Epiphone EB3 in Pelham Blue

[neepheid]

It looks like it was coloured in with a Sharpie!  Horrible.

See where all this relicing and "mojo" nonsense has got us?  Don't drag your bass behind a car and attack it with an angle grinder - now available looking awful from the get go!

[Dave W]

I don't think this has anything to do with relicing, they just cut corners by not sanding the curves smooth, which makes the end grain areas look horrible.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

These aren't really "reliced," they're just cheaply finished and look terrible, to the point that I suspect they were a whole run with bad finishes that ended up being 'concept' marketed. They feel and play like any other nice Epi, but THAT finish....UGGGGHHHH!

[hieronymous]

These aren't really "reliced," they're just cheaply finished and look terrible, to the point that I suspect they were a whole run with bad finishes that ended up being 'concept' marketed. They feel and play like any other nice Epi, but THAT finish....UGGGGHHHH!

Either that, or a batch were finished badly. There was still the Firebird with an opaque finish that looked completely different - i.e., much better! I would consider the EB-3 if it had the opaque finish but not the one I saw. BEWARE if you are buying sight-unseen!

[Dave W]

Either that, or a batch were finished badly. There was still the Firebird with an opaque finish that looked completely different - i.e., much better! I would consider the EB-3 if it had the opaque finish but not the one I saw. BEWARE if you are buying sight-unseen!

I doubt it. It's probably the intended economy finish on these, as opposed to the Firebird. If not, shame on them for letting it out of the factory.

[chromium]

They advertise them as a "worn" finish, but the stock photos never look as bad as what Harry posted.

I had one of the faded SG specials for a while.  Those things were rough too, but the cherry and walnut finishes seem like a better fit for that IMO.  PB, ehhh... not so much.

I actually kinda miss this one- great player.

[neepheid]

I don't think this has anything to do with relicing, they just cut corners by not sanding the curves smooth, which makes the end grain areas look horrible.

I know that, I just see it as companies seeing that people do stuff like that to their instruments, so therefore thinking it won't matter if they give them a head start in making them look ratty.

[Dave W]

I know that, I just see it as companies seeing that people do stuff like that to their instruments, so therefore thinking it won't matter if they give them a head start in making them look ratty.

I still think it's just cost cutting and poor workmanship.

About 9 years ago, before relicing became a big fad (and well before Gibson was doing any at all), I bought and returned a faded USA Gibson LP Bass because the finish was so awful. The edges were barely touch sanded, the end grain areas on the edges were raised and rough, and the stain looked like it had been applied with a shoe polish brush by a baboon on his first day on the job. I suspect they were just trying to get rid of surplus LPB-1 bodies as cheaply as possible. Certainly almost everything else coming out of the factory was way better than that.

Something like that is what's responsible for these Epis.

[hieronymous]

It would be interesting if one could find an EB-3 with an opaque finish - maybe those will command a higher price as time goes on? Maybe it's time to start scouring local GCs? 

[uwe]

"the stain looked like it had been applied with a shoe polish brush by a baboon on his first day on the job"

Dave really should have joined the diplomatic corps. He has a way making things sound not too painful. 

[Dave W]

"the stain looked like it had been applied with a shoe polish brush by a baboon on his first day on the job"

Dave really should have joined the diplomatic corps. He has a way making things sound not too painful. 

It really was awful. Apologies to baboons.

I've seen Gibsons in stores that look fine to me, including some of the faded series, but there seem to be too many that should never have left the factory.

I recently saw a review of Gibson's Music City Junior, which is a limited edition ash-bodied maple-necked Junior with a B-Bender and Tele-style pickguard. If it were well done, it could be a Gibson fan's real alternative to a B-Bender Tele. Here are some excerpts from a pro's review posted on Gibson's own website:

"The neck shoulders, fret ends and nut arrived razor-sharp. One player Cut himself on a corner of the nut on mine - no kidding.  And that's after the Plek job these have been through... the intonation was apparently set by Dr. Random.  It made NO sense even visually (And I took it straight out of the shipping box in the store).  That (and the neck/nut issues) should have been caught during final inspection....The fretboard.  It has NO finish on it.  None.  After 4 sets it looks 10 years old, with clean hands, just from natural oils and string abrasion. ..The body construction. This is weird, a cheap way to build the thing, and makes the price seem even more odd considering the lack of workmanship involved."

That's on a guitar with a $1400 street price. Go figure. Is it any surprise that cheaper Gibsons and Epis are even worse?

[dadagoboi]

Yeah, but it had a PLEK job!  Hey, TECHNOLOGY, ya know?  It makes EVERYTHING OK!  Who needs skilled workers making a decent living like at Warwick?  Those Krauts are all comuniss, anyway.

[gearHed289]

I think Dr. Random set the intonation on my former Explorer bass too. Having read all this, I have to wonder if there IS a final inspection at Gibson?

[uwe]

The "factory-inspected" intonation is always so hilariously off it cannot have made sense under any climate known to man. OTOH, I applaud Gibson for giving employment to deaf AND blind techs.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

When I worked at a Gibson dealer, I literally sold guitars in days that had sat around for years just by giving them a cleaning and setup with proper intonation.