Me too, and my dad was a lefty. He strictly wouldn't allow me to play an instrument left handed. Frankly, there are benefits to being a lefty who plays right handed. Leads are easy, rhythm not so much. Guitar is played with both hands anyway.
My brother is a lefty and a bassist. He’s always buying cheap basses & modding them, hoping for the best. He’s scored a couple of decent modders, but is usually disappointed.
I just want to thank you again for all the hard work you did on the Chibson for me. I had a chance to play it tonight and was totally happy with the changes. The dragon fire pickup sound really good and the frets feel really great. Awesome video and always very informative information.
Santiago Sánchez Santarelli yeah for the price I was extremely happy with them this will be a daily player for me for sure. Maybe one day I’ll find a actual Gibson that I must have that is actually left handed :)
Well it may be a chibson. But it is still a cool looking guitar. That guitar holds a special place in my heart. In 1989 when ozzy introduced zakk to the world. It was that cream les Paul with the circles on it. I went to see that no rest for the wicked tour four times. Twice in providence and twice in Worcester centrum. That guitar is partly responsible for my intense learning curve for guitar. It may be a chibson, but it’s a super cool look!!
As a Brit, your solder vs sodder comments made me spit my tea out laughing. Oh, and it's a crocodile clip, not an alligator clip 😁 love your work, thank you for sharing it with us.
In Canada, where this was done, this is an alligator clip. We also have crocodile clips, but they look different (when they close, it is flat). That's the way we learned it in school.
@@MisterFruitbowl yes, I do know. I own 2 epis, a chibson that was given to me in a trade for carpentry work, and 3 Gibson USA. And the quality of the epiphones is on par with the Gibson's, and the chibson isn't far off
@@mikeflanders1292 "why buy Jameson when I can't tell the difference from McCormick?" "My Kia has leather & a V6 so its totally a Mercedes, bro, srsly"
When your a lefty and go into Guitar Center or any music store for that matter, your option is 1 to 2 guitars at MOST on any given day. Almost always a strat or tele. Thats why lefties buy guitars without playing first, we have to buy online for even a decent selection, Im not talking about Custom stuff. You have no idea what its like.
Another thing right-handed players don't realize, most left-handed guitars at major retailers are either under $300 (inferior instruments, similar to a Chibson), or $700+. There aren’t a lot of good intermediate options for lefties, nor are there many options on the used marketplace. So to all of those delusional guitar teachers who say, "You would have been wiser to learn right-handed," of course we would if that were even an option (!).
As a lefty, I respect your sympathy for our plight.... I didn't get a descent lefty till I was in my 40's which definitely sucked! So hooking this guy up really gave me the warm fuzzies. Good on you bro. I know the owner REALLY appreciated your help on this. God bless you for taking care of this lefty as I know from experience the struggle we go through.
I make a few guitars here in Canada too , and nothing bugs me more than having to import Canadian Maple or have to pay in US funds for Canadian Spruce.
As a lefty... thank you!!!! I love all guitars and spend a lot of time watching TH-cam videos on guitars but get depressed when I realize 95% of the guitars are ones ill never be able to play
It's no doubt wise to discuss the particulars to make sure he understands it'll never compare to the real thing, but as a viewer who can't afford top of the line gear I appreciate you helping the guy out. Well done vid, as always, entertaining as well as informative.
Who the heck hates copies? I guess guitar collectors, but as a guitar player, any guitar works as long as i can fret it, and sound comes through in tune
I don't hate copies, I hate counterfeits. I don't mind when Ibanez decided to make Fender style guitars with their own name on the headstock. I don't mind when Blueridge makes Martin style guitars with their own name on the headstock. When you are dealing with counterfeits with Gibson, Fender, PRS, and others on the headstock? That is where the problem starts. Think about it like this. Let's say you buy a counterfeit Les Paul with Gibson on the headstock. You might know that you are getting a counterfeit and it might not bother you but what happens when you decide to sell that guitar to a pawn shop or give it to a buddy? Now it is in circulation on the used market and now it can be used to deceive someone who doesn't know better. It is because of these counterfeits that one has to be so careful when buying used guitars. It doesn't matter if you think a counterfeit guitar is fine, what matters is that it is deceptive and ethically wrong.
@@startrekmike That seems like a weird reason to hate the product, if the pawn shop doesn't label it as a fake that's them being shitty, same goes for you if you give your friend the guitar without saying it's a fake.
" I do not understanding how someone could buy a guitar without playing it first", try being left handed! Besides the LP Studio or Squire that I can play at any Guitar Center, there is almost nothing out there for lefty's. From cheaper guitars to vintage to custom guitars, it's almost impossible to find anything interesting or unique. Although I found a few great guitars locally I bought 90% of my collection (of about 25) online. I've had luthiers make me models that were impossible to find because they just never made that model in a lefty or are super rare and $$$, I still have to wait for it to be completed to see if I even like it, thats the way it is. You just have to fix what you don't like about it and then you'll have to accept what it. I am happy with all my guitars because I've spent more time on getting them right than most people, because I don't have a choice. I owned a Chibson for 2 weeks and thought it was compete garbage, from the wood to the parts to everything about it, just fake garbage. Epiphone makes great guitars nowadays that is 100000000% better than any chibsons and they are about the same price or less because you don’t have to change anything (unless you want to).
My first guitar teacher, Brad, had me leave my lefty guitar at home and had me take one of the school's guitars for class. I always thought it was just so it was easier for him to teach me with the rest of the class who all played right, but now, as an adult who can hardly even hold a lefty guitar, I like to think he prevented a lot of headache and possibly saved me from owning a knockoff Gibson I bought on Amazon.
@@nohabloemojislosiento4930 Thats a good teacher! My 1st guitar teacher said "I never had a lefty student, this should be interesting for me". My other friends that started out lefty, their teachers made them play right handed and told them it would be a pain to be a lefty. Sounds like my luck.
I had a customer who was taken for $2,500 by someone selling it as a real Gibson. I won't even open the case of one. Epiphone is making good guitars with good pickups and hardware. There's no need for these.
Epiphones don't have the "ego-boost" factor that Gibsons (or fake Gibsons) have. People that buys these want to stand in front of a full length mirror and pump their fist in the air...to an imaginary packed stadium.
way to stick of up the lefties! My son is a lefty and i got into being his personal luthier because of his lack of good choices! though i too stay away from chibson!
Hey, it's a Walmart world we're living in. I'd venture a guess that about 80-90% of the manufactured goods that we use everyday are Chinese-made. From the coffee-maker that gets you going in the morning to the clothes on your back to the camera you're shooting the video with. My bigger rant would be the fact that "normal" people simply don't make enough money to buy quality products made under equitable circumstances. That, of course, opens a whole new can of worms debate about social-economic injustice and is probably better left to a pseudo-political troll-forum somewhere out there in internet-land. That said, I really appreciate to your vids. I live in a rather isolated part of the world and so I'm a do-it-yourselfer out of necessity. The "tips and tricks" facet of your presentations is invaluable. Cheers! P.S. I seem to have used up my daily quota of hyphens in this post so I'll stop writing...
My father in law said sorder, he was from Tronner, up the road from Hamilton. My dad said solder, he was from outback Australia (he was a frigging genius with a soldering iron, water tanks roof leaks, you name it. Dunno where the l vanished to in North America.
I've bought most of my guitars sight unseen, but from reputable dealers. I don't have any guitar shops near me, so I'm kind of forced to...I've never had to return one, but can fix just about anything. Usually it's just minor fretwork.
I'm a lefty and ended up getting a Stagg Les Paul copy. Had P90s put in it and Gotoh locking tuners, all back in 2005. It was the best scenario I could afford. The guitar plays and sounds incredible! It's tough being a lefty!
As a lefty, I appreciate you making an effort on "our" behalf. With regards to your comment about "not understanding how someone could buy a guitar without playing it first, let me describe the scenario we typically face. As a lefty, especially if you live in a smaller town or city, if there even is a music store in your town, it very likely will have NO left handed instruments in their inventory. You go into a Guitar Center or other type "big box" music retailer in a bigger city, they'll have 2 or 300 guitars in their inventory, and typically maybe 3 lefty electrics (2 of which will be Squires or Mexican Strats, the other a bottom of the line Ibanez or Epiphone), one or 2 low end lefty acoustic guitars, and maybe one lefty bass (usually a Squire or Mexican P-bass) They can order one from Gibson or Fender or Schecter or the other manufacturers who offer a smattering of models in lefty configuration, or you can put down thousands of $$ to special order a higher end model, subject to an exorbitant "restocking fee" if you don't like how it plays and want to return it. Basically, most of the time, "playing it first" unless you want one of the lower end models previously described, simply isn't an option for left handed players, especially if you don't have access to a big box or specialty retailer. Things are better than they used to be for lefties, especially with online options. But I've been in dozens of music stores all over the country that didn't have a single left handed instrument among dozens, or in some cases hundreds of guitars.
Too bad most lefties dont have a mentor or teacher to get them to play a standard guitar from the start. I'm left handed for everything but as a lefty, the fingering for chords and lead work is so much easier because that is the dominant hand. What does the other hand do? Mostly just hold a pick. Probably too late now to switch for most lefties. I'm so glad my parents didnt say anything about left handed options when I asked for my first guitar.
I tried playing right handed when I first started. It felt wrong from the start, like I might as well be playing with my feet instead of my hands. When I "turned around" my right handed starter guitar, even though the strings were now "backwards", it immediately felt better, to me at least. I suppose many lefties are "partially ambidextrous" out the necessity of living in a "right handed world". When I played baseball as a kid, I batted right and threw left. My (thankfully) brief foray into golf I played right handed as well. I'm "right eye dominant", so maybe that has something to do with it. My dominant eye was closer to the fretboard when playing guitar left handed. Once I got an actual left handed guitar, I knew it was the right (correct) choice.
@@andychase7693 and @Bob Coss. I'm a lefty and also a psychologist (happily retired!). The reason Bob is happy to play RH and it felt wrong from the start for Andy is due to hemispherical dominance in the brain, not handedness. Contrary to popular belief, most lefties do NOT have right hemispheric dominance, they either have left dominance just like right-handed people or have 'mixed dominance'. Only a very few lefties have right dominance (like me, and probably Andy), and they are the ones who really struggle playing RH. The desciption of it 'just feeling wrong' is very common amongst right dominant people and cuts through the entire range of activities (carving a joint of meat, eating dessert, tennis, batting, kicking a ball, shooting (dominant eye), you name it. Strictly speaking no one has entire dominance in one or other side of the brain, but the more right dominance you have, the more you will struggle to play RH. Incidentally, that's why left handed sets of golf clubs abound. This phenomenon is well recognised in sports, and a sufficient number of people play golf that it has been viable for many years to mass produce LH clubs. Also, the picking hand has lots to do in both plectrum and fingerstyle playing. It controls rhythm, subtlemess of attack, and leads in co-ordinating the right and left hands so they work together in perfect synchronisation. A person with right hemispherical dominance trying to play RH will most likely find their right hand flapping around without any of these features. A left hand person with left dominance or mixed dominance won't, and may even be at an advantage in the way Bob suggests. Incidentally, Andy my left is my dominant eye: here's the test for eye dominance - www.allaboutvision.com/resources/dominant-eye-test.htm. Whew.
Robert Newell interesting stuff. I’m left handed and when I was about 7 wanted to play guitar. My parents got me an acoustic guitar strung up left handed and when Christmas rolled around and I got my hands on it I held it right handed. My parents were “no! Hold it the other way!”. Needless to say I struggled and never got into playing till I was 19 and taught myself to play from a book right handed. I play golf right handed yet when I only use one hand I’m a leftie unless it a mouse and I use my right hand and it keeps my left hand free to write with.
@@parttroll1 Hi Craig. Very interesting. Suggests that you have mixed dominance or are left dominant like most lefties. A while since I wrote this, but I think I mentioned that right brain dominance is actually the exception, rather than the rule. These are the folk that struggle with RH guitars or golf sets.
Thanks for taking your time to work on this Chipson, it makes us realize how much work and precision actually requires a good guitar, and also makes us value more the work.
Nice work --- I have bought dozens of guitars online without trying them. Mostly Korean factory 2nds and I have made 90% into pretty good guitars but I have no interest in resale value.
Because he's left handed and finding a lefty in a music store is close to the same task as finding bigfoot. Much less finding multiple left handed instruments to try before we buy. You normal handers take shit for granted. Nothing like parting with $2k up front to order a guitar you have no idea if you'll like how it feels. Trust me we appreciate a good luthier helping us get something we aren't perfectly happy with closer to something we can be happy with.
@@BSIII That used to happen a lot. Less so these days. I'm sure it still happens. I'm not even upset about that as the numbers are lower for lefties so by volume you have to make up the cost of production somewhere. The brands that annoy me are the one that's can't even be bothered to produce something in a lefty.
I've heard it said that lefties should stick to pursuits like scuba-diving, bobsleighing or tossing the caber, rather than try to be like a proper person. I tend to agree, and I'm glad it's illegal to have a southpaw president or prime minister, except maybe in the far east.
Finally someone feels our pain. Hard to play before you buy being a lefty, unless you have the scratch to fly around the country. My nearest GC has had the same 2 lefties for going on 6 years now. That alligator clip idea is great! Can’t even count how many times I have searched the floor for that flying spring.
As a lefty, I appreciate your magnanimity. However, I've chosen to buy Hagstroms or to build (assemble) my own. I really couldn't be happier. The whole Chibson thing never appealed to me. I don't try to pass my Warmoth Jazzmaster off as a Fender, but it's still a kick-ass guitar.
I work for Gibson, in the Body Line. As soon as you took that back electronic cover off I was disgusted Lol 😂 i was like “Oh yea that thing is totally fake”
Bavo. I gave this video a thumbs down for all these stupid comments. He won't work on Chibsons. Gibson was nabbed for using restricted wood. They had tons of it confiscated. They totally suck. I had one back in the day. Piece of total shit. Les Paul's log was a fence post. All this fussing and Gibson will put bridges on that you cant' intonate? After being scolded not to infringe on Gibsons styles, I think most people hate them.
Left handed players must buy sight unseen, unless you want n entire collection of base model Ibanez G10 and Fender Squire guitars. Oh. And every guitar will be black... hahaha! I think it’s a shame, so i totally applaud this lefty for doing a great upgrade, and making a guitar he can truly love. The last NAMM i went to, 2016, the only booths which had a decent selection of lefties was the D’Angelico company. The major builders, Dean, Ibanez, Music Man, Schecter, and the rest, basically, had 0 left handed guitars. When we buy guitars, we buy them to make them our own. We don’t care about resale. It’s gotta play good, and that’s it. Thanks for the video, and for taking care of a fellow southpaw
I don't know how it would have farred, I mean the Harley benton needed less work and must be a little less expensive but a complete paint job is not that affordable
I bought most of my guitars without touchy-feely. I can do a setup. I can live with a neck profile I don't like... and anyways most manufacturers disclose that nowadays. I live miles away from the nearest music shop, and all they have is crappy Chinese stuff. I've got no choice really.
You can also use copper alligator clips as heat sinks when you're soldering electronics. Place it between the solder point and the electronic part you want to keep cool. I plan on picking some up tomorrow before replacing the pots and bridge single coil with a hb in my Strat
The Chinese stuff is fine for the price but its pretty sad to me that we cant make any cheap guitars here in America. I mean just because I want to get paid to work on guitars and Im no master luthier.
I started life as a lefty guitarist. My uncle who is a guitar virtuoso told my father when I was 8 yrs old to buy me a right handed guitar because quality lefty gear is hard to come by. Thank God he did that for me, I do feel bad for lefties. However I recently picked up a Takamine lefty at a garage sale for a steal and I’m not half bad in the other direction. Keep up the excellent work on the videos.
If i owned a real zakk wylde signature model then the only thing i would use the chibson for is: a music video with a cover of the who: my generation. smash it
you should just give gibson like five thousand dollars so you can sleep knowing they have alot of money. My chibson is great and it didnt cost authentic cash
Sure it is, but it problably plays and sounds like shit compared to the real thing. And LP Standards aren't that expensive these days and have good quality.Want to spend less money? Get an other brand like Harley benton. You are just a cheapskate poser.
@@UmVtCg I hate to tell you but the body is a piece of wood and so is the neck. Gibson doesn't do anything magical to their instruments to make them unique or different. The only unique thing they do is ask for too much for flawed instruments and file bankruptcy. If the scale length is accurate on the chibson and it's stays together it's as good as a gibson nowadays. Most of these guitars are mass produced with cnc machines and then the cnc'd pieces are put together by people. Upgrade the pickups and the hardware and you're good to go. Especially since it has EMGs in it. EMGs sound like EMGs whether they are in a fender, a gibson or a toaster.
"Well it does have an L in solder.. " That settles it then, unless other words can be found where the L isn't pronounced. Could you find one if you tried? Would you?
@@jeffberg8015 I don't know if they still exist but there used to be a company that made port and they had a product called "Cockburn's Special Reserve" - it was pronounced Co-burn. Probably to avoid us sensitive types having to say that beastly name of the male appendage. Hoorah! Guess where I live. 😊
Thank you for not working on those Counterfeits! I also love your channel, great workmanship and knowledge. I have been a repairman for over thirty years and am retired now and enjoy watching your videos.(subscribed) And by the way, the few times I was presented a Chibson for repair or mod I would let the customer know if I was to work on it I was going to permanently mark the back of the head stock with the word FAKE. Anyway thank you for great videos and for being a great repairman.
I agree with you about playing a guitar before buying it but as a lefty player myself we have to find most of our guitars on the internet. We can't just walk into a guitar store and grab any guitar. Thankfully a lot of reputable online dealers take returns but it's still a drag.
i ordered a fake fender jim root tele (i have an actual jim root strat but i wanted to get into Drop B tuning and songs and didn't feel like putting a beautiful american made artist guitar through that when it wont be as played as much) it came with fake EMGs and i swapped them out to a set of seymour duncan distortion pickups i had laying around. but before i did that i took the covers off because the pickups actually sounded decent to my surprise, granted nothing i would put in a guitar but for something that came on it they were good. to my surprise they were hotrail humbuckers which was something i never seen before and they were wax potted too. its scary that these companies are getting better at what they are doing
People become emotionally invested and all rational thought goes out the window. When you've got other people who feed into it or go along with it it gets doubly worse. It's like people who voted Trump and still convince themselves he's not a career criminal who lies as often as he breathes. I could never live like that.
Turning the poker chip upside down and rotating the switch 180° actually has certain logic to it. The player can then read (from their perspective) the labeling the right way round. Of course anyone who has owned a guitar for more than half an hour probably doesn't really need this feature. I really like your methodical, common sense approach to this kind of offbeat stuff, and your skills on the technically difficult repairs.
I used to scratch up the back of pots, then I read that good pots usually have a flux-like coating, and since I’ve stopped scratching I find the solder flows and sticks better. Just a well meaning tip.
I just found your video. I’m a lefty myself and felt forced to take a chance and ordered Chinese prs cst 24 custom. Received it broken in half . Glued it back together and hung on wall. They sent me a replacement, but it has a crack along the scarf joint. 😢😂
I've bought all my guitars (except the first one) without having them in my hands first. Haven't been burned yet and setup and wiring are within my capabilities. But I don't go for cheap guitars.
The Chibsons are mass produced so quickly that quality control is practically nonexistent. I've seen people get them and they can't intonate them at all because the scale length is shorter or longer than standard Les Paul scale length! Buying a Chibson is an expensive risk. A lot of them go for $200-$300 average. For that, I'd rather spend a hundred or two extra and get a SX, Agile, Epiphone, or otherwise. Heck, Kramer 'Assault' Les Paul copies come with Seymour-Duncans and are only $400!
So many helpful tips. Using the Seymour Duncan site for wiring arrangements. Using cardboard to plot out the wiring first. Sandpaper along the back of a level for fret dressing. As a hobbiest at repairing and building, I appreciate this stuff.
Playing for 40 years , and , always thought it odd for Gibson to put a poker chip with position designations on it Imagine a Strat with words engraved for pickup choices ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, JEE WIZZ BEAVE
As a Lefty player, I really appreciate your empathy with our situation. While Left-handed options really have expanded in recent years, it's still truly just a fraction of what our right-handed friends have available to them. Of course, that can be a good thing - as far as my credit card balance is concerned. And yeah, as a lefty you just don't often have the chance to actually play a guitar before buying it. So i try to buy from places that have a reasonable return policy.
I have two chibsons and six real Gibsons and one of the most disappointing guitars I’ve bought is a Gibson modern for $2300 + tax. The fret ends was terrible. The chibsons I can put all new electronics, tuners and bridge and for around $600 I have a pretty good player I don’t worry about hurting.
Ted you never disappoint! Good on you for helping out the client in his situation. As a fellow trying to figure the guitar out I feel it is important to try and connect to a musician and a style you like to help in the learning. But your right, like sneakers, guitars can have some real ethical issues.
I just can't abide Chibsons......I guess I can understand the reason the person bought this guitar, but otherwise it's unacceptable to buy a Chibson. The worse part about it is what Ted mentioned about the shysters that buy these knowing full well what they are, only to upgrade the electronics, etc, and sell it off as a "real" Gibson. Even if you sold one to someone, and told them it's a chibson with upgraded electronics, what's to stop the buyer from selling it off as the real thing? It's not something I want to be involved with, or have anything to do with.
Hey Todd! Fellow luthier and repair guy here. I have a few thoughts about the ethical implications of these kinds of jobs. And a few comments about my experiences with them. I've thought about this dilemma a lot, and have decided not to refuse these jobs in most cases. Reason being, is that the people who are purchasing these guitars would never purchase the real thing because of the financial limitations of doing so. It's equivalent to software piracy in my mind, in that the people doing it simply wouldn't otherwise purchase the software (software companies are starting to accept this, hence the unlimited "free trials", donation based models, paid upgrades, etc). If somebody has the money to do so, it's not worth all the hassle of going this route. Over the past year or two, I've worked on a handful of these things, and my clients reasons for purchasing them are always because they want a specific thing that is either unavailable, or prohibitively expensive. Never because they want to scam anyone or lie about their collection. In those cases, I would refuse. And If I knew somebody was trying to sell one as a real thing, I'd take action immediately. Most of the people are in cover bands that need a guitar for their stage image, but cannot afford the custom shop variants, or are otherwise simply curious about what can be done with one of them. And one client had the same dilemma as yours because of his left-handedness. That said, my experiences with these are the same. The necks are always either unflattened, or the wood was never fully seasoned, causing pretty severe warping. The binding is always done poorly. The pickups and electronics are atrocious. Fit and finish is poor, hardware is bad, etc. My solution, to those willing to make the investment, is always to pull the frets and flatten the board, so long as I know the guitar is more than a couple years old, meaning I know the wood will be relatively stabilized. 4 out of 5 clients give me the green light to do so, and the results are pretty consistently good. They generally also invest the money in good hardware and electronics. With all of that done, they get a guitar that plays and sounds marginally close to the real thing, at less than half the cost. I can't blame them, and I don't. To see the joy in handing someone back what many times is an approximation of their dream guitar (one that they would likely never have the privilege of owning otherwise), in a condition that exceeds their expectations, and for a fraction of the cost, is enough to validate these jobs for me. We could have a discussion about intellectual "property" (which I'm not fond of), the ethics of how these are produced, or the sustainability of the materials involved, but that would require us to also look at the countless other things with the same consequences that we do unflinchingly. Gibson and others included. Perhaps I could be persuaded to reconsider, given that sufficient evidence is provided to demonstrate a serious and disproportionate ethical concern relating to the production of these. But for now, I don't take much issue with working on them, and feel that it might even be an idea out of privilege to refuse them. Though I'm not sure about the last point yet. Anyway, great video! I love the stuff you're putting out! Makes me realize I'm not so alone in this frustrating and difficult world of lutherie. Thanks, Todd!
Although guitar is not one of them, there are hobbies that have been completely ruined by Chinese counterfeiters. In other hobbies long term innovators and supporters have been driven out of business due to fakes. Again guitar isn't at that point and I doubt it will be. On principle I refuse to support them for that reason. The only issue I have with that cover band/dream guitar story is that Epiphone (or other legitimate import brands) almost always have the equivalent version. Including of the guitar in the above video. What is wrong with getting that if you can't afford the Gibson custom shop? The guitar will invariably be of better quality than the Chibson and no ethical concerns.
I understand your trepidation when it comes to counterfeit guitars, and I fall into the first category: I bought one (a Les Paul Custom in my case), mainly because it was so cheap it couldn't hurt. And it's certainly not a Gibson, but once set up right it can sound and play roughly like an Epiphone. But to me it is what it is: a fake. And I'll never sell it as anything else. That said: I did own 2 real Gibson guitars, and they stank to high heaven. Over here in Europe you were basically stuck with whatever the shop had at the point, which were - in hindsight - all factory seconds / B choices. But for full prices, because - hey, what choice did we have? Ordering from the US is a nightmare as they'll cost an arm and both legs + arrive broken (mine did, damaged by FedEx, headstock snapped off...) and therefore losing at least half the market value. Oh well, rant over - long story short: I'm not at all surprised people try the counterfeit ones. It's usually decent woods, they don't cost much, and you're not squeamish about upgrading them 😎👍
Your work is art-work. Just amazing to see the tools you invent, the time you take and how understandable your instruction it. I have 2 really old cheapies, makes me want to work with them.
Thanks for another enjoyable and informative video. Regarding “always play before you buy”, that is rarely an option for us lefties. In the nearly 50 years I’ve been playing, I’ve been in exactly one store with a selection of lefty guitars- Southpaw Guitars in Houston, Texas. Practically all mine were ordered, but thankfully they’ve all been good ones.
I'm left handed but luckily my first guitar teacher in 1971 told me "what are you doing?"........I explained that I was left handed and that Paul McCartney and Jimi Hendrix were left handed! ......"You aren't Paul McCartney or Jimi Hendrix and never will be, turn that shit around!".........she was of course right and lucky for me I learned how to play right handed and didn't have to buy any left handed guitar.....
That's how I learned too, then I damaged my left index finger to the point I cant fret with it. As a lefty, it was natural to flip back. I dont see a righty being able to do that.
When I was teaching, my comment to lefties was that their best fine motor skill was in their left hand, so why not use that for fretting? I don’t understand how we righties started playing the way we did
I was a sonar technician in the advanced electronics field with 2M schooling and practical experience aboard ship. As per our instructors and my 21 year military career AS WELL working for Detroit Diesel after retiring from the Army (yep, two branches)…pronounced…”sodder” in the US. Good call and as Phil Hartman would say when playing Ed McMahon…”You Are Correct Sir” 😉🤘🤘🤘
Nice to know you tin the wires. It is correct. It is also the first thing I had to unlearn at the guitar cable factory, there just isn't time to do it correctly. In other words, if you need more than two cables buy a spool of the best cable and connectors you can afford and make custom length cables for yourself and friends.
When I bought my Gibson Les Paul in 2018, I actually had enough for a new standard, but there were 2 reasons I didn't. First (and foremost) I'd been hearing a lot of bad news about the 2015 and on craftsmanship coming out of Nashville (no way I could afford a custom), and a lot of other things I needed would not have been obtainable, some pretty serious needs, too. I got lucky, and found a 2011 LP Studio in pretty good shape, for about $800 USD. No binding, matte finish, and while the grain looks pretty nice, it's no AAA or even A, I'd guess. Still, it sounds great, plays great and I feel I really got my money's worth. It was videos like this one that convinced me not to get a Chibson, and I'm really glad. I've not been into the cavity on mine, but I'll bet the wiring is done correctly. Thanks for putting videos like this up, it really helps those of us that want a good guitar, and could be confused by the shiny Chibsons into getting one that is a gamble, at best, and unplayable junk at worst.
China manufactures approximately 60% of the worlds guitars. That’s the number that are commissioned by companies such as Epiphone, Fender (Squier) and tons more. These copies are produced in the same factories that are making those “legitimate “ branded guitars. I actually took a gamble on a chibson LP and the one I got was same quality buildwise as my Vivian Campbell Holy Diver. I’ve also gotten really crappy ones. Pretty much the same as you’d expect on some of the low end commissioned branded Chinese guitars. I got over that headstock logo obsession a good while back and just look for important stuff that makes the guitar play well and is comfortable. Brands such as Eart are one of my new favorites on the value per dollar. Their necks are fantastic and have excellent fretwork. Pickups, like most budget guitars are lacking but I dropped in a set of dragonfire crusaders ($90) and screams.
When I was a kid, a chinese guitar was always crap - it was something produced for supermarket or catalogue chains, so a parent could buy a guitar shaped object for kids who knew no better... 50 years later that is still true, but it's also true that China produces world class instruments. It's whatever you want to pay, they will manufacture to your budget. Indonesia is also producing some world class instruments these days. I'd obviously like to buy a US made Strat or Gibson, but I either can't afford it or the QC just isn't there (especially on Gibsons - Fenders are much more consistent for me) Disclosure: my main guitars are a Highway One 2008 Strat, A Nick Johnston Signature HSS (indonesea) and for fun a Harley Benton 450 (LP type) which is really well made and enormous fun!
You mention that "QC just isn't there" in regards to Gibson and (to a lesser extent) Fender. I have a honest question. What makes you say that specifically? Is this coming from personal experience or is it coming from word of mouth (either online or off)? The reason I ask is because I have seen a lot of the general discussion around Gibson/Fender quality control over the years. So much so that I even started to find myself believing the more negative opinions without really giving it a lot of thought myself. When I realized that I was being influenced by word of mouth, I took a bit of a step back and decided to really take a look at the Fender and Gibson guitars on offer at whatever stores I could reasonably visit. Since I was doing a lot of traveling at the time, I was able to look at stores all over the Northeast, and even in cities like Chicago or San Francisco (and surrounding areas). In all those visits to stores, I very specifically looked at a assortment of American Fenders and Gibsons and in all those visits, I never really observed any significant or observable manufacturing flaw. I am sure that there might have been extremely minor imperfections here and there but in terms of the guitar itself, I never saw the "common issues" that many spoke of online. With that being said, I think I do know why those stories are so prolific (beyond people just repeating "hot takes" because they are emotionally satisfying or reaffirm certain pre-existing beliefs). Whenever I went to a Guitar Center or even some smaller shops, I saw a lot of guitars that were suffering either from outright neglect or just had been abused by people grabbing them off the wall, breaking parts, and not saying anything. I encountered a lot of Gibsons and American Fenders that were not nice to play but in all those cases, it was because of neglect on the part of the store and not on the part of manufacturing. It sucks that this kind of stuff is common but I also think people too easily shift blame to more emotionally satisfying targets (like the manufacturers themselves) instead of seriously considering why certain guitars feel bad in certain stores.
Stop believing crap you hear from idiots who are so salty about not being able to afford a Gipson or American Fender they make up crap! If you ever own one you’ll see how much better they are I assure you! Don’t fall for the lies from fools who believe a Chinese mass produced slave labor copy is the same as a guitar made by American craftsmen!
I can't imagine trying to find a nice specialty lefty guitar and having to settle for the cheap Chinese stuff. I think the cheap Chinese guitars have their place as 1st guitars for kids if you don't know whether they're serious about playing, and I've had pretty good *luck* with a few Chinese cheapos, but for a pro or a semipro player to have to go there to get a working axe - that's awful.
I happened to get a Chibson LP for free a while back, the guy was so depressed about it he actually just left it by the front door of his house when I went to pick it up. He'd expected far more from the guitar than it was willing to give but what really did him in was the mahogany back, or solid body of mahogany, was formed, above the central beam, of several thinner (about 20mm each) laminations, about four of them, before the final piece that went to the edges. This is what irritated him but then a mate offered to paint it black, with a rattle can and bad masking and painting skills... and it was even more horrid! This then amounted to him just wanting rid of it and so I got it. The machine heads were missing as well as the bridge but apart from that it was complete. I scrapped off all the paint, added a bridge and threw on some grover copy MH's and gave it to a friend. My friend absolutely loved it and even had another friend with a real gibson LP aghast that it was almost as good, even better regarding the pickups which were branded Epiphone (?). He has since put Gibson style grover copies with locks on but we've still got to pot the pickups as they squeal real easy... lovely sound but some microphonics. I've picked up LP's in the past that were just logs, total plonkers, and always find it incredibly interesting when gems come from the last place you'd look.
"Solder" is a modern spelling of the Middle English "souder", which derives from the Old French "soudeur", which itself comes from the Latin "solidare". In the 15th century there was a movement to re-latinize the spelling of words, and the "l" got added back in to the spelling, although the pronunciation didn't change to include the "l" until sometime later.
Why do people buy them? Because there is no way to justify a guitar costing $5000+ or for that matter for casual guitar players anything over $2000+. It's an extremely simple object. We are talking about shaped wood and some very very very simple and cheap electronics components. These are potentiometers that haven't changed in 50 years and some magnets with wire wrapped around them. I would have loved to pick up one of the Gibson Alex Lifeson guitars a few years ago but they were $6500. I'm a big Rush fan but not big enough to spend that much money on a guitar. You will never get rid of the knockoffs. Fortunately most people are buying cheap guitars off of Amazon. The Glary and Firefly guitars are a great starting point. I'll be honest for the people who complain about the frets on cheap guitars. If you can't figure out how to setup a guitar from all the video tutorials on youtube you have a major issue. A few dollars in supplies and a couple hours of your time and you can polish the frets and give the guitar a really good setup. I'd never done it until I did it, that's how things work. You don't know how to do it until you learn, just like playing a guitar. Doing a basic setup on a guitar is a heck of a lot easier than learning to play the instrument. If you are even a tiny bit handy you can buy a kit guitar and make it just as good as a USA custom shop guitar and spend less than $500 total on everything involved. Even if you aren't handy, there literally are step by step videos that hold your hand through building and setting one up. I agree people selling them as genuine guitars is a big problem and they should be jailed for fraud. However, Fender and Gibson have nobody to blame but themselves by basically pricing their guitars so high. Then they complain that business is bad and they aren't selling a lot of guitars. They blame it on the counterfeit guitars coming into the US. The people buying counterfeit Gibson custom shop guitars were never going to buy a genuine one. If they had the money to spend $5000+ on a guitar they wouldn't have bought a $250 Chinese knockoff. That's how economics work, counterfeit guitars do not equal lost sales, that is an excuse by the manufacturers to place the blame on bad business decisions on someone other than themselves. Is there a market for expensive guitars? Sure, there are a lot of professionals who have the money to spend on a $15,000 special editions custom shop guitar. The problem is that the models 99% of people can afford are usually one of 3 colors and are as basic as they can make them. They still charge $800-$1200 when dozens of other manufacturers can sell guitars that are just as good or better for under $500. Gibson and Fender get zero sympathy from me about counterfeit guitars. They created the market for them all on their own. They decided where to price their guitars. They put most of them out of budget for most casual guitarists. Those guitarists still want a 59 Les Paul reissue but Gibson prices those starting out about $3500. So what is that guitarist to do? They really want that look and Gibson could put one out for under $1000 that looks the part and plays decently. More low end guitars (under $1000) are sold in one year than 10+ years of sales from the higher end $3000+. Gibson and Fender simply aren't willing to lower their brand to those price points because of their "history and tradition" so I say screw em. If they go out of business because of counterfeit foreign guitars they have nobody to point the finger at but their own pride and greed. If Gibson and Fender don't like $300 knockoffs from China selling in the US they need to offer some attractive guitars at the $1000 or below price point. I do not mean selling them under Squire or Epiphone. If people wanted an epiphone they would buy one. I'm talking about selling inexpensive guitars that say Fender and Gibson on them that aren't just the plain jane base models that are available at a low price point. That is literally all they have to do to wipe out most of the counterfeit guitar sales in the US. They find the counterfeit guitars that are selling the most and make genuine models that are reasonably prices. Bottom line, Fender and Gibson aren't offering guitars that people want at prices they can afford. They want the poor folks to buy a Squire or Epiphone and that isn't what guitar players want. It really is that simple and is the reason there is such a big problem with counterfeit guitars.
funny thing is, I don't accept customers with Gibsons for the same reason. Gibson is among the shittiest employers, America is world wide famous for crappy built quality and I can't turn a fart into a Mozart. No American made guitars in my workshop.
In the early days, Buying a nice guitar from China was as easy as 1- pick a name brand shop, 2-pick a guitar, 3- Pay the money, 4-Wait for it to be built and shipped. About a three month deal. In the latter days, it is a crap shoot as it is now a standard Chinese business practice to "Bait and switch". (Show a picture of a guitar for sale, then send something that resembles what you bought and not the guitar in the picture.) I wanted to give a nice copy Les Paul to a young family friend. A starter guitar. I was lucky in that I got the exact guitar in the picture and in 5 weeks. The one I bought was well built, geometrically perfect and the finish beautiful. I replaced everything else with Gibson or a reasonable domestic repro part. I added a Gibson case for it and he got a good starter guitar that had some pizazz. He knows what it is and represents it as such. all the while saving for a domestic real Les Paul some day......I don't recommend buying from China at all now a days. They "Bait and switch".
Oh man, where to start...China guitars are great if you go through a custom shop. The standard on the rack guitars are junk and will always be junk no matter what work you do to them. I have three Chibsons that I ordered from a China Custom Shop, and they turned out to be good guitars, but yes, I also had to change some parts, pickups, etc and dress the frets as well. One of them, my Explorer has the best tone and playability out of all my guitars, even my high ends guitars costing thousands...But I also had to put in "real" parts. So the answer is, yes, Chibsons can be made to sounds and play well, but the odds of finding a good manufacturer, who will also make a good guitar for you, is extremely slim...My two cents, you are better off just getting an Epiphone, Jay Turser, Harley Benton, Samick, or Cort...But my recommendation, Just fork over an extra $100 and get a PRS SE Custom 24...They cost about as much as you will pay for a Chibson with all the work and parts it will need to get it playable.
There are no words in the English language that have a silent L.. There are words with silent P's and H's but no silent L's.. It is pronounced Sol-der.. That being said great to see you helping out a lefty, there is a shortage of stuff out there for them.. Oh and by the way, my name isn't Nigel..
I doubt it's Canadian maple. I think it's likely a Chinese soft maple, a rubber neck like all the other super cheap Chinese "instruments." Chinese soft maple is like a north American silver maple in figure, meaning it doesn't hardly have any so it's easy to identify. Hate the stuff. The trouble with it is it's "maple." Hey, they're at least not lying. I don't think you can even safely tighten the truss rod to straighten the neck without stripping it or coming very close. I too am offended by the waste because they are only suitable for throwing away.
So you wouldn't work on it if he was a right-handed Zak Wilde fan and couldn't afford a real one!!! Every one I've worked on has been great value for money. The fake logo is naughty, I agree but in some cases, the quality has been better than the real thing. OK, most need a fair amount of work but are still a 10th of the price of the 'real' thing. I guess if Gibson call their guitars 'Epiphone' it's OK to be from China?
I think when the Chinese maker drilled the holes for the studs, they didn’t compensate for the arch top of a Les Paul and the bridge sits on an angle, making the strings touch the intonation screws. I also wanted to mention that the truss rods in these Chibsons “do not work”, they are welded inside at the heel of the neck, so getting neck relief is not possible. They will turn a bit but if you keep going, it will lift your fingerboard. I watched a video of a guy that couldn’t adjust his truss rod and the guitar was playing terrible, the luthier determined that it was not working and the guitar was junk, so the ripped it apart and he shows you that it is welded at the heel and non-adjustable. I just found this out and wasted a whole bunch of money upgrading the parts on mine. Cheers
I don't care what any self-righteous american says, Gibson's behaviour brought this counterfeit market to life and they deserve it. Their lifestyle level pricing combined with inconsistent quality is what makes people turn to copycat brands
i bought a set of dragon fire single coil pickups for my fender made in usa Squier strat and i love those pickups it’s a 90’s strat the pickups sound great got for $54.00 for all 3 i also have a Chibson less paul lol that i bought from a friend last month that thing kicks ass it was made very well plays and sounds great as well has emg passive pickups i think there HZ’s and there Usa made i reellty got lucky with mine the only thing i don’t like and i’m goin to change is the pots and toggle switch because my friend replaced original pots with mojotone pots and toggle switch which i don’t like i newer ones they turn too easy and the toggle switch is way too easy so i want a new one as well Garrett i’m glad your satisfied with your guitar now it was in good hands
>I don't understand how anyone can buy a guitar without playing it first Closest music store is in a city 460 km from me. Closest real music store is in a city 1900 km from me.
I have a buddy who is a luthier and he hates Chinese instruments because he says they get a decent piece of spruce and build a shit body, so that the thing is junk in 5 years, but the top could have been part of a great guitar. Sounds like your comment on the neck timber. Love your work BTW.
If you are all for ethical concerns you should also stop working on Gibsons. From threatening/suing small luthiers to bad treatment of their workers and destroying thousands of guitars (resource waste).
As a lefty I really appreciate your reason for working on this guitar. It’s really nice to see a right handed person who is aware of the struggle.
Libba Cotten would like a word
Me too, and my dad was a lefty. He strictly wouldn't allow me to play an instrument left handed.
Frankly, there are benefits to being a lefty who plays right handed. Leads are easy, rhythm not so much.
Guitar is played with both hands anyway.
Hell yeah
My brother is a lefty and a bassist. He’s always buying cheap basses & modding them, hoping for the best. He’s scored a couple of decent modders, but is usually disappointed.
👍 indeed. Ted's the 1st righty that understands I've heard speak about it..
I just want to thank you again for all the hard work you did on the Chibson for me. I had a chance to play it tonight and was totally happy with the changes. The dragon fire pickup sound really good and the frets feel really great. Awesome video and always very informative information.
Just checked out your video. They do sound good. Congrats on the new guitar, mate!
Santiago Sánchez Santarelli yeah for the price I was extremely happy with them this will be a daily player for me for sure. Maybe one day I’ll find a actual Gibson that I must have that is actually left handed :)
Well it may be a chibson. But it is still a cool looking guitar. That guitar holds a special place in my heart. In 1989 when ozzy introduced zakk to the world. It was that cream les Paul with the circles on it. I went to see that no rest for the wicked tour four times. Twice in providence and twice in Worcester centrum. That guitar is partly responsible for my intense learning curve for guitar. It may be a chibson, but it’s a super cool look!!
I hate Ghibsons but I do really feel for left handed guitarists especially if you want any signature models I hope it plays and serves you well
@@richthetrashpicker-upper5244lol covid melt down bud?
As a Brit, your solder vs sodder comments made me spit my tea out laughing. Oh, and it's a crocodile clip, not an alligator clip 😁 love your work, thank you for sharing it with us.
hear hear!
Some call it a "Roach clip"
Yep - definitely solder :)
In Canada, where this was done, this is an alligator clip. We also have crocodile clips, but they look different (when they close, it is flat). That's the way we learned it in school.
The clue in pronunciation is the L in the word!
Your content is just amazing. The single best luthier/repair videos on youtube. Thanks for your time.
I'll second that,
Who is the best?
When he reamed the pot shaft holes I blew on my phone screen to clear the shavings... it's been a long week.
🤣 That's awesome! I understand the feeling brother!
I've done that before.
I agree. Long week. Couldn't resist the urge meself!!!
Wizzle Pretty sure I’ve done that, too 🤣
🤣
Dude, in all fairness, the quality is not far off from actual Gibson USA line...
zing
@@MisterFruitbowl yes, I do know. I own 2 epis, a chibson that was given to me in a trade for carpentry work, and 3 Gibson USA. And the quality of the epiphones is on par with the Gibson's, and the chibson isn't far off
Nah.. most of them are friggen terrible. Only by fluke do you get a good one.
@@heftosprod if you buy the wack 100 dollar ones, then yeah. Chinese give you quality as long as you’re able to contact them and cough it up.
@@mikeflanders1292 "why buy Jameson when I can't tell the difference from McCormick?"
"My Kia has leather & a V6 so its totally a Mercedes, bro, srsly"
When your a lefty and go into Guitar Center or any music store for that matter, your option is 1 to 2 guitars at MOST on any given day. Almost always a strat or tele. Thats why lefties buy guitars without playing first, we have to buy online for even a decent selection, Im not talking about Custom stuff. You have no idea what its like.
@Tubecreeper Same 😆. Well, to be honest we have one, but it's so damn overpriced that sometimes it's easier to find and one second hand.
@@mori-patte Lefties get price gouged! Its criminal in my opinion.
@@GurnBograt1986 Yeah, totally agree. I've done a leftie conversion before and got way better result for lower price for a guy.
Another thing right-handed players don't realize, most left-handed guitars at major retailers are either under $300 (inferior instruments, similar to a Chibson), or $700+. There aren’t a lot of good intermediate options for lefties, nor are there many options on the used marketplace. So to all of those delusional guitar teachers who say, "You would have been wiser to learn right-handed," of course we would if that were even an option (!).
Strats are awesome, my friend is a leftie and he plays a Strat and sounds like Malmsteen.
As a lefty, I respect your sympathy for our plight....
I didn't get a descent lefty till I was in my 40's which definitely sucked! So hooking this guy up really gave me the warm fuzzies. Good on you bro. I know the owner REALLY appreciated your help on this. God bless you for taking care of
this lefty as I know from experience the struggle we go through.
Yes, Right-On!
Like you, I got my first real lefty in my early 40's....man, what a difference. It feels so good to play an instrument made for me.
@Rider Biker I have a les paul studio,
An American strat, and a Taylor now so I'm good...lol
"Well frankly NIGEL, this is why no one wants to sit next to you at the party"
Haha man I love that.
The random comments like that are the best! 😆
I make a few guitars here in Canada too , and nothing bugs me more than having to import Canadian Maple or have to pay in US funds for Canadian Spruce.
@@kilosierraalpha All regulations imposed by climate mafia makes it cheaper to import it from 1000 miles away
Aww man.... that's bad.
As a lefty... thank you!!!! I love all guitars and spend a lot of time watching TH-cam videos on guitars but get depressed when I realize 95% of the guitars are ones ill never be able to play
I felt that man
Do like Hendrix, and get someone to flip the nut, augment the bridge for proper intonation, and play it upside down.
This is why I play right handed guitars, even though I'm left handed. At time I was learning, there were only right handed guitars around.
Jimmy had to deal with the same issues you lefties deal with today so what did he do? flip it around and restring it.
Makes sense. If it’s an unfamiliar skill to you, what does it matter? After all, you don’t get left handed pianos.
@JJDoole No left-handed saxophones either.
It's no doubt wise to discuss the particulars to make sure he understands it'll never compare to the real thing, but as a viewer who can't afford top of the line gear I appreciate you helping the guy out. Well done vid, as always, entertaining as well as informative.
Who the heck hates copies? I guess guitar collectors, but as a guitar player, any guitar works as long as i can fret it, and sound comes through in tune
I don't hate copies, I hate counterfeits. I don't mind when Ibanez decided to make Fender style guitars with their own name on the headstock. I don't mind when Blueridge makes Martin style guitars with their own name on the headstock. When you are dealing with counterfeits with Gibson, Fender, PRS, and others on the headstock? That is where the problem starts. Think about it like this. Let's say you buy a counterfeit Les Paul with Gibson on the headstock. You might know that you are getting a counterfeit and it might not bother you but what happens when you decide to sell that guitar to a pawn shop or give it to a buddy? Now it is in circulation on the used market and now it can be used to deceive someone who doesn't know better. It is because of these counterfeits that one has to be so careful when buying used guitars.
It doesn't matter if you think a counterfeit guitar is fine, what matters is that it is deceptive and ethically wrong.
@@startrekmike That seems like a weird reason to hate the product, if the pawn shop doesn't label it as a fake that's them being shitty, same goes for you if you give your friend the guitar without saying it's a fake.
" I do not understanding how someone could buy a guitar without playing it first", try being left handed! Besides the LP Studio or Squire that I can play at any Guitar Center, there is almost nothing out there for lefty's. From cheaper guitars to vintage to custom guitars, it's almost impossible to find anything interesting or unique. Although I found a few great guitars locally I bought 90% of my collection (of about 25) online. I've had luthiers make me models that were impossible to find because they just never made that model in a lefty or are super rare and $$$, I still have to wait for it to be completed to see if I even like it, thats the way it is. You just have to fix what you don't like about it and then you'll have to accept what it. I am happy with all my guitars because I've spent more time on getting them right than most people, because I don't have a choice. I owned a Chibson for 2 weeks and thought it was compete garbage, from the wood to the parts to everything about it, just fake garbage. Epiphone makes great guitars nowadays that is 100000000% better than any chibsons and they are about the same price or less because you don’t have to change anything (unless you want to).
I didn't know how to play when I picked my first guitar. I got one that looked pretty.
My first guitar teacher, Brad, had me leave my lefty guitar at home and had me take one of the school's guitars for class. I always thought it was just so it was easier for him to teach me with the rest of the class who all played right, but now, as an adult who can hardly even hold a lefty guitar, I like to think he prevented a lot of headache and possibly saved me from owning a knockoff Gibson I bought on Amazon.
@@nohabloemojislosiento4930 Thats a good teacher! My 1st guitar teacher said "I never had a lefty student, this should be interesting for me". My other friends that started out lefty, their teachers made them play right handed and told them it would be a pain to be a lefty. Sounds like my luck.
I had a customer who was taken for $2,500 by someone selling it as a real Gibson. I won't even open the case of one. Epiphone is making good guitars with good pickups and hardware. There's no need for these.
Epiphones don't have the "ego-boost" factor that Gibsons (or fake Gibsons) have. People that buys these want to stand in front of a full length mirror and pump their fist in the air...to an imaginary packed stadium.
@@hollyc5417 People are buying them online with just a few pictures to inspect. You're right though, in your hands, it's easy to see it's fake.
way to stick of up the lefties! My son is a lefty and i got into being his personal luthier because of his lack of good choices! though i too stay away from chibson!
Would you have made him a left hand piano if he wanted that too?
@@Ricobass0 Wow. You mad at something?
"stick of up the lefties" sound a bit porny. Just thought I'd mention it.
Hey, it's a Walmart world we're living in. I'd venture a guess that about 80-90% of the manufactured goods that we use everyday are Chinese-made. From the coffee-maker that gets you going in the morning to the clothes on your back to the camera you're shooting the video with. My bigger rant would be the fact that "normal" people simply don't make enough money to buy quality products made under equitable circumstances. That, of course, opens a whole new can of worms debate about social-economic injustice and is probably better left to a pseudo-political troll-forum somewhere out there in internet-land. That said, I really appreciate to your vids. I live in a rather isolated part of the world and so I'm a do-it-yourselfer out of necessity. The "tips and tricks" facet of your presentations is invaluable. Cheers! P.S. I seem to have used up my daily quota of hyphens in this post so I'll stop writing...
P.P.S. Good quality American-made hyphens don't come cheap. Dang! Used up anther one!
I lost my hyphen at the school dance last Christmas. Just as well, as this year social distancing means everyone will have to dance 2m apart.
@@Ndlanding 2 meters is a LOT of hyphens. Did it hurt?
@@megwatts1903 Sew-sew.
Normal people do make enough to buy quality products. Just not in the quantity they'd like.
We own much more stuff than the previous generations.
Ah, the classic solder versus sodder debate. That one never gets odd.
I prefer soldier
Not here to debate, that woudd get messy
My father in law said sorder, he was from Tronner, up the road from Hamilton. My dad said solder, he was from outback Australia (he was a frigging genius with a soldering iron, water tanks roof leaks, you name it. Dunno where the l vanished to in North America.
I've bought most of my guitars sight unseen, but from reputable dealers. I don't have any guitar shops near me, so I'm kind of forced to...I've never had to return one, but can fix just about anything. Usually it's just minor fretwork.
I'm a lefty and ended up getting a Stagg Les Paul copy. Had P90s put in it and Gotoh locking tuners, all back in 2005. It was the best scenario I could afford. The guitar plays and sounds incredible! It's tough being a lefty!
It must be kind of hard to hit those higher frets as a lefty on a Les Paul because there's no cut away on that round part of the body.
As a lefty, I appreciate you making an effort on "our" behalf. With regards to your comment about "not understanding how someone could buy a guitar without playing it first, let me describe the scenario we typically face. As a lefty, especially if you live in a smaller town or city, if there even is a music store in your town, it very likely will have NO left handed instruments in their inventory. You go into a Guitar Center or other type "big box" music retailer in a bigger city, they'll have 2 or 300 guitars in their inventory, and typically maybe 3 lefty electrics (2 of which will be Squires or Mexican Strats, the other a bottom of the line Ibanez or Epiphone), one or 2 low end lefty acoustic guitars, and maybe one lefty bass (usually a Squire or Mexican P-bass) They can order one from Gibson or Fender or Schecter or the other manufacturers who offer a smattering of models in lefty configuration, or you can put down thousands of $$ to special order a higher end model, subject to an exorbitant "restocking fee" if you don't like how it plays and want to return it. Basically, most of the time, "playing it first" unless you want one of the lower end models previously described, simply isn't an option for left handed players, especially if you don't have access to a big box or specialty retailer. Things are better than they used to be for lefties, especially with online options. But I've been in dozens of music stores all over the country that didn't have a single left handed instrument among dozens, or in some cases hundreds of guitars.
Too bad most lefties dont have a mentor or teacher to get them to play a standard guitar from the start. I'm left handed for everything but as a lefty, the fingering for chords and lead work is so much easier because that is the dominant hand. What does the other hand do? Mostly just hold a pick. Probably too late now to switch for most lefties. I'm so glad my parents didnt say anything about left handed options when I asked for my first guitar.
I tried playing right handed when I first started. It felt wrong from the start, like I might as well be playing with my feet instead of my hands. When I "turned around" my right handed starter guitar, even though the strings were now "backwards", it immediately felt better, to me at least. I suppose many lefties are "partially ambidextrous" out the necessity of living in a "right handed world". When I played baseball as a kid, I batted right and threw left. My (thankfully) brief foray into golf I played right handed as well. I'm "right eye dominant", so maybe that has something to do with it. My dominant eye was closer to the fretboard when playing guitar left handed. Once I got an actual left handed guitar, I knew it was the right (correct) choice.
@@andychase7693 and @Bob Coss. I'm a lefty and also a psychologist (happily retired!). The reason Bob is happy to play RH and it felt wrong from the start for Andy is due to hemispherical dominance in the brain, not handedness. Contrary to popular belief, most lefties do NOT have right hemispheric dominance, they either have left dominance just like right-handed people or have 'mixed dominance'. Only a very few lefties have right dominance (like me, and probably Andy), and they are the ones who really struggle playing RH. The desciption of it 'just feeling wrong' is very common amongst right dominant people and cuts through the entire range of activities (carving a joint of meat, eating dessert, tennis, batting, kicking a ball, shooting (dominant eye), you name it. Strictly speaking no one has entire dominance in one or other side of the brain, but the more right dominance you have, the more you will struggle to play RH. Incidentally, that's why left handed sets of golf clubs abound. This phenomenon is well recognised in sports, and a sufficient number of people play golf that it has been viable for many years to mass produce LH clubs. Also, the picking hand has lots to do in both plectrum and fingerstyle playing. It controls rhythm, subtlemess of attack, and leads in co-ordinating the right and left hands so they work together in perfect synchronisation. A person with right hemispherical dominance trying to play RH will most likely find their right hand flapping around without any of these features. A left hand person with left dominance or mixed dominance won't, and may even be at an advantage in the way Bob suggests. Incidentally, Andy my left is my dominant eye: here's the test for eye dominance - www.allaboutvision.com/resources/dominant-eye-test.htm. Whew.
Robert Newell interesting stuff. I’m left handed and when I was about 7 wanted to play guitar. My parents got me an acoustic guitar strung up left handed and when Christmas rolled around and I got my hands on it I held it right handed. My parents were “no! Hold it the other way!”. Needless to say I struggled and never got into playing till I was 19 and taught myself to play from a book right handed. I play golf right handed yet when I only use one hand I’m a leftie unless it a mouse and I use my right hand and it keeps my left hand free to write with.
@@parttroll1 Hi Craig. Very interesting. Suggests that you have mixed dominance or are left dominant like most lefties. A while since I wrote this, but I think I mentioned that right brain dominance is actually the exception, rather than the rule. These are the folk that struggle with RH guitars or golf sets.
3:45 "These go to 11"
Bet every instrument played in your band is a bass too!
Lol, I love Spinal Tap!
There were so many awesome retro BC rich’s in spinal tap. Yeah i’m one of those weirdos that actually likes pointy boi warlocks.
This guitar seems to meet all the Gibson standards from what has been coming out of their factory lately.
Thanks for taking your time to work on this Chipson, it makes us realize how much work and precision actually requires a good guitar, and also makes us value more the work.
Nice work --- I have bought dozens of guitars online without trying them. Mostly Korean factory 2nds and I have made 90% into pretty good guitars but I have no interest in resale value.
Because he's left handed and finding a lefty in a music store is close to the same task as finding bigfoot. Much less finding multiple left handed instruments to try before we buy. You normal handers take shit for granted. Nothing like parting with $2k up front to order a guitar you have no idea if you'll like how it feels. Trust me we appreciate a good luthier helping us get something we aren't perfectly happy with closer to something we can be happy with.
I noticed that some brands charge more money for lefties? I know ive seen that before, but am not sure how often it is.
@@BSIII That used to happen a lot. Less so these days. I'm sure it still happens. I'm not even upset about that as the numbers are lower for lefties so by volume you have to make up the cost of production somewhere. The brands that annoy me are the one that's can't even be bothered to produce something in a lefty.
I've heard it said that lefties should stick to pursuits like scuba-diving, bobsleighing or tossing the caber, rather than try to be like a proper person. I tend to agree, and I'm glad it's illegal to have a southpaw president or prime minister, except maybe in the far east.
Finally someone feels our pain. Hard to play before you buy being a lefty, unless you have the scratch to fly around the country. My nearest GC has had the same 2 lefties for going on 6 years now.
That alligator clip idea is great! Can’t even count how many times I have searched the floor for that flying spring.
As a lefty, I appreciate your magnanimity. However, I've chosen to buy Hagstroms or to build (assemble) my own. I really couldn't be happier. The whole Chibson thing never appealed to me. I don't try to pass my Warmoth Jazzmaster off as a Fender, but it's still a kick-ass guitar.
I work for Gibson, in the Body Line. As soon as you took that back electronic cover off I was disgusted Lol 😂 i was like “Oh yea that thing is totally fake”
That selector switch label would have been correct for your playing at the end of the video.
Bavo. I gave this video a thumbs down for all these stupid comments. He won't work on Chibsons. Gibson was nabbed for using restricted wood. They had tons of it confiscated. They totally suck. I had one back in the day. Piece of total shit. Les Paul's log was a fence post. All this fussing and Gibson will put bridges on that you cant' intonate? After being scolded not to infringe on Gibsons styles, I think most people hate them.
Left handed players must buy sight unseen, unless you want n entire collection of base model Ibanez G10 and Fender Squire guitars.
Oh. And every guitar will be black... hahaha!
I think it’s a shame, so i totally applaud this lefty for doing a great upgrade, and making a guitar he can truly love.
The last NAMM i went to, 2016, the only booths which had a decent selection of lefties was the D’Angelico company. The major builders, Dean, Ibanez, Music Man, Schecter, and the rest, basically, had 0 left handed guitars.
When we buy guitars, we buy them to make them our own. We don’t care about resale. It’s gotta play good, and that’s it.
Thanks for the video, and for taking care of a fellow southpaw
If it was me I would have bought a Harley Benton and had it re-finished as a Zak Wylde ( they do lefties)
exactly, harley bentons are the best for this kind of job
I don't know how it would have farred, I mean the Harley benton needed less work and must be a little less expensive but a complete paint job is not that affordable
I bought most of my guitars without touchy-feely. I can do a setup. I can live with a neck profile I don't like... and anyways most manufacturers disclose that nowadays. I live miles away from the nearest music shop, and all they have is crappy Chinese stuff. I've got no choice really.
The alligator clip tip is worth a lot to me! Thanks!
You can also use copper alligator clips as heat sinks when you're soldering electronics. Place it between the solder point and the electronic part you want to keep cool. I plan on picking some up tomorrow before replacing the pots and bridge single coil with a hb in my Strat
No doubt!
The Chinese stuff is fine for the price but its pretty sad to me that we cant make any cheap guitars here in America. I mean just because I want to get paid to work on guitars and Im no master luthier.
I started life as a lefty guitarist. My uncle who is a guitar virtuoso told my father when I was 8 yrs old to buy me a right handed guitar because quality lefty gear is hard to come by. Thank God he did that for me, I do feel bad for lefties. However I recently picked up a Takamine lefty at a garage sale for a steal and I’m not half bad in the other direction. Keep up the excellent work on the videos.
If i owned a real zakk wylde signature model then the only thing i would use the chibson for is: a music video with a cover of the who: my generation.
smash it
you should just give gibson like five thousand dollars so you can sleep knowing they have alot of money. My chibson is great and it didnt cost authentic cash
Sure it is, but it problably plays and sounds like shit compared to the real thing. And LP Standards aren't that expensive these days and have good quality.Want to spend less money? Get an other brand like Harley benton. You are just a cheapskate poser.
Gibson never made a lefty Zakk Wylde so it would be a one off Custom Shop job. The Limited Run Custom Shop stuff can run you up to $10k
@@UmVtCg I hate to tell you but the body is a piece of wood and so is the neck. Gibson doesn't do anything magical to their instruments to make them unique or different. The only unique thing they do is ask for too much for flawed instruments and file bankruptcy. If the scale length is accurate on the chibson and it's stays together it's as good as a gibson nowadays. Most of these guitars are mass produced with cnc machines and then the cnc'd pieces are put together by people. Upgrade the pickups and the hardware and you're good to go. Especially since it has EMGs in it. EMGs sound like EMGs whether they are in a fender, a gibson or a toaster.
The reason why they don't use the Seymour Duncan wiring colors is royalties.
Well it does have an L in solder..
And no I'm not a bleeding hippy :)
Is there an "F" in lieutenant?
Solder is correct pronunciation. These Muricans need to be strung up and given a good whipping till they say it correctly.
Solder is correct pronunciation. These Muricans need to be strung up and given a good whipping till they say it correctly.
"Well it does have an L in solder.. " That settles it then, unless other words can be found where the L isn't pronounced. Could you find one if you tried? Would you?
@@jeffberg8015 I don't know if they still exist but there used to be a company that made port and they had a product called "Cockburn's Special Reserve" - it was pronounced Co-burn. Probably to avoid us sensitive types having to say that beastly name of the male appendage. Hoorah! Guess where I live. 😊
Bought a 98 Orville Les Paul Standard off eBay....it's the best guitar I own, better than a Gibson!
Those are great! I have an old ass Ibanez LP from the 70s. Got it at a pawn shop years ago, sounds amazing. Wouldn’t trade it for the world.
But isn't Orville a Gibson brand? xD Take a look at Austin's video about it on the troglys guitar show
Orvilles are Gibsons...
Japanese guitars rule over USA ones !
@@TIGERGUTS idk about that. Japanese guitars are amazing but it’ll never get the same level of qc as USA made products.
soLder
He would get more respect from guitar players if he had just gotten a real Epiphone instead of a fake Gibson
Thank you for not working on those Counterfeits! I also love your channel, great workmanship and knowledge. I have been a repairman for over thirty years and am retired now and enjoy watching your videos.(subscribed) And by the way, the few times I was presented a Chibson for repair or mod I would let the customer know if I was to work on it I was going to permanently mark the back of the head stock with the word FAKE. Anyway thank you for great videos and for being a great repairman.
That's right a fake buy American-made rock on bro
CTS pots,switch crafts, all made in china ! I found out recently! Amazing what you learn on TH-cam!
not all....they have different levels of pots and jacks
I agree with you about playing a guitar before buying it but as a lefty player myself we have to find most of our guitars on the internet. We can't just walk into a guitar store and grab any guitar. Thankfully a lot of reputable online dealers take returns but it's still a drag.
Just for fun break one of those Chibson pickups open.
i still got the pickups I should pop one open to see what was actully in it
@@canadianguitar-garrettont7368 I wouldn't be surprised if you find single coils inside those covers. Stranger things have happened!
mrz80 yeah I haven’t had a chance I’ll post a pic when I do
i ordered a fake fender jim root tele (i have an actual jim root strat but i wanted to get into Drop B tuning and songs and didn't feel like putting a beautiful american made artist guitar through that when it wont be as played as much) it came with fake EMGs and i swapped them out to a set of seymour duncan distortion pickups i had laying around. but before i did that i took the covers off because the pickups actually sounded decent to my surprise, granted nothing i would put in a guitar but for something that came on it they were good. to my surprise they were hotrail humbuckers which was something i never seen before and they were wax potted too. its scary that these companies are getting better at what they are doing
What scares me is the psychopaths that actually convinced themselves that these things are real.
Buy a Chibson. Play it. Never take it out of the house.
People become emotionally invested and all rational thought goes out the window. When you've got other people who feed into it or go along with it it gets doubly worse. It's like people who voted Trump and still convince themselves he's not a career criminal who lies as often as he breathes. I could never live like that.
Turning the poker chip upside down and rotating the switch 180° actually has certain logic to it. The player can then read (from their perspective) the labeling the right way round. Of course anyone who has owned a guitar for more than half an hour probably doesn't really need this feature. I really like your methodical, common sense approach to this kind of offbeat stuff, and your skills on the technically difficult repairs.
I used to scratch up the back of pots, then I read that good pots usually have a flux-like coating, and since I’ve stopped scratching I find the solder flows and sticks better. Just a well meaning tip.
I don't care who makes a guitar, all I care about is how it sounds
I just found your video. I’m a lefty myself and felt forced to take a chance and ordered Chinese prs cst 24 custom. Received it broken in half . Glued it back together and hung on wall. They sent me a replacement, but it has a crack along the scarf joint. 😢😂
I've bought all my guitars (except the first one) without having them in my hands first. Haven't been burned yet and setup and wiring are within my capabilities. But I don't go for cheap guitars.
@Silver Back dude, he literally talked about how he doesn't understand people that don't try guitars before buying them.
In the end, every custom (shop) ordered guitar is like that.
The Chibsons are mass produced so quickly that quality control is practically nonexistent. I've seen people get them and they can't intonate them at all because the scale length is shorter or longer than standard Les Paul scale length! Buying a Chibson is an expensive risk. A lot of them go for $200-$300 average. For that, I'd rather spend a hundred or two extra and get a SX, Agile, Epiphone, or otherwise. Heck, Kramer 'Assault' Les Paul copies come with Seymour-Duncans and are only $400!
So many helpful tips. Using the Seymour Duncan site for wiring arrangements. Using cardboard to plot out the wiring first. Sandpaper along the back of a level for fret dressing. As a hobbiest at repairing and building, I appreciate this stuff.
Playing for 40 years , and , always thought it odd for Gibson to put a poker chip with position designations on it
Imagine a Strat with words engraved for pickup choices ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, JEE WIZZ BEAVE
As a Lefty player, I really appreciate your empathy with our situation. While Left-handed options really have expanded in recent years, it's still truly just a fraction of what our right-handed friends have available to them. Of course, that can be a good thing - as far as my credit card balance is concerned. And yeah, as a lefty you just don't often have the chance to actually play a guitar before buying it. So i try to buy from places that have a reasonable return policy.
I have two chibsons and six real Gibsons and one of the most disappointing guitars I’ve bought is a Gibson modern for $2300 + tax. The fret ends was terrible. The chibsons I can put all new electronics, tuners and bridge and for around $600 I have a pretty good player I don’t worry about hurting.
Ted you never disappoint! Good on you for helping out the client in his situation. As a fellow trying to figure the guitar out I feel it is important to try and connect to a musician and a style you like to help in the learning. But your right, like sneakers, guitars can have some real ethical issues.
I just can't abide Chibsons......I guess I can understand the reason the person bought this guitar, but otherwise it's unacceptable to buy a Chibson. The worse part about it is what Ted mentioned about the shysters that buy these knowing full well what they are, only to upgrade the electronics, etc, and sell it off as a "real" Gibson. Even if you sold one to someone, and told them it's a chibson with upgraded electronics, what's to stop the buyer from selling it off as the real thing? It's not something I want to be involved with, or have anything to do with.
Hey Todd! Fellow luthier and repair guy here. I have a few thoughts about the ethical implications of these kinds of jobs. And a few comments about my experiences with them.
I've thought about this dilemma a lot, and have decided not to refuse these jobs in most cases. Reason being, is that the people who are purchasing these guitars would never purchase the real thing because of the financial limitations of doing so. It's equivalent to software piracy in my mind, in that the people doing it simply wouldn't otherwise purchase the software (software companies are starting to accept this, hence the unlimited "free trials", donation based models, paid upgrades, etc). If somebody has the money to do so, it's not worth all the hassle of going this route. Over the past year or two, I've worked on a handful of these things, and my clients reasons for purchasing them are always because they want a specific thing that is either unavailable, or prohibitively expensive. Never because they want to scam anyone or lie about their collection. In those cases, I would refuse. And If I knew somebody was trying to sell one as a real thing, I'd take action immediately. Most of the people are in cover bands that need a guitar for their stage image, but cannot afford the custom shop variants, or are otherwise simply curious about what can be done with one of them. And one client had the same dilemma as yours because of his left-handedness.
That said, my experiences with these are the same. The necks are always either unflattened, or the wood was never fully seasoned, causing pretty severe warping. The binding is always done poorly. The pickups and electronics are atrocious. Fit and finish is poor, hardware is bad, etc. My solution, to those willing to make the investment, is always to pull the frets and flatten the board, so long as I know the guitar is more than a couple years old, meaning I know the wood will be relatively stabilized. 4 out of 5 clients give me the green light to do so, and the results are pretty consistently good. They generally also invest the money in good hardware and electronics. With all of that done, they get a guitar that plays and sounds marginally close to the real thing, at less than half the cost. I can't blame them, and I don't. To see the joy in handing someone back what many times is an approximation of their dream guitar (one that they would likely never have the privilege of owning otherwise), in a condition that exceeds their expectations, and for a fraction of the cost, is enough to validate these jobs for me.
We could have a discussion about intellectual "property" (which I'm not fond of), the ethics of how these are produced, or the sustainability of the materials involved, but that would require us to also look at the countless other things with the same consequences that we do unflinchingly. Gibson and others included. Perhaps I could be persuaded to reconsider, given that sufficient evidence is provided to demonstrate a serious and disproportionate ethical concern relating to the production of these. But for now, I don't take much issue with working on them, and feel that it might even be an idea out of privilege to refuse them. Though I'm not sure about the last point yet.
Anyway, great video! I love the stuff you're putting out! Makes me realize I'm not so alone in this frustrating and difficult world of lutherie. Thanks, Todd!
Although guitar is not one of them, there are hobbies that have been completely ruined by Chinese counterfeiters. In other hobbies long term innovators and supporters have been driven out of business due to fakes. Again guitar isn't at that point and I doubt it will be. On principle I refuse to support them for that reason.
The only issue I have with that cover band/dream guitar story is that Epiphone (or other legitimate import brands) almost always have the equivalent version. Including of the guitar in the above video. What is wrong with getting that if you can't afford the Gibson custom shop? The guitar will invariably be of better quality than the Chibson and no ethical concerns.
"Most of the people are in cover bands that need a guitar for their stage image..."
Oh God...is that still a thing? ~cringe~
I understand your trepidation when it comes to counterfeit guitars, and I fall into the first category: I bought one (a Les Paul Custom in my case), mainly because it was so cheap it couldn't hurt.
And it's certainly not a Gibson, but once set up right it can sound and play roughly like an Epiphone.
But to me it is what it is: a fake. And I'll never sell it as anything else.
That said:
I did own 2 real Gibson guitars, and they stank to high heaven. Over here in Europe you were basically stuck with whatever the shop had at the point, which were - in hindsight - all factory seconds / B choices. But for full prices, because - hey, what choice did we have?
Ordering from the US is a nightmare as they'll cost an arm and both legs + arrive broken (mine did, damaged by FedEx, headstock snapped off...) and therefore losing at least half the market value.
Oh well, rant over - long story short: I'm not at all surprised people try the counterfeit ones. It's usually decent woods, they don't cost much, and you're not squeamish about upgrading them 😎👍
Your work is art-work. Just amazing to see the tools you invent, the time you take and how understandable your instruction it. I have 2 really old cheapies, makes me want to work with them.
You brand it Fake? Like Philip McKnight.
Thanks for another enjoyable and informative video. Regarding “always play before you buy”, that is rarely an option for us lefties. In the nearly 50 years I’ve been playing, I’ve been in exactly one store with a selection of lefty guitars- Southpaw Guitars in Houston, Texas. Practically all mine were ordered, but thankfully they’ve all been good ones.
Good work and illuminating info about these poisonous copies.
I'm left handed but luckily my first guitar teacher in 1971 told me "what are you doing?"........I explained that I was left handed and that Paul McCartney and Jimi Hendrix were left handed! ......"You aren't Paul McCartney or Jimi Hendrix and never will be, turn that shit around!".........she was of course right and lucky for me I learned how to play right handed and didn't have to buy any left handed guitar.....
That's how I learned too, then I damaged my left index finger to the point I cant fret with it. As a lefty, it was natural to flip back. I dont see a righty being able to do that.
When I was teaching, my comment to lefties was that their best fine motor skill was in their left hand, so why not use that for fretting? I don’t understand how we righties started playing the way we did
@@rustyhguitar1 It's easier to keep a stumming rhythm with your dominant hand is why.
WestminsterNaught ah! Thank you!
@@WestminsterNaught The fret hand is the "money hand".
I was a sonar technician in the advanced electronics field with 2M schooling and practical experience aboard ship. As per our instructors and my 21 year military career AS WELL working for Detroit Diesel after retiring from the Army (yep, two branches)…pronounced…”sodder” in the US. Good call and as Phil Hartman would say when playing Ed McMahon…”You Are Correct Sir” 😉🤘🤘🤘
Chibsons. If they play nice and sound good, price is right, i do no care one bit.
Nice to know you tin the wires. It is correct. It is also the first thing I had to unlearn at the guitar cable factory, there just isn't time to do it correctly. In other words, if you need more than two cables buy a spool of the best cable and connectors you can afford and make custom length cables for yourself and friends.
When I bought my Gibson Les Paul in 2018, I actually had enough for a new standard, but there were 2 reasons I didn't. First (and foremost) I'd been hearing a lot of bad news about the 2015 and on craftsmanship coming out of Nashville (no way I could afford a custom), and a lot of other things I needed would not have been obtainable, some pretty serious needs, too. I got lucky, and found a 2011 LP Studio in pretty good shape, for about $800 USD. No binding, matte finish, and while the grain looks pretty nice, it's no AAA or even A, I'd guess. Still, it sounds great, plays great and I feel I really got my money's worth.
It was videos like this one that convinced me not to get a Chibson, and I'm really glad. I've not been into the cavity on mine, but I'll bet the wiring is done correctly. Thanks for putting videos like this up, it really helps those of us that want a good guitar, and could be confused by the shiny Chibsons into getting one that is a gamble, at best, and unplayable junk at worst.
China manufactures approximately 60% of the worlds guitars. That’s the number that are commissioned by companies such as Epiphone, Fender (Squier) and tons more. These copies are produced in the same factories that are making those “legitimate “ branded guitars. I actually took a gamble on a chibson LP and the one I got was same quality buildwise as my Vivian Campbell Holy Diver. I’ve also gotten really crappy ones. Pretty much the same as you’d expect on some of the low end commissioned branded Chinese guitars. I got over that headstock logo obsession a good while back and just look for important stuff that makes the guitar play well and is comfortable. Brands such as Eart are one of my new favorites on the value per dollar. Their necks are fantastic and have excellent fretwork. Pickups, like most budget guitars are lacking but I dropped in a set of dragonfire crusaders ($90) and screams.
When I was a kid, a chinese guitar was always crap - it was something produced for supermarket or catalogue chains, so a parent could buy a guitar shaped object for kids who knew no better... 50 years later that is still true, but it's also true that China produces world class instruments. It's whatever you want to pay, they will manufacture to your budget. Indonesia is also producing some world class instruments these days. I'd obviously like to buy a US made Strat or Gibson, but I either can't afford it or the QC just isn't there (especially on Gibsons - Fenders are much more consistent for me) Disclosure: my main guitars are a Highway One 2008 Strat, A Nick Johnston Signature HSS (indonesea) and for fun a Harley Benton 450 (LP type) which is really well made and enormous fun!
You mention that "QC just isn't there" in regards to Gibson and (to a lesser extent) Fender. I have a honest question. What makes you say that specifically? Is this coming from personal experience or is it coming from word of mouth (either online or off)?
The reason I ask is because I have seen a lot of the general discussion around Gibson/Fender quality control over the years. So much so that I even started to find myself believing the more negative opinions without really giving it a lot of thought myself. When I realized that I was being influenced by word of mouth, I took a bit of a step back and decided to really take a look at the Fender and Gibson guitars on offer at whatever stores I could reasonably visit. Since I was doing a lot of traveling at the time, I was able to look at stores all over the Northeast, and even in cities like Chicago or San Francisco (and surrounding areas). In all those visits to stores, I very specifically looked at a assortment of American Fenders and Gibsons and in all those visits, I never really observed any significant or observable manufacturing flaw. I am sure that there might have been extremely minor imperfections here and there but in terms of the guitar itself, I never saw the "common issues" that many spoke of online.
With that being said, I think I do know why those stories are so prolific (beyond people just repeating "hot takes" because they are emotionally satisfying or reaffirm certain pre-existing beliefs). Whenever I went to a Guitar Center or even some smaller shops, I saw a lot of guitars that were suffering either from outright neglect or just had been abused by people grabbing them off the wall, breaking parts, and not saying anything. I encountered a lot of Gibsons and American Fenders that were not nice to play but in all those cases, it was because of neglect on the part of the store and not on the part of manufacturing. It sucks that this kind of stuff is common but I also think people too easily shift blame to more emotionally satisfying targets (like the manufacturers themselves) instead of seriously considering why certain guitars feel bad in certain stores.
Stop believing crap you hear from idiots who are so salty about not being able to afford a Gipson or American Fender they make up crap! If you ever own one you’ll see how much better they are I assure you! Don’t fall for the lies from fools who believe a Chinese mass produced slave labor copy is the same as a guitar made by American craftsmen!
I can't imagine trying to find a nice specialty lefty guitar and having to settle for the cheap Chinese stuff. I think the cheap Chinese guitars have their place as 1st guitars for kids if you don't know whether they're serious about playing, and I've had pretty good *luck* with a few Chinese cheapos, but for a pro or a semipro player to have to go there to get a working axe - that's awful.
Love to see people get up in arms about things that really matter, like guitar quality
I happened to get a Chibson LP for free a while back, the guy was so depressed about it he actually just left it by the front door of his house when I went to pick it up. He'd expected far more from the guitar than it was willing to give but what really did him in was the mahogany back, or solid body of mahogany, was formed, above the central beam, of several thinner (about 20mm each) laminations, about four of them, before the final piece that went to the edges. This is what irritated him but then a mate offered to paint it black, with a rattle can and bad masking and painting skills... and it was even more horrid!
This then amounted to him just wanting rid of it and so I got it. The machine heads were missing as well as the bridge but apart from that it was complete.
I scrapped off all the paint, added a bridge and threw on some grover copy MH's and gave it to a friend. My friend absolutely loved it and even had another friend with a real gibson LP aghast that it was almost as good, even better regarding the pickups which were branded Epiphone (?). He has since put Gibson style grover copies with locks on but we've still got to pot the pickups as they squeal real easy... lovely sound but some microphonics.
I've picked up LP's in the past that were just logs, total plonkers, and always find it incredibly interesting when gems come from the last place you'd look.
"Will there be some fret dressing OH YES" 😅
I bet this guy owns at least 2 MAGA hats
You improved someone’s musical life by working on that abomination, totally worth it.
"Solder" is a modern spelling of the Middle English "souder", which derives from the Old French "soudeur", which itself comes from the Latin "solidare". In the 15th century there was a movement to re-latinize the spelling of words, and the "l" got added back in to the spelling, although the pronunciation didn't change to include the "l" until sometime later.
As a 30+ year component level electronics tech, I admire your soldering technique. Nice flow, nice shiny connections.
Why do people buy them? Because there is no way to justify a guitar costing $5000+ or for that matter for casual guitar players anything over $2000+. It's an extremely simple object. We are talking about shaped wood and some very very very simple and cheap electronics components. These are potentiometers that haven't changed in 50 years and some magnets with wire wrapped around them.
I would have loved to pick up one of the Gibson Alex Lifeson guitars a few years ago but they were $6500. I'm a big Rush fan but not big enough to spend that much money on a guitar.
You will never get rid of the knockoffs. Fortunately most people are buying cheap guitars off of Amazon. The Glary and Firefly guitars are a great starting point. I'll be honest for the people who complain about the frets on cheap guitars. If you can't figure out how to setup a guitar from all the video tutorials on youtube you have a major issue. A few dollars in supplies and a couple hours of your time and you can polish the frets and give the guitar a really good setup. I'd never done it until I did it, that's how things work. You don't know how to do it until you learn, just like playing a guitar. Doing a basic setup on a guitar is a heck of a lot easier than learning to play the instrument. If you are even a tiny bit handy you can buy a kit guitar and make it just as good as a USA custom shop guitar and spend less than $500 total on everything involved. Even if you aren't handy, there literally are step by step videos that hold your hand through building and setting one up.
I agree people selling them as genuine guitars is a big problem and they should be jailed for fraud. However, Fender and Gibson have nobody to blame but themselves by basically pricing their guitars so high. Then they complain that business is bad and they aren't selling a lot of guitars. They blame it on the counterfeit guitars coming into the US. The people buying counterfeit Gibson custom shop guitars were never going to buy a genuine one. If they had the money to spend $5000+ on a guitar they wouldn't have bought a $250 Chinese knockoff. That's how economics work, counterfeit guitars do not equal lost sales, that is an excuse by the manufacturers to place the blame on bad business decisions on someone other than themselves.
Is there a market for expensive guitars? Sure, there are a lot of professionals who have the money to spend on a $15,000 special editions custom shop guitar. The problem is that the models 99% of people can afford are usually one of 3 colors and are as basic as they can make them. They still charge $800-$1200 when dozens of other manufacturers can sell guitars that are just as good or better for under $500.
Gibson and Fender get zero sympathy from me about counterfeit guitars. They created the market for them all on their own. They decided where to price their guitars. They put most of them out of budget for most casual guitarists. Those guitarists still want a 59 Les Paul reissue but Gibson prices those starting out about $3500. So what is that guitarist to do? They really want that look and Gibson could put one out for under $1000 that looks the part and plays decently. More low end guitars (under $1000) are sold in one year than 10+ years of sales from the higher end $3000+. Gibson and Fender simply aren't willing to lower their brand to those price points because of their "history and tradition" so I say screw em. If they go out of business because of counterfeit foreign guitars they have nobody to point the finger at but their own pride and greed.
If Gibson and Fender don't like $300 knockoffs from China selling in the US they need to offer some attractive guitars at the $1000 or below price point. I do not mean selling them under Squire or Epiphone. If people wanted an epiphone they would buy one. I'm talking about selling inexpensive guitars that say Fender and Gibson on them that aren't just the plain jane base models that are available at a low price point. That is literally all they have to do to wipe out most of the counterfeit guitar sales in the US. They find the counterfeit guitars that are selling the most and make genuine models that are reasonably prices.
Bottom line, Fender and Gibson aren't offering guitars that people want at prices they can afford. They want the poor folks to buy a Squire or Epiphone and that isn't what guitar players want. It really is that simple and is the reason there is such a big problem with counterfeit guitars.
Getting very passive/aggressive on the solder debate there. It's starting to sound like an Englishman stole your gal...Hahahaha
funny thing is, I don't accept customers with Gibsons for the same reason. Gibson is among the shittiest employers, America is world wide famous for crappy built quality and I can't turn a fart into a Mozart. No American made guitars in my workshop.
Are these the same type of delusional people that want a Strat with humbuckers to sound like a Les Paul? 🤣
...or a Tele with a Bigsby.
In the early days, Buying a nice guitar from China was as easy as 1- pick a name brand shop, 2-pick a guitar, 3- Pay the money, 4-Wait for it to be built and shipped. About a three month deal.
In the latter days, it is a crap shoot as it is now a standard Chinese business practice to "Bait and switch". (Show a picture of a guitar for sale, then send something that resembles what you bought and not the guitar in the picture.)
I wanted to give a nice copy Les Paul to a young family friend. A starter guitar. I was lucky in that I got the exact guitar in the picture and in 5 weeks.
The one I bought was well built, geometrically perfect and the finish beautiful. I replaced everything else with Gibson or a reasonable domestic repro part. I added a Gibson case for it and he got a good starter guitar that had some pizazz. He knows what it is and represents it as such. all the while saving for a domestic real Les Paul some day......I don't recommend buying from China at all now a days. They "Bait and switch".
Oh man, where to start...China guitars are great if you go through a custom shop. The standard on the rack guitars are junk and will always be junk no matter what work you do to them. I have three Chibsons that I ordered from a China Custom Shop, and they turned out to be good guitars, but yes, I also had to change some parts, pickups, etc and dress the frets as well. One of them, my Explorer has the best tone and playability out of all my guitars, even my high ends guitars costing thousands...But I also had to put in "real" parts. So the answer is, yes, Chibsons can be made to sounds and play well, but the odds of finding a good manufacturer, who will also make a good guitar for you, is extremely slim...My two cents, you are better off just getting an Epiphone, Jay Turser, Harley Benton, Samick, or Cort...But my recommendation, Just fork over an extra $100 and get a PRS SE Custom 24...They cost about as much as you will pay for a Chibson with all the work and parts it will need to get it playable.
There are no words in the English language that have a silent L.. There are words with silent P's and H's but no silent L's.. It is pronounced Sol-der..
That being said great to see you helping out a lefty, there is a shortage of stuff out there for them..
Oh and by the way, my name isn't Nigel..
"Colonel" becomes "Kernal", so maybe it should be Sordering!
@@twoodfrd I tell you what I'll meet you half way and we'll call it welding, now that should stir a few Nigel's into action.. :)
Could
Would
Should
Many words have a “dark l” which is basically silent like:
Calm
Bold
Etc.
I doubt it's Canadian maple. I think it's likely a Chinese soft maple, a rubber neck like all the other super cheap Chinese "instruments." Chinese soft maple is like a north American silver maple in figure, meaning it doesn't hardly have any so it's easy to identify. Hate the stuff. The trouble with it is it's "maple." Hey, they're at least not lying. I don't think you can even safely tighten the truss rod to straighten the neck without stripping it or coming very close. I too am offended by the waste because they are only suitable for throwing away.
So you wouldn't work on it if he was a right-handed Zak Wilde fan and couldn't afford a real one!!! Every one I've worked on has been great value for money. The fake logo is naughty, I agree but in some cases, the quality has been better than the real thing. OK, most need a fair amount of work but are still a 10th of the price of the 'real' thing. I guess if Gibson call their guitars 'Epiphone' it's OK to be from China?
I think when the Chinese maker drilled the holes for the studs, they didn’t compensate for the arch top of a Les Paul and the bridge sits on an angle, making the strings touch the intonation screws. I also wanted to mention that the truss rods in these Chibsons “do not work”, they are welded inside at the heel of the neck, so getting neck relief is not possible. They will turn a bit but if you keep going, it will lift your fingerboard. I watched a video of a guy that couldn’t adjust his truss rod and the guitar was playing terrible, the luthier determined that it was not working and the guitar was junk, so the ripped it apart and he shows you that it is welded at the heel and non-adjustable. I just found this out and wasted a whole bunch of money upgrading the parts on mine. Cheers
I don't care what any self-righteous american says, Gibson's behaviour brought this counterfeit market to life and they deserve it. Their lifestyle level pricing combined with inconsistent quality is what makes people turn to copycat brands
i bought a set of dragon fire single coil pickups for my fender made in usa Squier strat and i love those pickups
it’s a 90’s strat the pickups sound great got for $54.00 for all 3 i also have a Chibson less paul lol that i bought from a friend last month that thing kicks ass it was made very well plays and sounds great as well has emg passive pickups i think there HZ’s and there Usa made i reellty got lucky with mine the only thing i don’t like and i’m goin to change is the pots and toggle switch because my friend replaced original pots with mojotone pots and toggle switch which i don’t like i newer ones they turn too easy and the toggle switch is way too easy so i want a new one as well Garrett i’m glad your satisfied with your guitar now it was in good hands
>I don't understand how anyone can buy a guitar without playing it first
Closest music store is in a city 460 km from me. Closest real music store is in a city 1900 km from me.
So nice of you to help someone out. I don't think I will ever have anything to do with a Chinese instrument. I would sooner build from a Solo kit.
I have a buddy who is a luthier and he hates Chinese instruments because he says they get a decent piece of spruce and build a shit body, so that the thing is junk in 5 years, but the top could have been part of a great guitar. Sounds like your comment on the neck timber. Love your work BTW.
i am left handed but on my guitars i use right handed wiring because I like to use only logaritmic pots that are quite hard to find in lefty specs.
If you are all for ethical concerns you should also stop working on Gibsons. From threatening/suing small luthiers to bad treatment of their workers and destroying thousands of guitars (resource waste).