Absolutely. The only time I paid more than 2000 for a guitar was a balaguer semi custom that was built to my exact specifications. Can't imagine why someone would pay that much for a stock guitar.
Only time I think that's not the one and only rule is when it's going to hang on a wall or something. I don't know how Gibson gets away with such bad QC on their flagship and custom gear.
@@ShidavTheVedmak Blues lawyer fanboys with money to burn and by hiring famous musicians like Mustaine or Hammett to entice their fans to buy the signature models?
Yeah those flaws are unacceptable at that price point, especially with the paint cracking. Maybe if it was $900 new you could be like "meh" but for $2800 that thing better be absolute perfection.
you are goddamn right! I've seen a lot of gibsons that have really shitty paintjob around the binding too. they just can't get that binding show cleanly. Meanwhile some trash import brand can do that perfectly. The price tag for their products is just insane. (not to mention the tooling marks in the fretboard and binding due to those dumb nib things on the frets) Totally unacceptable
my harley benton got better finish than this thought, that neck joint is unacceptable and so are the paint drips which is just pure lazy and unprofessional
You buy a Gibson for the sound and this guy’s knit picking flaws are stupid considering guitar’s are meant to have wear and tear unless your a collector who cant play a lick and just hangs it up for house decoration like a grandma
As someone that used to work for Rickenbacker and also Heritage Guitars, I can confirm, guitar paint booths are extremely close to automotive ones (some companies actually use converted automotive spray booths.) you’re also very correct, the fact that a paint job like that was passed by QC and released from the factory is a tad bit embarrassing.
@@Masterfighterx also a possibility, which is why most of the time several layers of shader are sprayed over the wood first, and if the shader is a light color not intended to be transparent or translucent, a layer of primer over the sealer to hide wood patterns from showing through the overall finish. Even a flaw in the wood shouldn’t be showing through. One reason is because of the sealer, and even grain filler is used. Another is because the wood being used should be checked/inspected for imperfections, knots etc. before being cut, sanded and prepped. Sure, a common, and maybe forgivable oversight on a cheap, or budget guitar. But on a $2,800 guitar? They should be taking the time to make sure every piece is up to snuff. Especially when metal flake/sparkle finishes cannot be repaired. Silvertop, goldtop, pelham blue, etc. are finishes that cannot be touched up or repaired. If it gets damaged or messed up, the guitar has to be stripped and sanded back down to bare wood, and the process starts over from square 1. Sure, it’s a time consuming process, and it costs money, but again, that guitar is nearly $3000. It can be done.
@@f3uibeghardt522 precisely! They aren’t the only ones who use car paint either. A lot of em actually do. But hell, if it looks good, it’s good! I dig the look when done right!
Heya Glenn, any chance of a "recording non-metal instruments for metal" type of video? Mandolins, strings, horns etc? Be interested to see your approach to that
"who is this guitar for?!" my thoughts exactly when you mentioned the price. also props to you for supporting unions! Workers aren't gonna give a crap about quality if they aren't paid a living wage. let's be real now. I support big companies existing if they pay and treat their employees well. sadly this is happening less and less.
union workers don't give a crap about anything except for their benefits and their ability to have the worst workers and keep their jobs. Automotive unions are some of the worst demanding the most pay and yet have vehicles get recalled for poor quality all the time. The company pays for the recall but the lazy union fat cats keep their pay. Get real dude.
For me personally, $1,000 is my max. There are some exceptions, there are a few $1,500 guitars out there that I’d seriously consider buying. But thanks to Glen opening my eyes to the myths about guitars that people foolishly believe, I see no reason to spend more then $1,000 on a guitar.
My 2 cents, Dear Glenn, first off yes for 2800 bucks you should have gotten locking grover tuners, and the good nut and a stellar picture perfect paint job... Totally agree. And the action should have been nice and playable out of the box, maybe need a tiny bit adjustment for personal preferences. But it shouldn't have been high as a kite. Now then, most of the money you are paying for is Wood from Africa, ebony fretboard, doesn't get more rare and expensive, same with the mahogany if im not mistaken. You genuinely get a different smoother distortion from mahogany than something like Ash which is much harder wood and gives off more volume and harsh distorted sound. I've tested it out and watched others test the different woods out, it is a substantial real difference. Now then, I don't think you hit those pinch harmonics anywhere near Zakk Wylde on No More Tears because, it didn't sound like it, and the pickups are very different. Zakk used Emg 81 in the bridge position and an Emg 85 in the neck position. He used hot-rodded Marshal JCM 800 heads to get that sound. I don't know the eq settings for that album, but he uses bass 10 or 9, mid at -3, and treble at 7 or 6.5, then tone maxxed volume nearly maxxed on guitar using bridge pickup, set of tens for the high strings and super thick for the lows, don't think they make them anymore because they were my go to strings for years and I couldn't find them anymore, now I use the Jazz 11s chromed, ultra smooth and I usually jam in drop b or c or c#. And I hit them Zakk Wylde pinch harmonics pretty tight. It's one of my favorite sounds. Something where you can't just push a pedal, no you gotta make it happen with your hands. You do need a fat amount of gain. Feel it out, max it and dial it back slowly to find your sweet spot. From painting cars with my Dad, I'm pretty sure the wrinkles in the paint on the side of the pickups is because they hung it vertically and then turned it on its side before the paint was dry. Seen people do it with fenders, doors, accidentally happens on bumpers if you lay the paint too thick. In my heart, the paint problems alone warrant returning it and demanding excellence for a $2800 guitar. If money were no object, Id call up the custom department, get the dual emg 81's in a mahogany SG symmetrical headstock, grover locking tuners, rickenbacker whammy bar, dark red finish so you can still see the wood grain. No pick guard. A comfy metal monster that is very able to make very diverse sounds with the rickenbacker whammy bar. 24 frets. I have a floyd rose and didn't know very much about how it worked before I spent a grand on it when I was 15. Im 38 and ended up blocking the bridge off simply because I love those Ibanez pickups...
I love that they still use nitro finishes, and I love all of their shapes, but you're spot on here man. If the fit and finish aren't mint, you can't be charging people over $1200 or so for crap like that.
@@tylersmith7534But they wear with your playing. All three of my guitars are poly finishes. I ended up selling both of the Gibson LPs I've purchased but still, there's a thing to those finishes. They smell delightful too
@IamtheFerryMan yeah nitro finish lets the guitar feel and vibrate like a piece of wood, instead of plastic. I have several guitars... some have a "perfect" finish, but feel like plastic. My G Les Paul is still perfect, but on top of that, it feels and vibrates like a chunk of wood. I love it.
This sounds a lot like me trying out Gibsons in general. I go in with low expectations, get surprised by the minimal requirements like staying in tune or being reasonably playable, and at the end of the day realize it would be perfectly passable if the price was halved or less.
I agree. I used to own a Les Paul. It was great for rhythm playing, but as soon as I joined a band where I had to play leads, I could not keep the G string in tune. I ended up selling it, and replacing it with MIJ Ibanez guitars, and I haven't looked back. In the same spirit as this video, I think people pay way too much for Solar and Chapman guitars, as well. I have never had a guitar built in the FujiGen factory come back with flaws like I see with Gibson, Solar, and Chapman guitars.
Big agree. I actually really like a lot of Gibsons I've played, they're just not worth $2.5k or whatever they fuck they're getting for them. That's why I tell people go find a used Studio that plays well for around $1k or less. Same feel and feature set, with a MUCH more appropriate price tag.
@@jimherleva4541 If by user you mean luthier, then I agree. When the only guitar I've ever owned in the last 20 years that has a tuning issue is a Gibson, then the issue was the guitar. If a guitar that costs over $1000 needs modification to stay in tune, then that is a design flaw. I'm not shitting on Gibson either, I love Gibsons. I like the way they feel and the way they sound. However, I chose to sell mine because my Ibanez guitars required far less modification out of the box.
I honestly feel like Glenn is describing my Dave Mustaine Signature (Dean VMNT Peace Sells) for the most part; except the fact that I paid 500 dollars for it (well, my parents did, it was a Christmas gift) and it’s the most used piece of gear in my studio.
I picked up a VMNT Peace Sells on Amazon a couple years ago and it's a really cool guitar! Totally worth the $500 US and I like the way it looks way better than the Gibson. I really wanted to like this guitar and buy one. After hear this and other reviews I think 3 Solar V's (6, 7, 8) are a better value. Wish they were a bit easier to get in the states
My Dean 5-String bass I bought in '92 is literally the best bass I've ever bought (including Ibanez, Rickenbacker, Fender Precision, and a Peavey I could have used to crack granite in a quarry it was so heavy, etc). In fact, I've had guitarists pick it up when it was in Open C tuning (GCGCG) and say it was as easy to fret as a guitar - though they still couldn't get their hands to stretch enough to chord stuff like I did because their little spindly fingers couldn't stretch 6 frets my the bass. LMAOOooooo
Deans are a lot of bang for the buck. Hell, I bought a Schecter C-6 Platinum series on a whim (about $600) and I couldn't possibly be happier with it. Some minor wiring issues (input could have been soldered a little better) but it's just such a complete guitar at a fraction of the cost.
No joke, I came across a used low end Dean VMNT at a Sam Ash for $200 in that same Metallic silver finish and it had a better paint job and neck joint than the $2,800 Gibson one.
I have one of those low end deans. And I love it, it has a decently slim and wide d shaped neck, which suits me way more than those chunky as hell Gibson necks. It sounds great, and is a way better deal than this
Bro Fr I have a Dean VX ($400 new) that I’ve modded and the only reason it has a paint defect is cause my drummer was tryna bounce his drum stick off the floor and hit it straight onto my guitar lmao
I’ve played a few of the new “inspired by Gibson” Epiphone Les Paul’s and the modern V and explorer at my local long and mcquade and they were setup properly. They also did not have any cosmetic flaws. Epiphone has sure stepped up there game with these new line of guitars. Then picked up a Gibson double cutaway modern that had a neck so bowed I could have used it for archery.
and I`ve never played any epiphone`s that didnt have to had some work done to them , some more than others . now , the new epiphones are very good , but they are not better than whatever "expensive " brand you put them up against . some of the flaws in gibsons isnt even flaws
Long and mcqade sets them up I've talked to a few of the employees and they say they're good but not great out of box but that being said most of the new epiphones looks killer and sounds great too
@@vainestlamb5917 ah ok. My understanding was if you bought a guitar from L&M they send it for a free setup that’s included in your purchase. At least that’s how the location in Surrey British Columbia explained it to me.
Thank you for telling it like it is! In my opinion, even a single flaw is unacceptable on a "premium" instrument. Especially from a major brand like Gibson. It's a shame.
2:17 Your wish has been already granted in the 80's! Aldo Nova had a signature Les Paul that had the Explorer headstock (in fact there was an entire series of different shaped guitars with the Explorer headstock back then). These guitars are really collectable nowadays and I wish someone made a modern equivalent
Works out to about £2,250 over here in the UK. Got to say if I had that much to drop on a guitar, it'd be custom made from a decent luthier every time!
Yep, that's what I have been saying for years...until my last luthier passed away. Finding a new one (with the bandwidth to make one for your) is so difficult now.
When it comes to QC, a very large US retailer has 9 Slash Anaconda Burst guitars that didn't meet this retailers standard and are now being sold on Reverb as demo. That's insane for a $3000 MSRP guitar. Then again, as long as people keep the resale values high, I doubt Gibson even cares.
Two things Glenn, One you're playing has come a long way practice is paying off keep it up! Two thanks for this fearless gear review Gibson has just fallen off so profoundly its crazy. Keep up the good work, cheers from Milwaukee.
Do you know this from first hand experience or are you simply trusting "influencers" for this information? I've played several new Gibsons over the past few years that were fantastic. A friend of mine bought a Les Paul traditional a few years back. That guitar is lovely, stays in tune, sounds awesome, and did NOT require an additional set-up. It was great from day 1 straight out of the factory. The paint was also perfect (not that I care).
@@davidreynolds6718 bro, it is hilarious. You are calling him out for trusting the review from multiple people, yet you are saying that the opposite is the case and you know because of your own (single and maybe two person) experience...
@@davidreynolds6718 all the Gibsons I've been fortunate enough to play have always been poorly potted just alot of feedback, also alot of tuning issues(5 ish i know its a small sample size). But that could be the setups at the store. Other brands present at the same store seemed to not have that problem(at a lower price point mind you).I dont have alot money so i try to be little quicker to rule of expensive guitars and Gibson at the end of the day are just beyond my price point.They have alot of QC issues and this much variance between all their guitars makes them a risky investment at best and that is simply unacceptable for guitars at this price point. In my opinion. Granted take it with a grain of salt I'm no one and have had limited experience with Gibson as a whole.
@@linnickschlanter4712 I just think it's odd that RUclips influencers associated with Glenn all turned on Gibson at he same time. Something seems off to me.
Being a Dave Mustaine fan and a Gibson fan, I feel very dissapointed with the quality of the guitars. When I noticed that DM and Gibson were colaborating for a signature V, I was very excited. Now I don't know what to think. Thanks a lot for telling the truth and show what real things are done today.
Same. Here's the kicker: I went to Megadeth show yesterday in Montreal (May 17, 2022) and saw up-close the Gibson that Mustaine played must be a 5,000$ guitar. It has a flamed Maple top with a white binding. It is a completely different animal. A true Signature guitar.
Bro. You need to go and check one out for yourself. Who knows if this is a one off subpar finish or if Glenn is playing attention to stuff you wouldn't. Setup... you first need to check if that action that was too high was typical Gibson spec. Meaning... he likes a lower action, but many people are fine with it.
As a former Gibson authorized service technician, and a guy with 3 Gibsons, I watched this with amusement. Yeah, they're selling a name. They're not offering a value. It's almost unfair to ever ask if any new Gibson is worth the price. They rarely are. But, we keep buying them, lol. And after we're done setting them up and modifying them to play decently, we then have the right name on the headstock to impress the kiddies. And we know the real guitarists are more interested in how we got it to play well than the guitar itself, lol!
Ive never own a Gibson, but Im shocked to see so many QC issues, specially with painting, all those cracks over the finish, and the finferboard and binding always with tooling marks. I see Troglys reviews and he thinks its ok, its part of Gibson aura, Im just shocked.
@@papasmamas1 What they have is a roster of heroes. We hear great playing and great tone, and we want the tools they used. I've seen Gibson corporate make the worst decisions in this industry. But, since there is always some plucky fan with a couple grand ready to buy into the dream, Gibson keeps making sales. They say they care about QC, but lets be real. QC costs money. Gibson would rather keep that money than increase their quality. It's been this way for decades. I don't imagine they'll ever change. Why should they?
I've bought all of my guitars online with mixed results. So the other day I tried something unusual - I went down to my local guitar store and started trying out instruments. I left 45 minutes later with a great guitar. It's from a virtually unknown brand, there are no youtube demos of the model I got, but it looks great, sounds great, and is setup by a guy who spent the last 30 years fixing guitars. Guys, stop buying unseen, unheard. The only reason the companies can get away with selling junk is because we keep buying from warehouses 800 km away from us, based on a youtube review and a 30 dollar price difference. Doing that is literaly begging to get ripped off.
We do a shop setup on every guitar we ship, and any shop-sold guitar if the customer wants it. If the setup is crap from the factory, we'll fix it before we hang the guitar. And, oh yeah - If it's a lefty, we'll hang it in "Lefty Alley" with the other dozen
@@millardbrown4769 I guess you’re in the us though, there’s barely anywhere near me that you can go in and try a lefty and they’re usually either cheap squiers or the odd overpriced Gibson, I just get mine built from a local luthier now.
Loved the honest review. I tried so many V's before being satisfied with a Solar V. Got a Solar Explorer soon after because of how much fun it was to play.
I’m really glad someone else is addressing quality control issues. I had to go through 3 50s Goldtops until one was “right”. There were even strings the wrong way round and not even in the bridge. After all my issues I contacted Gibson, they just didn’t care.
Thank you for saying this man. If you’re referring to the 2021 models, I was actually looking at those a few weeks ago and really liked the sound of the 50s version. Interesting to know that there are still quality control issues going on. A lot of the press has been saying Gibson is coming back! Seems like they’ve still got a ways to go.
Hi Glenn, I really enjoy watching your videos. I have severe chronic lower back and neck pain. Most nights I can't sleep because of my chronic pain. I binge watch your videos when I can't sleep. Watching your videos helps me forget about my chronic pain. Thank you for making your videos.
To get a low pinch right; make sure to apply a bit of vibrato at the same time and put a bit more pressure on to fretting finger (aggressively apply the vibrato). I find it to be also much easier with the middle or ring finger. I think that wiggling the string with the fretting finger helps sustain the pinch a little better and produce that deep wallop you're after lol. Then again I could be completely wrong, but I do LOVE my low pinchies 🤟!
What is attractive to you about the vintage guitar? Honestly I'm curious, not trolling at all. I admit I like them as collectors items and investments..... but I haven't played my Gibson explorer in decades. Yet it is probably the most valuable guitar I own (out of waaay too many) lol
@@mad7stringer Other than the finish? Nothing. I'm not even going to play it. It's going to sit in its case, just like my 1954 Rolls Royce sits in the garage, never to be driven.
OH WOW. Edit: I recently bought an Epiphone Alex Lifeson LP Axcess - and the QC and finish is astonishing for a sub-£1000 guitar. The fretwork is some of the best I've ever come across irrespective of price - and for a mass produced instrument I had very little ground to improve on in terms of setup. Which, should make big brother Gibson very embarrassed indeed.
At 6:30 your cover for symphony for destruction made me absolutely bust out laughing 😂 “you take a mortal man, you give him a Flying V, watch him turn into a snob.🤣 dude your personality is killer 🤘🏽
I'm glad Gibson is finally getting called out on this stuff. For years all I would ever hear anybody say about their gear was about how great it was and every time I picked one up I just didn't understand why anybody would spend that kind of cash on a guitar brand that felt okay at best. Soooooooooo many gear snobs. lol
All ive heard is how shit they are. Reality is, all brands except maybe a few boutique ones make duds. I've seen some absolutely terrible asian made ones despite the overall quality hike the past decades.
Their previous effort to ripoff people resulted in bankruptcy, this new revival has not changed anything... "Made in USA" is a joke these days when Korean and even Indonesian made guitars beat the crap out of these overpriced "US made" pieces of wood.
@@fredriksvard2603 for me it was revolutionary! My entire youth i had NO access to instruments and didn't know anyone who owned one.....and I always dreamt of having Gibsons and Fenders someday. BUT WHEN I FINALLY TRIED THEM IN MY LATE TEENS........ ...they felt wrong in EVERY way!!! (GIBSON AND FENDER = DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS. BOTH a bunch of assholes and crooks and fraudsters!) Then, I tried brands i HATED (Peavey!) (Ibanez!).....and their shit played like BUTTER and I was stunned. I can find you a million $180 Ibanez MIKROS that are better than ANY GIBSON OR FENDER OF ANY PRICE.
Hate to admit it but that's true. Ive got a Gibson Les Paul and it makes me regret selling my 1999 Epiphone Les Paul Quilt Top and Epiphone "1984" Explorer. My Gibson does not play like those 2 Epiphones and I wish I could reverse those decisions quite badly.
@@visionop8 Bummer. Gibson USA definitely had some shitty years. They looked and seemed like they were getting way better again but this video makes me wonder. He could have gotten that one out of 1000 really bad one or maybe the vast majority of them suck, lol
@@PatPosse Gibson really did have some better years. I bought my Les Paul from memories of playing a friend's dad's Les Paul Custom and I couldn't put it down. What I got wasn't that. I think maybe we missed the good years.
Wow! A lot of comments here. I’m sure this will get buried but here goes. A HUGE thank you for talking about Unionization at the end of the video. I’m a 15 year union pipe insulator by trade and spent the first three years of my career nonunion and I can tell you that you are 100% correct. Love the channel, great videos, keep up the awesome work. Can you do a video about soundproofing and room treatment soon? I’m building a studio in my basement and this topic is still somewhat confusing to me. Thanks brother!
Baseball bat neck and an ebony fretboard is probably the reason it stays in tune better than most other Gibson's. I had a 76' Les Paul that was exceptionally stable...but it had a thicker maple neck. Compare that to a friend of mine that used to do dive bombs by bending the mahogany neck of his 64' SG.
Should i say some thing blasphemous? I just got a cheap chinese lespaul shaped guitar without locking tuners and its exceptionally stable. Hours of trash type riffing wont effect it. It was one year old guitar the guy sold me for what he got it for. I bought it for 18000 rs. Roughly equals to 100$
@@SpectreSoundStudios Glen if I send you some Resistance Bands, Will you Use Them? You can Use them Seated as Well and they are Great for Stress Relief ; ) You are practically using them Right Now , They are just not in your Hands 😁
Great review. Gibson is the Harley Davidson of guitars. A clothing company that also sells products to layers and dentists that haven't improved since the 60s and expects the good reputation earned by people who are long gone to carry them forever. Really brought it home at the end with your correct statements about labor and unions. Hell yes.
I'd reckon that the Epiphone stuff and the endless onslaught of '59 LP remakes, remixes, and reissues are the only things keeping Gibson alive at this point. To put out such a bad guitar at such a high price point is beyond pathetic; as if someone is deliberately trying to destroy the Gibson brand and legacy.
Remember the time when buying a Gibson meant something. I have an old Epiphone SG that I got for pocket change. It was new but the neck had seperated from the body during shipping. Got it glued and changed the kind of dull pickups for some old Dimarzios I had. Super guitar, I could say that it's as good as a real Gibson from the same time!
Gibson is just cashing in as hard as they possibly can before the Boomers and Gen X dad-rockers finally all die off and nobody gives a crap about their "lifestyle brand" at all anymore. From what I see players under 40 mostly just don't care about the Gibson name, and I don't blame them. They have no reason to cling to a brand out of nostalgia, which is really all Gibson has going for it now.
When a headstock straight up cracked and nearly separated on a Les Paul I was preparing to purchase, as I was playing it - that was the last Gibson I ever played and have no desire to pick up one again. Every time I’ve been tempted, all the problems you have detailed in this video are consistently present on gibsons.
i always thought I'd own Fenders & Gibsons. But when I played either at a guitar shop.....both felt....WRONG. Then I played IBANEZ guitars and it was night vs day! I never pay more than $200 for a guitar, and they're all better than Fenders or Gibsons!
your story hurts. ex: I once bought a $1200 MACBOOK "PRO"......and BEFORE I LEFT THE APPLE STORE...it had COMPLETELY CRASHED when I tried their email program!! "JUST A FLUKE!" the lying liars said. I've owned FIVE expensive Apples. ALL FIVE WERE GARBAGE OUT OF THE BOX, but only in literally EVERY CATEGORY. Bc POLICE WILL NOT ENFORCE LAWS against Consumer Fraud.
You know, the fact that I haven’t spent over $500 on a guitar once in my life (and the only time I ever bought a piece of gear that was more than that was a Hiwatt DR 103 from 1971 for the same exact price you got for that guitar) makes me realize I make consciously good decisions with my gear spending for the most part.
A few years back I bought a Harley Benton LP clone for around $120 that played like a dream out of the box. Slapped on some Grover tuners and Seymour Duncan pickups I had laying around, and I have a guitar that I practice on and gig with over any of my Gibsons or higher-end Ibanezes that cost 10x+ more. Paint job is a mediocre tobacco sunburst, but it is good enough for me.
I got two cheap Harley Bentons, one of them being a snow white LP clone. Swapped the pickups, left everything else as it is. Plays absolutely fine! The other one is an Explorer that already came with Grover locking tuners and a Graph Tech nut and I once again only changed the pickups. Absolutely nothing wrong with that thing.
@@honigdachs. I think the tuners on mine were lemons, I basically had to tune them every song or two. Granted I do some pretty aggressive string bends, but it holds up much better now after the upgrade.
I use to think that a Gibson would make me a better guitar player but then I found the world or RUclips and then I found you glen. Thank you for taking away that stupid mentality I had an convinced me to practice more on a cheap guitar like a squire. Keep up the good work.
@@ratatatuff yeah low cost guitars are great. I have some expensive guitars myself and just picked up a purple Schecter C6 Elite for $270 (on sale but it's a $400 guitar) and the quality is great.
GLENN. Thank you. THIS is why I watch your videos... Truly comprehensive..full of spot on information and riddled with excellent brevity and absolutely relatable hilariousness... dont change a thing! Fan forever! Oh and by the way - Jezuz, you goddam SHRED. Mike Leporati- Los Angeles based musician and artist
As someone who works at a music store, pretty much every Gibson and Epiphone always needs a setup right out of the box. Usually they just need the action dropped at the bridge but sometimes it gets a little harrier. I find Fender is usually a lot better on the setup side of things but for whatever reason is usually way worse when it comes to fret sprout issues.
Just looked at my Dean that I bought for $400, fit and finish is perfect, stays in tune even with that headstock, and still has its headstock attached. Got a better instrument than a Gibson for 1/6 the price.
??? I only buy 3/4 guitars (they are superior in EVERY SINGLE WAY)......so what do you need a $400 guitar for? UMPTEEN $200 Ibanezes and Baby Deans are PERFECT.
I just bought a '76 Explorer and it's the best sounding guitar I've ever played. Stays in tune and pretty good playability. I haven't touched my Les Paul's since. Gibson is always hit and miss. I played a 61 es-335 that honestly sounded and played bad. It had real PAFs and they were really tame. Even though some people in the vintage guitar community consider 59-64½ 335's the greatest guitar ever made.
I can't help wondering: why not buy a Schecter, Ibanez or Jackson for under half the price and seemingly equal quality? I recently got a Jackson Mick Thomson Soloist and it's SO much fun to play, feels awesome and sounds amazing.
@@CroneRaven1810 y'all need to UP YOUR GAME! My RULE is no guitar over $200.......and the $180 IBANEZ MIKROS are FLAWLESS as were my $190 BABY DEAN guitars! WHO would want a pricey guitar??? You have to be SCARED to scratch it!!!
I bought a left handed Gibson explorer 70s model and while I love it just because it’s different and dream guitar, it was $2700 and I know there is so many other guitars in that price that would be at least 3x better such as schecter, esp, Ibanez, prs, etc
So, I'm a big Epiphone fan. I have wanted to take the leap and maybe dive into a Gibson SG Standard or something, but I have always had concerns about the QC. Seeing this makes me glad I'm gravitating towards Paul Reed Smith lately. GOURGEOUS guitars, from the fit and finish to the playability to the sound. I've never played a PRS that I have disliked at any price range. I have played numerous Gibsons that were fucking trash. I'm disappointed, but not surprised, to see that Gibson couldn't get this right either.
If you can find a used Gibson Studio used for a good price that plays well, I would highly encourage you to jump on that. But beyond that yeah, a brand like PRS or Schecter (or hell if you like Epiphone, just get one of the new Inspired by Gibson Epiphones) is probably going to yield better return on your money. No reason to go throw down $2k on a new Gibson Standard when both they and other companies make guitars you can find that play just as well if not better for half the price.
Setup is a pretty personal thing, but there still needs to be some kind of standard where a guitar shows up in playable condition. I've done less setup on Harley Benton and Firefly guitars than I've seen a lot people do on their brand new Gibsons. I'll take a Solar V over a Gibson any damn day. Looks better, sounds at least as good, costs 1/3 the price...
@@bikeman1x11 Totally agree. Solar makes much better guitars for money than Gibson. Of course Solar guitars are not made in China, they're made in Indonesia.
@@jamiebriggs8277 if you think an asian name guitar compares to the legend of gibson you are bonkers- the greatest musice played was played with les pauls the solars appeal to those who think guitar is a bass
@@bikeman1x11 I don't care about "legends" I care about quality instruments at reasonable prices without the long running problems of overpriced Gibsons to feed a CEO's bloated salary ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Other than that who knows wtf you're even saying
This is a good review. It's not "Gibson I hate you" and it's not "Gibson I love you", it's just honest criticism of things that weren't right that absolutely SHOULD be right, especially for the asking price.
Great to see someone call out Gibson. They really do get by on their name and I feel the quality is way below the price range. I feel my Indo made guitars destroy my old USA Gibson SG.
I worked for a Gibson dealer a while back- when the pickups are noisy like that, check the pots- I came to find that often the ins and outs on the pots were reversed- what Gibson refers to as ‘50s wiring’. The pickup should come in on the left lug and output in the middle. It takes just a few mins to switch them if they’re reversed and it makes a big difference in noise. Edit: I never switched the 50s wiring on guitars that were spec’d for it, just the modern models for customers upon request.
I got myself my first electric guitar recently, An Ibanez Gio (worth 293€) for which i paid 209€ and it was set up perfectly out of the box, stays in tune really well, plays great and the finish is also flawless. It's ridiculous how a guitar that costs roughly 10 times as much has so many flaws while my cheap guitar doesn't have any flaws.
My old Gibson explorer used to sometimes have issues with tuning stability, of course it was only later when I learned how to tune unwound strings. (bottom to top, the opposite way to normally) This changes the break angle at the nut and results in fewer mishaps)
The Gibson headstock angle is 15°. That was a useful angle in 1890 when the G was always a wound string. Today however, it's not necessary to place that much downforce on the strings leaving the nut to the tuner posts. Gibson will never evolve. No one else making guitars in that price range uses 15°, and their guitars stay in tune (PRS, Kiesel, Rickenbacker etc).
I bought the Fender Final Fantasy XIV guitar and it’s amazing! Definitely over priced, but the quality control is amazing and extremely well done! I’ve always liked Fender better.
I recently bought a Les Paul UKELELE!!! My local Guitar Center had FENDER ukes and EPIPHONE ukes......and the Fenders were like 80% better construction (!!!!)......but the Les Paul was like $140 vs the $190 Fenders and I went for price and have zero regrets after a year.
It's only $2800 because it has 3 titles: Gibson, Flying V, and Mustaine. It's really a $300 guitar... and I feel like that's a fucking stretch, because nowadays $300 will get you a really good guitar that doesn't have fucked up paint.
I've actually worked for Gibson, and have been a QC. There's a lot of factors in play here. Namely, staffing: on a good day, we have 4-5 QC's for the entire factory, and a lot of them are experienced builders that had to be taken from their other departments and positions to fill the void. This is less than half of the amount of QC's we actually need to push good quality out the door. Another staffing problem is that the pandemic destroyed our pool of experienced builders and painters, via layoffs, quitting, or retirement. Gibson tries to make up for this, by lowering their requirements for employment, and hires people with little to no experience with guitar playing, let alone guitar building. I literally had to try to train someone that neither knew how to play nor speak english in full sentences. These factor into what ends up making it to the final assembly room, and then QC's are forced to make impossible decisions to satisfy the corporate need for numbers (sacrificing quality). Trust me, we see the flaws. We hate it just as much as you do. If you want a Gibson that was built/setup properly, get it from the Demo Shop. Everyone there has years of experience and spends the extra time to get it right the first time. Also, a few other things: 1) Grovers don't do anything that Kluson's can't. If you wind the string around the post properly, and stretch the strings, it'll stay in tune. Easy. 2) The "streaks" in the finish on the Dave M is actually the grain of the wood. Mahogany has notoriously big open grain, that likes to soak up color that's painted on, depending on the grain filler. 3) The crack in the finish on the neck pocket is called an "open seam" where the lacquer was sinking into the glue joint as it was curing. Nitro isn't like Polyurethane that they paint on cars, it thins out as it cures, exposing flaws that you can't see as you apply the paint. 4) Not sure what you were referring to about the neck joint being done poorly, but unless it fell off, it was probably glued in properly. lol
2,3 and 4 - people won’t even care about the technicalities. It’ll be “at $3k it should be up at 5am making me pancakes and coffee”. As for 1 - yes. Tuning stability is always user error, but try telling that to the RUclips beatniks. Nothing is ever their fault as that requires them taking responsibility. I have 9 Gibson Les Pauls and a Firebird spanning from the 70s to present day - including 2 Custom Shops - and all of them are amazing guitars. Thanks to you and your colleagues for bringing me endless enjoyment.
Still doesn't excuse the price for the quality. Gibson keeps pumping out dog shit, the prices should be slashed by 3/4. I have seen so many snapped headstocks and wiring failures in 3k Gibson shittars. I've only owned a single Gibson in my life and sold that shit within a month, never going back again.
@@musicmanxii cool story. I already said why the quality is down and I could care less if you own a Gibson. Prices are the way they are because they're made in the US, where the cost of labor is way higher than most, experienced builders or not.
Recently bought a Gibson Tribute Les Paul and couldn't be happier. Plek'd and set up low and fast, plays fucking beautiful and sounds killer! Why all the whining haters? Go play your favorite copy brand and enjoy. For every Gibson hater there are 3 people who absolutely love their Gibsons. 🤘
I can see a problem for Gibson in the future. Younger players have grown up with a wider range of quality brands, and one result has been that they are less tolerant of the design flaws and erratic quality control that older players had to take for granted. They are absolutely going to ask why an instrument won't stay in tune, why its finish is not almost perfect, why its setup is poor, and so on. They are certainly going to question $2800 for what appears to be a basic, low-spec instrument. Arguably, this guitar isn't really a Gibson anyway. Gibson have no real track record in modern or technical metal, and the Vs used in classic metal, with their relatively low-gain pickups and 24.75" scale, were very different beasts. What Gibson have produced is, ironically, a clone: it's a Dean or Jackson, given an Explorer headstock in a gesture at 'heritage'. That's fine: but then, reasonably enough, people will expect Dean or Jackson (or ESP or Schecter) prices and standards of quality control.
Good to know that Gibson has finally upgraded their tuning to “pretty solid.” It sucks that it costs almost 3 thousand of my finest United States Dollars, because it’s an absolutely beautiful guitar. (If it was built properly!)
TOP SECRET: when you buy HEADLESS guitars.......they almost never GO OUT OF TUNE, bc you've eliminated the TOP FLAW! ANY TIME you bump your tuning pegs (or put it in a gig bag or case!) it goes OUT OF TUNE. HEADLESS guitars totally eliminated this lifelong HEADACHE, see? MY $150 HEADLESS FLYING V......will go SIX MONTHS without needing to be tuned even ONCE!!! (I saved ENDLESS HOURS TUNING in the past 20 years!) AND it has a cheap whammy bar....yetNEVER goes out of tune if I torture the whammy bar!!! HOW can it go out of tune with a whammy....if you REMOVE the problem that causes whammys to go out of tune?? (That fucking headstock and nut!) (IDIOTS have LOCKING NUTS. SMART musicians GOT RID OF THE ENTIRE NUT so it no longer is a problem!)
Great to see an honest review of a big brand in the guitar trade - shameless corruption in the form of cheesy reviews that are flagrantly evasive and biased is the NORM in the guitar industry.
Loved the review. Huge Megadeth fan here, but wouldn't touch this with a 9 foot pole! I've had plenty of the Dean guitars over the years and looks like they beat this pile out. Recently saved for years and forked my cash towards a Ernie Ball Music Man and its by far one of the nicest guitars man could ever play. Being a US production for their models, you *may* find some flaws but its not common. Setup out of the box was superb, haven't had to make any adjustments almost half a year later! Would appreciate seeing the channel check them out.
I appreciate the honest review. My brother and I are huge megadeth fans and we’re both are in our 40’s and are more of collectors than live performers these days (wife and kids etc) but we like high end guitars. We both planned on getting these but will not until these issues are fixed.
Yeah the Jacksons were better! I had Rhodes custom. It will cost if u find a used one. Wish i still had mine. It was like 1800. Now it wld cost 5000. U can get them made in Indonesia or Mexico. 1500. That is the joint or the Deans were going for 1200 back when I met Dave doing an in store signing
We just sold a USA king V we had for years and never played. I mostly play Les Pauls and my brother is a PRS nerd. But I’ve played so many Gibson that have just been shit. I have 6 Les Paul’s But I’ve probably played a couple hundred to find these. Most of my other guitars are “over seas” guitars and play just as good. (My warmoth parts guitars are my favorite)
@@lespaulnutz cool. Part of it is the name. Mahogany has gone up SO MUCH! The woods, etc. I got a LTD Viper( SG). Good gtr. Emg' s. I had the custom Rhoads best gtr I had. My brother had a Epiphone SG. It had problems but for the price, u know. Like he said there is a lot of competition
4:21 You have a grounding issue there, as in, there is no ground connection. It's probably not the guitar but you can try two different scenarios to diagnose the issue: 1 - Use a real amp amp connected to a grounded socket and then plug the guitar to it. 2 - Connect a real amp to an ungrounded socket and plug the guitar to it. Touch any metal part, like the bridge or the strings and see if it still happens. If it does that noise in both scenarios the guitar is missing a ground connection from the bridge to the back of one of the potentiometers. If it only does it in scenario 2 then it's not the guitar and it might be a lot of things (audio interface, usb cable, ground lift along the chain, etc). Also, given that the guitar came with fret sprout, and you had to adjust the truss rod, you're probably in place with less humidity than the one where the guitar was manufactured. Unfortunately it can happen with all price ranges, with less humidity the wood contracts. Edit 12:37 Save that for your OnlyFans
Hi Glenn, I got one now against your advice, actually I got the antique natural one. Paid 2100 for it, pickups are not noisy at all, massive output level, setup was perfectly done, it even came out of the box nearly in tune, it's an awful lot of fun to play as you found out yourself. So there is nothing I can complain about. Playability is great and I really like the look of it 🙂
Glen, This is some of your best playing on camera. You seem much more comfortable on camera with a guitar in your hands! Must have been that Gibson guitar.
It's like the guitar version of hate sex with someone who looks good but you have no respect for. Electric at the time but not something you're proud of.
It’s so easy to solve the Gibson headstock tuning issue. I wind the G string going up the tuning peg rather than down and never have problems, undwound string and all. No tight break angle. I do it on all 3x3 headstocks and works every time.
I bought a LP Standard 50s... while I went over the pictures online I was nervous as hell waiting for it to arrive. Shockingly it was literally perfect and I actually had to raise the bridge a little but the relief as spot on, frets were perfect and the finish was perfect. Last Gibson I bought was about 5 years ago and I had to send the first one back it was so poor then my rep at a really sweet retailer went and hand picked my second, which was perfect but... hand picked. I really want one of these but every review I have seen has the same issues you note... I just can't see dropping almost 3K. Perhaps they will correct these issues in a couple of years. Excellent review, I LOVE the Holy Wars demo!!!!!
Basically what I expected from Gibson. My 04 Korean WMI made DV8-R has flawless paint, neck thru, duncans, tuna matic string thru, and Spretzel locking tuners. For less than half the cost even if you adjust for inflation. Even came with Dunlop flushmount strap locks. Goooooo Gibson
@@leeroden7900 I bought a tribute SG to go with my EC1000 last year , thinking “I finally bought a Gibson!” And it was one of the shittiest guitars I’ve ever bought. I returned it and got a studio les Paul, which was also a giant piece of shit with the same sharp fret ends, and really weird nitro lacquer ridges running down the neck because they apparently tape the fretboards off like shit to get it out the door. The tribute SG never had a ground wire installed going to the bridge. Returned them both and bought another South Korean EC1000 which is of course immaculate right out of the box. Why the fuck do I care if the guitar is nitro lacquer if they can’t even finish the guitar right? How come an affinity strat doesn’t have polishing compound residue all over the fretboard?
They used pretzels to lock your strings ?? I didn't know it was possible 😄😄 Sorry I couldn't resist...It was an easy one...I know you meant "Sperzels" 😁😁
Although the guitar isn't the best thx to poor QC, I love the aesthetic of the guitar overall, but mostly your playing. I was blown up right from the get go and I'm so impressed that I want to get better myself. Congrats on that and Gibson really needs to step up their game.
I respectfully disagree with your aesthetics point. This is supposed to be a metal guitar, but the rounded corners on the body and the hockey stick headstock with no point kind of ruin the whole vibe. Especially considering that this is a Dave Mustaine signature, it just doesn't match him. I think they designed it in such a way to make it more neutral in order to widen the pool of possible buyers, but ended up sacrificing the whole vibe of Dave's guitars. At this point it isn't a Dave Mustaine signature, it's just a slightly customized Gibson V with Dave's name attached to it.
@@MrBX5 GREAT points. (No pun intended, ha ha.) (Maybe HETFIELD could get away with CLASSIC GIBSON FLYING V rounded corners, but you're spot on: It AIN'T "MUSTAINE"!)
Damn, Glenn pulling a Lucretia. Wasn't expecting that. Probably the best Friedman solo often outplayed by tornado of souls (which is great too don't get me wrong).
I have Gibson Explorer, produced somewhere in 2013 or 2014. It seems like nothing has changed since then: paint job imperfections, neck pickup frame screws are too close, making it bend when installed. The nut is too narrow near the first string; I don't know what miracle keeps it laying on the nut considering the headstock angle. However, the tuning is very stable, the harmonics are super easy, and the sound is excellent. Back in the day, I even thought that was a brand's quirk: you get the best sound and imperfections don't matter. Now I see it's just the company stagnating.
One of the best guitars I ever owned - and the first "decent" guitar - was a '78 Gibson Explorer, in natural finish. It was about £450 second-hand somewhere on Tin Pan Alley in London. It was SO good, I bought ANOTHER one - an Explorer II from '79 with a Kahler trem. It was SOOOOO bassy, and boomy, with no top end at all - it was APPALLING. But it looked sooooooo good (that was the 5-layer contoured natural oil finish version of the Explorer). I sold the first to my lead guitarist eventually (Booooo!) and then the second to some guitar store (Yayyyy!) In hindsight, I wish I'd kept the Explorer II and swapped the pickups with some really bright ones because I think that was the issue. The Kahler was actually really, really good. It let you dive quite a bit, and stayed in tune well. But if you pulled up on it, it literally would let you pull so much the strings could snap if you were dumb enough - it went up several octaves! But neither was more than £600 second-hand, and at the time they were both 25ish years old (and a hell of a lot older now!). The lesson being: new Gibsons almost always suck. OLD Gibsons suck a LOT of the time and if you find a really decent one which stays in tune and isn't built like it's put together with PVA: KEEP THAT SUCKER! Because most of them suck in a variety of ways - generally tuning or strange sound issues. You'll pick one Gibson up, and it will feel like a paving slab with a neck, but sound AMAZING - you just have to make sure not to drop it on your foot, or you'll shatter every bone. Then another one will weight much less... and sound just as good. Then another heavy one will sound like it's stuffed with cotton. And another light one will sound like a donkey too. REALLY inconsistent. I've had similar issues with Jacksons - mainly sound-wise. But NOTHING at that scale, and nothing like the build quality issues. If you get a cheap Jackson, it probably will have fret end issues, setup hell etc. An expensive one almost never will. But BOTH of them will have finishes that would put a mirror to shame. Gibsons (or for that matter Fenders)...not so much.
I FUCKING DESPISE FLOYD ROSES for 20 reasons (like how STIFF it is)..... ...and one day a pal had his guitar with a KAHLER whammy bar.....and when I played that it was like BUTTER!! IT WAS HEAVEN!!! (Too bad I cant afford to have my current guitars retrofitted etc.)
The one major thing that I think keeps everyone coming back to Glenn is the fact that even if he's predisposed to hating a brand or manufacturer, he's willing to give them credit for certain aspects. E.g. Line 6, Gibson, etc. Oh yeah and the beautiful hair. I keep forgetting the hair.
Great review, Glenn! We always appreciate the honesty. Also your guitar playing is pretty insane. You’re a testament to “practice, practice, practice” keep it up!
insanely bad. For a guy that constantly cries that musicians suck at playing and the fact that he's been playing guitar since the 1980's and power chords/poor riffs are all he can manage is insane. The review is good though of the guitar itself. I hope he sends that guitar back because the finish damage on an instrument that expensive is inexcusable. That may have happened in shipping though and may not be gibson/sweetwaters fault.
@@pgon9097 defending someone else’s playing was not something I thought I was going to be doing today. Glenn plays guitar as a side passion and it’s apparent he’s progressed over time on his channel. You can’t really shit on someone for progressing even if it’s not where you think it should be. As far as the riffs go, I mean that’s kind of a matter of opinion and musical taste. I don’t like participation awards but if I can see someone has put in time and effort into improving into something competent that just isn’t my thing or the way I’d do it, I’m not going to say it sucks because I can recognize and respect it for what it is which is someone else’s art.
@@pgon9097As a producer, it's not his job to be great at guitar. If someone is sucking in the studio and wasting time and money he has every right to bitch. This is him on his own channel. He's not obligated to be good.
I saw a video of Aldo talking about using the Explorer headstock. He said with the standard headstock the G string went out of tune every time he bent it. He thought this wouldn’t be an issue with the Explorer headstock.
Shirtless Glenn, eeeeep xD was not ready for that. That being said, I've had huge paint issues on both Les Pauls I have. I had to send one back twice, and the other three times, and that's from the custom shop. My Epiphone Elitists from the Japanese custom shop came in perfect. Thanks for the honesty
Japanese custom shops have to be at least 2 levels above US shops. They turn it up to 11 with their craftsmanship and attention to detail. I have a custom Snapper-7 from ESP and I've never seen such a flawless handbuilt instrument, not once have I thought it wasn't worth the price tag. It's really sad that there's people actually paying $3k for these shitty Gibsons when if they turned to a different brand their money would go much further.
Great review Glen I really appreciate the honesty here, highlighting both the positives and the negatives and giving a very real overview. I'm a huge Ibanez fan and have 7 of them, even the cheaper ones in my collection are still pretty amazing to be honest. I couldn't imagine paying $2800 for a guitar! I have 3 archtop flamed finish RGs that were around $600 and $800 and I bet they would put that V to shame. I don't know what Gibson is thinking, even as far as legacy brands go Fender wipes the floor with them, my MIM Tele is pretty damn great, and American made Fenders that are only around 1200-1500 are amazing right out of the box. As a side note, when you worked for Chrysler did you work in the plant making Challengers? I know they were made in Canada, just not sure if that's your city or not. If so I bought mine new in 2009 and still love it just as much as the day I bought it. That car and my guitars are 2 of the things in my life that consistently bring me joy, and if you had a hand in making it I just wanted to say thank you very much sir! Cheers from western Canada!
I ♥️ your honesty. Ty for calling out gibbons declining quality compared to the never decreasing $$$ while at the same time being fair on the plusses of the guitar. U rule sir!!
If most of the action problem was due to the truss rod, perhaps the luthier listened to your setup advice ;) More seriously, weather can fuck up a neck, and I think that's where good wood can be the most important. Wood being improperly dried might explain a lot.
There are a couple of Les Pauls with Explorer headstocks, one of which being the Aldo Nova. Not sure if it stays in tune better. And now I see that this channel has been missing something for a very long time. Shirtless Glen. It's what the people need. It's what the people deserve.
I'm a Fender guy, always have been. About 10 years ago my friend sold me a Les Paul style guitar made by one of Gibsons competitors. I love that guitar and became intrigued with Gibsons. So I went out and bought a Les Paul studio. After playing it for about a week and joining the Les Paul group on Facebook, I realized I like the Les Paul copy better for a number of reasons. I posted a picture of my Les Paul next to my Les Paul copy on the Les Paul group and said I like the copy better. People reacted to my post like I pissed on their God, then I was removed and blocked from the group.
My new Les Paul came with the "Plek" certificate and it was perfect. It was also slack tuned and when I brought it up to standard, it has stayed there. Yeah, I was just as stunned as you are reading this. I don't know how much it cost to do this on a factory produced guitar, but it's worth every penny. I honestly had all my tools out because I expected a full blown set up. Like an old coach used to say "one attaboy does not erase 20 'ah shits'. But it's a start.
I've been so curious about Plek! The technology is really cool, it's a shame that it's somewhat hard to access. For anyone into tremolos check out the Tremmory. I have 2... on a 7 string and a 6 string with floyds and they stay perfectly in tune all the time. It's like this great weight is lifted!. Sadly, due to how many floyd guitars I have it'll take me the cost of a Mustaine V to outfit all my trems with one hehehe
Damn it, Glenn! I've been missing Fearless Gear Reviews, good to have them back! This one was quite a bit longer than the previous ones, but the fact that you paid attention to the little details (as opposed to Gibson) made it really interesting. Good job, man! Also, do you think you could do a Fearless Gear Review on the Orange Super Crush 100 head? Most of the RUclipsrs said it sound great and really close to a tube head, but I wanna hear THE TRUTH.
Also got two of those and can confirm it. The typical LP-style headstock is quite disadvantageous for tuning stability, but when the nut is properly cut, it will do the job.
@@diegovidar I haven't watched that video since 2 years ago or something but wasn't that guitar just a prehistoric Les Paul reissue with an Explorer headstock that got associated with Aldo and Rick because Aldo came up with the idea and he sold his second prototype to Rick?
@@Mr.Goldbar Exactly, Aldo has always said that combination was his own design. And is considered the "Aldo Nova Signature". Clearly saying "there's also the Aldo Nova" does not make it justice. However, it wasn't a diss, is just that Rick is more well known and his "Signature" perhaps more easily found.
I had the opportunity to play one yesterday at a shop and it was indeed a bit underwhelming. Tried a ‘61 custom shop SG after and it played and sounded a LOT better… at almost double the price. Has to be done sometimes to keep the GAS in check and be happy with my ‘93 SG Standard I bought new back then and that I like better still. 800€ guitar at 2777€, that is exactly what I felt after playing the V.
For $2500 the guitar has to be perfect. I have a gibson les paul that I bought used, it lived in the case for the longest time because the g and b strings would never stay in tune. After a lot of research and experimentation (change of tuners and bridge) I learned the strings were getting stuck on the nut, used sandpaper to fix it and it worked, now is one of my favorite guitars but sheeeeesh! Should not have taken so much effort!
Quality for the price is ridiculous. In my head, if I'm paying more than 2,000 for a guitar it better be perfect to the millimeter.
Absolutely. The only time I paid more than 2000 for a guitar was a balaguer semi custom that was built to my exact specifications. Can't imagine why someone would pay that much for a stock guitar.
Only time I think that's not the one and only rule is when it's going to hang on a wall or something.
I don't know how Gibson gets away with such bad QC on their flagship and custom gear.
@@ShidavTheVedmak Blues lawyer fanboys with money to burn and by hiring famous musicians like Mustaine or Hammett to entice their fans to buy the signature models?
@@chaptermasterpedrokantor1623 it's enough to make a grown man cry.
@@ShidavTheVedmak Because brand loyalists will keep buying them and then go out of pocket to get them in playable shape.
"Now that I'm playing authentic, I'm authentically disappointed". Fucking brilliant! No one could've said it better!
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Yeah those flaws are unacceptable at that price point, especially with the paint cracking. Maybe if it was $900 new you could be like "meh" but for $2800 that thing better be absolute perfection.
you are goddamn right! I've seen a lot of gibsons that have really shitty paintjob around the binding too. they just can't get that binding show cleanly. Meanwhile some trash import brand can do that perfectly. The price tag for their products is just insane. (not to mention the tooling marks in the fretboard and binding due to those dumb nib things on the frets) Totally unacceptable
This isn't even right for 900 dude. When Im buying a brand new guitar, I want a brand new guitar lol IDC if it's 100 bucks, it shoudl be RIGHT
my harley benton got better finish than this thought, that neck joint is unacceptable and so are the paint drips which is just pure lazy and unprofessional
You buy a Gibson for the sound and this guy’s knit picking flaws are stupid considering guitar’s are meant to have wear and tear unless your a collector who cant play a lick and just hangs it up for house decoration like a grandma
My $900 ESP LTD’s are perfect
As someone that used to work for Rickenbacker and also Heritage Guitars, I can confirm, guitar paint booths are extremely close to automotive ones (some companies actually use converted automotive spray booths.) you’re also very correct, the fact that a paint job like that was passed by QC and released from the factory is a tad bit embarrassing.
Must be why Fender uses so many of the exact Dupont paints from cars.
Most of those ''flaws'' are due to wood movement and the fact that it was bare wood they just sprayed over (might as well be one of Dave's specs)
@@Masterfighterx also a possibility, which is why most of the time several layers of shader are sprayed over the wood first, and if the shader is a light color not intended to be transparent or translucent, a layer of primer over the sealer to hide wood patterns from showing through the overall finish.
Even a flaw in the wood shouldn’t be showing through.
One reason is because of the sealer, and even grain filler is used.
Another is because the wood being used should be checked/inspected for imperfections, knots etc. before being cut, sanded and prepped.
Sure, a common, and maybe forgivable oversight on a cheap, or budget guitar. But on a $2,800 guitar? They should be taking the time to make sure every piece is up to snuff.
Especially when metal flake/sparkle finishes cannot be repaired.
Silvertop, goldtop, pelham blue, etc. are finishes that cannot be touched up or repaired. If it gets damaged or messed up, the guitar has to be stripped and sanded back down to bare wood, and the process starts over from square 1.
Sure, it’s a time consuming process, and it costs money, but again, that guitar is nearly $3000. It can be done.
@@f3uibeghardt522 precisely! They aren’t the only ones who use car paint either. A lot of em actually do. But hell, if it looks good, it’s good! I dig the look when done right!
I used to paint i could go by the sound of it hitting what im painting as to get the right consistency and coverage it aint that difficult man !!
Heya Glenn, any chance of a "recording non-metal instruments for metal" type of video? Mandolins, strings, horns etc? Be interested to see your approach to that
yes!
Yes please!
That'd be sick!
I'll dust off the accordion and hammer dulcimer. (You WISH I was kidding).
My wife has an accordion. Unfortunately I am not joking
If Gibson had someone like you in their department, their guitars would be flawless.
lol no, he'd get fired
@@orionbekesi😂😂😂😂
Yup
Except for the fact that when he was reading the specs he said scale length of 25.5 when it's actually 24.75.
@@elcabrononwheelsnormally you’d be correct but Dave pays 25.5 guitars so they made an acceptation for him
"who is this guitar for?!" my thoughts exactly when you mentioned the price.
also props to you for supporting unions! Workers aren't gonna give a crap about quality if they aren't paid a living wage. let's be real now. I support big companies existing if they pay and treat their employees well. sadly this is happening less and less.
union workers don't give a crap about anything except for their benefits and their ability to have the worst workers and keep their jobs. Automotive unions are some of the worst demanding the most pay and yet have vehicles get recalled for poor quality all the time. The company pays for the recall but the lazy union fat cats keep their pay. Get real dude.
Agreed, I'll never work non-union construction again.
Its for ignorant boomers stuck in the 80s both in terms of musical taste but also instrument taste and quality.
@@abbagil Amen bro/sis!
Rich collectors. Who else can afford these crazy expensive guitars.
For me personally, $1,000 is my max. There are some exceptions, there are a few $1,500 guitars out there that I’d seriously consider buying. But thanks to Glen opening my eyes to the myths about guitars that people foolishly believe, I see no reason to spend more then $1,000 on a guitar.
It doesn't sound like a 3000 guitar
My 2 cents, Dear Glenn, first off yes for 2800 bucks you should have gotten locking grover tuners, and the good nut and a stellar picture perfect paint job... Totally agree. And the action should have been nice and playable out of the box, maybe need a tiny bit adjustment for personal preferences. But it shouldn't have been high as a kite. Now then, most of the money you are paying for is Wood from Africa, ebony fretboard, doesn't get more rare and expensive, same with the mahogany if im not mistaken. You genuinely get a different smoother distortion from mahogany than something like Ash which is much harder wood and gives off more volume and harsh distorted sound. I've tested it out and watched others test the different woods out, it is a substantial real difference. Now then, I don't think you hit those pinch harmonics anywhere near Zakk Wylde on No More Tears because, it didn't sound like it, and the pickups are very different. Zakk used Emg 81 in the bridge position and an Emg 85 in the neck position. He used hot-rodded Marshal JCM 800 heads to get that sound. I don't know the eq settings for that album, but he uses bass 10 or 9, mid at -3, and treble at 7 or 6.5, then tone maxxed volume nearly maxxed on guitar using bridge pickup, set of tens for the high strings and super thick for the lows, don't think they make them anymore because they were my go to strings for years and I couldn't find them anymore, now I use the Jazz 11s chromed, ultra smooth and I usually jam in drop b or c or c#. And I hit them Zakk Wylde pinch harmonics pretty tight. It's one of my favorite sounds. Something where you can't just push a pedal, no you gotta make it happen with your hands. You do need a fat amount of gain. Feel it out, max it and dial it back slowly to find your sweet spot. From painting cars with my Dad, I'm pretty sure the wrinkles in the paint on the side of the pickups is because they hung it vertically and then turned it on its side before the paint was dry. Seen people do it with fenders, doors, accidentally happens on bumpers if you lay the paint too thick. In my heart, the paint problems alone warrant returning it and demanding excellence for a $2800 guitar. If money were no object, Id call up the custom department, get the dual emg 81's in a mahogany SG symmetrical headstock, grover locking tuners, rickenbacker whammy bar, dark red finish so you can still see the wood grain. No pick guard. A comfy metal monster that is very able to make very diverse sounds with the rickenbacker whammy bar. 24 frets. I have a floyd rose and didn't know very much about how it worked before I spent a grand on it when I was 15. Im 38 and ended up blocking the bridge off simply because I love those Ibanez pickups...
Seriously. The only reason I'd ever buy a vintage Gibson or Fender would be mainly for historical value.
Only time I’m going over 1000$ for a guitar is if it’s a solar cuz even though it’s mainly cuz of the brand sponsorships *glares intensely at ola* .
@@leshreddur nice novel.
I love that they still use nitro finishes, and I love all of their shapes, but you're spot on here man. If the fit and finish aren't mint, you can't be charging people over $1200 or so for crap like that.
$1200?
Imagine if it were $2800!
😵
Nitro finishes are more flimsy though
@@tylersmith7534But they wear with your playing. All three of my guitars are poly finishes. I ended up selling both of the Gibson LPs I've purchased but still, there's a thing to those finishes. They smell delightful too
@IamtheFerryMan yeah nitro finish lets the guitar feel and vibrate like a piece of wood, instead of plastic. I have several guitars... some have a "perfect" finish, but feel like plastic. My G Les Paul is still perfect, but on top of that, it feels and vibrates like a chunk of wood. I love it.
This sounds a lot like me trying out Gibsons in general. I go in with low expectations, get surprised by the minimal requirements like staying in tune or being reasonably playable, and at the end of the day realize it would be perfectly passable if the price was halved or less.
I agree. I used to own a Les Paul. It was great for rhythm playing, but as soon as I joined a band where I had to play leads, I could not keep the G string in tune. I ended up selling it, and replacing it with MIJ Ibanez guitars, and I haven't looked back. In the same spirit as this video, I think people pay way too much for Solar and Chapman guitars, as well. I have never had a guitar built in the FujiGen factory come back with flaws like I see with Gibson, Solar, and Chapman guitars.
Big agree. I actually really like a lot of Gibsons I've played, they're just not worth $2.5k or whatever they fuck they're getting for them. That's why I tell people go find a used Studio that plays well for around $1k or less. Same feel and feature set, with a MUCH more appropriate price tag.
Ah yes, the “tuning issue”.
User error I’m afraid.
@@jimherleva4541 If by user you mean luthier, then I agree. When the only guitar I've ever owned in the last 20 years that has a tuning issue is a Gibson, then the issue was the guitar. If a guitar that costs over $1000 needs modification to stay in tune, then that is a design flaw. I'm not shitting on Gibson either, I love Gibsons. I like the way they feel and the way they sound. However, I chose to sell mine because my Ibanez guitars required far less modification out of the box.
@@jimherleva4541 somehow I don't have such "user error" with other guitars.
I honestly feel like Glenn is describing my Dave Mustaine Signature (Dean VMNT Peace Sells) for the most part; except the fact that I paid 500 dollars for it (well, my parents did, it was a Christmas gift) and it’s the most used piece of gear in my studio.
Got a Dean VMNT silver 2014 korea today, It has none of these mistakes, and cost 5 times les,, 570€ used
I picked up a VMNT Peace Sells on Amazon a couple years ago and it's a really cool guitar! Totally worth the $500 US and I like the way it looks way better than the Gibson. I really wanted to like this guitar and buy one. After hear this and other reviews I think 3 Solar V's (6, 7, 8) are a better value. Wish they were a bit easier to get in the states
My Dean 5-String bass I bought in '92 is literally the best bass I've ever bought (including Ibanez, Rickenbacker, Fender Precision, and a Peavey I could have used to crack granite in a quarry it was so heavy, etc).
In fact, I've had guitarists pick it up when it was in Open C tuning (GCGCG) and say it was as easy to fret as a guitar - though they still couldn't get their hands to stretch enough to chord stuff like I did because their little spindly fingers couldn't stretch 6 frets my the bass.
LMAOOooooo
Deans are a lot of bang for the buck. Hell, I bought a Schecter C-6 Platinum series on a whim (about $600) and I couldn't possibly be happier with it. Some minor wiring issues (input could have been soldered a little better) but it's just such a complete guitar at a fraction of the cost.
I have a £600 esp and I still use a £100 Dean as my main guitar
No joke, I came across a used low end Dean VMNT at a Sam Ash for $200 in that same Metallic silver finish and it had a better paint job and neck joint than the $2,800 Gibson one.
I have one of those low end deans. And I love it, it has a decently slim and wide d shaped neck, which suits me way more than those chunky as hell Gibson necks. It sounds great, and is a way better deal than this
Bro Fr I have a Dean VX ($400 new) that I’ve modded and the only reason it has a paint defect is cause my drummer was tryna bounce his drum stick off the floor and hit it straight onto my guitar lmao
Aint it the truth.
I’ve played a few of the new “inspired by Gibson” Epiphone Les Paul’s and the modern V and explorer at my local long and mcquade and they were setup properly. They also did not have any cosmetic flaws. Epiphone has sure stepped up there game with these new line of guitars. Then picked up a Gibson double cutaway modern that had a neck so bowed I could have used it for archery.
I agree ☝️ the Epiphone guitars I’ve played in the last couple years are absolutely fantastic.
and I`ve never played any epiphone`s that didnt have to had some work done to them , some more than others . now , the new epiphones are very good , but they are not better than whatever "expensive " brand you put them up against . some of the flaws in gibsons isnt even flaws
Long and mcqade sets them up I've talked to a few of the employees and they say they're good but not great out of box but that being said most of the new epiphones looks killer and sounds great too
@@vainestlamb5917 ah ok. My understanding was if you bought a guitar from L&M they send it for a free setup that’s included in your purchase. At least that’s how the location in Surrey British Columbia explained it to me.
My Brent Hinds Flying V destroys the quality on this. Jesus that sucks for 2800.
Thank you for telling it like it is! In my opinion, even a single flaw is unacceptable on a "premium" instrument. Especially from a major brand like Gibson. It's a shame.
right?! and the inspection card checked off was the cherry on top
@@Pointsbeingmade life is about not getting a flawed instrument that is waaay overpriced to begin with.
I'm truly glad that we have people like Glenn
2:17
Your wish has been already granted in the 80's! Aldo Nova had a signature Les Paul that had the Explorer headstock (in fact there was an entire series of different shaped guitars with the Explorer headstock back then).
These guitars are really collectable nowadays and I wish someone made a modern equivalent
Here is Trogly's Guitars' documentation and review of said instrument:
ruclips.net/video/0wq7_s6mYQo/видео.html
I was just about to make the same Aldo nova comment.
Werent kramer assaults basically les pauls with hockey headstocks?
Works out to about £2,250 over here in the UK. Got to say if I had that much to drop on a guitar, it'd be custom made from a decent luthier every time!
I would rather use a portion of that money to upgrade the guitars I already own.
Yep, that's what I have been saying for years...until my last luthier passed away. Finding a new one (with the bandwidth to make one for your) is so difficult now.
You’re VERY brave for doing the shirtless scene and that was piss funny!!! I honestly laughed out loud when you did that. Great work as always Glenn 🤘
yeah that was really brave 🤣
However, I 'd really like a warning or a disclaimer at the beginning, like, you know, "watch at your own risk", "viewer discretion is advised" etc....
@@dirtyharry1881 warning, risk of eye cancer
@@dirtyharry1881 DAD BOD ALERT
@@XlouietheflyX too late, dude. Too late
When it comes to QC, a very large US retailer has 9 Slash Anaconda Burst guitars that didn't meet this retailers standard and are now being sold on Reverb as demo. That's insane for a $3000 MSRP guitar. Then again, as long as people keep the resale values high, I doubt Gibson even cares.
I'm not brave enough to go check how much are those...
@@onerandombruh they are 3k new
Two things Glenn, One you're playing has come a long way practice is paying off keep it up! Two thanks for this fearless gear review Gibson has just fallen off so profoundly its crazy. Keep up the good work, cheers from Milwaukee.
Do you know this from first hand experience or are you simply trusting "influencers" for this information? I've played several new Gibsons over the past few years that were fantastic. A friend of mine bought a Les Paul traditional a few years back. That guitar is lovely, stays in tune, sounds awesome, and did NOT require an additional set-up. It was great from day 1 straight out of the factory. The paint was also perfect (not that I care).
@@davidreynolds6718 bro, it is hilarious. You are calling him out for trusting the review from multiple people, yet you are saying that the opposite is the case and you know because of your own (single and maybe two person) experience...
@@davidreynolds6718 all the Gibsons I've been fortunate enough to play have always been poorly potted just alot of feedback, also alot of tuning issues(5 ish i know its a small sample size). But that could be the setups at the store. Other brands present at the same store seemed to not have that problem(at a lower price point mind you).I dont have alot money so i try to be little quicker to rule of expensive guitars and Gibson at the end of the day are just beyond my price point.They have alot of QC issues and this much variance between all their guitars makes them a risky investment at best and that is simply unacceptable for guitars at this price point. In my opinion. Granted take it with a grain of salt I'm no one and have had limited experience with Gibson as a whole.
@@linnickschlanter4712 I just think it's odd that RUclips influencers associated with Glenn all turned on Gibson at he same time. Something seems off to me.
@@davidreynolds6718 Maybe Gibson stopped giving them free 💩?
Being a Dave Mustaine fan and a Gibson fan, I feel very dissapointed with the quality of the guitars. When I noticed that DM and Gibson were colaborating for a signature V, I was very excited. Now I don't know what to think. Thanks a lot for telling the truth and show what real things are done today.
Same. Here's the kicker: I went to Megadeth show yesterday in Montreal (May 17, 2022) and saw up-close the Gibson that Mustaine played must be a 5,000$ guitar. It has a flamed Maple top with a white binding. It is a completely different animal. A true Signature guitar.
Bro. You need to go and check one out for yourself.
Who knows if this is a one off subpar finish or if Glenn is playing attention to stuff you wouldn't.
Setup... you first need to check if that action that was too high was typical Gibson spec. Meaning... he likes a lower action, but many people are fine with it.
@@Juicexlx you can buy that custom V guitar but it will cost you over 5k new from Gibson. That is what this guitar should be for 3k.
As a former Gibson authorized service technician, and a guy with 3 Gibsons, I watched this with amusement. Yeah, they're selling a name. They're not offering a value. It's almost unfair to ever ask if any new Gibson is worth the price. They rarely are. But, we keep buying them, lol. And after we're done setting them up and modifying them to play decently, we then have the right name on the headstock to impress the kiddies. And we know the real guitarists are more interested in how we got it to play well than the guitar itself, lol!
Ive never own a Gibson, but Im shocked to see so many QC issues, specially with painting, all those cracks over the finish, and the finferboard and binding always with tooling marks. I see Troglys reviews and he thinks its ok, its part of Gibson aura, Im just shocked.
@@papasmamas1 What they have is a roster of heroes. We hear great playing and great tone, and we want the tools they used. I've seen Gibson corporate make the worst decisions in this industry. But, since there is always some plucky fan with a couple grand ready to buy into the dream, Gibson keeps making sales.
They say they care about QC, but lets be real. QC costs money. Gibson would rather keep that money than increase their quality.
It's been this way for decades. I don't imagine they'll ever change. Why should they?
@@stevesrecordingtips7247 if you want to sound the best you have to play the best
@@bikeman1x11 So, i should get a PRS? 8)
@@stevesrecordingtips7247 they are great- even the korean se's can be quite good- my tremonti se is awesome
I've bought all of my guitars online with mixed results. So the other day I tried something unusual - I went down to my local guitar store and started trying out instruments. I left 45 minutes later with a great guitar. It's from a virtually unknown brand, there are no youtube demos of the model I got, but it looks great, sounds great, and is setup by a guy who spent the last 30 years fixing guitars.
Guys, stop buying unseen, unheard. The only reason the companies can get away with selling junk is because we keep buying from warehouses 800 km away from us, based on a youtube review and a 30 dollar price difference. Doing that is literaly begging to get ripped off.
Good luck doing that when you’re a lefty though.
What's the brand and model name of the guitar?
What kind of guitar???
We do a shop setup on every guitar we ship, and any shop-sold guitar if the customer wants it. If the setup is crap from the factory, we'll fix it before we hang the guitar. And, oh yeah - If it's a lefty, we'll hang it in "Lefty Alley" with the other dozen
@@millardbrown4769 I guess you’re in the us though, there’s barely anywhere near me that you can go in and try a lefty and they’re usually either cheap squiers or the odd overpriced Gibson, I just get mine built from a local luthier now.
Loved the honest review. I tried so many V's before being satisfied with a Solar V. Got a Solar Explorer soon after because of how much fun it was to play.
I’m really glad someone else is addressing quality control issues. I had to go through 3 50s Goldtops until one was “right”.
There were even strings the wrong way round and not even in the bridge.
After all my issues I contacted Gibson, they just didn’t care.
I'm so sorry to hear that I hope you find a guitar that's just right for you man
Thank you for saying this man. If you’re referring to the 2021 models, I was actually looking at those a few weeks ago and really liked the sound of the 50s version. Interesting to know that there are still quality control issues going on. A lot of the press has been saying Gibson is coming back! Seems like they’ve still got a ways to go.
Hi Glenn, I really enjoy watching your videos. I have severe chronic lower back and neck pain. Most nights I can't sleep because of my chronic pain. I binge watch your videos when I can't sleep. Watching your videos helps me forget about my chronic pain. Thank you for making your videos.
❤❤
To get a low pinch right; make sure to apply a bit of vibrato at the same time and put a bit more pressure on to fretting finger (aggressively apply the vibrato). I find it to be also much easier with the middle or ring finger. I think that wiggling the string with the fretting finger helps sustain the pinch a little better and produce that deep wallop you're after lol. Then again I could be completely wrong, but I do LOVE my low pinchies 🤟!
That’s the way you do it, let the man do his thing. I’m sure he’s going to change his style cause of you. You people are annoying af
I've had this dilemma for a while now: What should I spend my money on, a vintage coffee table guitar, or a fancy sports-guitar ?
What is attractive to you about the vintage guitar? Honestly I'm curious, not trolling at all. I admit I like them as collectors items and investments..... but I haven't played my Gibson explorer in decades. Yet it is probably the most valuable guitar I own (out of waaay too many) lol
@@mad7stringer Other than the finish? Nothing. I'm not even going to play it. It's going to sit in its case, just like my 1954 Rolls Royce sits in the garage, never to be driven.
@@mad7stringer Because, unfortunately, Gibson no longer manufactures the Corvus.
OH WOW.
Edit: I recently bought an Epiphone Alex Lifeson LP Axcess - and the QC and finish is astonishing for a sub-£1000 guitar. The fretwork is some of the best I've ever come across irrespective of price - and for a mass produced instrument I had very little ground to improve on in terms of setup.
Which, should make big brother Gibson very embarrassed indeed.
I got an Epiphone Thunderhorse, and I was amazed with the quality. It was pristine!
The newer Epiphones are great guitars.
Yup. My experience as well with my Tribute Plus Epiphone. Fantastic guitar for around 1000 USD.
epi's been styling on gibson in both quality and innovation for years now...
i got a epiphone brent hinds v and everything was perfect finish action intonation everything
At 6:30 your cover for symphony for destruction made me absolutely bust out laughing 😂 “you take a mortal man, you give him a Flying V, watch him turn into a snob.🤣 dude your personality is killer 🤘🏽
I'm glad Gibson is finally getting called out on this stuff. For years all I would ever hear anybody say about their gear was about how great it was and every time I picked one up I just didn't understand why anybody would spend that kind of cash on a guitar brand that felt okay at best. Soooooooooo many gear snobs. lol
Gibson have been getting called out for this for years and years - probably decades.
All ive heard is how shit they are. Reality is, all brands except maybe a few boutique ones make duds. I've seen some absolutely terrible asian made ones despite the overall quality hike the past decades.
Their previous effort to ripoff people resulted in bankruptcy, this new revival has not changed anything... "Made in USA" is a joke these days when Korean and even Indonesian made guitars beat the crap out of these overpriced "US made" pieces of wood.
@@fredriksvard2603 for me it was revolutionary!
My entire youth i had NO access to instruments and didn't know anyone who owned one.....and I always dreamt of having Gibsons and Fenders someday.
BUT WHEN I FINALLY TRIED THEM IN MY LATE TEENS........
...they felt wrong in EVERY way!!!
(GIBSON AND FENDER = DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS. BOTH a bunch of assholes and crooks and fraudsters!)
Then, I tried brands i HATED (Peavey!) (Ibanez!).....and their shit played like BUTTER and I was stunned.
I can find you a million $180 Ibanez MIKROS that are better than ANY GIBSON OR FENDER OF ANY PRICE.
gibsons have metaphysical and ideological value. thats how many 'non snobs' fall for them.
Finally! A Gibson that plays like an Epiphone. Took em long enough.
Hahaha! Even though I disagree with your point that's an awesome comment, here's a Like for you Good Sir. You've earned it!
Hate to admit it but that's true. Ive got a Gibson Les Paul and it makes me regret selling my 1999 Epiphone Les Paul Quilt Top and Epiphone "1984" Explorer. My Gibson does not play like those 2 Epiphones and I wish I could reverse those decisions quite badly.
@@visionop8 Bummer. Gibson USA definitely had some shitty years. They looked and seemed like they were getting way better again but this video makes me wonder. He could have gotten that one out of 1000 really bad one or maybe the vast majority of them suck, lol
@@PatPosse Gibson really did have some better years. I bought my Les Paul from memories of playing a friend's dad's Les Paul Custom and I couldn't put it down. What I got wasn't that. I think maybe we missed the good years.
Yeah, the price is still "Authentic"
Wow! A lot of comments here. I’m sure this will get buried but here goes. A HUGE thank you for talking about Unionization at the end of the video. I’m a 15 year union pipe insulator by trade and spent the first three years of my career nonunion and I can tell you that you are 100% correct.
Love the channel, great videos, keep up the awesome work. Can you do a video about soundproofing and room treatment soon? I’m building a studio in my basement and this topic is still somewhat confusing to me. Thanks brother!
Baseball bat neck and an ebony fretboard is probably the reason it stays in tune better than most other Gibson's. I had a 76' Les Paul that was exceptionally stable...but it had a thicker maple neck.
Compare that to a friend of mine that used to do dive bombs by bending the mahogany neck of his 64' SG.
As much as I hate baseball bat necks, you're probably right.
Should i say some thing blasphemous? I just got a cheap chinese lespaul shaped guitar without locking tuners and its exceptionally stable. Hours of trash type riffing wont effect it. It was one year old guitar the guy sold me for what he got it for. I bought it for 18000 rs. Roughly equals to 100$
More likely the headstock shape and the nut.
I think you're onto something. My '79 Les Paul is stays in tune like a dream. So does my '95 SG. Never have issues with either guitar
Turns out it was a typo the whole time. It's not tone wood, it's tune wood
Shirtless Glenn!! Goes to show that the Keto results have come a long way, keep up the great work!
TY Jake!
@@SpectreSoundStudios I came here to say this also! Great work glenn, lookin good!
3rd, and came to say the same! Keep up the great work Glenn!
@@SpectreSoundStudios Glen if I send you some Resistance Bands, Will you Use Them? You can Use them Seated as Well and they are Great for Stress Relief ; ) You are practically using them Right Now , They are just not in your Hands 😁
@@SpectreSoundStudios I MUST DISAGREE WITH ALL OF YOU:
HAD GLEN PUT BABY OIL ALL OVER HIS TORSO FIRST.....then it would've been right on!
Great review. Gibson is the Harley Davidson of guitars. A clothing company that also sells products to layers and dentists that haven't improved since the 60s and expects the good reputation earned by people who are long gone to carry them forever.
Really brought it home at the end with your correct statements about labor and unions. Hell yes.
I'd reckon that the Epiphone stuff and the endless onslaught of '59 LP remakes, remixes, and reissues are the only things keeping Gibson alive at this point. To put out such a bad guitar at such a high price point is beyond pathetic; as if someone is deliberately trying to destroy the Gibson brand and legacy.
Remember the time when buying a Gibson meant something. I have an old Epiphone SG that I got for pocket change. It was new but the neck had seperated from the body during shipping. Got it glued and changed the kind of dull pickups for some old Dimarzios I had. Super guitar, I could say that it's as good as a real Gibson from the same time!
Yeah .... that describes like every "legacy" brand in the US the last 10 years
Gibson is just cashing in as hard as they possibly can before the Boomers and Gen X dad-rockers finally all die off and nobody gives a crap about their "lifestyle brand" at all anymore.
From what I see players under 40 mostly just don't care about the Gibson name, and I don't blame them. They have no reason to cling to a brand out of nostalgia, which is really all Gibson has going for it now.
When a headstock straight up cracked and nearly separated on a Les Paul I was preparing to purchase, as I was playing it - that was the last Gibson I ever played and have no desire to pick up one again. Every time I’ve been tempted, all the problems you have detailed in this video are consistently present on gibsons.
i always thought I'd own Fenders & Gibsons.
But when I played either at a guitar shop.....both felt....WRONG.
Then I played IBANEZ guitars and it was night vs day!
I never pay more than $200 for a guitar, and they're all better than Fenders or Gibsons!
your story hurts.
ex:
I once bought a $1200 MACBOOK "PRO"......and BEFORE I LEFT THE APPLE STORE...it had COMPLETELY CRASHED when I tried their email program!!
"JUST A FLUKE!" the lying liars said.
I've owned FIVE expensive Apples.
ALL FIVE WERE GARBAGE OUT OF THE BOX, but only in literally EVERY CATEGORY.
Bc POLICE WILL NOT ENFORCE LAWS against Consumer Fraud.
You know, the fact that I haven’t spent over $500 on a guitar once in my life (and the only time I ever bought a piece of gear that was more than that was a Hiwatt DR 103 from 1971 for the same exact price you got for that guitar) makes me realize I make consciously good decisions with my gear spending for the most part.
A few years back I bought a Harley Benton LP clone for around $120 that played like a dream out of the box. Slapped on some Grover tuners and Seymour Duncan pickups I had laying around, and I have a guitar that I practice on and gig with over any of my Gibsons or higher-end Ibanezes that cost 10x+ more. Paint job is a mediocre tobacco sunburst, but it is good enough for me.
I got two cheap Harley Bentons, one of them being a snow white LP clone. Swapped the pickups, left everything else as it is. Plays absolutely fine! The other one is an Explorer that already came with Grover locking tuners and a Graph Tech nut and I once again only changed the pickups. Absolutely nothing wrong with that thing.
@@honigdachs. I think the tuners on mine were lemons, I basically had to tune them every song or two. Granted I do some pretty aggressive string bends, but it holds up much better now after the upgrade.
I use to think that a Gibson would make me a better guitar player but then I found the world or RUclips and then I found you glen. Thank you for taking away that stupid mentality I had an convinced me to practice more on a cheap guitar like a squire. Keep up the good work.
Yep... save your money. Work on you first! :)
Those "cheap" guitars have come a long way. Squier has some perfectly fine guitars which I wouldn't even call cheap. Affordable but not cheap.
@@ratatatuff yeah low cost guitars are great. I have some expensive guitars myself and just picked up a purple Schecter C6 Elite for $270 (on sale but it's a $400 guitar) and the quality is great.
@@ratatatuff ALL the $200 IBANEZes or BABY DEANS are flawless.
NO REASON to ever pay more than $200 for a guitar.
GLENN. Thank you. THIS is why I watch your videos... Truly comprehensive..full of spot on information and riddled with excellent brevity and absolutely relatable hilariousness... dont change a thing! Fan forever!
Oh and by the way - Jezuz, you goddam SHRED.
Mike Leporati-
Los Angeles based musician and artist
As someone who works at a music store, pretty much every Gibson and Epiphone always needs a setup right out of the box. Usually they just need the action dropped at the bridge but sometimes it gets a little harrier. I find Fender is usually a lot better on the setup side of things but for whatever reason is usually way worse when it comes to fret sprout issues.
Just looked at my Dean that I bought for $400, fit and finish is perfect, stays in tune even with that headstock, and still has its headstock attached. Got a better instrument than a Gibson for 1/6 the price.
Got about $650 sunk into an 80s Charvel I got at a pawn shop. Plays as good as any guitar on the market.
???
I only buy 3/4 guitars (they are superior in EVERY SINGLE WAY)......so what do you need a $400 guitar for?
UMPTEEN $200 Ibanezes and Baby Deans are PERFECT.
It's really funny that MegaDave went to Dean and then Gibson and made them change their distinctive headstocks to basically be a Jackson King V.
the Jackson King V is better made guitar for this money same with ESP Vulture that Hetfield uses.
I just bought a '76 Explorer and it's the best sounding guitar I've ever played. Stays in tune and pretty good playability. I haven't touched my Les Paul's since. Gibson is always hit and miss. I played a 61 es-335 that honestly sounded and played bad. It had real PAFs and they were really tame. Even though some people in the vintage guitar community consider 59-64½ 335's the greatest guitar ever made.
I can't help wondering: why not buy a Schecter, Ibanez or Jackson for under half the price and seemingly equal quality? I recently got a Jackson Mick Thomson Soloist and it's SO much fun to play, feels awesome and sounds amazing.
I completely Agree I recently bought a Schecter Guitar and it is amazing in every way and was a steal price wise at about £400
Actually, for half the price, you will get better quality, features and SS frets from Ibanez, Solar, ESP LTD and Schecter!
@@CroneRaven1810 y'all need to UP YOUR GAME!
My RULE is no guitar over $200.......and the $180 IBANEZ MIKROS are FLAWLESS as were my $190 BABY DEAN guitars!
WHO would want a pricey guitar???
You have to be SCARED to scratch it!!!
I bought a left handed Gibson explorer 70s model and while I love it just because it’s different and dream guitar, it was $2700 and I know there is so many other guitars in that price that would be at least 3x better such as schecter, esp, Ibanez, prs, etc
So, I'm a big Epiphone fan. I have wanted to take the leap and maybe dive into a Gibson SG Standard or something, but I have always had concerns about the QC. Seeing this makes me glad I'm gravitating towards Paul Reed Smith lately. GOURGEOUS guitars, from the fit and finish to the playability to the sound. I've never played a PRS that I have disliked at any price range. I have played numerous Gibsons that were fucking trash. I'm disappointed, but not surprised, to see that Gibson couldn't get this right either.
PRS guitars are what Gibsons should be.
@@3vergiven 1000% facts
Couldn't have said it better myself.
I play an Epiphone Thunderbird bass and wanted a Gibson until I tried one. My £500 Epiphone played better and sounded better than the £1800 Gibson
If you can find a used Gibson Studio used for a good price that plays well, I would highly encourage you to jump on that. But beyond that yeah, a brand like PRS or Schecter (or hell if you like Epiphone, just get one of the new Inspired by Gibson Epiphones) is probably going to yield better return on your money. No reason to go throw down $2k on a new Gibson Standard when both they and other companies make guitars you can find that play just as well if not better for half the price.
Totally agreed. This price is overwhelming, more over with a dismal paint job over this metal machine
Love this guitar. Sounds incredible. Gibson QC is terrible. Hard to say it’s worth 2800 but no other V sounds like THAT
Setup is a pretty personal thing, but there still needs to be some kind of standard where a guitar shows up in playable condition. I've done less setup on Harley Benton and Firefly guitars than I've seen a lot people do on their brand new Gibsons.
I'll take a Solar V over a Gibson any damn day. Looks better, sounds at least as good, costs 1/3 the price...
a chinese solar isnt near a USA gibson
@@bikeman1x11 Totally agree. Solar makes much better guitars for money than Gibson.
Of course Solar guitars are not made in China, they're made in Indonesia.
@@jamiebriggs8277 if you think an asian name guitar compares to the legend of gibson you are bonkers- the greatest musice played was played with les pauls the solars appeal to those who think guitar is a bass
@@bikeman1x11 I don't care about "legends" I care about quality instruments at reasonable prices without the long running problems of overpriced Gibsons to feed a CEO's bloated salary
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Other than that who knows wtf you're even saying
@@jamiebriggs8277 you can stick to playing chinese guitars that are just downtuned sludge- Ill play gibson
This is a good review. It's not "Gibson I hate you" and it's not "Gibson I love you", it's just honest criticism of things that weren't right that absolutely SHOULD be right, especially for the asking price.
Great to see someone call out Gibson. They really do get by on their name and I feel the quality is way below the price range. I feel my Indo made guitars destroy my old USA Gibson SG.
Unionize! Yes Glenn! I'm so glad to support a union man!!
I'm a 27 year CAW/UNIFOR member.
@@SpectreSoundStudios every single worker should be a union member fuck these union busting corps
Same thought, very glad to see a shout out to the labor movement! Union Pipefitter since 2011.
I worked for a Gibson dealer a while back- when the pickups are noisy like that, check the pots- I came to find that often the ins and outs on the pots were reversed- what Gibson refers to as ‘50s wiring’. The pickup should come in on the left lug and output in the middle. It takes just a few mins to switch them if they’re reversed and it makes a big difference in noise.
Edit: I never switched the 50s wiring on guitars that were spec’d for it, just the modern models for customers upon request.
I got myself my first electric guitar recently, An Ibanez Gio (worth 293€) for which i paid 209€ and it was set up perfectly out of the box, stays in tune really well, plays great and the finish is also flawless. It's ridiculous how a guitar that costs roughly 10 times as much has so many flaws while my cheap guitar doesn't have any flaws.
My old Gibson explorer used to sometimes have issues with tuning stability, of course it was only later when I learned how to tune unwound strings.
(bottom to top, the opposite way to normally)
This changes the break angle at the nut and results in fewer mishaps)
The Gibson headstock angle is 15°. That was a useful angle in 1890 when the G was always a wound string. Today however, it's not necessary to place that much downforce on the strings leaving the nut to the tuner posts. Gibson will never evolve. No one else making guitars in that price range uses 15°, and their guitars stay in tune (PRS, Kiesel, Rickenbacker etc).
That’s because the angle isn’t a problem. User error on the other hand…
I bought the Fender Final Fantasy XIV guitar and it’s amazing! Definitely over priced, but the quality control is amazing and extremely well done! I’ve always liked Fender better.
I recently bought a Les Paul UKELELE!!!
My local Guitar Center had FENDER ukes and EPIPHONE ukes......and the Fenders were like 80% better construction (!!!!)......but the Les Paul was like $140 vs the $190 Fenders and I went for price and have zero regrets after a year.
3k for single coils? hell no but i like the color
It's only $2800 because it has 3 titles: Gibson, Flying V, and Mustaine.
It's really a $300 guitar... and I feel like that's a fucking stretch, because nowadays $300 will get you a really good guitar that doesn't have fucked up paint.
I've actually worked for Gibson, and have been a QC. There's a lot of factors in play here. Namely, staffing: on a good day, we have 4-5 QC's for the entire factory, and a lot of them are experienced builders that had to be taken from their other departments and positions to fill the void. This is less than half of the amount of QC's we actually need to push good quality out the door. Another staffing problem is that the pandemic destroyed our pool of experienced builders and painters, via layoffs, quitting, or retirement. Gibson tries to make up for this, by lowering their requirements for employment, and hires people with little to no experience with guitar playing, let alone guitar building. I literally had to try to train someone that neither knew how to play nor speak english in full sentences. These factor into what ends up making it to the final assembly room, and then QC's are forced to make impossible decisions to satisfy the corporate need for numbers (sacrificing quality).
Trust me, we see the flaws. We hate it just as much as you do. If you want a Gibson that was built/setup properly, get it from the Demo Shop. Everyone there has years of experience and spends the extra time to get it right the first time.
Also, a few other things:
1) Grovers don't do anything that Kluson's can't. If you wind the string around the post properly, and stretch the strings, it'll stay in tune. Easy.
2) The "streaks" in the finish on the Dave M is actually the grain of the wood. Mahogany has notoriously big open grain, that likes to soak up color that's painted on, depending on the grain filler.
3) The crack in the finish on the neck pocket is called an "open seam" where the lacquer was sinking into the glue joint as it was curing. Nitro isn't like Polyurethane that they paint on cars, it thins out as it cures, exposing flaws that you can't see as you apply the paint.
4) Not sure what you were referring to about the neck joint being done poorly, but unless it fell off, it was probably glued in properly. lol
2,3 and 4 - people won’t even care about the technicalities. It’ll be “at $3k it should be up at 5am making me pancakes and coffee”.
As for 1 - yes. Tuning stability is always user error, but try telling that to the RUclips beatniks. Nothing is ever their fault as that requires them taking responsibility.
I have 9 Gibson Les Pauls and a Firebird spanning from the 70s to present day - including 2 Custom Shops - and all of them are amazing guitars.
Thanks to you and your colleagues for bringing me endless enjoyment.
how about the custom shop factory, i want to get a gibson custom
Still doesn't excuse the price for the quality. Gibson keeps pumping out dog shit, the prices should be slashed by 3/4. I have seen so many snapped headstocks and wiring failures in 3k Gibson shittars. I've only owned a single Gibson in my life and sold that shit within a month, never going back again.
@@musicmanxii cool story. I already said why the quality is down and I could care less if you own a Gibson. Prices are the way they are because they're made in the US, where the cost of labor is way higher than most, experienced builders or not.
Recently bought a Gibson Tribute Les Paul and couldn't be happier. Plek'd and set up low and fast, plays fucking beautiful and sounds killer! Why all the whining haters? Go play your favorite copy brand and enjoy. For every Gibson hater there are 3 people who absolutely love their Gibsons. 🤘
I can see a problem for Gibson in the future. Younger players have grown up with a wider range of quality brands, and one result has been that they are less tolerant of the design flaws and erratic quality control that older players had to take for granted. They are absolutely going to ask why an instrument won't stay in tune, why its finish is not almost perfect, why its setup is poor, and so on. They are certainly going to question $2800 for what appears to be a basic, low-spec instrument.
Arguably, this guitar isn't really a Gibson anyway. Gibson have no real track record in modern or technical metal, and the Vs used in classic metal, with their relatively low-gain pickups and 24.75" scale, were very different beasts. What Gibson have produced is, ironically, a clone: it's a Dean or Jackson, given an Explorer headstock in a gesture at 'heritage'. That's fine: but then, reasonably enough, people will expect Dean or Jackson (or ESP or Schecter) prices and standards of quality control.
I love your brutal honesty,,thank you for saving me money,,,think I will stick to my Dave mustaine's vmnt series guitars..
I have 4 solar v guitar's ,I got mine while they were still being made in Spain rather than Indonesia.
The best Fearless Gear Review to date. That and going topless to give the "authentic" playthrough was the cherry atop. Well done good sir
Good to know that Gibson has finally upgraded their tuning to “pretty solid.” It sucks that it costs almost 3 thousand of my finest United States Dollars, because it’s an absolutely beautiful guitar. (If it was built properly!)
TOP SECRET:
when you buy HEADLESS guitars.......they almost never GO OUT OF TUNE, bc you've eliminated the TOP FLAW!
ANY TIME you bump your tuning pegs (or put it in a gig bag or case!) it goes OUT OF TUNE.
HEADLESS guitars totally eliminated this lifelong HEADACHE, see?
MY $150 HEADLESS FLYING V......will go SIX MONTHS without needing to be tuned even ONCE!!!
(I saved ENDLESS HOURS TUNING in the past 20 years!)
AND it has a cheap whammy bar....yetNEVER goes out of tune if I torture the whammy bar!!!
HOW can it go out of tune with a whammy....if you REMOVE the problem that causes whammys to go out of tune?? (That fucking headstock and nut!)
(IDIOTS have LOCKING NUTS. SMART musicians GOT RID OF THE ENTIRE NUT so it no longer is a problem!)
Great to see an honest review of a big brand in the guitar trade - shameless corruption in the form of cheesy reviews that are flagrantly evasive and biased is the NORM in the guitar industry.
Loved the review. Huge Megadeth fan here, but wouldn't touch this with a 9 foot pole! I've had plenty of the Dean guitars over the years and looks like they beat this pile out. Recently saved for years and forked my cash towards a Ernie Ball Music Man and its by far one of the nicest guitars man could ever play. Being a US production for their models, you *may* find some flaws but its not common. Setup out of the box was superb, haven't had to make any adjustments almost half a year later! Would appreciate seeing the channel check them out.
Seconded
I appreciate the honest review. My brother and I are huge megadeth fans and we’re both are in our 40’s and are more of collectors than live performers these days (wife and kids etc) but we like high end guitars. We both planned on getting these but will not until these issues are fixed.
You can find Y2KVs for around this pricetag. Everything Gibson wishes it was. If you're going to fork out big money for a Dave. Get the grail.
Yeah the Jacksons were better! I had Rhodes custom. It will cost if u find a used one. Wish i still had mine. It was like 1800. Now it wld cost 5000. U can get them made in Indonesia or Mexico. 1500. That is the joint or the Deans were going for 1200 back when I met Dave doing an in store signing
We just sold a USA king V we had for years and never played. I mostly play Les Pauls and my brother is a PRS nerd. But I’ve played so many Gibson that have just been shit. I have 6 Les Paul’s But I’ve probably played a couple hundred to find these. Most of my other guitars are “over seas” guitars and play just as good. (My warmoth parts guitars are my favorite)
@@lespaulnutz cool. Part of it is the name. Mahogany has gone up SO MUCH! The woods, etc. I got a LTD Viper( SG). Good gtr. Emg' s. I had the custom Rhoads best gtr I had. My brother had a Epiphone SG. It had problems but for the price, u know. Like he said there is a lot of competition
Good luck finding one under 4k now @@chrisreed1538
That's why I like my Music Man, they asked me what setup I wanted before they sent it to me. Perfect.
Mustaine playing a Jackson printed on the back of his signature Gibson😂
4:21 You have a grounding issue there, as in, there is no ground connection.
It's probably not the guitar but you can try two different scenarios to diagnose the issue:
1 - Use a real amp amp connected to a grounded socket and then plug the guitar to it.
2 - Connect a real amp to an ungrounded socket and plug the guitar to it.
Touch any metal part, like the bridge or the strings and see if it still happens.
If it does that noise in both scenarios the guitar is missing a ground connection from the bridge to the back of one of the potentiometers.
If it only does it in scenario 2 then it's not the guitar and it might be a lot of things (audio interface, usb cable, ground lift along the chain, etc).
Also, given that the guitar came with fret sprout, and you had to adjust the truss rod, you're probably in place with less humidity than the one where the guitar was manufactured. Unfortunately it can happen with all price ranges, with less humidity the wood contracts.
Edit
12:37 Save that for your OnlyFans
Hi Glenn, I got one now against your advice, actually I got the antique natural one. Paid 2100 for it, pickups are not noisy at all, massive output level, setup was perfectly done, it even came out of the box nearly in tune, it's an awful lot of fun to play as you found out yourself. So there is nothing I can complain about. Playability is great and I really like the look of it 🙂
Glen,
This is some of your best playing on camera. You seem much more comfortable on camera with a guitar in your hands! Must have been that Gibson guitar.
It's like the guitar version of hate sex with someone who looks good but you have no respect for. Electric at the time but not something you're proud of.
I've heard about Gibson tuning problems for 40 years - thankfully it's never been a problem with my four Les Pauls.
It’s so easy to solve the Gibson headstock tuning issue. I wind the G string going up the tuning peg rather than down and never have problems, undwound string and all. No tight break angle. I do it on all 3x3 headstocks and works every time.
Had bever even considered that. Not a gibson guy, but ive had break angle issues with the g on other guitars. Great tip.
@@xijinpingsfavoritehemorrho1328 👍 I don’t remember where I learned that, but it was probably a RUclips video. ✌️
I bought a LP Standard 50s... while I went over the pictures online I was nervous as hell waiting for it to arrive. Shockingly it was literally perfect and I actually had to raise the bridge a little but the relief as spot on, frets were perfect and the finish was perfect. Last Gibson I bought was about 5 years ago and I had to send the first one back it was so poor then my rep at a really sweet retailer went and hand picked my second, which was perfect but... hand picked. I really want one of these but every review I have seen has the same issues you note... I just can't see dropping almost 3K. Perhaps they will correct these issues in a couple of years. Excellent review, I LOVE the Holy Wars demo!!!!!
Yeah I feel like Gibson is something you'd have to handpick yourself and won't buy blindly.
I bought a 68 Les Paul Gold Top for $600.00 in 1985..still have still it, still have not played a better LP since
amazing playing Glenn! That practice is really paying off!
Basically what I expected from Gibson.
My 04 Korean WMI made DV8-R has flawless paint, neck thru, duncans, tuna matic string thru, and Spretzel locking tuners. For less than half the cost even if you adjust for inflation. Even came with Dunlop flushmount strap locks.
Goooooo Gibson
The ESPs (and top end LTDs) were phenomenal guitars. Thankfully not everyone has figured that out...
Tune o matic.. sperzel.. sorry
@@xijinpingsfavoritehemorrho1328 auto correct don't care grammar Nazi sorry
@@leeroden7900 I bought a tribute SG to go with my EC1000 last year , thinking “I finally bought a Gibson!” And it was one of the shittiest guitars I’ve ever bought. I returned it and got a studio les Paul, which was also a giant piece of shit with the same sharp fret ends, and really weird nitro lacquer ridges running down the neck because they apparently tape the fretboards off like shit to get it out the door. The tribute SG never had a ground wire installed going to the bridge.
Returned them both and bought another South Korean EC1000 which is of course immaculate right out of the box. Why the fuck do I care if the guitar is nitro lacquer if they can’t even finish the guitar right? How come an affinity strat doesn’t have polishing compound residue all over the fretboard?
They used pretzels to lock your strings ??
I didn't know it was possible 😄😄
Sorry I couldn't resist...It was an easy one...I know you meant "Sperzels" 😁😁
Although the guitar isn't the best thx to poor QC, I love the aesthetic of the guitar overall, but mostly your playing. I was blown up right from the get go and I'm so impressed that I want to get better myself. Congrats on that and Gibson really needs to step up their game.
Thanks, Benja!
I respectfully disagree with your aesthetics point. This is supposed to be a metal guitar, but the rounded corners on the body and the hockey stick headstock with no point kind of ruin the whole vibe. Especially considering that this is a Dave Mustaine signature, it just doesn't match him.
I think they designed it in such a way to make it more neutral in order to widen the pool of possible buyers, but ended up sacrificing the whole vibe of Dave's guitars. At this point it isn't a Dave Mustaine signature, it's just a slightly customized Gibson V with Dave's name attached to it.
@@MrBX5 I got a Dean VMNT silver today, the sharp corners are crucial
@@MrBX5 GREAT points. (No pun intended, ha ha.)
(Maybe HETFIELD could get away with CLASSIC GIBSON FLYING V rounded corners, but you're spot on: It AIN'T "MUSTAINE"!)
Damn, Glenn pulling a Lucretia. Wasn't expecting that. Probably the best Friedman solo often outplayed by tornado of souls (which is great too don't get me wrong).
Everyone talks about Tornado, but Lucretia has to be my favorite solo on that album. Some of the best soloing in all of thrash metal in my opinion.
@@nerfherder4444 i definitely agree with you there. It's probably my favorite Megadeth solo ever.
Don't sleep on 5 Magics
@@nerfherder4444 lucretia is actually my favorite Megadeth song. It's ridiculously underrated
I have Gibson Explorer, produced somewhere in 2013 or 2014. It seems like nothing has changed since then: paint job imperfections, neck pickup frame screws are too close, making it bend when installed. The nut is too narrow near the first string; I don't know what miracle keeps it laying on the nut considering the headstock angle.
However, the tuning is very stable, the harmonics are super easy, and the sound is excellent. Back in the day, I even thought that was a brand's quirk: you get the best sound and imperfections don't matter. Now I see it's just the company stagnating.
One of the best guitars I ever owned - and the first "decent" guitar - was a '78 Gibson Explorer, in natural finish. It was about £450 second-hand somewhere on Tin Pan Alley in London.
It was SO good, I bought ANOTHER one - an Explorer II from '79 with a Kahler trem.
It was SOOOOO bassy, and boomy, with no top end at all - it was APPALLING.
But it looked sooooooo good (that was the 5-layer contoured natural oil finish version of the Explorer).
I sold the first to my lead guitarist eventually (Booooo!) and then the second to some guitar store (Yayyyy!)
In hindsight, I wish I'd kept the Explorer II and swapped the pickups with some really bright ones because I think that was the issue.
The Kahler was actually really, really good. It let you dive quite a bit, and stayed in tune well. But if you pulled up on it, it literally would let you pull so much the strings could snap if you were dumb enough - it went up several octaves!
But neither was more than £600 second-hand, and at the time they were both 25ish years old (and a hell of a lot older now!). The lesson being: new Gibsons almost always suck.
OLD Gibsons suck a LOT of the time and if you find a really decent one which stays in tune and isn't built like it's put together with PVA: KEEP THAT SUCKER!
Because most of them suck in a variety of ways - generally tuning or strange sound issues.
You'll pick one Gibson up, and it will feel like a paving slab with a neck, but sound AMAZING - you just have to make sure not to drop it on your foot, or you'll shatter every bone.
Then another one will weight much less... and sound just as good.
Then another heavy one will sound like it's stuffed with cotton. And another light one will sound like a donkey too.
REALLY inconsistent.
I've had similar issues with Jacksons - mainly sound-wise. But NOTHING at that scale, and nothing like the build quality issues.
If you get a cheap Jackson, it probably will have fret end issues, setup hell etc.
An expensive one almost never will.
But BOTH of them will have finishes that would put a mirror to shame.
Gibsons (or for that matter Fenders)...not so much.
I FUCKING DESPISE FLOYD ROSES for 20 reasons (like how STIFF it is).....
...and one day a pal had his guitar with a KAHLER whammy bar.....and when I played that it was like BUTTER!!
IT WAS HEAVEN!!!
(Too bad I cant afford to have my current guitars retrofitted etc.)
The one major thing that I think keeps everyone coming back to Glenn is the fact that even if he's predisposed to hating a brand or manufacturer, he's willing to give them credit for certain aspects. E.g. Line 6, Gibson, etc.
Oh yeah and the beautiful hair. I keep forgetting the hair.
Let's be fair, we all came here for the moment he took his shirt off :)
Thanks for being honest and calling out the poor quality.
Great review, Glenn! We always appreciate the honesty. Also your guitar playing is pretty insane. You’re a testament to “practice, practice, practice” keep it up!
I appreciate that!
insanely bad. For a guy that constantly cries that musicians suck at playing and the fact that he's been playing guitar since the 1980's and power chords/poor riffs are all he can manage is insane. The review is good though of the guitar itself. I hope he sends that guitar back because the finish damage on an instrument that expensive is inexcusable. That may have happened in shipping though and may not be gibson/sweetwaters fault.
@@pgon9097 defending someone else’s playing was not something I thought I was going to be doing today. Glenn plays guitar as a side passion and it’s apparent he’s progressed over time on his channel. You can’t really shit on someone for progressing even if it’s not where you think it should be. As far as the riffs go, I mean that’s kind of a matter of opinion and musical taste. I don’t like participation awards but if I can see someone has put in time and effort into improving into something competent that just isn’t my thing or the way I’d do it, I’m not going to say it sucks because I can recognize and respect it for what it is which is someone else’s art.
@@pgon9097As a producer, it's not his job to be great at guitar. If someone is sucking in the studio and wasting time and money he has every right to bitch. This is him on his own channel. He's not obligated to be good.
Per headstock…dad here, but would love that. Always had a thing for the Aldo Nova model as an 80s teen. 🤘🏻🤘🏻
Fair enough! Maybe Aldo was onto something!
@@SpectreSoundStudios great review, thanks for your honesty. As always.
I saw a video of Aldo talking about using the Explorer headstock. He said with the standard headstock the G string went out of tune every time he bent it. He thought this wouldn’t be an issue with the Explorer headstock.
Shirtless Glenn, eeeeep xD was not ready for that. That being said, I've had huge paint issues on both Les Pauls I have. I had to send one back twice, and the other three times, and that's from the custom shop. My Epiphone Elitists from the Japanese custom shop came in perfect. Thanks for the honesty
Now he's playing authentic :D
Japanese custom shops have to be at least 2 levels above US shops. They turn it up to 11 with their craftsmanship and attention to detail. I have a custom Snapper-7 from ESP and I've never seen such a flawless handbuilt instrument, not once have I thought it wasn't worth the price tag. It's really sad that there's people actually paying $3k for these shitty Gibsons when if they turned to a different brand their money would go much further.
Great review Glen I really appreciate the honesty here, highlighting both the positives and the negatives and giving a very real overview. I'm a huge Ibanez fan and have 7 of them, even the cheaper ones in my collection are still pretty amazing to be honest. I couldn't imagine paying $2800 for a guitar! I have 3 archtop flamed finish RGs that were around $600 and $800 and I bet they would put that V to shame. I don't know what Gibson is thinking, even as far as legacy brands go Fender wipes the floor with them, my MIM Tele is pretty damn great, and American made Fenders that are only around 1200-1500 are amazing right out of the box. As a side note, when you worked for Chrysler did you work in the plant making Challengers? I know they were made in Canada, just not sure if that's your city or not. If so I bought mine new in 2009 and still love it just as much as the day I bought it. That car and my guitars are 2 of the things in my life that consistently bring me joy, and if you had a hand in making it I just wanted to say thank you very much sir! Cheers from western Canada!
my rule is NO GUITAR OVER $200......and the IBANEZ MIKROS ARE PERFECT, PERFECT, PERFECT.
The japanese are more honest than Muricans.
I ♥️ your honesty. Ty for calling out gibbons declining quality compared to the never decreasing $$$ while at the same time being fair on the plusses of the guitar. U rule sir!!
If most of the action problem was due to the truss rod, perhaps the luthier listened to your setup advice ;)
More seriously, weather can fuck up a neck, and I think that's where good wood can be the most important.
Wood being improperly dried might explain a lot.
Shipping shock.
@@BlackPhillip666 To be fair, shipping didn't cause the brige to need adjustment, but I suspect it was within the "depends on preference" parameters.
There are a couple of Les Pauls with Explorer headstocks, one of which being the Aldo Nova. Not sure if it stays in tune better. And now I see that this channel has been missing something for a very long time. Shirtless Glen. It's what the people need. It's what the people deserve.
I'm a Fender guy, always have been. About 10 years ago my friend sold me a Les Paul style guitar made by one of Gibsons competitors. I love that guitar and became intrigued with Gibsons. So I went out and bought a Les Paul studio. After playing it for about a week and joining the Les Paul group on Facebook, I realized I like the Les Paul copy better for a number of reasons. I posted a picture of my Les Paul next to my Les Paul copy on the Les Paul group and said I like the copy better. People reacted to my post like I pissed on their God, then I was removed and blocked from the group.
My new Les Paul came with the "Plek" certificate and it was perfect. It was also slack tuned and when I brought it up to standard, it has stayed there. Yeah, I was just as stunned as you are reading this. I don't know how much it cost to do this on a factory produced guitar, but it's worth every penny. I honestly had all my tools out because I expected a full blown set up. Like an old coach used to say "one attaboy does not erase 20 'ah shits'. But it's a start.
I've been so curious about Plek! The technology is really cool, it's a shame that it's somewhat hard to access. For anyone into tremolos check out the Tremmory. I have 2... on a 7 string and a 6 string with floyds and they stay perfectly in tune all the time. It's like this great weight is lifted!. Sadly, due to how many floyd guitars I have it'll take me the cost of a Mustaine V to outfit all my trems with one hehehe
Damn it, Glenn! I've been missing Fearless Gear Reviews, good to have them back! This one was quite a bit longer than the previous ones, but the fact that you paid attention to the little details (as opposed to Gibson) made it really interesting. Good job, man!
Also, do you think you could do a Fearless Gear Review on the Orange Super Crush 100 head? Most of the RUclipsrs said it sound great and really close to a tube head, but I wanna hear THE TRUTH.
As a guitar tutor the last excellent guitar I bought was a 90 quid squire affinity tele. Literally all you need for a solid guitar with no frills.
I've got a Tokai, Love Rock Model (essentially a G LP copy) and it stays in tune incredibly well!
Also got two of those and can confirm it. The typical LP-style headstock is quite disadvantageous for tuning stability, but when the nut is properly cut, it will do the job.
My tutor had one and swore by it's quality over Gibson.. I think his 6/12 was Tokai too (biggest led zep fan too, the best kind of tutor!)
It's been done Glenn. The hockey stick or "explorer" head stock is a Rick Nielsen's Signature Les Paul; and there's also the Aldo Nova.
@ghost mall Infuckingdeed mate.
Rick Nielsen's Les Paul is Aldo Nova's second prototype, not his own signature model :)
@@Mr.Goldbar it is. Actually, Trogly has a whole video on the Aldo Nova, interviews and all I believe.
@@diegovidar I haven't watched that video since 2 years ago or something but wasn't that guitar just a prehistoric Les Paul reissue with an Explorer headstock that got associated with Aldo and Rick because Aldo came up with the idea and he sold his second prototype to Rick?
@@Mr.Goldbar Exactly, Aldo has always said that combination was his own design. And is considered the "Aldo Nova Signature". Clearly saying "there's also the Aldo Nova" does not make it justice. However, it wasn't a diss, is just that Rick is more well known and his "Signature" perhaps more easily found.
I had the opportunity to play one yesterday at a shop and it was indeed a bit underwhelming. Tried a ‘61 custom shop SG after and it played and sounded a LOT better… at almost double the price. Has to be done sometimes to keep the GAS in check and be happy with my ‘93 SG Standard I bought new back then and that I like better still. 800€ guitar at 2777€, that is exactly what I felt after playing the V.
Glenn reviews a Gibson, THIS I gotta see.
For $2500 the guitar has to be perfect. I have a gibson les paul that I bought used, it lived in the case for the longest time because the g and b strings would never stay in tune. After a lot of research and experimentation (change of tuners and bridge) I learned the strings were getting stuck on the nut, used sandpaper to fix it and it worked, now is one of my favorite guitars but sheeeeesh! Should not have taken so much effort!