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    Quote from deadman42

    I did that sometimes in the past with my gems. But hey, play it! The guitar deserves it and you as well. Case queens might be interesting for collectors who can afford it. You should play that beauty, otherwise you'll regret it some day. I'm so happy even with some dings and dongs on my mostly played gems. The first scratch hurts... afterwards it gets better and you'll be more relaxed grabbing it :thumbup:8)


    Yes , I agree , no..actualy I don't

    it's Not ''You Should'' Play it. You MUST Play it!


    About scratches, dings, dongs and whatever. Don't Worry! You Will love them All!

    Here's my first Gibson, the one I've dreamed about and saved for (20-25 bucks a week) for Years.

    Goldtop Std 2004 (not '54 or..Aged by..) 60's neck, (headstock reapired 4 times. 4!)

    But I'm still in Love with !

    !



    And Some Pro Shot

    Classic beauty!

    Quote from dmatthews

    Thank you sir. She's a lovely player as well.

    No doubt she Also Sounds REALLY GOOD!

    Thanks God* I've never been into PRS but I must say, as addicted to Flamed top as I am, EVERY singol PRS Instrument I've tryed out was also ''WOW What a Beast!!!!??

    I'm not so ''at home'' with any of their Models but I'd love to have one..at least. ;)

    * I mean unfortunatly

    Quote from Sollazzon

    No doubt she Also Sounds REALLY GOOD!

    Thanks God* I've never been into PRS but I must say, as addicted to Flamed top as I am, EVERY singol PRS Instrument I've tryed out was also ''WOW What a Beast!!!!??

    I'm not so ''at home'' with any of their Models but I'd love to have one..at least. ;)

    * I mean unfortunatly

    This one has Bare Knuckle Rebel Yells in it, and it really rocks!

    HA! You know what!?!?

    In that period Gibson was also producing the ''Classic'' Model next to the Standard Model.

    Basically the same guitar but on std. You can choose between 2 different neck shapes: 50's (Rounded) or 60's (slim) Neck

    On Classics You have always the 60' (slim) neck profile and greeny fretboard inlays and the ''Classic'' instead 'model'' on the headstock.

    Well, and this has been Confirmed by e mail by Gibson, in factory They put a wrong Classic in the 60's neck on my Standard!

    Crazy right?

    Quote from deadman42

    You should play that beauty, otherwise you'll regret it some day.

    Like an idiot I bought a PRS SE, Gibson Studio LP, and cheap Gibson SG ($500) before I bought the Traditional. I also have a Epiphone LP. So I beat on them instead of the Traditional.


    I am actually thinking of selling the Traditional to get something with Stainless frets like the Tim Henson Ibanez. Tired of burning thru frets on guitars.

    Quote: “Confirmed by e mail by Gibson, in factory They put a wrong Classic in the 60's neck on my Standard! Crazy right?”


    In recent years Gibson have been incorporating a transponder or identifying chip which informs the specification and fabricating details of the singular example of the model in question. Transponders are often used in manufacturing to carry the specification details and position in the manufacturing process.


    For instance, if a customer had placed an order, but subsequently had a change of heart and wanted to change a specific detail. That might be possible if the product had not yet reached that point in the production process. Though I think in Gibson’s case its more about post sales warrantee identification.



    But historically, during particular eras Gibson would utilise its workforce by deciding to rationalise its production processes by making certain parts one week and other parts other weeks.


    Therefore, situations would arise where the workforce might spend a whole week simply manufacturing necks by hand. As many as they could during that week.


    With a large supply of differing necks ready, they would then follow the builds required to fulfils the outstanding orders.



    At a certain point they had necks left over with no orders for instruments to fit them to.


    So, they would fit the necks that were made, onto the bodies that incoming orders would require them to make.


    The result is that on occasions, an incorrectly specified neck would be fitted to a particular body which I will now demonstrate.


    For perhaps the worst example of what I am describing is that in the picture below where a neck manufactured for a different model, has obviously been “botched” to fit a Trini Lopez Electro Spanish 335 Thinline model which initially had a relatively low take up in sales .


    The first picture shows the instrument in the process of having its fingerboard completely removed. The second picture shows the neck to body joint with small filler pieces of wood utilised to make a readily available neck made for another model fit the model that was waiting to be made next.






    There are all sorts of anomalies I am aware of that arose from the Parsons St. factory at Kalamazoo, and indeed, the newer facilities in Nashville. And much worse mistakes than the deliberate fabrication of the Lopez model.


    But I am sure your more recent model suffers from no such similar issue or problem, so rest assured.



    By the way, I am a Gibson fan rather than a critic.


    And most great historic guitar manufacturers have horror stories and skeletons they would rather stay in the closet.


    I simply know about them because I am profoundly interested in both musical instruments and also in manufacturing plants.


    Some of my colleagues design the plants and engineer (and sometimes invent) the processes that enable the efficient fabrication of products.


    And some of us travel the world, visiting all the major plants in a particular field, observing and learning best industry practice. Especially when innovation arises.

    Quote from Crispy Panther

    By the way, I am a Gibson fan rather than a critic.

    I simply know about them because I am profoundly interested in both musical instruments and also in manufacturing plants.

    You can't see from the picture above of my Les Paul Traditional, but the head stock is covered in sanding scratches. It looks like some sanding steps were skipped and then it was painted, etc.


    Is this a thing? Or was it just botched?

    Quote from RosboneMako

    Like an idiot I bought a PRS SE, Gibson Studio LP, and cheap Gibson SG ($500) before I bought the Traditional. I also have a Epiphone LP. So I beat on them instead of the Traditional.


    I am actually thinking of selling the Traditional to get something with Stainless frets like the Tim Henson Ibanez. Tired of burning thru frets on guitars.

    Dare I say/risk putting the wrong words in your mouth....you don't play it because its not as good/inspiring as you'd hoped? This is how I feel about most Les Pauls hence the "overpriced" view I have.


    My Yamaha SG is way better IMHO.


    There are exceptions, my mate has a great Les Paul, I like my Custom ( but I need it specifically for my Cult Tribute as well so its as much necessity and I like playing it) and Sollazzon 's does look very nice.


    ....but....guitars are so personal, I guess there really aren't any "better" or "worse".... :)

    Quote from Crispy Panther


    The first picture shows the instrument in the process of having its fingerboard completely removed. The second picture shows the neck to body joint with small filler pieces of wood utilised to make a readily available neck made for another model fit the model that was waiting to be made next.


    Yikes! That's not right. Another reason to never take any of mine apart. I'd be pretty disappointed to discover such work. There's a certain quality/configuration expectation when you buy a Gibson that's based on price and legacy. Things like that should be disclosed and have a price reflecting the mod. Otherwise trust and brand reputation suffer, as it has.


    It's sad that Gibson has so many self-inflicted wounds. I may be foolish but I still haven't given up on them, I buy and hope for the best. When they're good, they're really good. But I've had my share of poorly installed binding, bad nuts, poor solder jobs, orange peal nitro, razor blade frets and trap inlays that were proud of the fretboard - on brand new models. Gibson will usually pay to have them fixed or replaced but it's a hassle and you get the feeling they know a certain number of buyers will just let it go. But the rub is, most of those buyers won't come back.

    Quote from V8guitar

    Dare I say/risk putting the wrong words in your mouth....you don't play it because its not as good/inspiring as you'd hoped? This is how I feel about most Les Pauls hence the "overpriced" view I have.

    I dont play it because I dont want to wear the frets off of it. Not when it costs 4x every other guitar I have. It plays and sounds great. One of my best sounding guitars.


    That is why I am thinking Tim Henson with stainless steel frets. Then I can finally play a "great" guitar every day. But I hate active pickups and dealing with batteries so .... $55 Indio for me.

    Quote from waraba

    RosboneMako I don't get it , how can you wear frets so fast , it never happened to me in 30 years of guitar ? Never had to do it , maybe once , my Yamaga SG1000 had two 'bending holes' on 5th fret as the original owner could maybe mostly play in A, but that's it.

    I get it and have reached a similar conclusion as RosboneMako . I recently spent time leveling and recrowning frets on 2 Teles, 2 Strats, and 2 Les Pauls. As a result, I purchased what I consider to be a 'sacrificial' guitar which I have not posted on this thread. A sunburst Sire S7 HSS that was relatively cheap, $500 but not $55 cheap. I now do most of my playing on the Sire. BTW, the Sire is a very well done guitar for the price and I am also using it to gig with my rock band.

    I'm intrigued, I have stainless steel frets and they work wonders, none of them are cheap or Gibson. Bending is a dream etc. Just thought I'd chip in

    A brace of Suhrs, a Charvel, a toaster, an Apollo twin, a Mac, and a DXR10

    Like 2
    Quote from waraba

    I don't get it , how can you wear frets so fast , it never happened to me in 30 years of guitar ?

    I wish I knew. I played for 10 years on trash guitars and never had fret issues.


    The guitar I have played the most is a 1990 Ibanez RG570. And the frets are fine. But the neck on that guitar is as near perfect as you can get. Its a FujiGen made in Japan and the strings are as low as humanly possibly with no fret buzz.


    As I said I bought a Bullet and loved that guitar so I played it all the time. Eventually the frets wore very badly. I did not do any investigating why, I just assumed a $99 guitar would have cheaper fret material. So I bought the more expensive American Strat. As stated, I barely played it and the frets are wearing already.


    Both guitars that I have had serious fret issues are both Fenders.


    From what I have read, frets are generically all the same material. Nickel Silver (18% nickel, 80% copper). Which seems like a bad design to me. You should have frets that are harder than the easy to change strings.


    POSSIBLE ISSUES

    I have been buying guitar strings since 1978 and I have never had strings with no plating. In the last couple years I have purchased multiple sets that have missing plating on the high E or B. 90% of the fret wear I see is usually on the G to B string area. I usually play Lights 09-42. Maybe I have been getting poorly plated strings and end up rubbing steel on the frets as it wears under the string out of sight?


    I have not played the 1990 RG570 much since around 2000 or so. String quality has changed since then???


    My finger tips are very soft. No callouses at all. When I fret a note it is like trying to fret with mashed potatoes. So I may push harder than players with normal finger tips. I see good players playing without picking at all and they are 10x better than me. If I play notes without picking its just mush.


    FIXES

    What should I do? What can I do? I have read playing all nickel strings can help but it seems as though the strings that are wearing the frets are still nickel plated steel? Coated strings seem to do more damage?


    I have been considering using something like FretEase as a lubricant to decrease wear?


    Or buy $55 guitars that are fine for me (since I suck). Throw it away when it gets bad.


    Buy a guitar with stainless frets. Lowest price guitar I have seen is about $1500. Which I dont want to spend on a guitar. But I would if I knew I could play it every day and not worry about it.


    Send guitars out to get refretted? Only place I would trust is Sweetwater and they want more than the guitar is worth to do it. Cheaper to just get a new guitar.

    Another factor is I hate changing strings and dont pay attention too how long they have been on a guitar. I sort of just track it in my mind and pay attention to the color and feel of the strings. So I am probably not changing them often enough. Which again could lead to wearing off the plating and rubbing the raw steel on the frets???


    My main problem is when I play guitar I switch off the logic side of my brain. I just want to pick it up and play.


    Do you guys wipe down the underside of your strings? Will that cause even more plating wear?


    I stopped playing the RG570 around 2000 because I started buying a lot of guitars around then. Which I looked at as, playing various guitars all the time would not wear out one certain guitar.


    I need to just get down to one guitar. Then restring it frequently. The $55 Indio hits all the points for me. Humbucker for heavy stuff and a single coil on the neck for bluesy stuff.


    Frets wear out, I get another one for $55. Beats the $750 + shipping($200+) to get a guitar refretted. And there is no guarantee it comes back good. So then I have to ship it back and forth again to get fixed???

    I don't know what plating you are referring to? I rarely wipe my strings down, but I will after a gig involving a lot of sweating. Many times I'll only change strings on an electric when gunk builds up that makes the string to fret contact point higher friction. Or when they stop staying in tune. Or when a string breaks - then I change the full set. On an acoustice the strings are good for a few days IMO.


    On most every guitar, I can feel the fret condition where the wear increases. With a new, clean set of strings a rapid sideways vibrato motion like Freddie King at al will create heat on the fret and this leads to a higher friction contact point that will wear the fret faster. I can replicate this on almost every guitar I have ever played. It is most noticeable with unwound strings. I can feel the friction increase with the heat.