Did Gibson really make these??

[Passinwind]

Very cool @Passinwind !

That guitar came to me in pieces, the owner was so bummed he'd broken the headstock that he just couldn't bear to have it around any more. He told me he'd been quoted $200+ by the Heritage warranty shop in Portland, who I ended up taking it to, but they scoffed at that and only charged me $30 to put it back together and it's been fine for over 20 years. Traded a goofy Epiphone Strat and a very janky no name bolt on LP copy with a real Gibson humbucker installed, even up. The Roland synth pickup complements the angular headstock pretty well, I think. I just rehabbed that guitar a couple of weeks ago, so it finally is up to the the caliber of the great partial refret job a local luthier friend did for me a while back. There was no fret wear whatsoever above the 7th fret...LOL!

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

There was no fret wear whatsoever above the 7th fret...LOL!

Hey, some of us fear the high notes.

That sounds like the fine folk at the 12th fret on Belmont. Yes?

 

[Passinwind]

Hey, some of us fear the high notes.

That sounds like the fine folk at the 12th fret on Belmont. Yes?

Yep, and I only found out they were an authorized Heritage repair joint when I got there for the consult. It went straight to the boss man as soon as I broke it out of the case and all the employees wanted a good look since it's such an oddball. The refret came years later and by then we had a great local guy who likes barter deals, as do I. SE PDX is only an hour away, but still.

I play shred style occasionally and definitely play all over the board, but of course I get the dynamic there. I got the impression that deWd was a Country/Southern rocker playing mostly rhythm guitar, and probably a tweaker, so it all makes sense I reckon.

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

The drive is worth it with those guys, I used to have a wood shop like a block from there so I used to soot the shit with them occasionally. If my 70s p bass ever needed anything serious I'd have them do it for sure.

 

[Passinwind]

The drive is worth it with those guys, I used to have a wood shop like a block from there so I used to soot the shit with them occasionally. If my 70s p bass ever needed anything serious I'd have them do it for sure.

Yeah, they are pretty much the gold standard. I'd just take my Marco Basses down to the Marco shop if needed, but anything else would go to 12th Fret now that the local guy is only doing custom builds and occasional side jobs on super cool vintage pieces when he feels like it.

 

[mdc]

My favorite gibson oddballs are the 25.5" scale RD:


The super fancy marauder custom:


And the blue victory mvx:

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

Yeah, they are pretty much the gold standard. I'd just take my Marco Basses down to the Marco shop if needed, but anything else would go to 12th Fret now that the local guy is only doing custom builds and occasional side jobs on super cool vintage pieces when he feels like it.

I've never bought a gibson or gibson related product so I've never actually had to use their repair services myself, lololol.

 

[DAJE]

Marauders are generally fantastic guitars. The bill lawrence pickups are rad, the necks feel great, they look fantastic, and if for whatever reason you want a telecaster custom that says 'gibson' on it. you'd be hard pressed to find a cooler one. That era of Gibson and Fender trying to make each others' instruments yielded some weird and awesome stuff.

It's very possible that the decent ones were cherry picked for the US market and the basket cases were shipped to, for instance, Australia.

 

[music6000]

In Vegas, talkin bad about Gibson:

 

[Locrian99]

@Mentaltossflycoon @Passinwind either of you have any thoughts on inner sound? Good bad indifferent.

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

@Mentaltossflycoon @Passinwind either of you have any thoughts on inner sound? Good bad indifferent.

I haven't interacted with that shop since the 90's but I've never heard any customer service horror stories. I guess that makes me indifferent.

 

[drgonzo1969]

This is my Gibson Invader. I’ve had this thing since I was 18. I traded a strat knock off for it. I LOVE this guitar. The neck is phenomenal. I beat the shit out of it playing in bands and modified it quite a bit. It’s got a bareknuckle warpig pickup in the bridge. I rewired it 50’s style with PIO caps. swapped out the nut for tusq. added sperzel locking tuners and gold hardware. This was my first “real” guitar. Everything I had before this one were cheap terrible playing knock offs. Funny… now I buy cheap knock offs on purpose and fix them up

 

[Passinwind]

@Mentaltossflycoon @Passinwind either of you have any thoughts on inner sound? Good bad indifferent.

I haven't had occasion to use them in a couple of decades, but the guy I dealt with back then did fine. I'll ask a few local sound providers for their feedback, they would have more recent experience most likely.

 

[cdwillis]

That RD with the six in line headstock is very cool

 

[HamishR]

I've never bought a gibson or gibson related product so I've never actually had to use their repair services myself, lololol.

And I have bought a few Gibsons and never had to use their repair services!

Maybe 20 years ago I bought a brand new ES-335 for a ridiculously low price because the shop thought it was a dog. It was pretty horrible to play and impossible to keep in tune. Took it home, spent about 15-20 minutes with some nut files sorting out the crazy high cut slots and it played perfectly. I had to adjust the truss rod and bridge a little too, but once I did it was a great guitar.

I hear people talking about "Gibson sending the bad ones to Australia" etc but I don't know if they consider any of them bad. I doubt much thought goes into it. In this case an atrocious set-up was a gift to me. And I haven't seen anything like it in recent years. They are such a strange company. They make some crazy choices but when you get a good one it can be sublime.

I bought a RI USA Casino not that long ago and it is pristine. It's beautifully finished, plays as well as any guitar I have played and sounds fantastic. It's become a favourite. Yet a friend bought one of the same model and had to take it back for a badly set neck. They need whoever does quality control at Gretsch to sort them out. Gretsch just keep getting better.