thing is, Gibson don't see themselves as having problems. they sell their guitars by the boatload and every overpriced "limited edition" (fender too) sells out immediately.
it's only a small minority of people that think their QC stinks. read the reviews on Harmony Central, how many times do you see the words, "hey, it's a Gibson, it's rock solid!"
truth is, the majority of guitar buyers would see little difference in quality between a Gibson Les Paul, a PRS single cut and an Epiphone Les Paul. but they've heard of Gibson! and their hero plays one.
These are excellent points.
I said this before but it's worth repeating. The vast majority of Gibsons that roll off the production line will be 100% in terms of finish, build and setup. Yes there are some that could be better and that's something that Gibson really should put right.
I played several Gibson LP's in January, whilst I was trying out amps. Each one had an immaculate finish. They were setup correctly (not by the store) and they sounded tremendous. I think it was 9 different ones that I played. Some were Standards, some were Classics and one was a faded honey burst (50's neck) which was awesome.
To be absolutely honest I would have been happy to take home any one of them as they were.
I would agree that Gibson QC was pretty ropey when I was looking for one in 2000. The same thing can't be said in 2008, from my experience.
Perhaps we should take stock of things and actually try a few new Gibsons, rather than roll out the (admitidly deserved) jibes at the QC issues from years gone by.
What we need is reports on new Gibsons, maybe in a new thread.
You'll have to excuse me now ..... I'm off to the store to play that honey burst again :D
