gibson= quality control= disaster

[snatch]

so i purchased a new 58 reissue of the les paul junior. first off, the paint job is great. the neck is alot slimmer than other 50s les pauls and the p90 just screams and oozes tone. but it cant stay in tune to save its own ass. at first i thought it might just be the stoptail bridge, but its compensated, the same as my melody maker which ive never had problems with. so after looking the guitar over i notice that there are no notches in the nut for the strings to rest in. i call gibson and get the run around, then im told to take it to my nearest service center which is an hour and a half away and wants to charge 125 bucks to do a complete set up. what a freaking joke! 125 bucks for a set up? on a guitar that should have come set up from the factory to begin with? where is gibsons quality control lately? did the FBI raid of thier factory shake all the employees up or something? ive even noticed on custom shop models that have imperfections in the bindings. who wants to pay 3500 for a brand new guitar that looks like shit the momment you take it out of the box. has anyone else experienced problems with gibson lately?

[surfnorthwest]

i notice that there are no notches in the nut for the strings to rest in.

It has become like you have to go custom shop to get the quality control any more. Your story is not unique and fact Gibson quality has been bad for awhile now. I usally don't hear anything negitive with the custom shop guitars but look at what they cost. I am finding the same issues with Fender also where to get the great tones with the select woods and hardware you also have to go custom shop.

Now if yours is a custom shop model I would shove it back up their ass, that would be unacceptable. You have a warranty that should cover you for these type of things

It is like they are saying, ya we can sell you a guitar with our name on it but if you want the real McCoy then get out your wallet and pay for our custom shop model. I mean really look how many different Les Paul offerings you can buy today... I can't keep track of it anymore. Same with Fender.

[snatch]

Mine is just the 850 dollar satin finish model. That being said, I don't see how in the hell gibson can charge 3500 for the "custom shop" model that's basically the same damn guitar.when it comes to signature models and actual les paul reissues I can see a significant price increase, but 3500 for a junior? I could get into vintage territory for that price

[kissfanps]

No string slots in the nut? Are you freakin serious?!?!?! That is just messed up. I've had nuts cut improperly, but never not cut at all. I can't get over that. Surf is right, this is covered by the warranty. However, I am not sure if repair shops are authorized to do warranty work (if they are, they shouldn't charge you). You may have to send it to gibson and they should pay for shipping. What about the place you bought it at? You didn't realize there were no nut slots when you tried it at the shop?

[snatch]

The nut isn't exactly something you go over with a fine tooth comb when buying a guitar.at least I don't but now I will :) I go more for tone,playability,looks, and price.I just don't see why they can't just send the proper nut through ups so I can just take care of it myself.the repair shop does cover the file work on the nut.but that will require another setup which the warranty does not cover or the gas it takes to make a 120 mile round trip. What a pain in the ass. My deluxe fatstrat has the lsr roller nut from the factory. That thing never goes out of tune.I wish they made them for pauls.everyone always blames gibsons tuning problems on the tuning keys. I think its the shitty nuts that come from their factory.

[kissfanps]

they need the guitar to cut the nut properly. charging you for the set up is a bunch of bullshit as the guitar should be in proper working order when you purchase it. either the repair shop should do it all for free or you should exchange the guitar for another one. have the guitar store get in touch with regional gibson rep!!!

you should always have a set up done when you buy a guitar and when the weather changes (if you dont know how to do it yourself). you don't really know what has happened to the guitar since it left the factory. it could get knocked out of whack during shipping, spent some time in store, and/or been played by many people in store.

[surfnorthwest]

have the guitar store get in touch with regional gibson rep!!!

[slowpokerhino]

everyone always blames gibsons tuning problems on the tuning keys. I think its the shitty nuts that come from their factory.

I agree completely.

FWIW, my first Les Paul (Custom Shop) had a defective neck. After a year of struggles I finally found a repair shop owner and guitar shop manager willing to work with me and I was able to exchange the guitar for a new one.
Gibsons come with a lifetime warranty. You shouldn't have to pay for the repair on a bad nut. Take it back to where you got it and tell them that you either want it fixed or replaced. Be firm. If they wont work with you, find another Authorized Gibson repair shop. You don't have to take it back to the original place of purchase to have it covered.

[Kongels]

Bummer for you but honestly in the end just getting a good bone nut is something I would do regardless anyways. I bought a used 2009 R7 and after 2 days to make sure I liked it I dropped it off for a Full Setup and Bone nut install.

I think Gibson has some QC issues as well but imo any new guitar is going to need a good set up anyways if you want it perfect. Hard to ship it all over the place, temperature, humidity, so on and expect it to be the same set up as it left the factory.

Btw, are you using the same gauge strings it shipped with on it? That is pretty nuts the nut is flat... I would still say take it in for a bone nut and set up, whether it was a $500 or $4,000 guitar I would want it perfect.

[bluesbrother]

I recently sold my gibson les paul studio. Same problem....
Paid 120 euro to get a graphtech nut placed. 79 euro locking
tuners. The damn guitar still went out of tune after a full bend.
Personaly i find the curve the D and G string makes at the
headstock too big. It always was the G string going out of tune.
I will never buy a gibson again!!! I stick with fender and to replace
the gibson in the future i go with PRS.

[burnsy]

I think the days are gone when the name 'Gibson' on the headstock guaranteed a quality instrument. The last Les Paul I bought (2005) had a generic plastic nut with one-size-fits-all slots and bridge saddles that looked like they had been notched by laying the strings over them and beating them with a hammer! Every guitar in the store featured this cheap and cheerful finishing. Easy to fix by getting a guitar tech to cut a bone nut and install Graph-Tech saddles but why should we have to do this when paying top-dollar for a premium brand instrument!

[DeanM]

no slots in the nut?? how the hell could that even get out the door? i mean like whoever was stringing it up and tunin it before it left would have to have noticed!! i cant see how that could go unnoticed!!

[snatch]

I know its not that big of a deal and that its an easy fix but its just the damn pricipals of the whole situation.when you spend hundreds of dollars on a "quality" product you expect it to actually have some quality. And we as consumers are just as much to blame by continuing to buy sub standard product from companys like this and stting back while they roll another one over on us. I for one refuse to do so. Yeah I could take it back but gibsons necks lately seem to have absolutley no consistency from one to the next within same makes and models.I finnaly found a neck thatsaid this was made just for you so I'm keeping it. As for anyone that's having trouble with their g string going out of tune I've heard of using an unwound string with gibson bridges will help cure this problem but I think that's just for stoptail bridges without the intonatable sadles

[surfnorthwest]

Company's all want more for less, it is all about profit and fuck you if you don't like it, it is not about you it is about shareholders and staying in business. Workers are all over worked and underpaid and usally don't give a shit about anything except Friday and the next paycheck, most do the minimum half ass job if they can get away with it. If a comapny chooses to actually provide real customer service then it is built into the price making it less competitive or they have to out source the custom service to someone who can't speak english well. This is business everywhere.

[lukemc]

fyi gibson does not cut notches in the bridge to fit strings, there are markers there to tell the tech where to make em, but they leave it for you to get cut at your preffered level.