oh gibson you rat

[rightintheface]

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-USA/Gary-Moore-BFG.aspx

anybody notice this? they've taken the BFG model (released just a few years ago), slapped a cover on the p-90, top hat knobs, and an engraved plate and are charging more as a "Gary Moore" sig model.

This makes me sick.

Im in australia, and the retail for the bfg 2 years ago (i almost bought one, got a warmoth instead) was $1899 australian. Now because they are "special" they have jumped to something like $2399 USD. WTF?!?!?!?!?!?! Then their description rambles about the special chambering and special satin finishand special "rough milled" maple top. They also ramble about the pickups, burst3 and p90...

THE SPECS ARE EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE ORIGINAL BFG!!!!!!! the pickups, the satin nitro, the rough top, the lemon colour, the sanded neck. this is utter bullsh*t. they haven't even ditched the kill switch. for some reason i doubt gary moore would've specifically asked to keep the killswitch.

this kind of marketing makes me absolutely sick. tring to re-plug a model and CHARGE MORE DOLLARS simply because they re-name it as a sig model. i'm sorry, i know there are many gibson fans out there (and here), but i will simply not buy one now. just because they are RATS. i played with a band last night that played the old bfgs, and i really dug their tone, hence the renewed interest. now i won't even bother unless i find a 2nd hand one

 

[dbw]

The BFG was junk to begin with... come on Gibson, not sanding your CNC'd bodies isn't a feature, it's cutting 90% of the man-hours to make a body.  If they sold it for $300 it would be worth considering.

 

[JerkyChid]

It's really lame when companies do this. ESP had this diamond plate EX a few years ago. Two emg pickups, volume, tone, toggle. It went for 500 I think. Well Wayne Static got one, put Duncan Distortions in it, and ESP decided to take away the neck pickup, put the Static-X logo on it and jack the price to 700. I like it much better when a company does the opposite. Create a guitar just like a signature but cheaper and without looking like the signature model but that doesn't happen often.

 

[JaySwear]

I like it much better when a company does the opposite. Create a guitar just like a signature but cheaper and without looking like the signature model but that doesn't happen often.

yeah, i think ESP LTD has done that some. they'll have a signature guitar, then a standard that has almost ALL the same features except the lame skull inlays or fake gig worn top and it'll be $1000 less. same woods, neck, pickups, everything.

sometimes i just...  :dontknow:

 

[Orpheo]

indeed, its so rare to see an inovative signature design. Just some pop to mind, like the tremonti-PRS, the santana, the sam totman and herman li signatures (or what are those guys called...), and ofcourse the iceman from paul gilbert. the JEM used to be innovative, but lost is apeal to me a LONG time ago. same thing with the andy timmons sig, and MANY others. dudes, sure, its 'their' guitar, but not really special or something. same thing with the jimmy page signature. its almost 10000 euro's. why? is a phase-switch and jimmy page's signature worth 5000 euros more than the R9? and the R9, is that 2500 MORE worth than the R8, just because the fuckin flametop?! DUDE!!!!! warmoth rolls over and laughs their ass off with the prices gibson carries, not to mention lack of fretwork, bad woods, twisting necks, bad fretacces, and the issues like bad pickups and bad tuners aren't even an issue because we choose them!

but okay. Little story. I got in touch with the gibson rep, and he asked me why I haven't bought a gibson in so long. well, because your guitars are crap? warmoth is so much cheaper with better quality. Well, i didn't say that, but I said that their stuff doesnt deliver what I wanted, where his response was, huh? How can that be? Our guitars are the best dude...

 

[whitebison66]

I've heard countless horror stories about the Gibson factory in Nashville. Entire runs of guitars with bridges in the wrong place, etc. etc.

They charge for the name and nothing else. Sadly, they'll be able to do that for decades at least.

Their personnel turnover is so bad that I know 3 different people in that town who got a Gibson on spec as part of an endorsement offer and when they tried to return the guitar months or even just weeks later, the rep had quit and no one knew who the endorsee was.

Only one person kept the guitar; two others sold them.

Speaking of ESP, I spent a few weeks in Tokyo looking at guitars around Christmas and Easter. The reason for those lawsuits is very well-founded. The Japanese are the most astounding craftsmen I've ever seen in guitar building. The only way I can describe it is exhaustive excellence. Their second hand guitars look like NOS. I don't think they beat their guitars up, or if they do they're too ashamed to sell them, because you won't find them.

I got an Edwards LP for almost half off because of a 'scratch' I could never find, and because the salesman said it had fingerprints. The guy was so apologetic about it that I felt bad for him. Don't think Edwards means junk either, especially for Japan's domestic market: Mahogany/maple, Duncans, a laminate flame top, long tenon, satin nitro faded burst and 'lawsuit' headstock. US$650 . With gig bag. I'll put it against any $1,000 Gibson you can find. Hell, I'd put it against a 'real' Les Paul.

I just enjoy looking at the ESPs in the shops because the QC is unbelievable. The workmanship, the finish, all of it.

But they're not cheap, either. The Custom Shop will get you for $5,000-10,000 depending on how far you want to go. But I'd have to say that they're a lot closer to being worth it than the Gibsons.

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

I'm going to put a Gibson sticker on my toilet.

 

[whitebison66]

Actually the sticker should read "Gibson Showroom"

 

[Wana_make_a_guitar]

Actually the sticker should read "Gibson Showroom"

Hmm, nice idea. Because they're piss weak, expensive crap.  :laughing7:

 

[rapfohl09]

Man am I glad I didnt get crap when I got my Gibson. Of course, being 15 at the time I didnt buy anything over the top. The faded SG models had just come out and were 579 dollars, the SG was also the only model offered in the Faded series. Although now I admit I bought it on an impulse and wish I had calmed down a little and bought something with some more features, and there are just alot of other guitars I like more, nothing has ever gone wrong with it. I love that guitar to death, and its been my main axe for like 3 years now. I doubt ill ever buy gibson again (thank you warmoth  :laughing7 But im not upset that I did. But these horror stories are overwhelming, almost makes me embarrased to own one at all.

 

[whitebison66]

Actually, I have no problem with the Faded line; they are reasonably priced for what you get, and they're not bad. They cane be good instruments, and there's no reason to be ashamed of them!

I should have offered that qualifier to my perspective; the Faded series are the most 'worth it' of the Gibsons.

 

[Soylent]

I've got a faded SG, had it for a few years, it was my go to guitar for a while.. not bad and was cheap.. they've gone up in price lately tho...  :tard:

 

[line6man]

That guitar is ****ing hideous!
Black hardware with an orange color scheme? Mismatched pickup covers. Mismatched knobs....
Disgusting piece of crap IMO.

 

[GoDrex]

where's the black hardware?

I guess you'd really hate the Joe Bonamassa one:
http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-Custom/Joe-Bonamassa-Les-Paul.aspx

 

[dbw]

The faded guitars are the best thing Gibson puts out.  I considered getting a faded explorer for a while but then I got another Warmoth instead

 

[line6man]

where's the black hardware?

I guess you'd really hate the Joe Bonamassa one:
http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Les-Paul/Gibson-Custom/Joe-Bonamassa-Les-Paul.aspx

Hmm, it looks like the black hardware is only on the 360 degree virtual view.
(I couldn't see the regular pictures, so i had to go to the virtual view to see it.)

I was going to say that aside from the mismatched knobs, the Joe Bonamassa looked fine, but then i noticed that the back is black and the top gold :sad: I can't stop laughing at how stupid that is. :toothy12:
Is my taste in guitar design really that narrow minded, or do you guys think that a gold top on a black back is extremely ridiculous?

 

[rahimiiii]

You mean that Herman Li and Sam Totman signature (they're called Dragonforce, I call them DragonFarce.) Herman Li thinks he's like Jet Li or Jackie Chan... except if you go to Hong Kong (where he's from) or Taiwan and I go around ask ask "Hey you know Herman Li" (say his chinese name they might know better) people look at you like you're looking for a lost child. As far as their signatures go, it's a little overpriced because Herman Li himself says he wants his guitar to be set apart from any production stuff (he says "it's not just another guitar with a name slapped on it") and when I saw the spec for his signature guitar I almost laughed my ass off. I mean the kung fu grip thing it's nothing original, look at any Steve Vai (I think Herman Li has a crush on Steve Vai) signatures and you will see this feature. Also the last three scalloped fret, I feel that's just a marketing ploy since they're practically useless unless you play in those area at all time and it's just something to cut labor back so they can up the prices by 300 dollars.

 

[Orpheo]

You mean that Herman Li and Sam Totman signature (they're called Dragonforce, I call them DragonFarce.) Herman Li thinks he's like Jet Li or Jackie Chan... except if you go to Hong Kong (where he's from) or Taiwan and I go around ask ask "Hey you know Herman Li" (say his chinese name they might know better) people look at you like you're looking for a lost child. As far as their signatures go, it's a little overpriced because Herman Li himself says he wants his guitar to be set apart from any production stuff (he says "it's not just another guitar with a name slapped on it") and when I saw the spec for his signature guitar I almost laughed my ass off. I mean the kung fu grip thing it's nothing original, look at any Steve Vai (I think Herman Li has a crush on Steve Vai) signatures and you will see this feature. Also the last three scalloped fret, I feel that's just a marketing ploy since they're practically useless unless you play in those area at all time and it's just something to cut labor back so they can up the prices by 300 dollars.

agreed. but at least its got something to set it apart from other guitars, though, as we say here, its old wine in new cans; nothing new, the same of the old familiar stuff. totman has an iceman with a tremolo; that is cool though. just as the fireman by gilbert, but that thing is VERY expensive

 

[rightintheface]

i actually didn't mind the original bfg at all. all my guitars have killswitches (i know this will split the crowd, but i use them quite frequently, even just to mute my signal), i love satin finishes, and i liked the rough maple cap; i'm not big on "traditional" bursts and stuff, so it was different and cool.

i didn't like the missing pickup ring and truss rod cover, the dirty looking back, position of the switches (i'd keep the selector in the normal spot and put the killswitch down the body) and wooden knobs. i was considering buying one of the black ones and upgrading it with knobs/pickup rings, change wiring etc etc, but it wound up being about the price of two warmoths. and i could really only afford one warmoth  :dontknow:

only other lp i really considered was the faded series, i like the faded honeyburst(?) one, it reminded me of slash's axe.


but thats just another overpriced sig model. BIGGEST thing that gets me with this bfg thing, like i said, i changing the price and changing virtually NOTHING on the guitar itself and suddenly it becomes "signature". when i saw one on ebay i genuinely thought it was a hoax, even the name on the truss rod cover looks dodgey. all they did is take their stock of bfg's in lemon finish and change the truss rod, knobs, and a cover on the p90. THATS ALL. and thats what pisses me off

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Most sig models are nothing more than a different pickup, different neck contour, custom color, etc.  This is nothing new, and Gibson isn't the first or last to do this.