Macmutt
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2015
- Messages
- 54
Hey Guy's You listen to this story, because I think I was more than fair and patient with Gibson and their Les Paul's.
First and foremost I was born in 69 so I grew up in the 70's and 80's, knowing all the while once I became interested in playing music & guitars that the brands to get were either Gibson, Fender or Rickenbacker, because as some of you may know PRS didn't really get going with mass production until about 85.
However my older brother got me into Gibson, I just loved how they looked and sounded and I always said I'll buy my own Les Paul some day, well I am now 48 years old and I have owned various guitars over the years, but none of them with the exact specs I wanted, so I waited, then in 2017 Gibson put out their new traditional model, and I looked over the specs, and it had exactly what I wanted.
From the SOLID non weight relieved body, to the rosewood fingerboard, kluson tuners, burstbucker 1 & 2 pickups, neck profile & binding, body color....everything was finally exactly how I wanted it.
So of course I go to my local music store and order one, well I eagerly awaited it's arrival and once it arrived I looked it over.
Now something you should know about me, when I am buying something, anything that costs thousands of dollars, and it's brand new, it had better be perfect, because I don't have that kind of money to spend very often as I'm sure is the same for most of you. Plus I don't leave the guitar out of the hardshell case at any time other than when I'm playing it, and even after I play it I wipe it down and handle it with ultra care to say the least.
So now that you know that about me, I unbox the guitar and I open the case and I carefully look over the guitar and on top of the flame maple was a dark spot in the wood that was about the size of a dime in diameter, and then around the lower bout or cutaway where the binding goes around and separates the top finish from the back finish, it was almost as if someone came up behind the person that was applying the binding and bumped their arm, because there was like a semi circle reveal that clearly showed the paint seam, where on the rest of the guitar the seam was covered.
This to me looked like a major flaw so I brought it back to the store and even another customer that was leaning over checking out the guitar while I was pointing out these defects to the sales guy commented " that she was surprised that they let it leave the factory like this"....the sales guy repeated that also when he saw it.
Needless to say I returned it and ordered another one, it arrived, and had the exact same flaw with the binding, so again the guitar went back, I tried for a third time to order the guitar and now weeks were going by that I'm trying to get this done without this flaw, but the third one arrived with the same defect or so it was what I was calling it because that's what it looked like.
Finally the sales guy called Gibson to ask about this specific defect with the binding on this model, and Gibson tells him " it's not a defect, it's the traditional model and that's how they were made back in the late 50's, early 60's " So then I told the guy, " that I didn't give a rats ass if that's how they were made back then because aesthetically it looks like a defect, it looks horrible ".
So I returned the guitar, and went home and did some research, and it just so happens that PRS put out a guitar over a year ago called a PRS McCarty 594 and it was GORGEOUS, thicker body than any other PRS in existence, equal thickness to the Les Paul, with mahogany bound neck and body with flame maple top, two tone and two volume knobs, tone knobs are pull out coil tap, 3 way switch, rosewood fretboard, MOTHER OF PEARL INLAYS, NOT ACRYLIC, BONE NUT NOT TEKTOID, METAL jack plate NOT PLASTIC, this beast was superior to the Les Paul in everyway, even the 58/15 LT pickups were of equal sound and quality to the fat creamy PAF's of the 59 Les Paul.
However with the flawless 10 top which is what I wanted, it was a $xxxx guitar, but guess what, I've heard enough about PRS to know for a fact that the guitar was going to arrive flawless and it did, it's PERFECT, the aesthetics, the feel, the sound, and the craftsmanship is unmatched by anything I've ever seen or owned.
I've even educated myself on PRS and watched countless factory tour video's, read articles and listened to Paul Reed Smith give lectures on guitar building and the whole process of it, and he's doing things Gibson has never even thought of...For example, Gibson mass produces hundreds of guitar necks a day to be fitted to their guitars.
It takes PRS 30 days to complete one neck, and most of you might think that's stupid or retarded or not productive enough for such a huge company, however the reason why they do this, is because when wood is shaved down, be it by hand or machine, the wood moves, so it has to be slowly removed, sanded leveled over and over to ensure it is always straight and always in tune...Do I know it works? Your damn right I do.
The PRS McCarty 594 is thee only guitar I've ever received and received it on a hot 90 degree day with 80% humidity off of a UPS truck with no AC and I took it out of the case, plugged it into my digital tuner, and it was in PERFECT TUNE, I did not have to touch one tuning key.....That has NEVER happened with any Gibson, Fender or Rickenbacker that I have bought over the years...NEVER.
Well that's my story, and for those of you who may work for Gibson that might read this, you are not the company you used to be in the 70's and 80's, nor do you put out the flawless craftsmanship you were once so famous for, and it's a shame, but im sure you could care less about one man's loss of business, but you have lost it for the remainder of my life, from now on I am a PRS fan only.....I was more than fair with your product but your quality control is lacking, even if that was how the binding was supposed to look it looked like a cosmetic defect, and aside from that the top maple had flaws and blemishes that you would have never let leave the factory 30 years ago.
Farewell Gibson.
First and foremost I was born in 69 so I grew up in the 70's and 80's, knowing all the while once I became interested in playing music & guitars that the brands to get were either Gibson, Fender or Rickenbacker, because as some of you may know PRS didn't really get going with mass production until about 85.
However my older brother got me into Gibson, I just loved how they looked and sounded and I always said I'll buy my own Les Paul some day, well I am now 48 years old and I have owned various guitars over the years, but none of them with the exact specs I wanted, so I waited, then in 2017 Gibson put out their new traditional model, and I looked over the specs, and it had exactly what I wanted.
From the SOLID non weight relieved body, to the rosewood fingerboard, kluson tuners, burstbucker 1 & 2 pickups, neck profile & binding, body color....everything was finally exactly how I wanted it.
So of course I go to my local music store and order one, well I eagerly awaited it's arrival and once it arrived I looked it over.
Now something you should know about me, when I am buying something, anything that costs thousands of dollars, and it's brand new, it had better be perfect, because I don't have that kind of money to spend very often as I'm sure is the same for most of you. Plus I don't leave the guitar out of the hardshell case at any time other than when I'm playing it, and even after I play it I wipe it down and handle it with ultra care to say the least.
So now that you know that about me, I unbox the guitar and I open the case and I carefully look over the guitar and on top of the flame maple was a dark spot in the wood that was about the size of a dime in diameter, and then around the lower bout or cutaway where the binding goes around and separates the top finish from the back finish, it was almost as if someone came up behind the person that was applying the binding and bumped their arm, because there was like a semi circle reveal that clearly showed the paint seam, where on the rest of the guitar the seam was covered.
This to me looked like a major flaw so I brought it back to the store and even another customer that was leaning over checking out the guitar while I was pointing out these defects to the sales guy commented " that she was surprised that they let it leave the factory like this"....the sales guy repeated that also when he saw it.
Needless to say I returned it and ordered another one, it arrived, and had the exact same flaw with the binding, so again the guitar went back, I tried for a third time to order the guitar and now weeks were going by that I'm trying to get this done without this flaw, but the third one arrived with the same defect or so it was what I was calling it because that's what it looked like.
Finally the sales guy called Gibson to ask about this specific defect with the binding on this model, and Gibson tells him " it's not a defect, it's the traditional model and that's how they were made back in the late 50's, early 60's " So then I told the guy, " that I didn't give a rats ass if that's how they were made back then because aesthetically it looks like a defect, it looks horrible ".
So I returned the guitar, and went home and did some research, and it just so happens that PRS put out a guitar over a year ago called a PRS McCarty 594 and it was GORGEOUS, thicker body than any other PRS in existence, equal thickness to the Les Paul, with mahogany bound neck and body with flame maple top, two tone and two volume knobs, tone knobs are pull out coil tap, 3 way switch, rosewood fretboard, MOTHER OF PEARL INLAYS, NOT ACRYLIC, BONE NUT NOT TEKTOID, METAL jack plate NOT PLASTIC, this beast was superior to the Les Paul in everyway, even the 58/15 LT pickups were of equal sound and quality to the fat creamy PAF's of the 59 Les Paul.
However with the flawless 10 top which is what I wanted, it was a $xxxx guitar, but guess what, I've heard enough about PRS to know for a fact that the guitar was going to arrive flawless and it did, it's PERFECT, the aesthetics, the feel, the sound, and the craftsmanship is unmatched by anything I've ever seen or owned.
I've even educated myself on PRS and watched countless factory tour video's, read articles and listened to Paul Reed Smith give lectures on guitar building and the whole process of it, and he's doing things Gibson has never even thought of...For example, Gibson mass produces hundreds of guitar necks a day to be fitted to their guitars.
It takes PRS 30 days to complete one neck, and most of you might think that's stupid or retarded or not productive enough for such a huge company, however the reason why they do this, is because when wood is shaved down, be it by hand or machine, the wood moves, so it has to be slowly removed, sanded leveled over and over to ensure it is always straight and always in tune...Do I know it works? Your damn right I do.
The PRS McCarty 594 is thee only guitar I've ever received and received it on a hot 90 degree day with 80% humidity off of a UPS truck with no AC and I took it out of the case, plugged it into my digital tuner, and it was in PERFECT TUNE, I did not have to touch one tuning key.....That has NEVER happened with any Gibson, Fender or Rickenbacker that I have bought over the years...NEVER.
Well that's my story, and for those of you who may work for Gibson that might read this, you are not the company you used to be in the 70's and 80's, nor do you put out the flawless craftsmanship you were once so famous for, and it's a shame, but im sure you could care less about one man's loss of business, but you have lost it for the remainder of my life, from now on I am a PRS fan only.....I was more than fair with your product but your quality control is lacking, even if that was how the binding was supposed to look it looked like a cosmetic defect, and aside from that the top maple had flaws and blemishes that you would have never let leave the factory 30 years ago.
Farewell Gibson.
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