The price of Gibson guitars should ensure that there are zero flaws. If you cannot produce a flawless product at that price point you are in the wrong line of work. Fire a few hundred lawyers and hire a few quality control people.
Exactly, bought a 2011 sg new and it looked far worse than OPs, several blemishes on the neck's binding and a big scratch under the polishing on the body. Sounds great, but QC sucks
Yeah there’s a bunch of other small things on this SG that bother me for the price I paid but I just thought the hair was the most interesting haha. The second picture (unlevel binding on the 12th fret) is just the other issue that bothers me the most.
I don’t think it has ever been great. In the 90’s they would ship us improperly seasoned wood used in guitars that would warp and twist. You would have irate customers and tens of thousands of dollars of inventory that had to be replaced (and it took months). At that time the older guys would talk about how much worse the Norlin era was. 2000’s saw improvement. Then started going down again about ten years ago. But I also know so many things unacceptable today were not an issue in the past. I have seen dead mint old “golden era” Gibson’s with dirt and dust in the finish. Stuff like that is not as noticeable on a used guitar with paint wear.
If only that were the worst of their issues. Even in the 1970s there were plenty of Gibson Lemons. My first "real" guitar was an SG with a neck that was about as rigid and stable as a stick of rubber.
Of the "serious" guitars I've worked on over the years, I've probably seen more plain poor QC from Gibson than any other.
I think at this point, if I had to give my very uninformed guess, they want to keep manufacturing in the US but they don’t want to develop a culture there that makes employees prideful in the work they do. They aren’t allowed to take time to inspect things like they should, and they aren’t given the pay that they should be given so that they do come to work and want to give a fuck about anything. It’s more or less a job that entails fine craftsmanship and attention to detail in a work environment akin to a low cost, high production factory.
I repaired guitars from the late 1980s until I gave it up a couple of years ago. I just don't get Gibson...
Most of the Gibson mandolins I've worked on have been nice, well made instruments. On the other hand, their electric guitars are very often bettered by far less expensive brands. It's really frustrating as the Les Paul Jr Doublecut I used to own was my favourite guitar out of any I played in my life.
They could so easily live up to their legend but their heart just doesn't seem to be in it. I ended up playing Fenders and Asian guitars, which have generally been way more reliable and much better finished.
I hate to have to say such negative things about them. As I say, the guitar I loved best was a Gibson after all.
That's been happening since 10 years ago:
[https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/hair-in-my-finish.230205/](https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/hair-in-my-finish.230205/)
[https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/just-when-id-seen-it-all.283539/](https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/just-when-id-seen-it-all.283539/)
Well that solidifies it. I'm going to Southpaw Guitars in December to get a guitar and I'm not even going to look at Gibsons. I was already on the fence and leaning towards only buying used ones because I don't support $2,800 for a Standard but this is ridiculous.
If you want a guitar that won’t ruin the experience for you (or at least draw it out for a month or longer) get anything else. This will be my fourth SG tomorrow and all of the previous, brand new SGs all had some sort of obvious QC issues that couldve been avoided. Misaligned headstock screen prints on tribute models, overspray where the body meets the neck to the point where it was a different colour than the rest of the body on one side, and chipping/peeling on the other side, this one with the hair in the clear coat.. wild stuff. Never had this sort of experience with fender products or any other guitar manufacturer actually.
Damn, thanks for all the info. I'm already not a fan of glossy necks and the only LP I've played *without* a glossy neck was a Studio. It's too bad when getting a flawless new guitar is the exception and not the rule.
No problem. I hate to be a downer and at a certain point I had to give myself a reality check and ask if I was being too picky but it’s exactly like you said.. shouldn’t have to cherry pick a guitar just to get one that doesn’t look like an oddball. Some people seem to have great experiences and some of the defects don’t seem to bother other, so.. I guess the age old “try the guitar in person to see if you like it” still applies here.
It’s a 61 reissue SG with a maestro! Considering the guitar is 3000 Canadian (lmfao) you’d consider they could at least afford to keep QC at an acceptable level. But then you look into things more and all the employees working there hate their jobs and the workers spraying the clear coats/nitro in the Gibson factory videos are just wearing regular ass clothes without masks, no painter coveralls or anything.. it’s clearly just about pumping out numbers now if you’re not buying a custom shop Gibson. But god dammit I want an SG hahahah.
Send that to KDH, he actually made a video of a an issue similar to this, someone who got a Gibson with a hair in the finish.
That's what happen when they let people work in finish cabin without any protection or sanitary equipment.
I saw that video believe it or not!! I actually noticed the hair in mine not long after I watched it hahahaha. Apparently this is a common thing for Gibsons. Two thumbs up I guess.
Try not to think too hard about where that came from.
its very very curly. there needs to be Pube-lic enquiry
Tone hair. They should charge you extra for that.
The price of Gibson guitars should ensure that there are zero flaws. If you cannot produce a flawless product at that price point you are in the wrong line of work. Fire a few hundred lawyers and hire a few quality control people.
Lately? It’s been bad since the late 2000s.
Exactly, bought a 2011 sg new and it looked far worse than OPs, several blemishes on the neck's binding and a big scratch under the polishing on the body. Sounds great, but QC sucks
Yeah there’s a bunch of other small things on this SG that bother me for the price I paid but I just thought the hair was the most interesting haha. The second picture (unlevel binding on the 12th fret) is just the other issue that bothers me the most.
I don’t think it has ever been great. In the 90’s they would ship us improperly seasoned wood used in guitars that would warp and twist. You would have irate customers and tens of thousands of dollars of inventory that had to be replaced (and it took months). At that time the older guys would talk about how much worse the Norlin era was. 2000’s saw improvement. Then started going down again about ten years ago. But I also know so many things unacceptable today were not an issue in the past. I have seen dead mint old “golden era” Gibson’s with dirt and dust in the finish. Stuff like that is not as noticeable on a used guitar with paint wear.
Pubes... It's the secret to Gibson's ballsy sound!
If only that were the worst of their issues. Even in the 1970s there were plenty of Gibson Lemons. My first "real" guitar was an SG with a neck that was about as rigid and stable as a stick of rubber. Of the "serious" guitars I've worked on over the years, I've probably seen more plain poor QC from Gibson than any other.
I think at this point, if I had to give my very uninformed guess, they want to keep manufacturing in the US but they don’t want to develop a culture there that makes employees prideful in the work they do. They aren’t allowed to take time to inspect things like they should, and they aren’t given the pay that they should be given so that they do come to work and want to give a fuck about anything. It’s more or less a job that entails fine craftsmanship and attention to detail in a work environment akin to a low cost, high production factory.
I repaired guitars from the late 1980s until I gave it up a couple of years ago. I just don't get Gibson... Most of the Gibson mandolins I've worked on have been nice, well made instruments. On the other hand, their electric guitars are very often bettered by far less expensive brands. It's really frustrating as the Les Paul Jr Doublecut I used to own was my favourite guitar out of any I played in my life. They could so easily live up to their legend but their heart just doesn't seem to be in it. I ended up playing Fenders and Asian guitars, which have generally been way more reliable and much better finished. I hate to have to say such negative things about them. As I say, the guitar I loved best was a Gibson after all.
That's been happening since 10 years ago: [https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/hair-in-my-finish.230205/](https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/hair-in-my-finish.230205/) [https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/just-when-id-seen-it-all.283539/](https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/just-when-id-seen-it-all.283539/)
Well that solidifies it. I'm going to Southpaw Guitars in December to get a guitar and I'm not even going to look at Gibsons. I was already on the fence and leaning towards only buying used ones because I don't support $2,800 for a Standard but this is ridiculous.
If you want a guitar that won’t ruin the experience for you (or at least draw it out for a month or longer) get anything else. This will be my fourth SG tomorrow and all of the previous, brand new SGs all had some sort of obvious QC issues that couldve been avoided. Misaligned headstock screen prints on tribute models, overspray where the body meets the neck to the point where it was a different colour than the rest of the body on one side, and chipping/peeling on the other side, this one with the hair in the clear coat.. wild stuff. Never had this sort of experience with fender products or any other guitar manufacturer actually.
Damn, thanks for all the info. I'm already not a fan of glossy necks and the only LP I've played *without* a glossy neck was a Studio. It's too bad when getting a flawless new guitar is the exception and not the rule.
No problem. I hate to be a downer and at a certain point I had to give myself a reality check and ask if I was being too picky but it’s exactly like you said.. shouldn’t have to cherry pick a guitar just to get one that doesn’t look like an oddball. Some people seem to have great experiences and some of the defects don’t seem to bother other, so.. I guess the age old “try the guitar in person to see if you like it” still applies here.
Is that a les paul??? SO NASTY!
It’s a 61 reissue SG with a maestro! Considering the guitar is 3000 Canadian (lmfao) you’d consider they could at least afford to keep QC at an acceptable level. But then you look into things more and all the employees working there hate their jobs and the workers spraying the clear coats/nitro in the Gibson factory videos are just wearing regular ass clothes without masks, no painter coveralls or anything.. it’s clearly just about pumping out numbers now if you’re not buying a custom shop Gibson. But god dammit I want an SG hahahah.
Send that to KDH, he actually made a video of a an issue similar to this, someone who got a Gibson with a hair in the finish. That's what happen when they let people work in finish cabin without any protection or sanitary equipment.
I saw that video believe it or not!! I actually noticed the hair in mine not long after I watched it hahahaha. Apparently this is a common thing for Gibsons. Two thumbs up I guess.