind i'm waiting for gibson to get their act together Exactly, i have enough money saved up to buy a Les Paul but the way thigns are with Gibson now i'm just thinking to go with a new PC and some other things. I'll give it a year or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantha Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 ok my 5 mins of trolling is over. i sold my gibsons a while back and have cash burning a hole in my pocket ready for a replacement, all the probs you highlighted is the reason i haven't pulled the trigger on another gibby yet...there are fenders and ibanez's that i'd buy at the drop of a hat...but maybe in the back of my mind i'm waiting for gibson to get their act together Did you really sell that Gary Moore Signature? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sellen Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Did you really sell that Gary Moore Signature? what i thought to when i read this. but i thought nooo he diden't Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 That's how I'm beginning to feel about Gibson. A lot of their guitars just seem sloppy like there wasn't any love put into them. Sometimes I'll play one and be blown away at how great it is, other timess I'll wonder what sucker is gonna blow that chunck of change on such a POS. But when I find one that I like, I REALLY like it. They can still make an awesome guitar they just need to step it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S t e v e Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Did you really sell that Gary Moore Signature? i did, when gary died so did my love for the guitar...truth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
This_Dying_Soul Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I've been hearing a lot of this lately too. Gibson has been letting a lot of things slide in the last year or so that never would have been let out of the factory before. I still love Gibson guitars,but I will be giving any new Gibson a lot of scrutiny before I spend my hard earned cash on it. While the instruments are not totally hand made, majority of the work is still done by hand compared to Fender and other major manufacturers. You could argue this will make for less consistant guitars compared to the companies like Fender that use CNC equipment for a majority of the guitar making process - in fact, Fender has gone as far as to outsource manufacturing of some components in order to keep up with demand...a lot of Fender necks are made by Warmoth now apparently. Some might argue the amount of work done by hand should suggest the quality is higher than a totally CNC shop but I would think the inconsistancies of CNC should be lower. Regardless, for the price they ask Gibson's standards should be high enough that their guitars are as good as or better than a totally CNC produced guitar. There are custom shops (Fender and Carvin to name a few) that will build you a guitar for about the same price as one of Gibson's more expensive production models. With all the horror stories I've been hearing of new Gibson models in the past year; I expect to be looking on the used market for instruments from 2008 or older. I'd pay less, need to give the same amount of attention to it's condition. From what I was told by the local Gibson dealer, quality of Gibson guitars has gone down hill. Even ones with no actual flaws in their workmanship are supposedly not as good compared to 2008 and back. -edit- as much as anyone will tell you that CNC manufacturing means EVERY guitar is identical, in theory this should be the case, but the one variable those people are not taking into account is that no 2 trees are identical. Even guitars made with wood taken from the same tree are not necessarily going to have the same tonal qualities as each other. Once you settle on a model that interests you, it's still a good idea to try multiple examples and pick the one that has the best sound, look and playability you can find...there will be some differences that can't be controlled by lasers and computers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I feel with those who use their savings and get gibson that are sloppy. My sg 24 50th anniversary have some minor flaws. Fretboard looks a bit rough, the work in one of the cutaway looks a bit... well it's not perfect. One of the tone control i had to replace cause it was broken. Don't get me wrong i do like my sg 50th anniversary,it's a great player, but i kinda think Gibson should have some pride doing it flawless when they celebrate the sg's 50th anniversary. As a sg fan i wanted a anniversary sg, and here in norway they don't have it so i had to buy it on the net. Same exact issues with my SG 24 50th, I took it to the Gibson shop here in Nashville and they fixed it, sort of...and it took them two months. My biggest complain with Gibson is that their quality keeps slipping and yet they spend their money and resources on the Firebird X. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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