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imperfect LPs

jubelo

New member
Joined
Oct 30, 2001
Messages
92
I went to check out a 57 GT historic & a 54 custom Historic, both new. The 54 BB was heavy & sounded dead, & had scratches the neck. The 57 GT was light, resonant, nice B-bat neck,pups were not quiet for HBs, a tad micophonic too.The saddest part was the back of the neck had a gouge in the wood, deep & done before the finish was applied.THese guitars were not being sold at a discount price. The dealer much later mentioned "seconds"meaning imperfect guitars like the ones Gibson sold in the 70s but these were stamped as such back then so there was no deceit. What is the deal now with Gibson? are they selling "seconds" in the prestigious, expensive historics, with no markings as such, & you are at the dealers mercy to be informed or most likely not. Any thoughts on this?
 
Joined
Jul 15, 2001
Messages
470
Too bad...

but I think you're right. I returned a '56 in condition similar to what you described - all scratched up. I purchased it over the net sight unseen - and the dealer took it back, no questions.
Besides, that's what return policies are for ;)

My new '57 has a bad volume pot, and a few scratches on the back as well. I thought the dealers would weed out such crap, but I guess not. Just to clarify, I'm keeping the R7 - in every other regard it's the cats ass.

strictly

Funny - the production guitars are looking damn good these days.
 
R

Ritalin

Guest
I see a lot of them with small hairline fractures (about a mm or so) on the neck binding in a spot or two aligned with the frets. Maybe that's part of making them look Historic. ;-)
 
Joined
Jul 15, 2001
Messages
470
I've seen those too, but only on used guitars. It's usually due to climate changes. On a new guitar that would tell me that it's probably been in an unfriendly environment...
strictly
 
R

Ritalin

Guest
You mean the hairlines fract on the binding?

That's what I figured. My standard has a few, the previous owner didn't know much about guitar maintenance. Sort of thing doesn't bother me as long as the guitar is still a player.
 
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