Back in late 2013 I sold one of my guitars so I could afford to buy a SG Special Faded Bass. Hardly had a chance to play it, though, thanks to the multiple medical problems I've had since early 2014. Hardly played anything at all until early this year.
A couple of months ago I finally picked it up again and I noticed that the body had started to split at the center seam from the bridge down to the butt end, and that one of the halves was slightly warped. I brought it to Gibson's local authorized service shop who sent them photos to get authorization to repair it. Their rep had them ship it back to Nashville. After over a month, local repair tech calls Gibson to find out the status; he's told that the bass will be replaced. The Special Faded series is discontinued but supposedly they still had a few of them left. Then on March 28 he called me again -- Gibson is on the phone with him and they want to send me a new 2015 SG Standard Bass in cherry ($1679 street price) at no extra charge, and they want my approval. Umm...YES! But the delay had been so long and they had already changed their story, so frankly I wasn't going to believe it until I had it in hand.
It arrived here this past Thursday, and I'm happy to say it's the real deal. Local tech had adjusted the setup by the time I drove over there. Sounds great, looks great, no fit and finish issues, lighter and better balanced than the Faded, and the Babicz bridge is very nice up close.
Pics to follow.
