bad news for gibson... (Page 1 of 2)

Don't get me wrong, I love Gibson. I love my r8 and I hope to get several more gibsons over time. I'm just posting the info. I do think that somethings are a bit silly though. I don't think I would personally ever use a robot guitar or the dark fire or the crazy tiger or whatever the he'll it is haha. But they are just a company trying to keep up with current technology.

Logan

Let us know what you find. I have been looking up custom lutihers. Found a few, already ordered from one. I have also been on a warmoth.com kick for a little while now.

Logan

To be honest I would rather buy a japanese copy, takai/edwards etc. I own a tokai love rock and it is a great guitar. Is a gibson 4 times better (paid £450 for mine used) I don't think so. I played one of the new standards a was not keen on it at all, couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I asked a local guitar dealer why he didn't sale PRS, Fender or Gibson.  He responded "because they are over priced crap!"  He sales Sheckter, Dean, and other china maded guitars.  He said "the biggest difference today with these guitars and the american guitars is the parts such as pots and pickups.  By the time you upgrade those you've got guitars with cheaper wood, but better quality control and usually play better out of the box then anything else sold today."  Most Sheckter guitars come stock with Grover tuners and Tone Pro brides now and Seymour Duncan pickups.  Just yesterday I saw musicians Friends stupid deal of the day was an $800 sheckter for $499. 

I'm a Gibson fan.  I've owned 7 high end Gibsons over the last 10 years, but when you got companies such as these that are offering aftermarket parts STOCK on their guitars and they play as good as anything out there for a fraction of the cost why would you want to spend the extra cash?  Dean makes guitar that I think are as good looking as Gibson, Sheckter has a few wild designs I would try maybe not as pretty as a Gibson but a heck of a lot of bang for the buck.

As far as Gibsons quality goes my dad got a Les paul Traditional Pro a while back.  I noticed some flaws on it such as the binding in a certain place doesn't cover all the maple cap where it meets the back of the guitar but its just little things like that.  But the guitar itself is a monster!  Best playing Gibson I've ever played with those plek frets and those locking tuners.  Sure wish they would go back to ABR-1 Bridges I like the one on my classic better then the Nashvill bridge. 

So I guess it all depends on your what your after to me Gibson and PRS are over priced but they also look the best out of just about everything in the world.  They might have used to have an advantage in sound, quality, and playability in the past but the world is catching up to this soon who knows solid maple tops will be offered with these cheaper china made guitar.  I used to be all about Made in America until I bought a few Yamaha guitrs. I had a AES620, RGX-TT (Ty Tabor Signature model) and an acoustic FS720S that I got for $200 played better then my 000-18 C.F. Martin and sounded better too.  It wasn't as loud but the sound was sweeter. 

So I say bad news for American Guitar.  A friend of mine told me guitars are follow suit of the Car industry.  Guitars popularity has been in the last 15 years a prime example of that is the 59' Les Paul.  10 years ago you could buy one for the ball park of $60,000.  Now they are going for $350,000 or more depending on the rarity.  Guitar sales are at a all time record high and as bad as Gibson may be doing they are having record sales in last 10 years.  But my friend claims that guitar industry is about 20 years behind the Car industry and have followed just about every trend to a tee.  Whats that mean?  Look at Ford, Chevy, or Dodge.  They have huge bail out money and still can't sale their cars at cheaper prices then imports.  It doesn't take an expert to know that if you can get something for less thats what is going to be selling.  Gibson, Fender, and PRS are in no way going to shut down any time soon or ever for that matter but as time goes on they are going to cut something.  Don't know if its quality, prices, or both but they can't go on forever with these mark ups.

Alright I have a tendency to offend people so please dont take anything personally if I quote you...

I absolutely agree with GotMule.  Everything he said is dead on. 

As far as differenced between Companies like epiphone and gibson. 

I started playing guitar on an Epiphone Les Paul Standard.  I exchanged everything on that guitar except for the wood.  Every wire, hardware, pickups are seth lovers, volume knob and tone knobs are all high quality stuff.  I love that guitar.
It is a peice of crap compared to my 2007 R8.  Its in the wood.  I dont know if burstbucker pickups are better than set lovers or whatever. 

My epiphone does nothing for me compared to my gibson.  Oh... I thought I should mention I bought my R8 online from a guy in NYC.  I live in MD so I had to drive up to get it.  I didnt get a chance to play it until I got home.  It sounded amazing.

I have played R8's, R9's, R7's, R0's, 335's, 339's, SG's all at guitar center and various other shops. Some were set up and some not the way I like.  Bottom line,  I could pick up any of them and play them with no difficulty any show any time any place. 
If I came to a gig and my guitar broke and someone came up to me with a trashed Gibson I'd take it and play it and have no issues playing like I normally do.

If you look at how much a gibson Les Paul cost in 1959... 260 dollars i think. Then multiply by 10 which is a pretty close gauge for cost of living increases across the board.   Guess what you get...2600.  About the cost of a Gibson Les Paul.  Amazing.

Bottom Line.  I love Gibson guitars. They are making great stuff. Their Les Pauls are as good if not better then ever.  They are consistantly good sounding and playing. The old Les Pauls are very inconsistant per the owners on the Les Paul Forum. The new ones are good enough I would feel comfortable ordering one from any store in america and trust its going to sound and play good.

I think we get way to picky sometimes. Like if the neck doesnt meet our likeing then it must be gibsons fault for not making the neck right. I am willing to bet most issues with tone that we face are related to amps, pedals, and chords.

Also strings are an enormous factor in stores.  Some never put new strings on the guitars so they sound dead. Its not gibsons fault that the guitar sounds dead if the store doesnt get the strings right.

Any how I have an great deal of respect for all you guys and gals here. I have learned lots about all kinds of tones things here.

If you dont like Gibson then dont buy them.

I'd be interested in your feedback from dealing with then and about the body when you've had time to play with it. It's a lot cheaper than importing a body from Warmouth for instance for us UK dwellers.

in 30 years, todays Gibsons will be worth as much as the 70's gibsons are today. and nobody ever like the 70's Gibsons back in the day. Much to do about nothing.

- Nic from Detroit... posting on JB's Forum since 6-2-2006
Ask me about my handwound Great Lakes Guitar Pickups
Since 2010, Bonamassa fans have taken advantage of my JB friend discount = my cost + shipping.

Better play 10 Les Pauls of the same model to find maybe 2 or 3 that are good - common knowledge folks, shouldn't be that way for a $3-5k guitar - should only require a set up for action by you or your tech.