Gibson Les Paul Necks Always Break 

Les Paul Necks Break !!!

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One More Reason For All You Gibson Lovers To Bash Me On The Net
I really don't mind the Bashing Or The Name Calling as much as the fact that
 No one ever makes any sensible rebuttal arguments !!!!

Gibson Guitars Require A Major Redesign !!!!
The Design Flaws Are Many


Les Paul Necks Are All Prone To Easy Breakage!!!
Why is it, that one of the most expensive guitars on the planet.
is famous for the fact that the necks always break?
See The Nicest Affordable Gibson Les Pauls Anywhere
 

Gibsons Have a 12% Market Share & An 81% Problem Rate in Our Shop.

Back To Gibson Guitars Main Page
 

Writing articles like these does not endear me to people who have spent tons of money on Gibson Guitars.  There are many people out there who dismiss me as an asshole simply because they don't know the facts.
It is a poor business practice for me to point these things out and call attention to Gibson's blunders.      Why do I do it then ??
I could probably make more money if I just bit my tongue and looked the other way like everyone else does.  There is no consumer reports in the guitar business.  All the magazines are on board with their advertisers and will never reveal any of the things you will see on my site. 

I know I'm fighting a losing battle, I'm one guy standing in a hard wind. The magazines & large corporations are all standing upwind taking a leak !!!!  

Be assured  I will never surrender now matter what the odds. 


PLEASE BELIEVE ME.. I like money just as much as the next guy.  I just cannot sit still for all the hype that this substandard, short-necked, easily broken, corporately made cheap instrument gets simply because the media likes to take care of their advertisers.
I get these indignant calls from Gibson owners who call me up all ready to start bashing me on the phone.
 

When & if I have the time I rationally explain to them what I am talking about. They usually grudgingly agree with what I have to say. Occasionally someone cannot be convinced. I submit that they have been so totally  completely brainwashed & programmed that they will probably never see the light.  But those calls are extremely rare. I make a little progress every day and I enjoy trying to make things better.


 

Ask Me What's Wrong with the Gibson Les Paul Neck

  • Question:  Is the headstock angle designed wrong?
    Answer:    YES:

  • Question:  Is the guitar too heavy?
    Answer:    Definitely YES:

  • Question:  Is the weight distribution incorrect?
    Answer:    Definitely YES:

  • Question:  Is the case poorly designed?
    Answer:    Yes most of the time, depending on the year.

  • Question:  If they put a volute on the neck would that solve the problem?
    Answer:    Maybe, It would definitely be a step in the right direction.

  • Question:  Why doesn't Gibson put a volute in the neck.
    Answer:     Don't know the answer, it would seem to be a clear  admission of guilt.
    If they actually finally fixed the original design.

  • Question:  Is mahogany a good choice for a neck wood?
    Answer:    Most luthiers prefer hard rock maple on electrics.

  • Question: Is the guitar poorly designed? 
    Answer:    In Ed Roman's opinion the guitar is not designed at all. It's nothing more than an exact copy of an old 1930's era Jazzbox made smaller & solid. If you look at any Les Paul neck joint it's obvious that it's the same joint that they use on the ES 175 !!

I have said for years that Gibson should simply break all the necks at the factory before the guitars are even painted.   (Some People Think I'm Joking)   Actually I'm quite serious !!!!   Keep Reading

I know that sounds crazy, but consider this. They rarely if ever break once they have been glued. Every Luthier knows that glue is far stronger than wood. If Gibson did this to their guitars, they could simply paint them after the repair,  there would be no visible break and the final  integrity of the instrument would actually be better.

This would be far cheaper for them than using quartersawn wood and doing a 5 piece lamination which would probably also fix the problem. 

The absolute best Les Paul style guitar I have ever seen, Would be the Rick Turner Model One. Rick installs a volute he uses a 5 piece neck and he uses 24 frets. The pickup positioning is adjustable and far superior to anything Gibson ever did.
When Rick Turner worked for Gibson he saved the company from bankruptcy, He is the one who signed Slash up as a Gibson Endorser. Without Slash, Gibson would have finally gone the way of the dodo. Oh well !!!    Today I am building the Tiberius guitar which I believe to be superior to the Rick Turner.

I have a large repair shop. I fix a lot of Gibson broken necks, The fix is easy and cheap because they all break in exactly the same place. They are all held together by their trademarked plastic "Bell Shaped" truss rod cover or by the thin phenolic overlay on the headstock.  I can fix most of them usually for just a one hour labor charge and make good money doing it. What gets expensive is camouflaging or painting over the break to hide the ugly scar the break leaves.

Back To Gibson Guitars Main Page

 
This Next Section Will Astound You !!

We fix more Gibson Les Paul & SG Broken necks than all other broken necks put together from all the other companies in the world put together!!!   Here's the real funny part !!!   I cannot remember ever fixing a broken neck on any Les Paul Copy. I'm sure some of them had to break but in my 33 years in this business I personally cannot remember ever seeing one. There are over 100 companies out there that make dead on Les Paul Copies & probably about 500 of them that make close approximations. There are countless more that make singlecut style guitars in various shapes, weights & sizes. I have personally seen forgeries and actual counterfeit guitars. I swear to the fact that I cannot remember ever fixing a broken neck on any of those guitars.

Whether it be an Ibanez, Tokai, Heritage, Tradition, Samick, Washburn, Dean, Hamer, PRS, Burny, Jibson, Madore, Navigator, Guild, Triggs, Tom Holmes, Edwards Stephenson, Dillion, or even an Epiphone which is Gibson's cheapo exact copy of their own guitar.  Why don't their necks break?  I have absolutely no idea, I'm supposed to be some kind of guitar guru and I'm completely at a loss to explain that.  It's the mystery of the ages. It makes no sense!!!  Yet facts are facts simple & true!!!

As guitars go Fender is probably the most copied brand, then Gibson and Mosrite comes in as third. This page is about Gibson so I will stick to that subject.

Guild, Hamer, JET, Tom Holmes, Abstract etc all build a better Single Cut style guitars than Gibson. Common sense dictates that if they didn't make it better they couldn't sell it.
After all they all cost as much or more than Gibson does. There are plenty of companies that charge a lot less and still build a better guitar. Notably Ibanez, Tokai, Heritage, Burny, Navigator, Madore !!!

I am planning on putting up a bunch of photos of broken neck guitars. Please send me photos of what happened to your guitar. (Any Brand).  I will post them all. I'll bet money that the Gibsons will always rule on the broken neck page.


Are you tired of broken neck Bull-shite
Buy an Abstract Maximus
 

Because of the fact that Gibson headstocks break so much we have decided to offer a lifetime warranty on the Maximus neck. We really aren't too worried we will have to replace too many because we use a volute on the back of the headstock. We also use an intelligent headstock angle which should prevent any breakage. We build the neck to withstand much more abuse than you would expect to happen to a guitar.

We won't warranty it if your wife throws it out of a 5th story window (That Really Happened)  However, we will even warranty it if gets knocked over on it's stand 13 years after you buy it.  We will also warranty it if it gets broken in shipping 9 years after you buy it.

 

Below See why we can offer this warranty
Lifetime Neck Warranty
applies to all guitars manufactured after June 2008

See The Nicest Affordable Gibson Les Pauls Anywhere
 

What is planned obsolescence?
When a manufacturer realizes a product will easily break,
But they don't take any steps to fix it !!!

Don't Worry !!!
We fix these so you cannot see the break and it will not break again !!!!

 

Hi Ed

I just wanted to share a quick story with you...

I bought my son a B.C. Rich Warlock as an end of the school year present. He had it for less than 6 months when we were in a collision. We were hit by another vehicle that was traveling in excess of 90 MPH. Of course his Warlock AND his Strat were in the back of the van. The Fender case looked like it had exploded. There were very few pieces bigger than 6 inches left intact, but aside from a couple of scuffs, it was unscathed. The Warlock took the brunt of the impact. It was actually bowed around where the vehicle struck us. The trooper said that the guitar protected my son and daughter from the vehicle when it hit us. We had to pry it out with a tire tool to remove it from the vehicle. It snapped back straight but had a 3 inch crack in the base of the neck. He was broken hearted, and I thought it was totally destroyed so I hung it from his wall as decoration.
I got a wild hair and took it down to see if I could fix it (no big deal, right?) Well, long story short, It plays like it did the day we bought it, and that was as a result of an amateur’s repair. It holds its tune tenaciously and still has an amazing sound. It is now named Lazarus and is revered by all of my son’s friends as the un-killable guitar. So I have in my house a B.C. Rich and a Fender that were slammed by a 35000 pound SUV and survived. Why Can’t Gibson Make A Neck That Will Stand Up To Minor Accidents?

As a collector I have seen tons of Les Paul’s with broken necks for sale. I have seen people begging for repairs or replacement necks all over the internet. There are piles of luthier project (AKA Broken) necks that came from the Gibson factory for sale, so they can't even get them out of the building without them breaking. For goodness sakes, my first guitar was a First Act Tele copy that was bought on clearance at Wal-Mart (Mom didn’t know what she was starting). It was dropped head first by my oldest son and the only damage was a small chip in the edge of the headstock finish. I don’t know why, but on a whim, I just purchased a LP with a broken neck at a steal of a price (the only way I will buy a Gibson).
First thing that is going to happen is a custom neck WITHOUT Gibson on the headstock.

I appreciate the heads up about the neck quality on the Gibsons. I was going to buy my son an SG for a beat around guitar, but I think I am going to hold off on that. I saw a few things on your site that intrigued me.

Rob Adkins
 

Hello Rob

Thanks For your letter... the good news is more & more people are starting to see just what Gibson really is all about.

The SG was originally designed by Les Paul to be a Neck Thru Guitar.  Gibson in their infinite wisdom made it a set neck and that is the reason SG's don't hold tune,  Never Did & Never Will !!  In Fact Les Paul told them to take his name off the guitar because he did not want his name associated with the guitar.
It would have been very cool as a Neck Thru Guitar.   Too expensive for Gibson to produce..  Set necks are the cheapest to produce,  I would rather have a bolt on neck than a set neck !!!!!!!!!

Ed

 

Ed


Finally, someone with real knowledge…The Gibson neck has never ever been a stable component, aside from the breaking problem.

I’m 62, been living guitars for over 40 of those years, and I have NEVER come across a Gibson (LP or SG in particular) that had a neck I could actually trust: Both new or vintage, 5 piece of not, in makes NO difference, the design / shape / dimensions materials / geometry / engineering are just ALL wrong. So wrong that tuning stability was absent, and simply moving the guitar while playing it is enough to flatten/sharpen the whole guitar…frightening… Like a bolt on with some bolts missing..
It was as if the weight of the headstock was enough of a mass to actually bend the neck, under even moderate movement. I realized the guitar had to be kept perfectly STILL to avoid de-tuning problems while on stage.

I really thought it was just me. Why is everyone nuts about a Les Paul?? I could never find one (and I looked for many years) that didn’t have this neck weakness problem (not to mention the “bump” where the neck joins the body, another really common and really bad thing).. Fact is they are fraught with problems, any one of which make the guitar unreliable at best, or totally unplayable.

It was many years ago that I stopped looking for a “stable Gibson” and gave up the chase, I’ll never own another one, and I can’t help but feel that, Anyone that does own them either don’t play them, or can’t hear the pitch shifting, or stands perfectly still while playing them.
Even while fretting the damn thing, one needs to be careful not to push forward or pull back in the slightest, especially at the first position, unless you want an inappropriate vibrato effect, a ½ tone shift was easily accomplished without even trying.

I’ve seen Les Paul in person I shook his hand & spoke with him, his hand is the most delicate thing I ever held, evidently he designed the most delicate instrument to match his playing style, and no on warned the general public of the eminent danger of musical instability and total catastrophic failure of the neck itself…..

Then there's always the idiot “musicians” who pride themselves on how many guitars they’ve broken in their “careers”…

I know you’re busy, I just came across your Gibson neck weakness article, and wanted to add my own 40+ years of similar disappointment bordering on distain for the entire Gibson fallacy. Everything you’ve said, I have experienced.

So at 60 years old, the “bolt on – set neck” battle rages full tilt in my head, Maybe I’ll try a set neck Jet??

The Ozone Ranger



Response from Ed Roman
I usually don't print letters from people who don't sign their names, But I am in total agreement on this and it was well written and articulate.  The public does need to know this.

I have become tremendously unpopular among many Les Paul lovers, they bash me on the internet constantly because I am taking the unpopular stance.

I'm not running for public office so I don't care!!!!  No one ever has challenged the physics or truthfulness of my articles. They just call me names. (Sticks and Stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.

THE PUBLIC NEEDS TO KNOW !!!!!!!!)

 

See The Nicest Affordable Gibson Les Pauls Anywhere
 

 

Ryan to me
show details Aug 31 (1 day ago) Reply

Hey Ed

 I was recently on a Les Paul forum and I noticed this hateful assed post about "why does Ed Roman hate Les Pauls?"...I hate Les Pauls too.. matter of fact...my review of a Les Paul could be summed up in two words: "shit sandwich"...anyway...they go on and on about how terrible of a human being you are but not one.. I repeat NOT ONE could respond, or even bring up, the facts you state about Les Paul necks, headstock angle, cheap wood, foreign construction that claims to be from the U.S.  You've deprogrammed me...and seeing these people bitch and bitch about you and they like Les Pauls "just because" and "they rock" and "Ace Frehley plays them" isn't good enough in my book...  I come from Missouri.. the show me state..&  I've been shown your guitars.. I've been in your shop...and I've also seen Les Paul's..  played them..

Hell my father has an original 52 without a serial number he bought at a pawn shop in 1964 that's been sitting in a case and sees the light of day once every 5 years when he gets it out..  Its a 50 something year old piece of shit...oh it gets a tone, sure...but hey if I eat at a Mexican restaurant my asshole will produce a tone too.. big deal !!

peace on the hill brother!!!
Ryan
Missouri.

Thanks for your kind letter and your support,  I appreciate it.    People are people!!!
Forgive them father for they know not what they are talking about. Ha Ha 
What were you doing on that stupid forum anyway ???
I can convert that 52 to a 58 or 59,  I can make it playable anyway !!!!!
Some vintage geek will buy it on Ebay, because he thinks the mojo will rub off on him. 
I've done it before !!!!  And I'll do it again,  that should piss off those retards on the forum.

Thanks Again
Ed

 

They Always Break Exactly In The Same Place !!!
Could This Be Planned Obsolescence ??
Hmmm

LETTER FROM A DIEHARD GIBSON MAN

Hi Ed, I hope you get this.

    
I just read your opinion on gibson guitars. I agree and disagree with you and the responses. I personally own seven gibsons and love them all, but I can see your point. I have owned good and bad, its a crap shoot.

Quality control is out the window, but there are some good ones, here is what I own: '57 Les Paul jr, 63 Melody Maker, 67 SG jr, 73 Les Paul Custom, 77 RD Artist, 2001 Pete Townsend SG, 2004 '56 Reissue Les Paul......The worst is the reissue, I agree with all of your comments.

But on the other hand, the best is the RD because it is all maple, including the neck...and it has a volute which "lessens" the chance of breakage. I once owned a 73 SG custom, worst guitar ever. It had a horrible skinny neck, and like another gentleman mentioned, wouldn't hold tune even if you swayed back and forth.

Absolutely horrible, so I got rid of it. My 67 SG jr is my main guitar, it has a good thick neck that doesn't wander. I will make a long story short because I have a hard time typing. Yes there are some shitty gibsons, but there are also some good ones, you just have to look hard.

For my one good 67, I bet there are 20 that are unplayable by now...."wall art". I respect your opinion, and understand what you are saying, because it is the truth. But I am still die hard gibson, its like a treasure hunt....buy and sell, buy and sell till you find the right one.
 

Cheers,
My bands website is www.thefrank.ca and we are headed down to California in May, so maybe we will stop by and see you.
Thanks for the great eye opener,
Denver Swainson

 

This Guy seems to agree with me but still loves Gibson !!!!

How hard do you have to hit someone for them to figure out who is hitting them !!!!!

That is true brainwashing !!!!!!!
Ed

 

Broken Headstock
Leslie West's Les Paul

Before After

This repair is a very common one.
It is absolutely guaranteed not to break again

04/20/97 Leslie West's Les Paul got broken, Above are before & after photos.   (This repair was performed in our shop) I realize that the 2 pictures above appear to be 2 different colors. The exposures are different because of lighting. Anyone who hasn't been in a coma for the past 15 years knows that Leslie West usually uses an Ed Roman unbreakable LSR  guitar. Occasionally he will still use a Les Paul style guitar. I am collaborating with Leslie right now to build him a custom variation of his current guitar along the lines of my PB-1 and EB-1, It will be called the "WB-1". They will all be personally signed and numbered by the Great Fatsby himself.  Please contact me if you are interested in procuring one.

 

See The Nicest Affordable Gibson Les Pauls Anywhere

 

Dear Ed
Thank you VERY much for ripping on Gibson. As a former employee of Gibson I know first hand at the lack of quality & craftsmanship. There are so many corners cut at that factory it's disgusting, particularly for a product that costs on the average about as much as a decent used car. We need to spread the word about this shady company. And you're right, most people are misinformed about Gibson and just want the "vanity" of having one. Thanks once again and let's get more rants about Gibson.
Benjamin Unwin

P.S. they treat their employees like shit too.

Response From Ed

I worked for Gibson as a consultant, artist relations & sales training in 1990 & 1991. They treated me extremely well when I worked there, I could never ever complain about what they paid me, In fact they gave me six $2,000.00 guitars & 6 weeks extra pay when they were done with me. We parted ways extremely well !!!   Which I have been told many times is very rare)

In fact I went on to sell many hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Gibson's at East Coast Music Mall. I thought the future looked pretty bright for Gibson & Myself doing lots of business.

They even paid me $2,000.00 to clean out the entire Steinberger factory 3 or 4 months after I had left their employ.  The factory had all the original molds, tooling, jigs and potentially over $300.000.00 worth of Steinberger parts and accessories that they did not want !!!   (I guess that makes me the worlds biggest dumpster diver because I loaded up an 8 car garage with all that gear) 

Today I am the only person in the world that supplies the old parts to the Steinberger market.

Gibson likes to sue their ex employees, Gibson doesn't like it, when an employee leaves then uses some of the contacts they made while in their employ to further his own business enterprise.

Their strategy is very good, Apparently they frivolously and maliciously sue the ex employee and force him to expend huge sums of money to defend his case in court. Many of these guys cannot afford to spend $35,000.00 to $1,000.000.00 on a lawyer who will 9 times out of 10 drag the case on and on to drive up his fees.

Gibson doesn't care who wins the case, Their plan is to bleed the person they are suing so much that they will give up and settle. Gibson has the last laugh when the poor guy is curled up in a little ball with blood streaming from his backside.

That's why I advise ex Gibson employees to get an insurance policy to cover this situation, That's what I did, and I saved myself more than most people make in a lifetime !!!!

Incidentally, many people who get sued already have this type of insurance in their standard comprehensive business policy.  The problem is they just don't realize they are covered so they don't even bother to check it out. Too Bad !!!!  (Sometimes you actually have to get your attorney to push the issue with your insurance company because insurance companies are not known for their forthrightness.) (More Corporate Scum)

The only minor complaint I ever had when I was at Gibson, was that I had too small an expense account, It was near impossible to function because I could never get a check to pay even the smallest bill to further my research or make a contact, set up a demo etc etc.

I actually spent several thousand dollars of my own money to pay photographers for publicity shots & transport costs that by rights should have been paid by Gibson. I didn't really mind that one bit though, They paid me very well !!!   I was able to write most of it off and as I said they paid me extremely well.

I met a lot of very high powered people in the music business in my capacity as Domestic Sales Manager & Artist Relations.  Plus I learned a lot from Henry Juszkiewicz, I had occasion to work with him one on one several times.  I personally would never have called him a jerk or a moron or even a psychotic loony megalomaniac with an ego the size of Texas.

I had been warned about him, but I never saw any thing that I thought was psychotic or megalomaniacal in my relationship with him. He was a bit of a "puddin head" but I actually liked his energy and tremendous drive to be the best.

Many of my celebrity customers are today my customers because of my initial dealings I had with them when I worked for them. I owe much of my success to Gibson for exposing me to the high end of the market. I don't think they like that very much.  Oh Well !!!!

When I started independently  reviewing guitars in 1992 I had my first ugly encounter with them!!  I always call them as I see them,  I published a comparison shootout between PRS & Gibson.  PRS won hands down and my review was strictly on the up and up. I just printed information directly from their brochures, This way there can be no accidents or repercussions.

I became the worlds largest PRS dealer a title I held for at least 3 maybe 4 years, I was selling 32 guitars a month from one location in a town of 52.000 population. Mostly mailorder, The entire Sam Ash Chain,  I think they had 9 stores back then was only selling 15 a month for the entire chain,  NYC, Long Island New Jersey  etc etc

I attribute my initial success with PRS to my straight to point no nonsense, no bullshit review of the PRS VS Gibson, 

People would call and want to speak to the Guru....  It was easy to sell them, because I believed in them!! The margins were also pretty decent.  Remember this is before the internet so mailorder was a completely different animal.

 


Gibson guitars after Ed Roman has retopped them
See many more at this link
See The Nicest Affordable Gibson Les Pauls Anywhere
 

 Even One More Unhappy Gibson Guy

Hello Ed..;);)
   
   Greetings from Norway..
been looking at your website for a few hours now and I am impressed, especially the rants section
as I have some bad experience myself with gibson guitars.
   First I owned a Les Paul studio that had several glips between the fretboard and neck, think they tried to paint over it or something, didn't work..;);)cost me 12000 kr.(1800 dollars) some 16 years ago ..a lot of money when you are 14..
now the reason for buying my Les Paul was of course Slash of Guns n Roses, my hero..   (See Ghostbuilders,  Ed)
and your section on brand loyalty is also very interesting and very true, as I have been there myself, buying all of Gibsons B.S. about their "hand crafted" instruments.. I have found no such thing in my Gibsons..;);)
      My second guitar was an Explorer, brand new 2007 model, and the same damn thing was wrong with the
neck on this one as well. Only the glips was bigger, it looked like they hadn't even tried to fit the fretboard right.. it stood out a couple of millimeters from the neck all the way from 5.fret up to the 12.fret..
poor craftsmanship at best.. I mean even the cheapest of models from brands like Ibanez  etc. you will not find major flaws like this..
    How the Hell can they go on making their crappy instr..??and people are still buying..??
I have now gotten rid of both my gibsons and be sure: there will never be one in my house again...ever!!!
I am now a proud owner of an Ibanez universe 7 string.. and it works and sounds better than I could ever imagine..
will not trade that one for any other guitar, the build is excellent and so far beyond gibson`s sad attempts..
  By the way.. any views up`s or down`s regarding Ibanez guitars..??just curious..;);)
oh and I have to mention the Les Paul slash signature model, here in Norway the list price is 65.000 kroner.
that should be about $9.500 !!!!!...what does Gibson do that can justify that kind of prices..??ghost build like you have mentioned..?? Slash probably gets his share I reckon..;);)
 
Well that's all from me, Use this if you can/want to on your website, be sure I will do my bit to convert people into thinking for and by themselves, not believing all the commercial stuff they read from major corps. like gibson..
   
 
     Hans E. Beddari
     Stjørdal.
     Norway.

 

Thanks Hans for your letter,  

Who knows, Maybe it might convince some other 14 year old not to make the mistake that you and I both made when we were young.

Could be, it's useless to try and fight the corporate machine that is Gibson !!!!!  I get lot's of negativity slung at me because I choose to call it the way I see it...

Occasionally when someone tells me they didn't fall for the corporate BS,  I am elated,

Today in the USA most people are brainwashed and programmed before they are out of 3rd grade.  I guess we can thank the American Advertising Council for turning our country into a 3rd world. Of course all the wonderful American businessmen who only care about making money for themselves that sends all our wonderful designs to China so they can put all their employees out of work.

Don't those idiotic morons realize that no one can afford to buy anything if they don't have a job...  Duh !!!!

Maybe someday our American culture will mature enough to realize what is actually happening to us !!!!

I know that my customers in Norway are all doing quite well because I sell a lot of very expensive guitars there.

Thanks again for your letter !!!

Ed Roman

 

Hi there--I haven't purchased any of your guitars (doh!) but I found you site incredibly informative, and wanted to send you a heads-up if someone hadn't already.
You bashed Les Pauls (which I think was deserved--I started playing on a Les Paul and have owned quite a few) and it reminded me of a "Some Assembly Required" episode I saw on cable (the Discovery Channel). They show the process of making this and that, and they had an episode in the Gibson factory where they followed a Les Paul through the factory.


I've built my own electrics for decades . . . Not that I'm a super expert, but I know one end from the other. I was AMAZED watching this. Yeah, the host was building one and he did the usual "I don't know what I'm doing but I'm trying" job. But, the REAL guys putting them together . . . There was one shot where a guy was slamming unbent fret wire into the neck with a VERY big hammer (I suppose the hammer bent the fret to the fingerboard?) from one long piece of wire (I thought you prebent and precut?) and then nipping it off afterwards. He slammed them in like he was putting up drywall--fret down, bam bam, nip, fret down, bam, bam, nip . . . For something that everyone thinks is "the top guitar there is" it was truly horrible.
In the space of the ten minutes or so they were in the Gibson factory I saw at least six or eight things I would NEVER do to my own guitar . . . If you haven't already, you need to watch it for yourself. Amazing.
Anyway, I love your site, and just thought you might like to see this.
 

Don

Thanks Don

Gibson  has been getting with murder for years. They have a core audience of uninformed close minded people who simply don't get what is going on in the world today.
I am noticing it more and more that many people are starting to smarten up. I am encouraged by the amount of letters like yours that I get.  I should print them all but there just isn't room. Someone should start a website "Gibson Quality Issues .com or something stronger maybe.  I have hundreds of letters on file that I could send them.  If you know any one interested in putting up a site I will subsidize them !!!!

Ed 

 

Merry Christmas
Imagine getting a new guitar for Christmas "Factory Sealed"
Imagine opening it up and finding out that neck joint was designed so badly that it broke before you even got to play it for one second


click this to see more broken Gibson guitars
 

If Gibson had built the guitar correctly like we built the body blank below.
It would not have broken!!!
It would sound better!!!
It would balance better !!!
it would have real MOP inlay not plastic !!!
It would have an ebony fingerboard !!!
It would play better!!!
It would look better!!!!
You could reach notes that Gibson didn't think were important enough to include on the fretboard

 

 

 

Call Ed Roman & Order A Custom Made Guitar Today.

We Offer this Neck Thru  Body Construction on over 250 bodyshapes

 

 

Hi Ed,

 Love the site (Especially the "Rants")

I'm surprised not to see any mention of the intonation problems associated with USA made Gibson guitars.

 
On most Gibson electrics the scale length from the nut to 12th fret is 24.562"

No problem with that...but the scale length above the 12th fret is 24.75.

That means OK intonation from the nut to 12th fret (especially with Buzz Feiten Tuning System or similar), but really BAD intonation above the 12th fret.
At the 22nd fret, the error is about 0.04".
About half the width of the fret)
Copies (including Epiphone) don't have this fault.
What do you think?
Regards,
Phil Hartley

 

Hello Phil...

I'm not much of a Gibson Fan myself, In fact I could go on about that for a long rant !!!! 
The reason I haven't said anything about this in my rants is. Basically I didn't know about it. 

After I read your letter, I do concur with your findings !!!!

I don't like the short stubby necks, I don't like the fret size, I don't like rosewood fretboards with plastic inlays (on supposedly American Guitars)
I never even got in as deep as the tuning problem !!!
Although I never met an SG that would hold tune without a lot of neck & fret work.....

Ed

Based in Bolton, near Manchester, in the Northwest of England, owner Phil Hartley is a well respected guitar repairer and technician with many years of experience. During this time the services of Phil Hartley Guitar Repairs have been used by music shops throughout England.

As a former head of large retail guitar department and through his many years as a guitar teacher, Phil Hartley has gained first hand knowledge of the problems encountered by guitarists of all abilities and budgets.

Whether your beginners’ guitar has developed a tuning problem or you’ve worn away the frets on your guitar, you can rest assured that each will receive the same level of care and attention to make your guitar the best it can be.

All repairs are carried out by Phil Hartley. Work is never subcontracted out nor is it ever assigned to a trainee or apprentice.

Phil Hartley is an approved retrofitter of the Buzz Feiten Tuning System.   See the new Buzz Feiten page for details of this revolutionary intonation system

 

 
Ryan to me
show details Aug 31 (1 day ago) Reply

Hey Ed<

 I was recently on a Les Paul forum and I noticed this hateful assed post about "why does Ed Roman hate Les Pauls?"...I hate Les Pauls too.. matter of fact...my review of a Les Paul could be summed up in two words: "shit sandwich"...anyway...they go on and on about how terrible of a human being you are but not one.. I repeat NOT ONE could respond, or even bring up, the facts you state about Les Paul necks, headstock angle, cheap wood, foreign construction that claims to be from the U.S.  You've deprogrammed me...and seeing these people bitch and bitch about you and they like Les Pauls "just because" and "they rock" and "Ace Frehley plays them" isn't good enough in my book...  I come from Missouri.. the show me state..&  I've been shown your guitars.. I've been in your shop...and I've also seen Les Paul's..  played them..

Hell my father has an original 52 without a serial number he bought at a pawn shop in 1964 that's been sitting in a case and sees the light of day once every 5 years when he gets it out..  Its a 50 something year old piece of shit...oh it gets a tone, sure...but hey if I eat at a Mexican restaurant my asshole will produce a tone too.. big deal !!


Peace On The Hill Brother!!!
Ryan
Missouri.

Thanks for your kind letter and your support,  I appreciate it. People are people!!!
Forgive them father for they know not what they are talking about. Ha Ha 
What were you doing on that stupid forum anyway ???
I can convert that 52 to a 58 or 59,  I can make it playable anyway !!!!!
Some vintage geek will buy it on Ebay, because he thinks the mojo will rub off on him. 
I've done it before !!!!  And I'll do it again,  that should piss off those retards on the forum.

Thanks Again
Ed

 

Ed,

I have totally bought eight Gibson’s in China (obviously fakes).

Very well made fakes, I would say you probably cannot see the difference unless you demount ‘em.
Actually so “well” made that one of them broke the neck during quiet shipping (by boat) from Hong Kong (where I worked) to Denmark (where I live). Just like it was a real Gibson. All the about 10 guitars I shipped home at that time was very well packed.

It was a Jimmy Page Doubleneck (the 12 string neck broke, but not entirely, so I could easily glue it together back in Denmark). I just wonder. Did the factory by accident send the real thing (the model)?

The wood used in Gibson necks may be wood that is very sensitive to changes in humidity.

What do you think?

Bent K. Larsen

At the moment working in Armenia

Your comment about Gibson necks: BTW it's damn near impossible to break a Fender, BC Rich, Jackson, PRS, Quicksilver, Pearlcaster neck in shipping. You have to be careful of guitars with heavy bodies and tilt back headstocks. Hamer's, Baker's Turner's & Dean's all appear to look like Les Paul necks but I can't remember ever seeing one break in shipping or elsewhere. They are all basically the same design with set neck construction etc etc. Why is it that only the Gibson's break repeatedly over and over again. In fact, I have repaired 5 times more Les Paul headstocks, than all other brands of guitars put together.

 

 

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