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Post subject: I'm sticking with Fender.........just a story......
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:13 am
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ok, here's my story, I thought I always wanted a Gibson Les Paul, so I found the one that I liked, the new 2008 Les Paul Traditional, so I ordered one, it showed up at my house, I was sooo excited. I opened the box and the case, the guitar was beautiful, took it out and plugged it into my Fender 65 twin reverb, that baby sang thru the twin. Great tone. Well, as I'm playing up and down the neck, I notice several indentations on the back of the neck at the third fret and I also notice the nitro finish was "rough" at the third fret also. It was as if the factory didn't let the nitro set up and dry all the way. I thought well, maybe I can just play and not notice it, after I saw it, there was no forgetting about it. This was Gibsons $2300.00 model, I'm thinking to myself, where is the quality control?? So I compared it to my 57 vintage american strat and american standard tele, my two Fenders whooped that so called Gibson quality. I understand that maybe Fender has had some issues, but for $2300.00 bucks it better be perfect from the factory. So to make a long story short, I have never received any Fender guitars with issues (and I have had alot of them in my day), so needless to say, the Les Paul is on it's way back for a full refund.............so my brand loyalty is with Fender. With that said, it's either a 57 hot rod tele or a 62 hot rod strat.

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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:15 am
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So it is safe to say that you don't always get what you pay for! Great story Nic. Thanks for sharing it!

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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:53 am
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it actually makes me sad gibson and fender are like coke and pepsi there competion once set industry standards one should not be better than the other they should both strive to bring the best products they can to the market place ,glad you got a refund but for that dough it should have never happened


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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:30 pm
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I know what you mean. Most of my gear is made by Fender. I purchased one Gibson product, an SG Standard and it has some issues with the finish. There are some small spots that could have been sanded better, and a spot on the back of the neck that is just slightly more rough to the touch than the rest of the neck. Im sure it will smooth out over time, and it didnt bother me enough to send it back. The guitar sounds and plays great, but I really would have liked it to be near perfect for the price they charge. Im glad I got a deal on it and didnt pay full price, and yes it was brand new and still in the box. I still like it very much, but love my American Strats and Tele. I think overall Fender quality control is better.


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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 12:37 pm
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I think it a good idea to buy guitars locally from a store so you can play it and check it for any issues before buying it. I've had some nightmares ordering gear online.


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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 1:01 pm
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Also......When I talked to the sales rep. telling him what was wrong, he said they (Musicians Friend) don't even open the boxes when received from Gibson, when a guitar is purchased they just send it. So the issue I had with the Les Paul came from the factory. I have alot of Fender products and can say that all of them have been of the highest quality. I know there are exceptions, but I would certainly expect the quality to be better from Gibson.
So my lesson learned is, my online ordering of expensive gear is over, nothing can replace a visual inspection.

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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:38 pm
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I would never order a guitar without sitting down with it for a little while to try it out. That and if you buy from music stores the gear is usually already set up so you don't have to monkey with your guitar when you get it.

And good ol' Fender never lets nobody down. I bought a MIM Std. Strat and it SINGS, worth more than the $400 I paid for it. :D


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Post subject: Re: I'm sticking with Fender.........just a story......
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:50 pm
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nicinflorida wrote:
ok, here's my story, I thought I always wanted a Gibson Les Paul, so I found the one that I liked, the new 2008 Les Paul Traditional, so I ordered one, it showed up at my house, I was sooo excited. I opened the box and the case, the guitar was beautiful, took it out and plugged it into my Fender 65 twin reverb, that baby sang thru the twin. Great tone. Well, as I'm playing up and down the neck, I notice several indentations on the back of the neck at the third fret and I also notice the nitro finish was "rough" at the third fret also. It was as if the factory didn't let the nitro set up and dry all the way. I thought well, maybe I can just play and not notice it, after I saw it, there was no forgetting about it. This was Gibsons $2300.00 model, I'm thinking to myself, where is the quality control?? So I compared it to my 57 vintage american strat and american standard tele, my two Fenders whooped that so called Gibson quality. I understand that maybe Fender has had some issues, but for $2300.00 bucks it better be perfect from the factory. So to make a long story short, I have never received any Fender guitars with issues (and I have had alot of them in my day), so needless to say, the Les Paul is on it's way back for a full refund.............so my brand loyalty is with Fender. With that said, it's either a 57 hot rod tele or a 62 hot rod strat.


I play with a friend who has an ES-333 Gibson. It has a nirto finish. He's had it about 3 years, and on the back of the neck there are a couple of "thumb" marks, where the finish has worn off. I don't know if it's a Gibson thing, or a nitro thing, but I'm very spooked about the nitro finish now. I bought a Fender about the same time, and played it a lot with him........but it seems it's as good as new, as far as appearance.

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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:54 pm
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Rocker_Gamma wrote:
I would never order a guitar without sitting down with it for a little while to try it out. That and if you buy from music stores the gear is usually already set up so you don't have to monkey with your guitar when you get it.

And good ol' Fender never lets nobody down. I bought a MIM Std. Strat and it SINGS, worth more than the $400 I paid for it. :D


I've ordered three guitars via Musician's Friend. I was nervous about doing that at first, but I gave it a try. I've since ordered 3 guitars from them and everyone one of them have come to me without a flaw. Maybe I'm just lucky.......I don't know.

I also did the online thing, because at the local guitar stores around me, it seems that all the guitars have been played by people, and have scratches and other such things to make me concerned. I guess I wanted a "virgin" guitar.

So my experience has been good. Is it luck? Or is it that Fender just makes a good product?

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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 2:56 pm
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Oh yeah.....all three guitars that I ordered online are Fenders.

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Post subject: Re: I'm sticking with Fender.........just a story......
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:19 pm
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Syeklops wrote:
nicinflorida wrote:
ok, here's my story, I thought I always wanted a Gibson Les Paul, so I found the one that I liked, the new 2008 Les Paul Traditional, so I ordered one, it showed up at my house, I was sooo excited. I opened the box and the case, the guitar was beautiful, took it out and plugged it into my Fender 65 twin reverb, that baby sang thru the twin. Great tone. Well, as I'm playing up and down the neck, I notice several indentations on the back of the neck at the third fret and I also notice the nitro finish was "rough" at the third fret also. It was as if the factory didn't let the nitro set up and dry all the way. I thought well, maybe I can just play and not notice it, after I saw it, there was no forgetting about it. This was Gibsons $2300.00 model, I'm thinking to myself, where is the quality control?? So I compared it to my 57 vintage american strat and american standard tele, my two Fenders whooped that so called Gibson quality. I understand that maybe Fender has had some issues, but for $2300.00 bucks it better be perfect from the factory. So to make a long story short, I have never received any Fender guitars with issues (and I have had alot of them in my day), so needless to say, the Les Paul is on it's way back for a full refund.............so my brand loyalty is with Fender. With that said, it's either a 57 hot rod tele or a 62 hot rod strat.


I play with a friend who has an ES-333 Gibson. It has a nirto finish. He's had it about 3 years, and on the back of the neck there are a couple of "thumb" marks, where the finish has worn off. I don't know if it's a Gibson thing, or a nitro thing, but I'm very spooked about the nitro finish now. I bought a Fender about the same time, and played it a lot with him........but it seems it's as good as new, as far as appearance.


It has more to do with the nitro than the guitar. The HWY1 Series have the same issue(s) but it's designed to wear like that tho.

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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:21 pm
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I like my Fenders, Gibby's and Epi's I guess these things can happen to any brand from time to time. I like to stay open to any guitar until I try it on a individual basis. The one brand guitar I have been looking at recently and is a Fender owned company is Charvel that San Dimas is nice. I almost had my wife talked into letting buy one for the family (cough, cough) until my air condition compressor burned up last Friday and you no what that means new central air and a furnace since thats 28 yrs old Im out 7200. but can't go with out that. I even went out and bought a window unit to keep my play room were all my guitars and pc and stuff along with me can stay cool until tomorrow the big replacment day. Then I guess I will be donating a new window unit to someplace.

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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 5:59 pm
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Years ago, I bought a '91 LP Standard, brand new, via mail order (no internet then). It had three big flaws:

1. Chip out of the finish (down to the bare wood) around one of the string anchoring posts.

2. Epoxy fill around the 20th fret had fallen out, leaving a gouge under/at where the fret met the fretboard that I could stick my thumbnail into.

3. Spliced body binding, not a continuous piece-it was about 2" long on the bass side extending from the neck joint.

That guitar got returned PDQ. It's nice to know that Gibson is maintaining their quality control.

I have never seen a problem like this on a new Fender. If I want a 'Gibby' style sound, I go for my Hamer USA models (now owned by Fender, BTW).


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Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:32 pm
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Hello Niceinflorida,

Too bad about the axe,

Here's my shpeel on the '62 hot rod.

Thick comfortable{to me}
slab rosewood board neck.

Reverse wound/reverse polarity
middle pickup{anti-hum feature}.

Nitro painted body{care should be exercised}

Thats it.

Cheers.


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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:35 am
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So, did Gibson offer to fix it?


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