El Gringo
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2015
- Messages
- 5,666
I am at my wits end with my 2002 R8 Gibson Custom Les Paul Quilt top in Darkburst that will not stay in tune no matter what ! So in April I purchased a case Queen that was in a private collection that is a most stunningly beautiful Quilt top in Darkburst that has been nothing short of a disaster in epic proportions for me . First with the squealing Burstbucker 1 & 3 pickups which I replaced with Throbak SLE-101 Plus pickups along with replacing the wiring harness which came with orange drop caps which I replaced with a 50's vintage harness with Bumble Bee caps . Also the guitar has a bad fret on the B note on the A string . I have tried everything that I can think of to try to keep the Les Paul in tune with no success . I have used Big Bends Lube Sauce on the nut . I also believe the Kluson Deluxe plastic tulip tuners are defective as I have to turn them a lot to get them in tune which they DO NOT STAY IN TUNE which I use the BOSS TU-3 Tuner . I believe in between the Kluson Tuners, the plastic nut, and the Gibson ABR- 1 Bridge lies the problem, if I had my druthers I do not want to replace the nut as I fear damaging the finish and from my untrained eye I do not see anything wrong or out of the ordinary . This is not right how a forum sponsor who of course shall remain anonymous for obvious reasons can sell a bum guitar like this to me . I have to say in all honesty the guitar came to me without a scratch or hair out of place . It's like Fender Custom Shops ads for the then new series of NOS guitars -like I went back in time to 2002 in a time machine and purchased this guitar brand new which this guitar is in museum quality shape without a hair out of place except that it is unplayable ! As it stands now if I can't come up with a cure I will have to replace the Klusons with new Klusons with a better ratio than whatever these have and ditto for a new ABR-1 bridge . I played this R8 on Saturday and all I did was tunning . Enough already , on Sunday I played my 2014 R9 and I haven't touched her in months and she played perfectly and stayed in TUNE , just like my Les Paul Custom and the same with my Les Paul Premium Plus top . I have purchased guitars sight unseen or played from Wildwood, Dave's , and The Music Zoo and they were perfect and still are perfect . Not this R8 ! I know my post sounds like a gripe fest but I am at my wits end with this questionable piece of merchandise and BUYER BEWARE , do your homework and due diligence and only buy from reputable shops with proper credentials who are official licensed Gibson dealers and don't make the same mistake I did .