LPC Tune up

ido1957

ido1957

9K Gold Member
I took my 2014 LPC to the shop for a tune up. I had taken it in when I first got it but it was never right.
Pinging, sticking, going sharp when bending, impossible to play open chords.
(You'd think a 4500 guitar would be perfect and/or the first setup would have fixed that lol)
Can't tell you how disappointed I was - never had this problem with my strats.

So after looking on google and YT I found it probably needed a nut job.
Got it back this afternoon and the thing plays PERFECTLY, and I'm very very pleased.

Played for several hours and other than a slightly flat string from stretching the shit of them it plays just right.

The guy did a bunch of stuff to the nut including angling it towards the string trees, maybe deepening (not sure). His handwriting is like a doctor's and he wasn't there when I picked it up. Was it the same repair guy? Not sure.

Also said all sorts of things were loose and out of whack (screws pickups etc etc) and it had rattles.
I actually thought the B string nut slot was rattling - thank god it wasn't that. Just a pickup.

Anyway I'm very happy and 105 bucks lighter. No - I never setup my own guitars so I didn't fix it myself.
My experience is that once it's setup properly (for me) it needs no work for years.
 
I have to say, if I purchased a $4500 guitar, other than maybe some custom setup (I'm not good enough for that), it should play OOTB. Maybe you bumped or something?
 
Dude...sounds like you dealt with the same thing I'm still working around (while frustrated) with my LP studio I got last year. Same shit, nothing stays in tune once a string or two is bent in a lead run. How long did it take them to turn it around for you?
 
9 months - it's like having a baby. lol Fought with intonation and lubricants and strings and junk to no avail for months.
Took it in last Saturday and got it back today. I don't think he works weekends.

Last week I Youtube'd "Filing Nut Slots" and found a couple of REALLY eye opening videos that made me go "aha".

But when I went in I made the clerk write down exactly what I wanted the tech to fix in detail (emphasizing the nut check/filing/lowering/angling).
Last time it was "umm a setup". Obviously the tech knew what I was referring to as the work order detailed exactly what I wanted.

Yes - Gibson should do this at the factory. The tech who first set it up should have too. Why didn't they? Who knows.

I've owned 3 Les Pauls all used but haven't had one since the early 80's. I never had this problem on those but I understand the strings can actually chew through the nut slots on their own over time. Maybe my old ones had or someone had fixed it already.

I posted this in the hope that people like you will see it and maybe try it and hopefully make you enjoy playing your LP like you should have when you bought it.
 
Gibsons QA has always been shit. I get tons of Les Pauls and other Gibbies in that need work before they can be sold... A guitar can never be perfect out th box because everyone wants different action, strings, set up etc. But there is no excuse for a poor nut cut IMHO... Takes about 20 to 30 minutes to do.

Glad you found a decent tech to sort it. I always make a list of customers comments and and often like to see them play before I do a setup. A lot of stuff I do is for shops and outlets simply because factory setups are shite...
 
You can pretty much bank on a new Gibson nut to be shit. Any Gibson with the traditional 3+3 headstock. From the cheapest Lp Jr to the most expensive AAAAA flamed top Custom Shop jobby, the nuts are usually crappy. They slot it to fit strings to get it out the door and that's about it.
 
That's really shit for a 4 grand guitar though.

Saying that, I'd never buy a guitar until I have actually played on it, and I don't mean the same model, I mean the actual guitar. This is restrictive 'cos you have to either travel or can only buy what is local to you but it does mean that you never end up with a donkey - or if you do end up with a donkey its your own fault!
 
Muttley gave me some tips to fine tune my Gibson's nuts and they've been great ever since. I can go through a whole set of furious punk rock idiocy and only need tiny little tuning tweaks every few songs. That's acceptable to me.
 
One day I'll own a decent guitar but the cost Downunder is prohibitive - my Epiphone Sheraton II cost almost AUS$2K eight years ago, (luckily the insurer paid for 66%), so you can imagine what a real brand name goes for.
I'd hope that if I paid decent money it'd play well etc.
Typical of Epi - the pickup toggle switch was rubbish from day one & selecting the bridge takes time and a few clicks - I don't play live so that's no real bother but quality Control should be a given when spending more than a few hundred.
 
I used to do light setup/intonation work at a guitar shop for a number of years; most casually-played guitars need a quick and dirty setup every 12-15 months or so (depending on playing schedule - gigging guitars are much more often). Nowadays I take all my stuff to one of two local luthiers for things like frets. In fact, Denny Rauen has my '79 LP right now for new frets. I find when I'm playing out I usually get around a year on frets and then need to get them dressed, then another year and the wire needs replacement. Nuts are done on the same schedule since it doesn't cost much more and it important for the intonation when doing new fretwire (IMHO). All that said, I think any guitar from the factory should be as if it just came from the luthier's shop (since it kinda did!).

Funny story, I just had my one-of-a-kind 93/94 Robin Ranger at Denny's and it was taking longer than usual for new frets and a setup (this guitar had never been in for new frets since it had been stolen and therefore not in my keep for over ten years before it was recovered - that's a story for a different day). I went in to drop off another axe and asked him about it. That particular guitar is one of a kind because it is a '93 neck on a '94 body, so the bridge position and pickguard are both one-offs done at Robin to make it work. Well, they didn't get the bridge quite right, and Denny had to get it as close as possible to "perfect" while maintaining the string-through body alignment. It had never intonated quite right both up top and down low, but I usually used it for strumming power chord rock and open chords so I set it up for that and didn't worry about it. Now I know!
 
Maybe one of the problems with getting it "perfect" from the factory is string gauge. Player preference....

If it ships with 10's and they make the nut "perfect" for 10's then does it cause issues with changing string gauge? Not so much if you go bigger, but if you go to 9's or less, then the slots may be too deep, low, wide etc etc. Would that be a warranty issue? So to cover their butts they just send it "generic" and let you figure it out.

If they are sending generic, then
a) Gibson could send you a pamphlet about the nut or start posting a thorough help page on their website (but I think they are too chicken to admit the nuts suck whether on purpose or not)
b) techs should really examine, and discuss nut fixes as a matter of course before they touch it, to figure out what your guage will be etc etc. on all Gibsons and Epiphones. Good techs would do this anyway but I shouldn't have to point it out.

One other issue that this fixed that I neglected to mention...
Because the nut slots were too high, when I pressed down on the 1st or 2nd fret the string went sharp. A and G string were really sharp.
Now it doesn't matter whether I push down hard or light, I get an in tune note.
I'd heard before I fixed it that you need to use a "light touch" and nut lube to fix this. Now I call BS on that.
I'm don't want to have to concentrate on light touching when I'm playing certain areas of the fretboard. Again BS as it's (to me) been proven wrong.
 
Gibson's fat fret wire does require a lighter touch than standard or fender wire, it's just what it is, you cant change it as the potential to shift the string tension and string length while fretting is greater. No other way round it. On the factory set up thing, you are partially correct. Pretty much all factory setups are done for either 10 or 11 gauge. Gibson dont do much to the nut other than spot glue it in place. Most decent shops will include a set up on a guitar as part of the deal. those that dont either dont care, havent got some one to do it (same thing) or are working on such tight margins that you should factor in doing one yourself.

The nut "should" be cut so the slots are the same hight as the first fret ( or even slightly lower if you have a high action. If not you will get intonation problems on the first few frets due to increased string tension when fretting.
 
Did you report this or complain to Gibson? The nut being wrong along with these other issues would be unacceptable on a 400 quid guitar - on a 4 grand guitar its just taking the piss.

If Gibson think this is acceptable people need to stop letting them get away with it.
 
I have a 2014 LP Studio, & either must've gotten a pretty good one, because I've never really had any issues with it, or I've played low-priced/quality guitars for so long now that I don't know the difference...

When I first got it, it would go out of tune when I'd do bends, but that was with the strings that came on it.....New strings, & stretching the fuck out of 'em (like I do on all my guitars) seemed to cure that....Matter of fact, I just put a new set on it a couple weeks ago (I use Elixr 9's btw), & still have no problems with it...

I actually bought this guitar online, without even playing it too...I know that's a big gamble, but it's about the only option I have where I live...The closest place that would have anything like this is probably a couple hours drive each way, just to get to the guitar shop...The closest Guitar Center is like 3-4 hours one way...

To be honest, I was pretty nervous that I'd get a dud, because it's a lower-end studio, on top of buying online, but again, I must've gotten a pretty decent guitar, because I really don't have any trouble out of my Lester...Well, I take that back, the strings above the nut, & between the bridge & stop-bar ring while I'm recording, but a couple little pieces of foam in both spots takes care of that (and that's something I've had to do on all my guitars to be honest...)...

I think it truly sucks to spend that kind of $$$ on a guitar, & it has issues though, to me, that's total bullshit, especially on a $3-4,00 guitar, mine was only about $1,100...
 
JDOD said:
Did you report this or complain to Gibson? The nut being wrong along with these other issues would be unacceptable on a 400 quid guitar - on a 4 grand guitar its just taking the piss.

If Gibson think this is acceptable people need to stop letting them get away with it.
Click to expand...

Been going on for at least 35 years... Gibson are not the only culprits and frankly there is no "correct" factory set up.. Gibson have never finished the nut before shipping. You can get a good one but pretty much all of them need some work post factory setup. We've gone over all this before..
 
muttley600 said:
Been going on for at least 35 years... Gibson are not the only culprits and frankly there is no "correct" factory set up.. Gibson have never finished the nut before shipping. You can get a good one but pretty much all of them need some work post factory setup. We've gone over all this before..
Click to expand...

Ah, I don't actually know anyone who's spent a load of cash on a Gibson and I've never chatted about guitars online as much as I have the last couple of months so this is actually a big surprise to me.
 
JDOD said:
Ah, I don't actually know anyone who's spent a load of cash on a Gibson and I've never chatted about guitars online as much as I have the last couple of months so this is actually a big surprise to me.
Click to expand...

Deal is that a nut slotted for your playing style, action and string gauge may well not work at all for my string choice and style. Think in terms of curry. The recipe calls for chillies but how many is down to you. You can always add but you cant take them away. The Curry house is gonna err on the side of caution. So it is with Gibson and why the nuts they supply are cut high. If you want a smaller string gauge you can still get it cut right. If it was cut low for light strings there's no way you'd get mediums on that nut.
 
I got my tele 2nd hand (it's in perfect nic though) and it was strung really shit. Really overwound on the heads so it went out of tune all the time.

I strung it properly with light top heavy bottom (hybrid slinky) and it plays great now - can go pretty crazy on voodoo chile before it goes out of tune.

Do the nut problems only tend to happen if you go for really unusual string choices? Exceptionally heavy or light?
 
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