I went to visit my friend who manages the guitar department at a music store today, because he had just gotten in the new reissue SG Juniors in Heritage Cherry. I have been GAS-ing for one of these for years, having owned three vintage examples over the years. His store is perhaps the biggest independent Gibson dealer in the country, or at least the east coast.

I personally opened the shipping box, and when I took the guitar out and examined it, I noted the following:

The guitar was perfectly in tune right out of the box.
The intonation and action was perfect.
The fit and finish was flawless, the workmanship exemplary.
The guitar looked amazing, sounded amazing, and played like butter.
The frets had been Plek'd, as are all Gibson guitars now, I'm told.
There was absolutely no QC issues whatsoever with this guitar, which was priced for me at $719, a very substantial discount over MSRP.

The guitar was perfect in every way. I played it hard for ten minutes, bent strings to oblivion, and it stayed in tune! Impressive.

I laid it away with $100 and will pick it up soon.

The point is, Gibson has gotten their act together over the last year or so. They haven't had a price increase in almost four years (who else can say that? Fender raises prices every six to twelve months, I believe). Gibson's QC on new stuff is great, according to my friend. He said he hasn't had a bad Gibson in almost two years, and the company is listening to and giving customers what they want; great playing, great looking guitars that are affordably priced.

On the contrary, he said Fender is doing everything wrong these days, and he is overstocked with Fenders because nobody is buying them. He's out a halt on Fender purchases. He can't give them away.

I don't have a picture of the new SG, but it's early 60's style, small pickguard, and it looked and felt exactly like my vintage ones.

I used to be Gibson's biggest critic, but believe me, things have changed in Henry Land. Gibson is back and better than ever. I couldn't be happier.

And best of all....Made in America!!! I hope so.

I'm glad to hear this, it's about time they got their head out of the clouds :)

Congrats on your new SG! :D

Some of the issues come after you have it for about the first year. I have a Sg standard in black. I got it last Ddecember. I'n the last two months I got % cracks in the finish of the neck. Mind you it's only cosmetic. But this is very common on SG's. When you have cracks in the finish it also would make it a hard sell if you so decide.

Some of the issues come after you have it for about the first year. I have a Sg standard in black. I got it last Ddecember. I'n the last two months I got % cracks in the finish of the neck. Mind you it's only cosmetic. But this is very common on SG's. When you have cracks in the finish it also would make it a hard sell if you so decide.

Define "Very common".

After years of being on forums (and owning an SG (2 now)), I've never heard of this being a common issue at all.

After years of being on forums (and owning an SG (2 now)), I've never heard of this being a common issue at all.

+1, hasn't happened on my '93 standard...

it looks a little like finish checking to me - was it exposed to an extreme temperature change?

Some of the issues come after you have it for about the first year. I have a Sg standard in black. I got it last Ddecember. I'n the last two months I got % cracks in the finish of the neck. Mind you it's only cosmetic. But this is very common on SG's. When you have cracks in the finish it also would make it a hard sell if you so decide.

Warren...Is it a nitro finish? I'm sure you that nitro is subject to checking and temperature changes. My Billie Joe Les Paul Junior is checking also, but it is nitro, and I don't mind a bit, in fact, I like it.

I reviewed SG's before buying mine to get the pro's and cons. Most brought up gripes by owners were the nut needing to be filed and cracking of the finish on the neck near the headstock and around the 15th to 19th fret that starts from the binding on both sides of the black dots. If your neck isn't binded you would most likely not run into the cracking around the 15yh-19th fret. Still could get crack around the headstock due to the Two piece joint.If you look back at my picture you can see where it starts at the dots in the binding. Still one of my favorite guitars but the crack sucks.

To be frank I dont think Fender or Gibson does any better... I think they both overproduce, but I think fender's problem is that they overproduce on top of producing to MANY models.

I might get some fire for this, but how many different strat variants really need to exist.

+1, hasn't happened on my '93 standard...

it looks a little like finish checking to me - was it exposed to an extreme temperature change?

This guitar hasn't left my studio.:(

Now that you guys have mentioned that it's not common. It made me think that maybe these were just threads I found when doing my research before buying and that it may not be common. So I just called the shop where I bought it from and let them know I'll be coming in tomorrow to see ot it is infact a defect or warranty being only 10 months old.

Good stuff bubblyah! hope everything goes smoothly :) fingers crossed!

To be frank I dont think Fender or Gibson does any better... I think they both overproduce, but I think fender's problem is that they overproduce on top of producing to MANY models.

I might get some fire for this, but how many different strat variants really need to exist.

You're exactly right. One of my friend's complaints today as a dealer was that Fender has too many iterations of the Strat and Tele and others available at all different price points. He thinks they should discontinue about three-quarters of them. All they're doing is repeating themselves over and over now. It's madness. From what he told, the people at Fender have their heads up ther hindquarters, and have since Bill Schultz died.

Warren...Is it a nitro finish? I'm sure you that nitro is subject to checking and temperature changes. My Billie Joe Les Paul Junior is checking also, but it is nitro, and I don't mind a bit, in fact, I like it.

Bob, I must have missed you message here. I looked into it and your right it is a nitro finish. I'm still going to look into seeing if what has happened to my neck is normal. This is just for my piece of mind.
Either way it's still sexy and it ain't effecting the playability or tone. It's a tone monster. These standards have a pickup that is killer for fuzz.

Gibson makes a great guitar, but they are far from perfect. I am selling a LP Jr for my pal that would not stay in tune until he upgraded the tuners. It is a great guitar, don't get me wrong. But not perfect.

Then again, my new sparkle jet has ****ty tuners too...

You're going to get a dud one every now and then, but as my friend said, he hasn't had a bad Gibson in the shop in almost two years, especially since they've started PLEK-ing everything. Every single Gibson I have played in that store lately has been a winner in every way.

I even want one of those Explorer Melody Makers for $495.

Bob, I must have missed you message here. I looked into it and your right it is a nitro finish. I'm still going to look into seeing if what has happened to my neck is normal. This is just for my piece of mind.
Either way it's still sexy and it ain't effecting the playability or tone. It's a tone monster. These standards have a pickup that is killer for fuzz.

The only non-warranty issue I can think that would cause this situation is the rapid hot-cold-hot transition, which you say hasn't happen. Definitely let us know what the dealer says!

I played several Les Pauls while shopping for one recently and have to say there was not a bad one in the bunch. I did see a cosmetic issue on a Traditional that should have never left the plant, but it was otherwise a great guitar as well.

About 5 years ago I bought my first LP, and had to have the frets leveled just to get a good setup on it. It plays great now, but IMHO, a guitar even in the price range of of that Studio shouldn't need that kind of work right out of the box.

Bottom line is that I do believe that they have improved considerably over the last few years.

Sorry to disagree. I'm a pro guitar tech, have been a pro musician for 43 years, worked music retail and repairs at some very prestigious stores, and make a darn good living fixing Gibsons mistakes. Plekking has helped, but only because their fretwork was pretty awful in the past, EXCEPT for pre-70s guitars. Most of the nuts are cut too tight, so the guitar is hard to tune and keep in tune.It's getting better, but it couldn't have gotten much worse.
Both Fender and Gibson are guilty of rehashing the same models with minor differences, and I agree they could use fewer models.Maybe I should buy something totally new and revolutionary like the Firebird X. Someone's been standing in the spraybooth without a mask too long...
I know it's fashionable to Gibson-bash on the net these days, but they deserve it.My first serious pro guitar was an SG in '68, and I've owned lots of their guitars over the years. These days I just resign myself to serious benchtime with any new Gibson, or Fender for that matter. I've been playing Musicman and PRS guitars for a lot of years now, and neither of those brands have the QC issues that haunt the Big Two.
Keep it up Henry J. and company, I'm saving for my retirement.

Sold that JR today...

Sorry to disagree. I'm a pro guitar tech, have been a pro musician for 43 years, worked music retail and repairs at some very prestigious stores, and make a darn good living fixing Gibsons mistakes. Plekking has helped, but only because their fretwork was pretty awful in the past, EXCEPT for pre-70s guitars. Most of the nuts are cut too tight, so the guitar is hard to tune and keep in tune.It's getting better, but it couldn't have gotten much worse.
Both Fender and Gibson are guilty of rehashing the same models with minor differences, and I agree they could use fewer models.Maybe I should buy something totally new and revolutionary like the Firebird X. Someone's been standing in the spraybooth without a mask too long...
I know it's fashionable to Gibson-bash on the net these days, but they deserve it.My first serious pro guitar was an SG in '68, and I've owned lots of their guitars over the years. These days I just resign myself to serious benchtime with any new Gibson, or Fender for that matter. I've been playing Musicman and PRS guitars for a lot of years now, and neither of those brands have the QC issues that haunt the Big Two.
Keep it up Henry J. and company, I'm saving for my retirement.

You should have played SG Junior I bought yesterday. You might have thought otherwise about what you just said. I've been playing nearly as long as you, brother, and I too can spot a winner when I play it.

Just got a left handed Gibson custom shop CS-336P. It's a Les-Paul sized instrument with lines that correspond to an ES-335. The back and sides are one solid piece of tonally carved mahogany, and the top is two piece carved maple.

Having only had electric Fenders and Gretsches, I was perplexed at the Gibson pot arrangement and functions, I brought it to luthier Charles Hoffman for a once over. When Charlie took the 336 out of its case, he looked at it for a moment then said, "Gibson still makes nice guitars." I gotta say, it is really a great instrument. The stars were aligned when they made this one.

But the whole merchandising lather, and QC inconsistencies, and political and ethical stuff such as the Lacey Act, and use of materials that aren't properly documented, perhaps endangered, whatever.... I look at Musicians Friend's website and the "Gibson custom" moniker is used to describe 338 items. Clearly, there are no instruments there that are not production items, nothing truly customized for a particular customer.

Though, I have to say, a lefty-oriented version of a Gretsch Eddie Cochran G6120, or any limited run guitar is going to be much rarer than a corresponding identical righty, but then again, quite a bit less than 10% of guitar players are going to be going for a lefty model, so the demand probably is proportionate....

By and large, the lefty instruments I have bought, many without ever holding or strumming, have turned out really nice. I got an American Standard Strat that I didn't care for, but have enjoyed two Mexican Strats.

It seems that perhaps making a lefty oriented guitar takes a mite more attention to detail, and if so then likely I have benefitted from that and gotten better assembled instruments.

I love this little Gibson, its feel, its resonance, the neck and fretboard are wonderful.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5145/5741376772_b01a332ce1_b.jpg

Nice ones and dogs in every batch. Keep 'em coming Henry, my bank account's looking better all the time.

A friend of mine is a Fender dealer. He tells me that it's very common for cracks to appear in the finish around the heel, particularly the bits of the body along side the neck. He gets a lot back, and it's a devil of a job to convince the buyer that it's just natural paint checking (as those bits arn't load bearing).

Can't speak for Gibson QC in general, but I was and still am very pleased with the Studio 50's Tribute, I did swap out the bridge p-90 PU magnets with slightly smoother Alnico 5UO, but that's a matter of taste. I liked it so much, when Gibson came out with the Thomann run of 50's HB Tributes (same as the std 50's Tribute, but with Mudbuckers and unfortunately the std pcb pot board), I got one of those (they were [are?] not available in the US). I knew I wouldn't care for the 490/8 PUs, but I had a set of SD SH-1s which work well there for that kind of stuff. Have nothing to complain about concerning the quality at all. I have mucked about with the aesthetics (knobs, Kluson strap pins etc) a bit, and added a bridge with brass saddles on both and alu stop tail on the p-90, but none of that was QC related...

Got to admit, I would rather have a Duo Jet with Dynas, but they cost 3-4 as much new here and the FMIC models rarely come up used. Will patiently wait until the right deal comes along. Here's a pic, sorry turned out a bit dark and the mess with the amp projects going on..

Just to keep you guys in the loop about my SG Standard if you are interested. I took it in to see what the manager of the store could do in my situation. He mentioned that gibson wont warranty cracks but because it's under 10 months he would exchange it for a new one. I was very excited but now I have to wait a few weeks for one.
Unless I exchange it for a Les Paul Standard I also am interested in and pay another $1,400 dollars. I'm on the fence. The Les Paul is nice and would give me a guitar with more bottom end(meaning more bass, Burstbucker Pro Pickups). I have a couple guitars like my PRS standard 22 that could give me the mid/top end sound that SG's are known for.

Any thoughts about Gibson Standard. Is it worth the money?

$1400 extra? ouch, I'd buy a Duo Jet for that & keep the SG.

The point is, Gibson has gotten their act together over the last year or so.

I think Gibson has made decisions (especially within the last year) that might lead to the demise of the company itself...

But I've also been sayin' that for quite some time now.... :rolleyes:

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/ee22/e_stamp/P1020221.jpg