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Seriously overpriced gear


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Earlier this afternoon I was in a well known central Manchester guitar and as I also play a bit of guitar I had a go on a brand new Gibson Les Paul Custom, a shade under two grand which played like a dog and the finish on the body especially the binding around the body edges was extremely messy. Unforgivable on guitar of this price. However I also played a Chinese made guitar and an Indonesian made bass both of which played beautifully and neither was more than £300. As hard as I tried I simply couldn't fault either guitar as they were expertly put together. Had I not known their heritage I would have put both nearer a grand especially the neck through bass.

My point is how can a company like Gibson pass off such shoddy work and expect us to pay for the privilege? Don't they have a quality control department? Also why would a guitar shop accept a flawed instrument and sell it at such a high price? I would have thought the shop owner/ manager or whoever would be within their rights to return the guitar to their distributor? If there is someone on this forum who could share any light on this I would be interested.

Are guitar shops under some obligation to accept whatever a major manufacturer or distributor sends them for fear that refusing to sell a flawed guitar would mean they wouldn't be able to sell a major manufacturers instruments in future or have access to higher end instruments?

I really cannot see this guitar selling unless the name on the headstock means more to its future owner than how well it's been put together.

Maybe someone on here runs or works in a shop could let us know what really goes on.

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as lovely as some boutique instruments are, i dont think i could spend that much on something, you could get a fairly decent car for a couple of grand.

my favourite bass is currently my ibby srx300. its prolly worth about 100 quid but it plays like nothing else ive played. its set up how i want has perfect gauge strings. the only thing that lets it down is the sound. its good enough but doesnt come close to my trb

Edited by agoulding
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It's just a matter of priorities...

I couldn't imagine spending a "couple of grand" on a car that's going to then cost me even more to run and no doubt give me no end of grief when I could spend it on a perfect custom-built instrument that meets my requirements in pretty much every way.

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[quote name='agoulding' post='340771' date='Nov 29 2008, 09:12 PM']my favourite bass is currently my ibby srx300. its prolly worth about 100 quid but it plays like nothing else ive played. its set up how i want has perfect gauge strings. the only thing that lets it down is the sound. its good enough but doesnt come close to my trb[/quote]

Similarly, I've yet to play a bass that I like more than my Yamaha, and it sounds fantastic thanks to all the the work I've done to it....total outlay, including the original bass, 300 pounds.




I must be missing something, because on so many basses, I see it, I see the price, I try it, and I just don't get it.

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It's simple, Gibson keep all the great Gibson's in America, they send the lumps of muck over to Europe.

So if you want a good Gibson, you go to America for it. A friend of mine came back with a Gibson from the USA and it kicks the ass off every other one I've played, ever.

Same with Japanese manufacturers, though what they send out is brilliant anyway - the absolutely exceptional stuff is sold in Japan.

You have to remember, we're not really worth much for their income. Gibson make 85% of their cash from there American sales, we're pocket money.

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A few years back I went round the West End with a friend who was looking to buy a Les Paul, and he must have tried 25 of the things. None were very good and some were complete dogs. He ended up walking away with a Hamer.

I thought Gibson might have upped their game a bit over the last couple of years, but it would seem not.

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[quote name='Adam.M' post='340790' date='Nov 29 2008, 09:27 PM']It's simple, Gibson keep all the great Gibson's in America, they send the lumps of muck over to Europe.

So if you want a good Gibson, you go to America for it. A friend of mine came back with a Gibson from the USA and it kicks the ass off every other one I've played, ever.

Same with Japanese manufacturers, though what they send out is brilliant anyway - the absolutely exceptional stuff is sold in Japan.

You have to remember, we're not really worth much for their income. Gibson make 85% of their cash from there American sales, we're pocket money.[/quote]

Before this “credit crunch” and the pound lost all its value against the dollar, it would have worked out about the same to fly to New York, buy a top end American made bass/guitar (Gibson, Fender, etc…), stay there for one night and then fly back the next day as it would cost you to buy the instrument in the UK (but only if you get away with the import duty :brow: ). I almost done this, but looking at my finances now, I’m glad I didn’t :)

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It was poor quality control by Gibson and Fender n the 1980s that gave Paul Reed Smith an opportunity. You'd think they'd learn the lesson.

Regarding the Chinese makers, I was very favourably impressed by a Jay Turser SG Special that I looked at 3 or 4 years ago. £200, at least as good as the real thing and much much better than the Epiphone copy that cost twice as much.

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[quote name='IncX' post='340950' date='Nov 30 2008, 10:36 AM']here's a vverrry interesting Gibson related article and its quality control practices:

[url="http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/240"]http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/240[/url][/quote]

Thanks for the link. It certainly backs up my own experience with Les Pauls- I don't play guitar but my friend tried lots of guitars before finding one that was right, and we were both surprised at the outcome. Price doesn't mean anything when it boils down to the magic of the woods working together and other hidden factors which cannot be easily 'upgraded' later as so desired, like hardware.

Cheers
ped

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The Gibson Les Paul is mass-produced, but seriously overpriced, and I just can’t understand the pricing.

Around 95 I was looking to get a Les Paul. Tried loads of Gibson branded ones, and couldn't find a good player. Lost the snobbery and tried some Epiphone ones, and was much more impressed. It was the third Epiphone I tried that I bought. Quarter the price of the equivalent Gibson model.

Stuck with the standard pickups for a while, but eventually replaced those with a set of Bare Knuckles. It kicks ass now. But not as much ass as my 80s Aria PE.

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[quote name='Adam.M' post='340790' date='Nov 29 2008, 09:27 PM'][b]It's simple, Gibson keep all the great Gibson's in America, they send the lumps of muck over to Europe.[/b]

So if you want a good Gibson, you go to America for it. A friend of mine came back with a Gibson from the USA and it kicks the ass off every other one I've played, ever.

Same with Japanese manufacturers, though what they send out is brilliant anyway - the absolutely exceptional stuff is sold in Japan.

You have to remember, we're not really worth much for their income. Gibson make 85% of their cash from there American sales, we're pocket money.[/quote]

There's definitely a lot of truth in the idea that Gibson send the 'B grade' instruments to Europe. But I think Gibson's quality control is so poor they can't even get this right and occasionally an 'A grade' escapes to our shores.

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I think it depends.....

To be completely logical about it, the best bass I own is a Korean G&L Tribute, however the one that everybody comments on is my old 70s, beat-up black Precision. The Tribby is not particularly cheap in the world of Korean instruments, but shows what you can do with what I assume to be decent quality control and good quality hardware choices. I don't think anybody *needs* anything better than that. The law of diminishing returns cuts in long before even "ordinary" big-name USA build basses. However, none of that is going to stop people wanting instruments hand-crafted by (relatively) highly-paid artisans from the USA and Europe. Call it snobbery if you like but that's the way of the world. I know very well that Ford make some very good cars - but I drive a Beemer and not a Mondeo. It's my money (or it was) :)

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[quote name='IncX' post='340950' date='Nov 30 2008, 10:36 AM']here's a vverrry interesting Gibson related article and its quality control practices:

[url="http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/240"]http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/240[/url][/quote]

very interesting

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[quote name='BigRedX' post='340786' date='Nov 29 2008, 09:24 PM']It's just a matter of priorities...

I couldn't imagine spending a "couple of grand" on a car that's going to then cost me even more to run and no doubt give me no end of grief when I could spend it on a perfect custom-built instrument that meets my requirements in pretty much every way.[/quote]


fairly cool point.


i actually couldn't imagine spending any amount of my money on a car right now.


i dont drive.

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[quote name='IncX' post='340950' date='Nov 30 2008, 10:36 AM']here's a vverrry interesting Gibson related article and its quality control practices:

[url="http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/240"]http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/240[/url][/quote]

Thanks for the link. That probably explains why I hate my band's guitarist's Les Paul. Its all low end whatever amp & settings are used and makes the whole band sound mushy. Luckily, like me he prefers his old MIJ 50's reissue tele and tends to use that a lot more.

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[quote name='BigRedX' post='340786' date='Nov 29 2008, 09:24 PM']It's just a matter of priorities...

I couldn't imagine spending a "couple of grand" on a car that's going to then cost me even more to run and no doubt give me no end of grief when I could spend it on a perfect custom-built instrument that meets my requirements in pretty much every way.[/quote]

Spend £2000 on a car and a few years later it's probably worthless.

Spend £2000 on a bass and a few years later it's may still be worth £1500 or even more if you wait long enough.

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