Gibson's legal department strikes again

[Dave W]

Here's part of the guy's post.

Let me tell ya a quick and sad story. Few months ago I ordered a Memphis ES-Les Paul with a Bigsby. Price was around 3K. Guitar was brand new, and this is what I've found when opened the damn case;

The guitar had no f....g center mahogany block. Was empty. Yes you are reading right. THERE WAS NO MAHOGANY CENTER BLOCK. But the guitar left the factor that way.
The guitar, without its center block, had the ABR1 bridge screwed into the thin top and every time you were using the Bigsby, the entire bridge was wobbling back and forth. But again, the guitar left the factory that way.
That same guitar had the Bigsby completely crooked at an angle, off axis, so there were a mental tension pulling string on a side. And yes, again, the guitar left the factory that way.
Checklist was all "all good to go". This means nobody EVER checked this guitar, so that checklist was totally fake. I'm not saying that is the standard, but that is not about "the mistake of a man". This is more than that...there is some very shabby approach overall that allow crap like that happening.

Here's his inspection camera video of the insides, showing no center block.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3mknyazz0nzf6qh/No_CenterBlock_Inspection.MOV?dl=0

[uwe]

Ouch - a sure sign of a place to work where people are so unhappy they just don't care anymore.

Perhaps, somewhere out there ... there is now a Memphis hollow-body with two center blocks (kinda crowded)?

It all averages out in the end. 

OTOH, how do we know the center block didn't get lost during shipping? I suspect sloppy logistics behind all of this. 

[Basvarken]

The pictures show the same sort of semi center block that the Les Paul Signature and Jack Casady Signature have. The length grooves and all.
If you ask me, it is a feature rather than a failure.

[Dave W]

The pictures show the same sort of semi center block that the Les Paul Signature and Jack Casady Signature have. The length grooves and all.
If you ask me, it is a feature rather than a failure.

Isn't that just the underside of the top? According to Gibson, it's a semi-hollow with a center block. Or at least it's supposed to be.

[Alanko]

Yeah the view inside that Les Paul reminds me of the view inside my Jack Casady. Maybe it was an experiment, prototype or other one-off? It looks too intentional, and surely way too big an oversight to have missed it?

I've read of ES-355s built with the center block the wrong way round. As such the wiring holes for each pickup is on the wrong side, feeding nicely into the bass-side cavity.

[Basvarken]

Most definitely intentional. You don't make it this way by accident.

[the mojo hobo]

Isn't that just the underside of the top? According to Gibson, it's a semi-hollow with a center block. Or at least it's supposed to be.

Look at it again. There is a block, maybe 3/4" thick on the underside of the top. If you pause the video at 11 sec. you will see one end of it and at 13 the other end.

[Dave W]

Look at it again. There is a block, maybe 3/4" thick on the underside of the top. If you pause the video at 11 sec. you will see one end of it and at 13 the other end.

That's the spruce kerfing that's attached to the underside of the top. There should be a solid block attached to the back, with no space in between it and the kerfing, but it's just not there. It's no wonder that the bridge wobbled when he used the Bigsby.

[the mojo hobo]

I don't have one of those little cameras, but my ES Les Paul bass looks like it is constructed in the same manner.

[66Atlas]

I once assembled a motor and somehow forgot to install piston rings. Took me a whole day to figure out why I had no compression. 

If someone really did forget to install a center block I'd like to buy him a beer and commiserate.

[Grog]

Mine does have the mahogany center block glued between that block & the back of the guitar. Shaped a bit like the LP Sig, but it goes all the way to the strap button.

I tried taking a photo with my Borescope, but it doesn't work with ISO-11. So here is the best I can do with my phone. You can see the "T" shaped bottom of the block of mahogany.

[Dave W]

Keep in mind that the tops and backs of ES-series are molded, not carved. Their undersides aren't flat, but the center block is. The kerfed wood fills the gap. It's flat on its underside. If the model is a full hollowbody, it's there to help support the top. The ES-LP guitar and bass are both center block models, so the center block should definitely have been there.

Fast forward to the 8 minute mark:

[the mojo hobo]

Mine does have the mahogany center block glued between that block & the back of the guitar. Shaped a bit like the LP Sig, but it goes all the way to the strap button.

I tried taking a photo with my Borescope, but it doesn't work with ISO-11. So here is the best I can do with my phone. You can see the "T" shaped bottom of the block of mahogany.

Using a mini LED light I see it. It is thin from the neck to the bridge and widens out to support the bridge.

[the mojo hobo]

Keep in mind that the tops and backs of ES-series are molded, not carved. Their undersides aren't flat, but the center block is. The kerfed wood fills the gap. It's flat on its underside. If the model is a full hollowbody, it's there to help support the top. The ES-LP guitar and bass are both center block models, so the center block should definitely have been there.

Fast forward to the 8 minute mark:

At the 6:08 mark you can see the type of center block it should have. Someone did screw-up epically. The kerfed wood is there but it was never shaped to meet the center block. At that point the top should not have been glued to the body.

[Dave W]

Thanks, John. I didn't know which variation it should have had, but obviously it needed to be at least long enough to support the bridge and Bigsby. Epic fail.