In the UK, there's a company called John West that sells canned fish. Their slogan is "It's the fish that John West reject that makes John West the best." Maybe it's a lesson that Gibson needs to learn?
I had to send back a 17 SG standard alpine white traditional. The bridge pickup was very crooked. The replacement I was sent was perfect. Now after a year of playin it's starting to yellow. Which time is a good thing.
I bought 6 Gibsons this year and sent 5 back for quality control fuck ups. One was an LE SG, it actually had bare wood on the headstock and major gouges in the finish down into the wood... sent it back and the next one came in worse. Then the people I ordered it from said it was "unrealistic" to expect to get a new Gibson in new condition, unblemished. They actually suggested I should buy a PRS instead.
No, I ordered an SG, it came in jacked up so I returned it for another thinking it might have been a fluke but guitar 2 came in worse shape than the first one and the dealer gave a couple excuses why a perfect condition SG was unrealistic smh, so I decided well I will try a flying V, you know straight edges and all hard to screw up on buffing that, first one jacked up, tried another and the warehouse manager was suposed to inspect it for damage, same thing. This sort of thing went on over four different models untill I got one that was so cheap that I figured I could fix the guitar and still be to the good. Hope that answers who the fuck orders 6 gibson guitars. I buy all my music equipment and it is a lot of gear online, nobody in a brick and mortor store can match online pricing and this is the first time I have had an issue like this after many thousands of dollars in pro gear
This actually sounds like a bullshit story, seems like everyone's jumping on the wagon, slamming Gibson and making yourself look like a hero, six new axes in one year, who are you gigging with?
I wish it was a bullshit story. But it is not, I find no enjoyment nor do I desire to lie about what Gibson has become. Any how the hell does this experience make a person look like a hero lol I was simply sharing my experience that's all. I have owned many many Gibsons and currently own 6 guitars I use every week in my studio.
Yeah it's crazy man, I had a couple 335's that needed a slight nut file, locking tuners and graphite saddles to stay in tune for anything over one song. Unacceptable for a $3,500.00 guitar
People try defending Gibson on this bs. "Oh, you can just send it for repairs or have it get setup." Yeah, because the first thing I want to do after spending $1,000+ on a Gibson logo is spend more money fixing it. That is unacceptable. I'll never buy a Gibson for full price at this rate.
This pot-mess may just be a drafting mistake. The bored holes in the body don't line up with the gang of pots on the circuit board. Presumably, the circuit board was drilled by a CNC Bridgeport Machine (in China). The Mahogany Body might have been be drilled with a ganged drill, or it might be drilled with the aid of a metal template equipped with drill bushings at the hole locations, or, it might be hand drilled using a ganged center punch jig to mark the hole centers. Whatever methods were used, there is evidently a mismatch between the locations of the Pot Holes in the Circuit Board and the Pot Holes in the Body. The total misalignment between the two four-hole patterns is such that if three of the pots can pass thru their holes, the fourth pot will just miss its hole. (For all you Mechanical Designers out there, you know this is a problem of True Position Tolerances of an Assembly.) The center to center dimensions of pot-holes in the circuit board could have been laid out in millimeters (in China) and the holes in the mahogany body may have been laid out in inches (in Nashville USA). If the inch dimension holes are bored .020" larger than the pot (for clearance) and the metric layout in the circuit board pot centers are off by .5mm each, three of the pots will fit but the fourth will bind in its hole. Any greater discrepancy will cause one or more pots to not fit at all --- calling for the services of a shoemaker. Evidently this is what happened. So they took a coarse file and widened the one hole a little bit and another hole a lot, so the fourth pot would fit. And it looks like this was done after the bodies were finished. It would seem evident that, in its present configuration, Gibson cannot afford to perform rigorous quality control on their jigs and fixtures before unacceptable variances in position manifest in completed components. The circuit boards made in China may have been ordered with the correct dimensions and tolerances, but some "loss in translation" between Gibson and the Chinese machinists may have caused the boards to be manufactured out of acceptable tolerance. Once manufactured, however, these circuit boards would tend to drive the train of assembly tolerances. Its like Poured Concrete. Once a 9 yard block of Reinforced Concrete is laid in the wrong place, the wrong place tends to be the right place ... The boards were probably ordered in the thousands and delivered to the Gibson factory in bulk way before the bodies were bored to receive them. If this defect is caused by a lack of coordination between the circuit board design and the boring template for the bodies, there should have been time to evaluate the discrepancy and fabricate a new jig for boring the bodies before thousands of pieces of scrap were sold as "Top Quality" instruments. Unless, of course, the body holes are drilled with a four-head gang drill press. In which case, there's either a big box of parts or a big piece of scrap up for sale ... Ultimately, the blame for this quality defect can be put down to Fast Track "Just-In-Time" Manufacturing Systems. "Just-In-Time" processes require critical parts of an assembly to be available at exactly the instant they are required to be assembled. Inventory Rules enacted by the IRS mean that the actual "out-the-door cost" of any component is proportional to its relative cost. The more expensive a part is, the more it is taxed while being held in inventory awaiting assembly into a finished product. This rule has forced companies to warehouse their products in the Boats, Trains and Trucks used to transport components to the final assembly plant. This complicates the economies of mass production to such an extent that small manufacturing mistakes like this one can't be corrected without a huge loss of money due to material and labor waste, excess tax and slowed delivery cycles. So if you want a perfect guitar, buy one from a small boutique shop that makes every part, checks every part and exerts on-the-spot quality control to make sure that every part is made to spec, fitted to perfection and assembled as intended. But you will never get that kind of craftsmanship from the bestial system that propels American Manufacturing today. I'm sure Gibson WANTS to put out the best possible product, but they've become like IBM was in the 80's. IBM couldn't ship an empty box for the price they needed to sell their PC AT's for. Leaner manufacturers ate their business and today the IBM company makes no computers at all.
What’s on the binding isn’t really overspray the way you are thinking about it. Gibson paints over all of its binding intentionally and then uses a honed metal blade to scrape the color coat off the binding. Whoever scraped the binding on this guitar missed a spot. That makes this mistake even worse in my estimation.
Sorry to hear you got a dud in terms of the pot hole. Just so you know Gibson have always put right handed wiring in all their lefty's that's not actually a mistake. All of the Gibsons or Tokai's I have owned over the years do the same thing. The weird thing is the Epiphone brand have the pots the way you would expect. I believe it says lefty on there more as an orientation into the left hand guitars. The rants online are mostly real and once you experience it, it really sucks. If you end up getting something else go for a Japanese made guitar. Half the price and more consistent.
intheblues Howdy! First thing I thought about when I saw the hole was the fact that both my Epiphones are built with better attention to detail. I have stripped them down and never seen or felt that they cut a corner... With this guitar I felt just that. Love your videos Shane!
The quality of Epiphone guitars is generally really good, I would agree with you there mate. Thanks for the kind words. I am sure this video will get quite a few hits over time so get ready! (I will share it tomorrow on my Twitter feed too).
Shane is spot on about the Japanese builders..... you cannot go wrong with a Japanese crafted Tokai. Looked at a Gary Clark Jr. SG today, and tuning stability was a genuine concern..... maybe new strings, but worried that it is the lack of liking your job with Henry. Best to ya Jorge !
I have a similar issue with my sg. As much as I love it, the rear cavity looks like it was hacked out like your pots, there are small blemishes in the finish like it was dinged before the lacquer was sprayed and the most annoying part for me (and it’s only cosmetic I know!!) is the lack of quality on the serial number on the back of the head stock! It’s been done that badly that I questioned whether it was fake! On the positive side, it sounds and plays sweet but I paid £1000 for it and for that money, everything should be right, not half arsed!! Anyways, that’s my rant!!!
Hello Jorge, I bought a left hand “inspired by Gibson” epi sg standard to my “left handed player” son, The pots are simply “inversed wiring”, I mean from 0 to 3 you have all the volume and tone, do you recommend pots for replace it (audio taper, “left handed logarithm”, linear)? By the way, i had to rectify all the frets, nut ( the low string was over the stratosphere) and the bridge (6 th and 3string was over 5 and 4th respectively, i mean it not comply the 12” radius…. The rest it’s all ok, good wood, very resonant…
Oh hell man this kinda stuff has been going on at Gibson for decades. You’ll find solid body Gibson’s from the 50s and 60s where the studs for the tailpiece are up to an inch out of whack. Or pots/tuners out of line. And neck angle- Forget about it. ALL OVER the map. You gotta keep in mind that Gibson’s production is much less automated than other makers. I know EXACTLY what went on w your pots.... Gibson is using the same manual gang drill for those holes that they’ve used for 50 years. BUT now the pots are an assembly- probably jobbed out. So 500 of those boards come back and guess what? The pot assembly doesn’t quite fit the holes. In the old days it made zero difference bc the pots were point to point wired by hand. But now they have 500 drilled body blanks and 500 pot assemblies that don’t quite fit - so they do what any manufacturer would do - they ream the holes a little so that board will work. I don’t see that as a defect at all - like you said it’s not seen in the end product - and honestly those little abnormalities are how the hardcore collectors know a ‘62 from October from a ‘62 from December. Back in the day the documentation was even worse than now and those oddball things become important. I’ll bet $$ Angus Young’s favorite SGs have something that is out of spec. I’ve owned half a dozen SGs and 3 with supposedly the same era neck width, body thickness, horn offset- all different on every one of them. That’s why one Gibson will play great and sound great and feel perfect - and the next guitar off the line - same year same model- will be just ‘meh’. 50 yrs from now someone will pay a premium for the great one. If you want computer accuracy in a production Guitar you gotta go PRS, G&L, etc. (Or Asian mass production like Reverend) Every Guitar identical no tweaks required. If you want perfection in a hand-crafted Guitar - add a “0” to what you paid. Gibson is somewhat of a unique bird. They have semi-skilled workers hand building big chunks of a production guitar. So you get the reamed pot holes and the wacky neck angles and the binding w overspray on it. If your Gibson plays good just go with it - after 500 bar gigs you’ll have added all kinds of your own charm to it.
You can get pretty much perfect hand made guitar for less than a custom shop Gibson, hell, Hufschmids start from 2500 Euro, which is less than 2018 Les Paul Standard.
I get the pots and had Gibsons with the same deal, but no one sees them but me. The binding isn’t overspray, gibson paints over the binding deliberately and then someone hand scrapes the paint off before clear coating. This is Gibson’s Tradition of doing it and it’s not consistent, it’s been like this since the beginning. I personally love it bc it makes you’re guitar different from every other guitar, just like the vintage ones.
I’m with you on the scraped binding. I’ve been playing guitar for a long time now (over 40 years), and the quality of Gibson guitars is always about the same. The production line instruments always have some flaws, and the custom shop models are a big jump in quality of both fit & finish as well as materials, and price. I do hate it when I see something like this, but it’s nothing new and in the grand scheme of things, it’s a pretty minuscule problem. I don’t sweat the small things anymore, I just want my guitars to sound the way I want them to, and play to suit my needs and playing style. I worry about cosmetics after I get it set up, and modified to fit me. Hell, I completely reworked my 2017 SG Standard. I stripped the vinyl sealer and lacquer, shaved down the bevels to 1960s specs, fit an ABR-1 bridge, refinished it in real sanding sealer and vintage amber tinted nitrocellulose lacquer, and re-wired it with vintage PIO caps (.033 for the neck and .047 on the bridge) in 50s style wiring. I couldn’t care less about the work done in the factory.
I have lots of experience on wring guitars up but I have never worked with these Gibson electronic plates where everything is soldered like on a circuit board. I was wondering, couldn't you have just reversed the two outer wires on each pot? That would have turned them into lefty pots. Is that something that could have been done on this guitar?
Wow, brutal dude. I'd be choked too. I know exactly what you mean about always wanting to have owned a Gibson. I felt the same way before I got mine. Then I couldn't keep it in tune and nearly threw it through the front window. Many many Gibson's later, both mine and friends guitars I've worked on. There is truly no other guitar that quite feels and sounds like a Gibson. Despite these quality control issues, they generally sound amazing and play great. All of our hero's played them. All of our favourite music was recorded on them. I hope you get it all together working the way you want it to work and look. I love AC/DC too:-)
Woodeso's Guitar Mods The man himself! After putting it back together I decided to let the bad feeling go... It is still a wonderful guitar and part of why I purchased it was because I wanted to contribute to buying american. Thank you for your sympathy Nelson it means a lot... My apologies for being critical of you but now I totally get it. One good old Gibson bite was all it took lol! Keep those screw drivers turning!!
Its the same kind of work that I found on my 'New' Gibson LP faded.The bushing hole was drilled too big. Gibsons fix? Masking tape! And the bridge pick up was intermittent, eventually totally dead.TWO issue's, one new guitar.
Jorge Cortez , is it just the angle and lighting or is the switch hole kind of oval’d out as well? Sorry you had to deal with current Gibson USA QC. Seems the only way to get consistent quality from Gibson is to buy from the custom shop line . I picked up a 82 Matsumoku Epiphone Les Paul that is more true to ‘59 specs than Gibson’s own true historic line. Definitely check into the Japanese market if you find yourself buying another guitar down the road. Gibson has taken an odd turn over the last couple years.
That's nasty for what they charge. It's sad that the Gibson logo means nothing to me anymore, 10 years ago I dreamt daily for a Gibson, but now? I couldn't carebless.
I've only got a couple of older Gibsons (A 78 Marauder, and a 90's Studio Les Paul) and the quality has been very good, I've heard they have slipped lately - and this is a little shocking, but it does look like a great guitar though and I hope you have a great time playing it.
Sorry to hear it. I hear horror stories all the time from techs. The place I go to, the owner told me his brother bought a Gibson Custom ES-335 (I think). Basically a $4,000.00+ price tag, because he bought it new and it needed work before he could even play it.
I've played too many Gibson guitars with too many QC issues. I've had no issues with Jackson guitars from $140 opposed to the $5,250 Les Paul Custom Shop I played a few months back. Yes, it was beautifully aged but the pickups sounded microphonic, the neck was warped badly, the fret ends were sharp, the 17th fret had almost worked it's way out of the board, it wouldn't hold tune, the nut was cut wrong, they got overspray on the binding, the headstock was cracked right out of the box, the fretboard had tooling marks, the volume pot for the neck pickup didn't work very well, it had a separation in the seam where the two chunks of mahogany made the body that were filled in with wood putty and not sanded down evenly and too many other things. I played it for 5 minutes before I put it back and fell in love with a Jackson Soloist.
3 les pauls last year till i got one i would keep. the one i kept is a good one but still the fret ends needed some work. i have never took it apart to see what the routing looks like. Gibson : (
That's why I won't replace my 98 SG that unfortunately was stolen. I'd rather upgrade a Tokai or a Harley Benton. Hell I've seen better quality control at Epiphone.
But at least with Harley Benton, you haven't spent over £1000 on the thing and you do expect to have to change strings and adjust it out of the box. You dont expect to do that with a £1000+ guitar. If you do want to spend a lot of money on a quality guitar, may I suggest a "golden era" made in japan Ibanez like a RG 550 or RG 750 or a Charvel 750xl.
I do, guitars are rarely set up perfectly for someone's taste, that is why it's important to learn it yourself, i always change strings no matter what.Uneven frets, sharp edges, necks with bad angles, cosmetic flaws, i don't expect those kind of things at those prices no.Gibson may be doing bad, but the quality is much mire consistent than Harley Benton, some models are great but with most you need to go through a bunch before you got a good version.
Epiphone is a really great quality guitar company, and if youre looking for bang for your buck id say go for epiphone, because at this point, you arent paying for a fantastic and amazing guitar from gibson, moreso just the logo and the brand, which is sad, because there was a time when gibson existed just to make guitars that were of a great quality, now the CEO just wants to have the rolex watch of the guitar world, when in reality, he can't even be the caseo watch of the guitar world.
This seems to a common issue on left handed guitars. Not the pots but stuff misaligned. Maybe because everything is flipped and they get things slightly out of place.
I bought my Gibson SG back in 2012. Took it home, played AC/DC in the background and nostalgically opened the case when Angus played a solo. It was such a great feeling lol! I inspected the guitar and I noticed the pickguard had one screw missing. I thought just message them and get a new screw. Turns out the screw hole wasn't even drilled in. Makes me wonder what kinda guys do the quality control. I believe it was checked like 3 times. Used to adore gibson, still do but not the curren't models. They are simply destroying the brand. It's those little details that makes a guitar great, but can also be a complete dealbreaker.
That blows. Just FYI, there are no right handed or left handed pots. Its just the way they are wired. If they weren’t on that pcb, you could just swap two wires and be done with it. Also, it’s an output jack. Semantics, maybe.
Lee Jacobson Cool! But it is disappointing that after years of making left handed guitars they have not set up manufacturing to route the wiring/pcb differently... Southpaws get no love!
Actually that isn't true. An audio taper pot is exponential not linear, as a result, if you wire it the other way, the volume stays almost full until the very last bit where is goes off. As a left handed guy, I have come across this more than once. It's actually more of a pain than having the pot lower in volume as you turn it up. Only my custom built Guitars have correct left handed audio taper pots.
Both points here are true. Switching lugs can make it work in the opposite direction, I actually ha e a tone control wired backwards in one of my guitars. I sort of like it, honestly, it was an accident, but I decided that guitar deserved that quirk. But yeah, an audio tapper pot is going to make it behave different wheb wired that way. I assume their left handed markings are for proper placement of the controls, rather than indicating reversed pots. I'm not a lefty, so my opinion isn't totally valid, but I would imagine I'd still want the regular pots if I were left handed, as every other knob for everything is clockwise to go up, counter to go down. Seems more logical to me that whether your hand is moving up or down.
I read a lot of rants down below.I am 62 yrs old, and my parents bought me a SG JR when i was 10 after watching the beatles on ed sulivan show.that guitar had a great sound every one that could play guitar wanted to borrow it. I had a hard time getting it back from that person.well i sold it thinking i would never pick up guitar again for $200. well ipicked up playing guitar again for the last 20 yrs. and i want another guitar like it. So I ordered one from china.got the hump out of the frets where the neck meets the body,by leveling and crowning and polishing the frets to 2000 grt.I swapped out the pup for a throbak P-90 ,replaced the tunners with som real kluson delux tunners and changed the pots and out put jack with CTS.,and switchcraft, and got a truss rod cover,and i carved a bone nut for it,I still wanna change the scratch guard for a gibson one.I have $472 into my chibson,and it freakin sounds great.If Gibson goes under,they have no one but there selve to blame.
It looks like it might have been the right size but in the wrong place and was just moved south a bit with a rasp or some other inappropriate tool. It is an indicator of one of the reasons why now I would pretty much only buy pre-owned Gibsons - less money and road tested. It does look beautiful though and that rasp work will soon be your secret :-)
I often thought "I want a real Gibson" but we have a local used shop that has a bunch of Gibson on the floor to try and the only guitar that had that "Les Paul" crunch was a PRS Mira! I've played everything from $1,500 down and none of those there were worth it at least to me, none of them rung out unplugged they all sounded dead and muted which I was totally surprised, Even the SG's weren't all the rage except I think it was a Special with mini humbuckers. I recently got a 2004 Korean Les Paul Standard loaded with Gibson USA picks ups in a trade and that guitar feels so good and sounds even better since I upgraded all the pots and caps that all I want to do is play it and I even feel like it's improved my playing because it's easy to move around on, I've never had a guitar that's done that for me. After this I am sure I don't need a real Gibson but I wouldn't regret a fee one 👌
Very Informative and thanks, I am waiting for my Chinese SG (Chibson SG). I don't expect it to sound like an American-made Gibson SG and I intend on buying genuine pickups for it to see if I can make it sound like a real Gibson. Aussie ACDC fan since 1976
I am very happy with my used Gibsons. 1973 gold top les paul deluxe , 1975 les paul deluxe natural, 1998 les paul standard black. Each was purchased for $600. A much higher price than I paid for used gibsons in the late 1970s. Les pauls were 300, 400 and 500, for deluxe, standards, and customs. Those were the days.
I paid an average of $2666 for each of my Gibsons, and feel it was worth it. Made by humans, in America, keeping the dream alive. Assembled, it is hard to find much to worry about. Mine, have some serious gashes in them, just clanking around the studio, each of them have hit the floor. They're only 3 years old. Rub some dirt in it, and walk it off.
As for the bleed into the binding they ALL do that even the R9 and really stupid expensive ones .the pot hole issue really seems like they have a set up issue in their tooling But if you hadn't disassembled the guitar you would never have known.I know I sound like a Gibson apologist here believe me I'm not but these two issues are small stuff but you are right would it be too much to ask for them to source left handed pots.
robin bailey Yeah, and I am over the fact i discovered the issues. It is an awesome guitar! To me it's about building quality and the lack of effort. It's like moving into a house and ceramic floor tiles breaking as you set stuff down, then as you start pulling off the broken pieces you discover the obvious fact it was installed improperly, you go on, still love the house, but it bugs the crap out of you that people did not care and seemed like they just wanted to move on to the next job. Oh well, still love the guitar.
My first (and definitely last) ever Gibson was a 2009 Les Paul Junior Special. The craftsmanship and specs are subpar for what I paid for it. Chinese made tuners and bridge (Ping Well) for a "MIA" guitar. I ended up selling it to get myself a TOKAI '56 LP.
It's going to get covered up, but when the hole is too big, It's hard to center the pot, and if you don't, the top washer sinks into the hole, bends, then you'll notice the pot is tilted. See If they'll take it back and mod the new one. There's no excuse for that.
Maybe that's part of the "hand crafted" aesthetic. I try out Gibson LPs and SGs in stores anytime I'm in one and what I've noticed is rough fret edges, not on all of them but it's a rather common occurrence. Tuning issues come up as well where the setup is good but the tuning won't hold, even after tugging on the strings, though that scenario is rare and most just have a bad setup off the wall. As an 11-14yr old in mid 90s all my guitar idols played Gibsons, but I just can't justify their price. For a $2400-3200cdn LP I could get a Suhr or other brand with stainless steel frets etc where the quality of craftsmanship is visible as well as felt when playing.
Jorge. I know what you mean. As a young squirt, when I saw Gibson's EB-3 for the first time (at Sam Ash Music in NYC) I fell in love. I had a Fender P-bass at the time and couldn't afford the Gibson. I'm a little older now, (hell, I'm retired) and I still can't afford that EB-3. I do have two though, both newer, SG standards, a six string and a bass. When I first saw the SG six string, I couldn't believe the quality of the finish. It was crap. Something that I wouldn't have thought of as being "A Gibson" The bass, probably because of it's Satin finish, looks a bit better, but stil............. WTF? I'm still a fan though. It's hard to hear about the piss poor QC and how this iconic company may go under. :(
I have a 2004 gibson sg which has the same quality issues. They've always had quality issues. however, It seems that this gibson quality control thing is something that everyone has jumped on the bandwagon about (which is a good thing) but its taken everyone a long time to notice.
My 2002 sg standard is the same! Thinking of doing the same mod because it's bloody annoying, can't believe QC missed the overspray and that hole for the pot!! Think my next sg purchase will be a Jap tokai or even a Korean epiphone.
actually the new high end epiphones are bad ass. I bought a Sheraton pro 2 and it's one the best playing, best crafted, and best sounding guitars I have bought. Got it this year. Epi has stepped up their game lately using a LOT of Gibson usa parts, grover tuners etc etc. They are better made than Gibsons. And I have owned 2 custom shop Gibson 335's that barely sounded better and needed tuners replaced to grovers, a slight nut file job and graphite saddles to even stay in tune for one song. That's unacceptable on a 3500.00 guitar
The feeling I get when watching the Gibson factory tour here on TH-cam is that the guitars as they pass through each department goes from a modern way of building guitars to an old school more hand-tooled way of building and that makes for no continuity they need to go fully automated They think those handmade processes are what makes our guitars worth the money but actually it's what's hurting the company and a lot of people who just don't care obviously
Gibson USA keeps a rat in the factory just for chewing potentiometer holes in SGs & LPs. He eats mahogany for breakfast, lunch & dinner. I know what you mean about yanking all the electronics & wiring it yourself. I gutted my '17 SG Standard and did the 4 push pull wiring with Iommi pups and found a couple ugly things in the construction along the way but I love it so much I can't even bad mouth Gibson. Best SG I've ever played hands down in feel, sound & tuning stability. Good luck and I hope you bond with your newly rewired SG and never give it up!
I bought a 2016, paid $1300 for a Gibson SG. Had to replace the pots, the neck angle was so bad that the bridge had to sit 5/8 off of the body so that the string action was at a level I could play it. Then I had to completely paint the cavities with shielding paint because of static grounding issues. I have a Heritage 535 (old Gibson in Kalamazoo MI) semi-hollow, now that's a guitar... You couldn't give me a new Gibson if you wanted too. To bad it was a great company in it's day...
They sprayed to much laquer/nitro/whatever their finish is, on , and instead of reboring the holes obviously someone took a rasp to it instead of making sure it got rebored right. (yes i realize recutting/boring the holes is a pain, but in a facility with the correct tools it shouldn't be a a big deal, or take much time to do it cleanly and right).
Return it if your not happy and get another one the pots will be the same though but the dodgy control section holes would piss me right off man yeah definitely take in back to shop!!
I might be biassed but I don’t think it’s too big of a deal, I mean, it still sucks, but a quick sand down from your local lutheran shouldn’t be a hassle if it’s bad, as long as the pot is snug.
Yeah, really disappointed with the QC on my 2019 SG,a real shame and a lack of care on their part. I've have much cheaper guitars that have had zero finish issues and I totally empathize with you, when you finally make the decision to go for a big brand, expensive guitar it's absolutely right to expect a top level of finish. You wouldn't accept a new car with a dented door.
Simply finding out they screwed up the body and simply went.." big deal, the pot will cover it" bothers me.. That is not what being elite is about..Its a Gibson not a back yard manufacturer
@@MrMrjauregui 100% agree. I've emailed Gibson about my 2019 standard, it's the guitar I settled on after sending back the latest '61 that was the most badly built guitar I've ever had and the finish on that was covered in orange peel and chips! My 2019 standard has missing finish on the Headstock that they have just sprayed over with nitro! Not big blemishes in fact pretty small but like you said, the fact that they were ok with it sucks. I hold little hope about any decent response but if it continues perhaps we should all get together and contact them that way. I'm also going to be paying for the 2019 standard for the next 9 months and I too will then be stripping out the circuit and hand wiring.
I'm with you.... If not for 1. The consistent issues reported and 2. That's a lot of money to be that sloppy. Not a major issue but misses expectations
I can relate, the QC is just BS anymore and it is sickening with out a doubt. I have played Gibson's all my life but i will not buy another one because of this kind of crap, it seems as though American pride in workmanship is gone.
Well said man. These are the things that people don't seem to understand about modern Gibsons. I've even seen problems on some of their higher end stuff. I love Gibson guitars. For me, there's nothing quite like them & I own 3 of them but I would not buy a new Gibson anymore, no way. I went to look at getting a Les Paul Custom & I played quite a few in 3 different stores & they all had problems of one kind or another. It was either blemishes in the paint, the binding or the electronics & let me say, their electronics are dog shit! Honestly, the amount of times I tried guitars that had problems with either the switch, volume pots & especially coil taps, I was truly shocked & these are supposed to be their top of the range, £3000+ (around $3500+ US) models. The only Gibsons I'll buy from now on will be pre-2010 stuff. It's a real shame but you can see why they're losing customers. I'm not a big fan of PRS but you know there's no chance you'd find any similar problems with their higher end guitars.
A warmth build sg style guitar could be the way to go. The fit and finish should satisfy. Check it ou, you might like it. The guitar building skills you have could build a custom, withe the sound you want. I've done it on anguses Hersch. Lefty too.
Ive owned two SG standards, one had a twisted neck and the other had high frets and a badly cut nutt, so my 1300 dollar SG costed me 1600 after a level recrown and new nutt. I'll never waste money on a gibson again
Dude, you're right to be pissed. For that kind of money, you would expect better. The reason that hole is bored out bigger and sloppier is that they mount all the pots on a PCB and they obviously initially drilled that one off-center. Inexcusable. $500 buys a lot of guitar these days. For $1,500 your guitar should be flawless.
I was a little disappointed when I spent $1800 on a limited edition explorer and the logo is just silk screened on, and the fretboard is made or richlite....
My Burny SG , made in China, is excellent.Is that due to quality control? At a lot less than half the price of the Gibson.That said, I own a Gibson double cut Les Paul special with the robot tuners and it's beautifully made and sounds and plays superb.Cost £630 new.I.M.H.O if you can go to a local store,I'm lucky here in Manchester UK there are lots of stores in this area,try before you buy.
It is quite clear that if you handwire a guitar you do not need too much precision in the way the pots holes are positioned, as the relative spacing is not critical. But we all know that body is made by a CNC, so, we can assume the precision of that positioning can be within .1mm (4mills if you prefer). As that guitar has a PCB one could argue the issue is due to a "non precise" positioning of the pots on the PCB with respect to the holes in the guitar, but that is not rocket science: Any chinese effect pedal maker is able to properly align the case holes and the PCB shafts... and if are not alingned the PCB assembly is discarded or reworked. The idea of fileing the box (i.e. the guitar) is simply ridicolous!
Looks terrible. Looks like they reamed out the hole with a steak knife. Do you think that it was something that was done at the assembly level in order to accommodate that pre-loaded wiring harness? Do you know what I mean? Maybe the fourth pot post was just a little bit off and whoever was installing it said "Oh, shit, I'll just open up a little bit."
John JohnnyArt Pavlou I think so... They drill the holes at the factory using a CNC machine, they use the same drill bit to drill all control holes at the same time. The process is called interpolation. I believe the pots did not align accurately and so they hand filed the hole with a rat tail file but without any care.. I feel it is embarrassing to put out an all American hand assembled product with that obvious lack of attention..
jorge cortez, or love, or something. I think we all love Gibson, and they still have that flagship name about them. The fanciest, handsomest guitars. But there's a terrible sense of disappointment with the quality is not there. That's what I hear. So it's kind of disappointing if someone on the line is working and just thinking that this or that is "good enough."
Interesting video, all I can say is their are bad employees in all professions, it is a beautiful guitar, I watched Billy Gibbons rip on one the other night, thanks for the video.
I think you're justified for sure. However ive been a fender guy since birth and you know we are laughing. You're only as good as your completion and I think Gibson should rectify this. The kicker is you're paying for it. Cheers Brother.
I'm sorry you had to put up with that.. It looks like a mouse tried to chew his way through the hole. I had a Gibson LP that had very poor inlays and several finish flaws. It made me mad, but I bought it online (sight unseen) and I just kept it.
Ive been seeing a lot of videos and negativity like this towards Gibson, and I hope that Gibson is aware of this bad publicity. Maybe it'll help them get back to their roots.. making good quality instruments that keep the customers happy and coming back. For what these guitars are selling for, they should be flawless. I live in Canada and since the dollar went weak, the price of some of these guitars has doubled in recent years. No way I would pay 6000 dollars for a guitar, yet pay that much for a guitar that might come to me with mistakes in the workmanship. I own many guitars and the only guitars I want to see some dings and scratches on are the vintage ones that have been well played!
I own an 2014 Sg Standard and I got luck forn good quality Guitar. I heard that Gibson has lack of quality control wich bothers me becuase I really love this brand! I'm sorry for you !
Honestly I'll probably never buy a gibson. Also, there's a small Brooklyn based pickup and electronic maker called Darkmoon and they'll make left handed harnesses, they have very competitive prices for being all american and made to order. I'm currently building a strat and I'm getting my stuff from them!
If this is a newly-bought guitar, I would immediately look up Gibson's return policy. First let me say this, I love playing Gibson guitars! But I hate owning them... This is only the case with the more modern Gibsons, since their quality-control took a nose-dive. Being used to Fender's quality-control (and maybe being spoiled by that!) this is simply not acceptable! True, there are more horrendous examples of poor C-Q issues at Gibson (lately), but shaping the inside cavities should be done with the correct bit and should not be rushed on a guitar with the reputation that Gibson has. Where I live, returning to Gibson is a lost case anyway, since I live in north-west Europe and returning from here is expensive and takes forever to see any results. So I just don't buy them new anymore, and always play before you pay! The routing might be off, the finish might be damaged, but if it plays like a gift from above, it's still a decent instrument. But when you pay upwards of 1200 Euro (local to me of course) for anything less than perfection, you are being ripped off, in my opinion. And Gibson is dropping the ball here, letting their Q-C be done by dunces (if there is any at all), and keeping the same pricing, as if nothing has changed and they still hold up to the praise they got in the '80's. They do not have the same quality (control) anymore! Let them either pick up their slack, or go down like they recently started to deserve! The once great Gibson from the 70's/80's is dead. And that is sad, they used to make such impeccable instruments, and now you are flipping a coin on it. And, for me at least, at the prices they ask, it is not worth the gamble to go and buy a new Gibson at the moment, with their 'new' guitars being unintentionally 'relic-ed' (AKA DAMAGED) before they even leave the factory floor. I'll take a new Epiphone over a new Gibson, as the current Q-C stands. At least you get what you pay for with them, it seems. Pick-ups can be switched for that great sound from the Gibson ones, and you'll miss that beautiful logo on the headstock, but I'd rather pay about 400 for a decent Epiphone and know I got what I've paid for, than I would take the 1200/1500/2000 gamble on the Gibson... But that is just me, if you like them enough, and can spare the money they cost, just go and get one! For the same reasons I got a Fender instead of a Squire, just for the brand recognition and the knowledge it will hold some second-hand value, if I ever decide to part with it.
After visiting their Nashville plant and talking with a friend that works there I determined I would never ever buy a modern day Gibson! Horrible Quality Control and Management!
gibson only seems to care about the 5000 up ranges their hp 4a flames lmao ive seen some with less then a standard version. bindings with gaps,ugly coloring, binding paint. ect its extremly sad too see and why i only care for quality controll to the max . as in prs or taylor or even design your own guitar and pick your own woods color shape and form for the same cash and your every need.
I bought a Gibson SG after returning four of them I gave up , everyone I sent back they sent me a new one with a new problem eventually the Gibson rep told me I was too picky for that price range and refuse to do business with me after that and I'm not that picky of a person everyone had a noticeable problem
looks like a beaver chewed through it.....i have a 2012 Les Paul and one of the pickups quit....i looked inside it and there was almost NO solder where the lead goes to the pot. i have LOTS of solder, so i redid every joint....works like a champ now...but it's sad that the quality has sunk....no attention to detail....the 50's WERE the golden years after all.
I feel your pain, I bought a 2015 Les Paul for over $2000.00. This guitar was unplayable, would not stay in tune. So, first I replaced the robo tuners that were shit, that cost me $130.00, it Still had tuning problems. Next the REPLACEMENT zero fret they sent me was shit so now I'm paying a Luthier here in Nashville to cut a new bone nut, waiting for it to be finished. ANOTHER $160.00. I pray it fixes this guitar. Gibson refuses to compensate me for it. So much for their "Lifetime BULLSHIT Warranty" They only authorize Guitar Center to do repairs, I wouldn't let a Guitar Center guy work on anything but the simplest adjustments on my guitars!!! I've recently bought a Schecter Solo II Custom Les Paul th-cam.com/video/ZXmfgTpb5kM/w-d-xo.html for less than half the price and it is infinitely better from the factory then my Gibson Les Paul. I'm really sad, I loved this company when I was a kid watching all my heroes play them. I WILL NEVER PURCHASE ANOTHER GIBSON GUITAR AGAIN, THIS IS MY FOURTH ONE AND THREE OF THEM WERE PROBLEMATIC.
In the UK, there's a company called John West that sells canned fish. Their slogan is "It's the fish that John West reject that makes John West the best."
Maybe it's a lesson that Gibson needs to learn?
Maybe Gibson should start selling fish.
@@philipm06 Maybe fish should start playing gibsons and selling johns?
In Scotland we fry Gibsons in lard, then eat them.
Send it Back it's down to Gibson
He took it apart = voided any form of warranty
I had to send back a 17 SG standard alpine white traditional. The bridge pickup was very crooked. The replacement I was sent was perfect. Now after a year of playin it's starting to yellow. Which time is a good thing.
I bought 6 Gibsons this year and sent 5 back for quality control fuck ups.
One was an LE SG, it actually had bare wood on the headstock and major gouges in the finish down into the wood...
sent it back and the next one came in worse.
Then the people I ordered it from said it was "unrealistic" to expect to get a new Gibson in new condition, unblemished.
They actually suggested I should buy a PRS instead.
No, I ordered an SG, it came in jacked up so I returned it for another thinking it might have been a fluke but guitar 2 came in worse shape than the first one and the dealer gave a couple excuses why a perfect condition SG was unrealistic smh, so I decided well I will try a flying V, you know straight edges and all hard to screw up on buffing that, first one jacked up, tried another and the warehouse manager was suposed to inspect it for damage, same thing. This sort of thing went on over four different models untill I got one that was so cheap that I figured I could fix the guitar and still be to the good. Hope that answers who the fuck orders 6 gibson guitars. I buy all my music equipment and it is a lot of gear online, nobody in a brick and mortor store can match online pricing and this is the first time I have had an issue like this after many thousands of dollars in pro gear
Sounds like something the goobers at Sweet Water Music might say, but i agree a PRS is a better Design.
This actually sounds like a bullshit story, seems like everyone's jumping on the wagon, slamming Gibson and making yourself look like a hero, six new axes in one year, who are you gigging with?
I wish it was a bullshit story.
But it is not, I find no enjoyment nor do I desire to lie about what Gibson has become. Any how the hell does this experience make a person look like a hero lol I was simply sharing my experience that's all. I have owned many many Gibsons and currently own 6 guitars I use every week in my studio.
Yeah it's crazy man, I had a couple 335's that needed a slight nut file, locking tuners and graphite saddles to stay in tune for anything over one song. Unacceptable for a $3,500.00 guitar
People try defending Gibson on this bs. "Oh, you can just send it for repairs or have it get setup." Yeah, because the first thing I want to do after spending $1,000+ on a Gibson logo is spend more money fixing it. That is unacceptable. I'll never buy a Gibson for full price at this rate.
This pot-mess may just be a drafting mistake. The bored holes in the body don't line up with the gang of pots on the circuit board. Presumably, the circuit board was drilled by a CNC Bridgeport Machine (in China). The Mahogany Body might have been be drilled with a ganged drill, or it might be drilled with the aid of a metal template equipped with drill bushings at the hole locations, or, it might be hand drilled using a ganged center punch jig to mark the hole centers.
Whatever methods were used, there is evidently a mismatch between the locations of the Pot Holes in the Circuit Board and the Pot Holes in the Body. The total misalignment between the two four-hole patterns is such that if three of the pots can pass thru their holes, the fourth pot will just miss its hole. (For all you Mechanical Designers out there, you know this is a problem of True Position Tolerances of an Assembly.)
The center to center dimensions of pot-holes in the circuit board could have been laid out in millimeters (in China) and the holes in the mahogany body may have been laid out in inches (in Nashville USA). If the inch dimension holes are bored .020" larger than the pot (for clearance) and the metric layout in the circuit board pot centers are off by .5mm each, three of the pots will fit but the fourth will bind in its hole. Any greater discrepancy will cause one or more pots to not fit at all --- calling for the services of a shoemaker. Evidently this is what happened. So they took a coarse file and widened the one hole a little bit and another hole a lot, so the fourth pot would fit. And it looks like this was done after the bodies were finished.
It would seem evident that, in its present configuration, Gibson cannot afford to perform rigorous quality control on their jigs and fixtures before unacceptable variances in position manifest in completed components. The circuit boards made in China may have been ordered with the correct dimensions and tolerances, but some "loss in translation" between Gibson and the Chinese machinists may have caused the boards to be manufactured out of acceptable tolerance.
Once manufactured, however, these circuit boards would tend to drive the train of assembly tolerances. Its like Poured Concrete. Once a 9 yard block of Reinforced Concrete is laid in the wrong place, the wrong place tends to be the right place ...
The boards were probably ordered in the thousands and delivered to the Gibson factory in bulk way before the bodies were bored to receive them. If this defect is caused by a lack of coordination between the circuit board design and the boring template for the bodies, there should have been time to evaluate the discrepancy and fabricate a new jig for boring the bodies before thousands of pieces of scrap were sold as "Top Quality" instruments. Unless, of course, the body holes are drilled with a four-head gang drill press. In which case, there's either a big box of parts or a big piece of scrap up for sale ...
Ultimately, the blame for this quality defect can be put down to Fast Track "Just-In-Time" Manufacturing Systems. "Just-In-Time" processes require critical parts of an assembly to be available at exactly the instant they are required to be assembled. Inventory Rules enacted by the IRS mean that the actual "out-the-door cost" of any component is proportional to its relative cost. The more expensive a part is, the more it is taxed while being held in inventory awaiting assembly into a finished product. This rule has forced companies to warehouse their products in the Boats, Trains and Trucks used to transport components to the final assembly plant. This complicates the economies of mass production to such an extent that small manufacturing mistakes like this one can't be corrected without a huge loss of money due to material and labor waste, excess tax and slowed delivery cycles.
So if you want a perfect guitar, buy one from a small boutique shop that makes every part, checks every part and exerts on-the-spot quality control to make sure that every part is made to spec, fitted to perfection and assembled as intended. But you will never get that kind of craftsmanship from the bestial system that propels American Manufacturing today. I'm sure Gibson WANTS to put out the best possible product, but they've become like IBM was in the 80's. IBM couldn't ship an empty box for the price they needed to sell their PC AT's for. Leaner manufacturers ate their business and today the IBM company makes no computers at all.
Regardless of ALLLLLL that.. they could have bored the hole larger smoother and not over-sprayed onto the binding...no excuse
What’s on the binding isn’t really overspray the way you are thinking about it. Gibson paints over all of its binding intentionally and then uses a honed metal blade to scrape the color coat off the binding. Whoever scraped the binding on this guitar missed a spot. That makes this mistake even worse in my estimation.
Sorry to hear you got a dud in terms of the pot hole. Just so you know Gibson have always put right handed wiring in all their lefty's that's not actually a mistake. All of the Gibsons or Tokai's I have owned over the years do the same thing. The weird thing is the Epiphone brand have the pots the way you would expect. I believe it says lefty on there more as an orientation into the left hand guitars. The rants online are mostly real and once you experience it, it really sucks. If you end up getting something else go for a Japanese made guitar. Half the price and more consistent.
intheblues
Howdy!
First thing I thought about when I saw the hole was the fact that both my Epiphones are built with better attention to detail. I have stripped them down and never seen or felt that they cut a corner... With this guitar I felt just that.
Love your videos Shane!
The quality of Epiphone guitars is generally really good, I would agree with you there mate. Thanks for the kind words. I am sure this video will get quite a few hits over time so get ready! (I will share it tomorrow on my Twitter feed too).
intheblues
Cool!
Keep them bandits rockin!
Go find a good small luthier. You can get a custom instrument with unusual woods for less than a made in America Gibson.
Shane is spot on about the Japanese builders..... you cannot go wrong with a Japanese crafted Tokai. Looked at a Gary Clark Jr. SG today, and tuning stability was a genuine concern..... maybe new strings, but worried that it is the lack of liking your job with Henry. Best to ya Jorge !
I have a similar issue with my sg. As much as I love it, the rear cavity looks like it was hacked out like your pots, there are small blemishes in the finish like it was dinged before the lacquer was sprayed and the most annoying part for me (and it’s only cosmetic I know!!) is the lack of quality on the serial number on the back of the head stock! It’s been done that badly that I questioned whether it was fake! On the positive side, it sounds and plays sweet but I paid £1000 for it and for that money, everything should be right, not half arsed!! Anyways, that’s my rant!!!
Hello Jorge, I bought a left hand “inspired by Gibson” epi sg standard to my “left handed player” son, The pots are simply “inversed wiring”, I mean from 0 to 3 you have all the volume and tone, do you recommend pots for replace it (audio taper, “left handed logarithm”, linear)?
By the way, i had to rectify all the frets, nut ( the low string was over the stratosphere) and the bridge (6 th and 3string was over 5 and 4th respectively, i mean it not comply the 12” radius….
The rest it’s all ok, good wood, very resonant…
@@crflores76
Reverse audio taper (lefty ) is what I use. I like how it tapers as you go through the turn....
Cheers!
@crflores76 yeah, those need a little work, but now your son has a great guitar!!
Oh hell man this kinda stuff has been going on at Gibson for decades. You’ll find solid body Gibson’s from the 50s and 60s where the studs for the tailpiece are up to an inch out of whack. Or pots/tuners out of line. And neck angle- Forget about it. ALL OVER the map. You gotta keep in mind that Gibson’s production is much less automated than other makers. I know EXACTLY what went on w your pots.... Gibson is using the same manual gang drill for those holes that they’ve used for 50 years. BUT now the pots are an assembly- probably jobbed out. So 500 of those boards come back and guess what? The pot assembly doesn’t quite fit the holes. In the old days it made zero difference bc the pots were point to point wired by hand. But now they have 500 drilled body blanks and 500 pot assemblies that don’t quite fit - so they do what any manufacturer would do - they ream the holes a little so that board will work. I don’t see that as a defect at all - like you said it’s not seen in the end product - and honestly those little abnormalities are how the hardcore collectors know a ‘62 from October from a ‘62 from December. Back in the day the documentation was even worse than now and those oddball things become important. I’ll bet $$ Angus Young’s favorite SGs have something that is out of spec. I’ve owned half a dozen SGs and 3 with supposedly the same era neck width, body thickness, horn offset- all different on every one of them. That’s why one Gibson will play great and sound great and feel perfect - and the next guitar off the line - same year same model- will be just ‘meh’. 50 yrs from now someone will pay a premium for the great one. If you want computer accuracy in a production Guitar you gotta go PRS, G&L, etc. (Or Asian mass production like Reverend) Every Guitar identical no tweaks required. If you want perfection in a hand-crafted Guitar - add a “0” to what you paid. Gibson is somewhat of a unique bird. They have semi-skilled workers hand building big chunks of a production guitar. So you get the reamed pot holes and the wacky neck angles and the binding w overspray on it. If your Gibson plays good just go with it - after 500 bar gigs you’ll have added all kinds of your own charm to it.
You can get pretty much perfect hand made guitar for less than a custom shop Gibson, hell, Hufschmids start from 2500 Euro, which is less than 2018 Les Paul Standard.
Bang on fella
I bought a Schecter for $250. still love it.
Why didn't you buy the SG standard?
Have you considered contacting gibson about it, or posting it to social media? Would love to hear their response
I get the pots and had Gibsons with the same deal, but no one sees them but me. The binding isn’t overspray, gibson paints over the binding deliberately and then someone hand scrapes the paint off before clear coating. This is Gibson’s Tradition of doing it and it’s not consistent, it’s been like this since the beginning. I personally love it bc it makes you’re guitar different from every other guitar, just like the vintage ones.
I’m with you on the scraped binding. I’ve been playing guitar for a long time now (over 40 years), and the quality of Gibson guitars is always about the same. The production line instruments always have some flaws, and the custom shop models are a big jump in quality of both fit & finish as well as materials, and price. I do hate it when I see something like this, but it’s nothing new and in the grand scheme of things, it’s a pretty minuscule problem. I don’t sweat the small things anymore, I just want my guitars to sound the way I want them to, and play to suit my needs and playing style. I worry about cosmetics after I get it set up, and modified to fit me. Hell, I completely reworked my 2017 SG Standard. I stripped the vinyl sealer and lacquer, shaved down the bevels to 1960s specs, fit an ABR-1 bridge, refinished it in real sanding sealer and vintage amber tinted nitrocellulose lacquer, and re-wired it with vintage PIO caps (.033 for the neck and .047 on the bridge) in 50s style wiring. I couldn’t care less about the work done in the factory.
I have lots of experience on wring guitars up but I have never worked with these Gibson electronic plates where everything is soldered like on a circuit board. I was wondering, couldn't you have just reversed the two outer wires on each pot? That would have turned them into lefty pots. Is that something that could have been done on this guitar?
Wow, brutal dude. I'd be choked too. I know exactly what you mean about always wanting to have owned a Gibson. I felt the same way before I got mine. Then I couldn't keep it in tune and nearly threw it through the front window. Many many Gibson's later, both mine and friends guitars I've worked on. There is truly no other guitar that quite feels and sounds like a Gibson. Despite these quality control issues, they generally sound amazing and play great. All of our hero's played them. All of our favourite music was recorded on them. I hope you get it all together working the way you want it to work and look. I love AC/DC too:-)
Woodeso's Guitar Mods
The man himself!
After putting it back together I decided to let the bad feeling go... It is still a wonderful guitar and part of why I purchased it was because I wanted to contribute to buying american.
Thank you for your sympathy Nelson it means a lot... My apologies for being critical of you but now I totally get it.
One good old Gibson bite was all it took lol!
Keep those screw drivers turning!!
Don't sweat it bro... I'm an acquired taste. Hope you get it going the way you want!
Woah its Woodeso!!!
if your "heroes" were starting out today they wouldn't be playing Gibsons....
Its the same kind of work that I found on my 'New' Gibson LP faded.The bushing hole was drilled too big. Gibsons fix? Masking tape! And the bridge pick up was intermittent, eventually totally dead.TWO issue's, one new guitar.
Jorge Cortez , is it just the angle and lighting or is the switch hole kind of oval’d out as well? Sorry you had to deal with current Gibson USA QC. Seems the only way to get consistent quality from Gibson is to buy from the custom shop line . I picked up a 82 Matsumoku Epiphone Les Paul that is more true to ‘59 specs than Gibson’s own true historic line. Definitely check into the Japanese market if you find yourself buying another guitar down the road. Gibson has taken an odd turn over the last couple years.
That's nasty for what they charge. It's sad that the Gibson logo means nothing to me anymore, 10 years ago I dreamt daily for a Gibson, but now? I couldn't carebless.
Me neither!
Where did you get that neck rest?
I've only got a couple of older Gibsons (A 78 Marauder, and a 90's Studio Les Paul) and the quality has been very good, I've heard they have slipped lately - and this is a little shocking, but it does look like a great guitar though and I hope you have a great time playing it.
Sorry to hear it. I hear horror stories all the time from techs. The place I go to, the owner told me his brother bought a Gibson Custom ES-335 (I think). Basically a $4,000.00+ price tag, because he bought it new and it needed work before he could even play it.
I've played too many Gibson guitars with too many QC issues. I've had no issues with Jackson guitars from $140 opposed to the $5,250 Les Paul Custom Shop I played a few months back. Yes, it was beautifully aged but the pickups sounded microphonic, the neck was warped badly, the fret ends were sharp, the 17th fret had almost worked it's way out of the board, it wouldn't hold tune, the nut was cut wrong, they got overspray on the binding, the headstock was cracked right out of the box, the fretboard had tooling marks, the volume pot for the neck pickup didn't work very well, it had a separation in the seam where the two chunks of mahogany made the body that were filled in with wood putty and not sanded down evenly and too many other things. I played it for 5 minutes before I put it back and fell in love with a Jackson Soloist.
3 les pauls last year till i got one i would keep. the one i kept is a good one but still the fret ends needed some work. i have never took it apart to see what the routing looks like. Gibson : (
That's why I won't replace my 98 SG that unfortunately was stolen. I'd rather upgrade a Tokai or a Harley Benton. Hell I've seen better quality control at Epiphone.
sneifert1968 I don't have very good experiences with Harley Benton either, quality seems to be all over the place.
But at least with Harley Benton, you haven't spent over £1000 on the thing and you do expect to have to change strings and adjust it out of the box. You dont expect to do that with a £1000+ guitar.
If you do want to spend a lot of money on a quality guitar, may I suggest a "golden era" made in japan Ibanez like a RG 550 or RG 750 or a Charvel 750xl.
I do, guitars are rarely set up perfectly for someone's taste, that is why it's important to learn it yourself, i always change strings no matter what.Uneven frets, sharp edges, necks with bad angles, cosmetic flaws, i don't expect those kind of things at those prices no.Gibson may be doing bad, but the quality is much mire consistent than Harley Benton, some models are great but with most you need to go through a bunch before you got a good version.
My Epiphone is a thing of beauty!
Epiphone is a really great quality guitar company, and if youre looking for bang for your buck id say go for epiphone, because at this point, you arent paying for a fantastic and amazing guitar from gibson, moreso just the logo and the brand, which is sad, because there was a time when gibson existed just to make guitars that were of a great quality, now the CEO just wants to have the rolex watch of the guitar world, when in reality, he can't even be the caseo watch of the guitar world.
that's brutal! wow. can't believe that routed whole. and it was an HP model! wow
lando27music
Very disappointed!!
That's not a "routed whole," it's drilled.
looks like it was cut out with a butter knife..
This seems to a common issue on left handed guitars. Not the pots but stuff misaligned. Maybe because everything is flipped and they get things slightly out of place.
nice, no shielding in the control cavity either..
Need to bore more ventilation holes in it to dissipate the heat from those pickups.
I bought my Gibson SG back in 2012. Took it home, played AC/DC in the background and nostalgically opened the case when Angus played a solo. It was such a great feeling lol! I inspected the guitar and I noticed the pickguard had one screw missing. I thought just message them and get a new screw. Turns out the screw hole wasn't even drilled in. Makes me wonder what kinda guys do the quality control. I believe it was checked like 3 times. Used to adore gibson, still do but not the curren't models. They are simply destroying the brand. It's those little details that makes a guitar great, but can also be a complete dealbreaker.
I feel for you. I have a Gibson sg standard from 2009 and the binding looks like feddy Kruger had done it.
That blows. Just FYI, there are no right handed or left handed pots. Its just the way they are wired. If they weren’t on that pcb, you could just swap two wires and be done with it.
Also, it’s an output jack. Semantics, maybe.
Lee Jacobson
Cool!
But it is disappointing that after years of making left handed guitars they have not set up manufacturing to route the wiring/pcb differently...
Southpaws get no love!
jorge cortez
I get that. It would be simple for them to wire it correctly.
Actually that isn't true. An audio taper pot is exponential not linear, as a result, if you wire it the other way, the volume stays almost full until the very last bit where is goes off. As a left handed guy, I have come across this more than once. It's actually more of a pain than having the pot lower in volume as you turn it up. Only my custom built Guitars have correct left handed audio taper pots.
ColinTCS yes, assuming an audio taper pot is used
Both points here are true. Switching lugs can make it work in the opposite direction, I actually ha e a tone control wired backwards in one of my guitars. I sort of like it, honestly, it was an accident, but I decided that guitar deserved that quirk.
But yeah, an audio tapper pot is going to make it behave different wheb wired that way.
I assume their left handed markings are for proper placement of the controls, rather than indicating reversed pots.
I'm not a lefty, so my opinion isn't totally valid, but I would imagine I'd still want the regular pots if I were left handed, as every other knob for everything is clockwise to go up, counter to go down. Seems more logical to me that whether your hand is moving up or down.
I read a lot of rants down below.I am 62 yrs old, and my parents bought me a SG JR when i was 10 after watching the beatles on ed sulivan show.that guitar had a great sound every one that could play guitar wanted to borrow it. I had a hard time getting it back from that person.well i sold it thinking i would never pick up guitar again for $200. well ipicked up playing guitar again for the last 20 yrs. and i want another guitar like it. So I ordered one from china.got the hump out of the frets where the neck meets the body,by leveling and crowning and polishing the frets to 2000 grt.I swapped out the pup for a throbak P-90 ,replaced the tunners with som real kluson delux tunners and changed the pots and out put jack with CTS.,and switchcraft, and got a truss rod cover,and i carved a bone nut for it,I still wanna change the scratch guard for a gibson one.I have $472 into my chibson,and it freakin sounds great.If Gibson goes under,they have no one but there selve to blame.
It looks like it might have been the right size but in the wrong place and was just moved south a bit with a rasp or some other inappropriate tool. It is an indicator of one of the reasons why now I would pretty much only buy pre-owned Gibsons - less money and road tested. It does look beautiful though and that rasp work will soon be your secret :-)
I often thought "I want a real Gibson" but we have a local used shop that has a bunch of Gibson on the floor to try and the only guitar that had that "Les Paul" crunch was a PRS Mira! I've played everything from $1,500 down and none of those there were worth it at least to me, none of them rung out unplugged they all sounded dead and muted which I was totally surprised, Even the SG's weren't all the rage except I think it was a Special with mini humbuckers. I recently got a 2004 Korean Les Paul Standard loaded with Gibson USA picks ups in a trade and that guitar feels so good and sounds even better since I upgraded all the pots and caps that all I want to do is play it and I even feel like it's improved my playing because it's easy to move around on, I've never had a guitar that's done that for me. After this I am sure I don't need a real Gibson but I wouldn't regret a fee one 👌
Very Informative and thanks, I am waiting for my Chinese SG (Chibson SG). I don't expect it to sound like an American-made Gibson SG and I intend on buying genuine pickups for it to see if I can make it sound like a real Gibson. Aussie ACDC fan since 1976
I am very happy with my used Gibsons. 1973 gold top les paul deluxe , 1975 les paul deluxe natural, 1998 les paul standard black. Each was purchased for $600. A much higher price than I paid for used gibsons in the late 1970s. Les pauls were 300, 400 and 500, for deluxe, standards, and customs. Those were the days.
Just bought a Gibson SG special. It has a few minor issues that are a bit annoying but man it sounds amazing. So I'll just enjoy it as it is,
I paid an average of $2666 for each of my Gibsons, and feel it was worth it. Made by humans, in America, keeping the dream alive. Assembled, it is hard to find much to worry about. Mine, have some serious gashes in them, just clanking around the studio, each of them have hit the floor. They're only 3 years old. Rub some dirt in it, and walk it off.
Well sorry that some people want to play $2500 for quality control worse than a $700 guitar.
As for the bleed into the binding they ALL do that even the R9 and really stupid expensive ones .the pot hole issue really seems like they have a set up issue in their tooling But if you hadn't disassembled the guitar you would never have known.I know I sound like a Gibson apologist here believe me I'm not but these two issues are small stuff but you are right would it be too much to ask for them to source left handed pots.
robin bailey
Yeah, and I am over the fact i discovered the issues. It is an awesome guitar!
To me it's about building quality and the lack of effort.
It's like moving into a house and ceramic floor tiles breaking as you set stuff down, then as you start pulling off the broken pieces you discover the obvious fact it was installed improperly, you go on, still love the house, but it bugs the crap out of you that people did not care and seemed like they just wanted to move on to the next job.
Oh well, still love the guitar.
My first (and definitely last) ever Gibson was a 2009 Les Paul Junior Special. The craftsmanship and specs are subpar for what I paid for it. Chinese made tuners and bridge (Ping Well) for a "MIA" guitar. I ended up selling it to get myself a TOKAI '56 LP.
It's going to get covered up, but when the hole is too big, It's hard to center the pot, and if you don't, the top washer sinks into the hole, bends, then you'll notice the pot is tilted.
See If they'll take it back and mod the new one. There's no excuse for that.
I understand the frustration, as a lefty player I chose any left handed Schecter and Fender.... you know you’re expecting quality
Maybe that's part of the "hand crafted" aesthetic. I try out Gibson LPs and SGs in stores anytime I'm in one and what I've noticed is rough fret edges, not on all of them but it's a rather common occurrence. Tuning issues come up as well where the setup is good but the tuning won't hold, even after tugging on the strings, though that scenario is rare and most just have a bad setup off the wall. As an 11-14yr old in mid 90s all my guitar idols played Gibsons, but I just can't justify their price. For a $2400-3200cdn LP I could get a Suhr or other brand with stainless steel frets etc where the quality of craftsmanship is visible as well as felt when playing.
Jorge. I know what you mean. As a young squirt, when I saw Gibson's EB-3 for the first time (at Sam Ash Music in NYC) I fell in love. I had a Fender P-bass at the time and couldn't afford the Gibson. I'm a little older now, (hell, I'm retired) and I still can't afford that EB-3. I do have two though, both newer, SG standards, a six string and a bass. When I first saw the SG six string, I couldn't believe the quality of the finish. It was crap. Something that I wouldn't have thought of as being "A Gibson" The bass, probably because of it's Satin finish, looks a bit better, but stil............. WTF?
I'm still a fan though. It's hard to hear about the piss poor QC and how this iconic company may go under. :(
Put a wooden dowel in the hole,wait for it to cure and drill out to the correct dimension and move on. I understand your pain. It is what it is.
I have a 2004 gibson sg which has the same quality issues. They've always had quality issues. however, It seems that this gibson quality control thing is something that everyone has jumped on the bandwagon about (which is a good thing) but its taken everyone a long time to notice.
My 2002 sg standard is the same! Thinking of doing the same mod because it's bloody annoying, can't believe QC missed the overspray and that hole for the pot!! Think my next sg purchase will be a Jap tokai or even a Korean epiphone.
Henry Hartley
Shane from Intheblues speaks very high of the Tokai guitars..
Are you a lefty too?
Can't beat having the pots turn how you want them!
jorge cortez yep i,'m a lefty so I feel your pain
actually the new high end epiphones are bad ass. I bought a Sheraton pro 2 and it's one the best playing, best crafted, and best sounding guitars I have bought. Got it this year. Epi has stepped up their game lately using a LOT of Gibson usa parts, grover tuners etc etc. They are better made than Gibsons. And I have owned 2 custom shop Gibson 335's that barely sounded better and needed tuners replaced to grovers, a slight nut file job and graphite saddles to even stay in tune for one song. That's unacceptable on a 3500.00 guitar
The feeling I get when watching the Gibson factory tour here on TH-cam is that the guitars as they pass through each department goes from a modern way of building guitars to an old school more hand-tooled way of building and that makes for no continuity they need to go fully automated
They think those handmade processes are what makes our guitars worth the money but actually it's what's hurting the company and a lot of people who just don't care obviously
Gibson USA keeps a rat in the factory just for chewing potentiometer holes in SGs & LPs. He eats mahogany for breakfast, lunch & dinner. I know what you mean about yanking all the electronics & wiring it yourself. I gutted my '17 SG Standard and did the 4 push pull wiring with Iommi pups and found a couple ugly things in the construction along the way but I love it so much I can't even bad mouth Gibson. Best SG I've ever played hands down in feel, sound & tuning stability. Good luck and I hope you bond with your newly rewired SG and never give it up!
I bought a 2016, paid $1300 for a Gibson SG. Had to replace the pots, the neck angle was so bad that the bridge had to sit 5/8 off of the body so that the string action was at a level I could play it. Then I had to completely paint the cavities with shielding paint because of static grounding issues. I have a Heritage 535 (old Gibson in Kalamazoo MI) semi-hollow, now that's a guitar... You couldn't give me a new Gibson if you wanted too. To bad it was a great company in it's day...
I would have been sending it back as soon as I discovered the pots were wrong and saw that overspray. Plus that fretboard looks dry.
Send it back :(..
They sprayed to much laquer/nitro/whatever their finish is, on , and instead of reboring the holes obviously someone took a rasp to it instead of making sure it got rebored right. (yes i realize recutting/boring the holes is a pain, but in a facility with the correct tools it shouldn't be a a big deal, or take much time to do it cleanly and right).
It has become obvious that Gibson does not employ guitar makers. Buy a used Hamer USA and it will do laps around a new Gibson.
Return it if your not happy and get another one the pots will be the same though but the dodgy control section holes would piss me right off man yeah definitely take in back to shop!!
I might be biassed but I don’t think it’s too big of a deal, I mean, it still sucks, but a quick sand down from your local lutheran shouldn’t be a hassle if it’s bad, as long as the pot is snug.
Yeah, really disappointed with the QC on my 2019 SG,a real shame and a lack of care on their part. I've have much cheaper guitars that have had zero finish issues and I totally empathize with you, when you finally make the decision to go for a big brand, expensive guitar it's absolutely right to expect a top level of finish. You wouldn't accept a new car with a dented door.
Simply finding out they screwed up the body and simply went.." big deal, the pot will cover it" bothers me.. That is not what being elite is about..Its a Gibson not a back yard manufacturer
@@MrMrjauregui 100% agree. I've emailed Gibson about my 2019 standard, it's the guitar I settled on after sending back the latest '61 that was the most badly built guitar I've ever had and the finish on that was covered in orange peel and chips! My 2019 standard has missing finish on the Headstock that they have just sprayed over with nitro! Not big blemishes in fact pretty small but like you said, the fact that they were ok with it sucks. I hold little hope about any decent response but if it continues perhaps we should all get together and contact them that way. I'm also going to be paying for the 2019 standard for the next 9 months and I too will then be stripping out the circuit and hand wiring.
I'd say it happened because the four pot mounting probably didn't match up so some jerk just filed the hole bigger.
I'm with you.... If not for 1. The consistent issues reported and 2. That's a lot of money to be that sloppy. Not a major issue but misses expectations
i see this shit happening these days and these are the times were i go like... "i love my peavey T60 from 1983 and im dam lucky to have one"
I can relate, the QC is just BS anymore and it is sickening with out a doubt. I have played Gibson's all my life but i will not buy another one because of this kind of crap, it seems as though American pride in workmanship is gone.
Speechless, I feel sorry for you, man.
Well said man. These are the things that people don't seem to understand about modern Gibsons. I've even seen problems on some of their higher end stuff. I love Gibson guitars. For me, there's nothing quite like them & I own 3 of them but I would not buy a new Gibson anymore, no way. I went to look at getting a Les Paul Custom & I played quite a few in 3 different stores & they all had problems of one kind or another. It was either blemishes in the paint, the binding or the electronics & let me say, their electronics are dog shit! Honestly, the amount of times I tried guitars that had problems with either the switch, volume pots & especially coil taps, I was truly shocked & these are supposed to be their top of the range, £3000+ (around $3500+ US) models. The only Gibsons I'll buy from now on will be pre-2010 stuff. It's a real shame but you can see why they're losing customers. I'm not a big fan of PRS but you know there's no chance you'd find any similar problems with their higher end guitars.
A warmth build sg style guitar could be the way to go. The fit and finish should satisfy. Check it ou, you might like it. The guitar building skills you have could build a custom, withe the sound you want. I've done it on anguses Hersch. Lefty too.
they got gophers in the gibson factory
Now I am afraid to check my 2009 les paul special's pot holes. I know I should't but I know i'm gonna look at it anyway. Damn gibson, damn.
Same thing on my 2011 Gibson SG Reissue!!! It’s crazy!!!
Ive owned two SG standards, one had a twisted neck and the other had high frets and a badly cut nutt, so my 1300 dollar SG costed me 1600 after a level recrown and new nutt. I'll never waste money on a gibson again
Dude, you're right to be pissed. For that kind of money, you would expect better. The reason that hole is bored out bigger and sloppier is that they mount all the pots on a PCB and they obviously initially drilled that one off-center. Inexcusable.
$500 buys a lot of guitar these days. For $1,500 your guitar should be flawless.
I was a little disappointed when I spent $1800 on a limited edition explorer and the logo is just silk screened on, and the fretboard is made or richlite....
A telecaster works great for the early AC/DC stuff.
My Burny SG , made in China, is excellent.Is that due to quality control? At a lot less than half the price of the Gibson.That said, I own a Gibson double cut Les Paul special with the robot tuners and it's beautifully made and sounds and plays superb.Cost £630 new.I.M.H.O if you can go to a local store,I'm lucky here in Manchester UK there are lots of stores in this area,try before you buy.
here's another quality control case in point
It is quite clear that if you handwire a guitar you do not need too much precision in the way the pots holes are positioned, as the relative spacing is not critical. But we all know that body is made by a CNC, so, we can assume the precision of that positioning can be within .1mm (4mills if you prefer). As that guitar has a PCB one could argue the issue is due to a "non precise" positioning of the pots on the PCB with respect to the holes in the guitar, but that is not rocket science: Any chinese effect pedal maker is able to properly align the case holes and the PCB shafts... and if are not alingned the PCB assembly is discarded or reworked. The idea of fileing the box (i.e. the guitar) is simply ridicolous!
You can't go wrong at all with Epiphone
Feel your pain man. Great history to Gibson, but it deserves to get put out of business by PRS, which is better in every way.
Looks terrible. Looks like they reamed out the hole with a steak knife. Do you think that it was something that was done at the assembly level in order to accommodate that pre-loaded wiring harness? Do you know what I mean? Maybe the fourth pot post was just a little bit off and whoever was installing it said "Oh, shit, I'll just open up a little bit."
John JohnnyArt Pavlou
I think so...
They drill the holes at the factory using a CNC machine, they use the same drill bit to drill all control holes at the same time. The process is called interpolation. I believe the pots did not align accurately and so they hand filed the hole with a rat tail file but without any care.. I feel it is embarrassing to put out an all American hand assembled product with that obvious lack of attention..
jorge cortez, or love, or something. I think we all love Gibson, and they still have that flagship name about them. The fanciest, handsomest guitars. But there's a terrible sense of disappointment with the quality is not there. That's what I hear. So it's kind of disappointing if someone on the line is working and just thinking that this or that is "good enough."
Interesting video, all I can say is their are bad employees in all professions, it is a beautiful guitar, I watched Billy Gibbons rip on one the other night, thanks for the video.
I'd be pissed too. It looks like a beaver chewed those holes for the pots.
I think you're justified for sure. However ive been a fender guy since birth and you know we are laughing. You're only as good as your completion and I think Gibson should rectify this. The kicker is you're paying for it. Cheers Brother.
I'm sorry you had to put up with that.. It looks like a mouse tried to chew his way through the hole. I had a Gibson LP that had very poor inlays and several finish flaws. It made me mad, but I bought it online (sight unseen) and I just kept it.
Ive been seeing a lot of videos and negativity like this towards Gibson, and I hope that Gibson is aware of this bad publicity. Maybe it'll help them get back to their roots.. making good quality instruments that keep the customers happy and coming back. For what these guitars are selling for, they should be flawless. I live in Canada and since the dollar went weak, the price of some of these guitars has doubled in recent years. No way I would pay 6000 dollars for a guitar, yet pay that much for a guitar that might come to me with mistakes in the workmanship. I own many guitars and the only guitars I want to see some dings and scratches on are the vintage ones that have been well played!
epiphone is were is at dude, they've even been out for longer time then gibson
I look for vintage Hamers. They cost less than Gibson USA and the quality is better than the custom shop. Try one.
sucks to see. only thing i can recommend is to get a used early 90's gibson or something from the early 00 years. those were pretty good.
I own an 2014 Sg Standard and I got luck forn good quality Guitar.
I heard that Gibson has lack of quality control wich bothers me becuase I really love this brand!
I'm sorry for you !
Honestly I'll probably never buy a gibson. Also, there's a small Brooklyn based pickup and electronic maker called Darkmoon and they'll make left handed harnesses, they have very competitive prices for being all american and made to order. I'm currently building a strat and I'm getting my stuff from them!
If this is a newly-bought guitar, I would immediately look up Gibson's return policy. First let me say this, I love playing Gibson guitars! But I hate owning them... This is only the case with the more modern Gibsons, since their quality-control took a nose-dive. Being used to Fender's quality-control (and maybe being spoiled by that!) this is simply not acceptable! True, there are more horrendous examples of poor C-Q issues at Gibson (lately), but shaping the inside cavities should be done with the correct bit and should not be rushed on a guitar with the reputation that Gibson has. Where I live, returning to Gibson is a lost case anyway, since I live in north-west Europe and returning from here is expensive and takes forever to see any results. So I just don't buy them new anymore, and always play before you pay! The routing might be off, the finish might be damaged, but if it plays like a gift from above, it's still a decent instrument. But when you pay upwards of 1200 Euro (local to me of course) for anything less than perfection, you are being ripped off, in my opinion. And Gibson is dropping the ball here, letting their Q-C be done by dunces (if there is any at all), and keeping the same pricing, as if nothing has changed and they still hold up to the praise they got in the '80's. They do not have the same quality (control) anymore! Let them either pick up their slack, or go down like they recently started to deserve! The once great Gibson from the 70's/80's is dead. And that is sad, they used to make such impeccable instruments, and now you are flipping a coin on it. And, for me at least, at the prices they ask, it is not worth the gamble to go and buy a new Gibson at the moment, with their 'new' guitars being unintentionally 'relic-ed' (AKA DAMAGED) before they even leave the factory floor. I'll take a new Epiphone over a new Gibson, as the current Q-C stands. At least you get what you pay for with them, it seems. Pick-ups can be switched for that great sound from the Gibson ones, and you'll miss that beautiful logo on the headstock, but I'd rather pay about 400 for a decent Epiphone and know I got what I've paid for, than I would take the 1200/1500/2000 gamble on the Gibson... But that is just me, if you like them enough, and can spare the money they cost, just go and get one! For the same reasons I got a Fender instead of a Squire, just for the brand recognition and the knowledge it will hold some second-hand value, if I ever decide to part with it.
haha my lefty les paul has the same pot issue from 2017 I dont think they made ones the correct way
They used throw away a lot of guitars that had minor defects like that I've seen pictures of it
i guess im lucky... i bought a 2014 Firebird brand new and its ben perfect since my initial setup.... crap shoot with gibs these days
After visiting their Nashville plant and talking with a friend that works there I determined I would never ever buy a modern day Gibson! Horrible Quality Control and Management!
I bought a lefty Mexican Fender strat and it was the same.
gibson only seems to care about the 5000 up ranges their hp 4a flames lmao ive seen some with less then a standard version. bindings with gaps,ugly coloring, binding paint. ect its extremly sad too see and why i only care for quality controll to the max . as in prs or taylor or even design your own guitar and pick your own woods color shape and form for the same cash and your every need.
I'd take it back.
This is why I stick with my old school Epiphone SG
I bought a Gibson SG after returning four of them I gave up , everyone I sent back they sent me a new one with a new problem eventually the Gibson rep told me I was too picky for that price range and refuse to do business with me after that and I'm not that picky of a person everyone had a noticeable problem
looks like a beaver chewed through it.....i have a 2012 Les Paul and one of the pickups quit....i looked inside it and there was almost NO solder where the lead goes to the pot.
i have LOTS of solder, so i redid every joint....works like a champ now...but it's sad that the quality has sunk....no attention to detail....the 50's WERE the golden years after all.
I feel your pain, I bought a 2015 Les Paul for over $2000.00. This guitar was unplayable, would not stay in tune. So, first I replaced the robo tuners that were shit, that cost me $130.00, it Still had tuning problems. Next the REPLACEMENT zero fret they sent me was shit so now I'm paying a Luthier here in Nashville to cut a new bone nut, waiting for it to be finished. ANOTHER $160.00. I pray it fixes this guitar. Gibson refuses to compensate me for it. So much for their "Lifetime BULLSHIT Warranty" They only authorize Guitar Center to do repairs, I wouldn't let a Guitar Center guy work on anything but the simplest adjustments on my guitars!!! I've recently bought a Schecter Solo II Custom Les Paul th-cam.com/video/ZXmfgTpb5kM/w-d-xo.html for less than half the price and it is infinitely better from the factory then my Gibson Les Paul. I'm really sad, I loved this company when I was a kid watching all my heroes play them. I WILL NEVER PURCHASE ANOTHER GIBSON GUITAR AGAIN, THIS IS MY FOURTH ONE AND THREE OF THEM WERE PROBLEMATIC.