1961 Les Paul

[Helmholtz]

They're a bad imitation of themselves at best.

As I haven't tried any new Gibsons for some years, I am curious what kind of quality issues their guitars had lately and when the problems started.

[olddawg]

Auto Tune may have killed them, lol!

[Justin Thomas]

I think most of what was brought up had to do with the QC at the prices they were asking. The absolute bottom-rung Gibsons weren't too bad, and were as expected for the sub-$1,000 price. What really put them in the crapper was people spending $2,000 for guitars with finish blemishes, poorly set bridges, stripped holes, not holding tuning, etc. And the poor quality extended up into the Custom Shop models for significantly more.

The robot tuners & the $200+ "bumblebee caps" that were $1 parts dressed up in a plastic case probably didn't help at all.

I'm not sure how much of this has to do with the "big-box guitar store" disease, either. Smaller shops will inspect their inventory and ship back sub-par instruments. The local GC won't, and since everyone nowadays is buying either online or from a box store, who knows? Maybe all the junk got left out or shipped instead of returned. And if I were a company, I could get away with ignoring it. For a little while, anyway...

I've been at a shop when an order came in and they opened up a guitar, fiddled with it a few minutes, and elected to send it back, to Fender in this case. For the price they'd have to ask, they wanted their customer to get better.

Justin

[Helmholtz]

What really put them in the crapper was people spending $2,000 for guitars with finish blemishes, poorly set bridges, stripped holes, not holding tuning, etc. And the poor quality extended up into the Custom Shop models for significantly more.

Thanks!

[The Dude]

Agree with the above. I'll add: When I was younger, you could start a band and make a few buck playing clubs and ballrooms on the weekends. Hell, we could even afford to invest in pretty large P.A. systems. A guitar was a tool and an investment that you'd likely see a quick return on. These days, what few gigs are left pay shit- if you can get one- and they certainly aren't steady for most. I bought a Les Paul Custom in 1978 for 700 bucks. I made that money back easily within a few months. Today, that guitar costs at least 6 times as much and you'll make no more than 1/6 of what you could have made before they changed the drinking age. It's not an economical purchase for most, especially when you can get a CNC (insert brand here) guitar that plays decent at a fraction of the cost.

[Enzo]

It is an investment, but a budding musician also has to ask himself, will I make more gig money with a Gibson Les Paul than I would with an Epiphone Les Paul?

[The Dude]

I thought my last sentence said that?

[Enzo]

Hey, I'm old, getting senile.

get off my lawn.

[The Dude]

Oh,...... now you're claiming to have a lawn?

[Enzo]

Lawn? Well it reaches my knee, how lawn you want it?

[olddawg]

As far as the OP.. that’s a seriously valuable guitar.. I wouldn’t touch it myself.. especially “backfilling” with super glue and such. I would hate to see such a valuable piece of history messed up any further. Since Gibson is obviously not doing it anymore.. it’s worth it to use a “premier” luthier to restore it. Have it set up and appraised at the same time. Maybe contact “Elderly Instruments” and ask them what to do? What they do with their prize pieces that need restoration? Who they use? They helped me a couple of times identifying rare models. Enzo?

[dumbassbob]

Fender started out right in 1982 "we are going to make Fender like it was when Leo was here, real and small".Now they own everything,and who has $10,000 and 1 yrs to wait for a custom guitar.I hope Gibson gets bought by some one who really cares and goes back to just a few models like the "old dazes" instead of having to drill holes to lighten the cheap wood there using..I tried to use a New LP and the thing would howl Might as well get a Cibsun custom spec..and do all the hardware and pups yourself. RIP Steve Schrage 1950-1969

[bfglp]

You would need to force i some fish or hide glue using a small suction cup and work fast so it doesn’t get messy.
Or call StewMac, nothing new for them

[J M Fahey]

Send it to a Pro or leave as is.

Trying to do anything by yourself is same as giving it back to the kids.

[Chuck H]

Send it to a Pro or leave as is.

Trying to do anything by yourself is same as giving it back to the kids.

Ouwee! Really? A little harsh. Most of us have learned some tricks that work better than a child's perspective, intentions and skill set I think

But I totally agree at face value. It's a guitar that deserves the best. I've got some chops, but they may not be up to THIS. Get it to a pro before anyone involved is even more regretful and sorry.