How is the quality of the current "normal" Gibson guitars (2021 models, no custom store)?
Has anyone recently bought a current model and gained experience?
I ask because I bought a Gibson SG 61 in early 2020 in Corona times,
the build quality of which I did not like at all and
the complete quality control at Gibson and at the dealer did not notice anything.
There were only a few small dealers in the whole of Europe who could supply the model at that time and
I therefore had to order the guitar (I know: i shouldn't do that and I also learned why... ;-).
I ordered from a small dealer who advertised on the phone that each Gibson guitar is individually checked and well adjusted in the store before the store ships it.
The store has then, without that I knew before, noted in the invoice that the guitar was specially and individually adjusted for me and
that due to the "individual setting" and "adjustment" the return policy for the guitar no longer applies.
In contrast to most other Gibson models, the electronics of the SG 61 are still soldered individually and
not the standard circuit board and cable connectors are used.
You can see that the 4 potentiometers are soldered together with quite thick wire as a ground connection as a fixed block outside the guitar at Gibson and
the complete electronics is then plugged into the body as a fixed block.
On my SG, this block did not fit properly with the holes in the body and resulted in the potentiometer axles sitting at an angle in the wood and misjudging when turned. Either the potentiometers turned extremely hard in the middle or could not be turned below 4.
If the nut holding the potentiometers had been screwed on tightly, nothing would have turned at all.
There were many signatures from Gibson on the note at the guitar for quality control, but anyone really checking this should have noticed that.
Also the local dealer should have noticed this with his "individual check" of the guitar.
On the phone I was told by the dealer "This is a historical replica of an old instrument, so the potentiometers are more sluggish, this is normal. I could loosen the nut to the holder a little, then they will turn a little easier".
Of course, this was complete nonsense, and straight installed potentiometers turn with equal difficulty.
I then contacted Gibson support in Europe because I didn't want to solder apart the electronics, install the potentiometers straight and solder the whole thing back together on a new guitar of that price range.
However, Gibson Support recommended that I book an hour of video conferencing with the Gibson Virtual Guitar Tech, who would then show me how to properly set up my good guitar for me individually.
I felt pretty screwed and asked again if Gibson Support was serious,
then only standardized text modules came back from Gibson "support is exclusively through dealers", "historical replica and that was so at that time", ... .
That scared me even more that such universal standardized answers of the Gibson support already exist,
they are not developed to be used ONCE and
they are not needed if you want to check the problems of the instrument, but only if you don't intend to do that in the first place.
Besides, after that the company continues to believe that they have a well-functioning quality control,
after all, support has not yet seen a poorly build instrument.
Anyway, I had to disassemble the complete electronics and solder the potentiometers back together straight in the body and
additionally screw the bridge into the body with slightly longer screws (unbelievable how far the "fixed" bridge moved and you had the feeling of having a Floyd Rose under your hand).
I changed the pickups to Solodalla's T-top replicas in the process and the guitar was fine after that.
But the Gibson myth was destroyed for me and I sold the guitar shortly after.
I describe this here in such detail so that others, when buying a guitar, should also try out the potentiometers and
Gibson not always presume the top quality, which most Gibson Custom Shop model certainly have.
Do you have the feeling that this has become better in the meantime?
Has anyone recently bought a current model and gained experience?
I ask because I bought a Gibson SG 61 in early 2020 in Corona times,
the build quality of which I did not like at all and
the complete quality control at Gibson and at the dealer did not notice anything.
There were only a few small dealers in the whole of Europe who could supply the model at that time and
I therefore had to order the guitar (I know: i shouldn't do that and I also learned why... ;-).
I ordered from a small dealer who advertised on the phone that each Gibson guitar is individually checked and well adjusted in the store before the store ships it.
The store has then, without that I knew before, noted in the invoice that the guitar was specially and individually adjusted for me and
that due to the "individual setting" and "adjustment" the return policy for the guitar no longer applies.
In contrast to most other Gibson models, the electronics of the SG 61 are still soldered individually and
not the standard circuit board and cable connectors are used.
You can see that the 4 potentiometers are soldered together with quite thick wire as a ground connection as a fixed block outside the guitar at Gibson and
the complete electronics is then plugged into the body as a fixed block.
On my SG, this block did not fit properly with the holes in the body and resulted in the potentiometer axles sitting at an angle in the wood and misjudging when turned. Either the potentiometers turned extremely hard in the middle or could not be turned below 4.
If the nut holding the potentiometers had been screwed on tightly, nothing would have turned at all.
There were many signatures from Gibson on the note at the guitar for quality control, but anyone really checking this should have noticed that.
Also the local dealer should have noticed this with his "individual check" of the guitar.
On the phone I was told by the dealer "This is a historical replica of an old instrument, so the potentiometers are more sluggish, this is normal. I could loosen the nut to the holder a little, then they will turn a little easier".
Of course, this was complete nonsense, and straight installed potentiometers turn with equal difficulty.
I then contacted Gibson support in Europe because I didn't want to solder apart the electronics, install the potentiometers straight and solder the whole thing back together on a new guitar of that price range.
However, Gibson Support recommended that I book an hour of video conferencing with the Gibson Virtual Guitar Tech, who would then show me how to properly set up my good guitar for me individually.
I felt pretty screwed and asked again if Gibson Support was serious,
then only standardized text modules came back from Gibson "support is exclusively through dealers", "historical replica and that was so at that time", ... .
That scared me even more that such universal standardized answers of the Gibson support already exist,
they are not developed to be used ONCE and
they are not needed if you want to check the problems of the instrument, but only if you don't intend to do that in the first place.
Besides, after that the company continues to believe that they have a well-functioning quality control,
after all, support has not yet seen a poorly build instrument.
Anyway, I had to disassemble the complete electronics and solder the potentiometers back together straight in the body and
additionally screw the bridge into the body with slightly longer screws (unbelievable how far the "fixed" bridge moved and you had the feeling of having a Floyd Rose under your hand).
I changed the pickups to Solodalla's T-top replicas in the process and the guitar was fine after that.
But the Gibson myth was destroyed for me and I sold the guitar shortly after.
I describe this here in such detail so that others, when buying a guitar, should also try out the potentiometers and
Gibson not always presume the top quality, which most Gibson Custom Shop model certainly have.
Do you have the feeling that this has become better in the meantime?