Hey it's Mat from Gibson Product Development - AMA

[El Gringo]

This problem is between Corpse and CME. Looks like CME is having difficulty getting Corpse's guitar from Gibson and not communicating that to CME. In this case, CME isn't looking too good.

I understand

 

[Wilko]

I understand

Actually I got it wrong. I was surmising based on Corpse's posts. Corpse just wants Gibson to give him some kind of info about the guitar he bought used from CME.
CME isn't doing anything wrong. Gibson has no reason to go beyond what they normally provide RE serial number info and such.

 

[El Gringo]

Actually I got it wrong. I was surmising based on Corpse's posts. Corpse just wants Gibson to give him some kind of info about the guitar he bought used from CME.
CME isn't doing anything wrong. Gibson has no reason to go beyond what they normally provide RE serial number info and such.

It's all good .

 

[corpse]

i seriously appreciate the concern and did hear back from the CS- but I did step on mat’s thread and will move this to my original NGD.

 

[jclasby9599]

Hi Matt! Hope all is well. I put in an M2M through my dealer in May 2022. Last week the dealer contacted CS to check on the order and learned that the order was never put into queue. The rep from the CS offered to expidite the process and get me my order in 8-12 weeks. He then came back a few hours later and said they had more or less what I had orderd in an older PSL (2021?) lying around and could offer me that. So...I guess I'm asking if you have any advice. And specifically, why would Gibson have one lying around? Would it be a case where some other dealer had rejected it? Is it probably a candidate for the demo or mod shop, eventually? Just wondering if I should take my chances and have something now or wait another couple of months. No idea how these processes work.

 

[dowhatthouwilt]

Mat,

Thank you for your response to my last question and congratulations on the new ABR-1! Looks awesome.

I was wondering why Gibson doesn’t use butyrate bobbins for the Custombuckers? Or do you and you just don’t advertise it?

Thank you!

 

[MarcB]

Bonjour.

 

[MarcB]

Great question. Really the Custombucker development was a sonic pursuit by Edwin Wilson based on the pickups in Jimmy Page's #1. It was not so much a historically-accurate PAF clone project as it was a tone quest, and in my opinion Edwin nailed it. In 2017 I initiated a project to improve the entire wiring assembly and for the pickups, we began experimenting with different magnets in the Custombuckers, no wax potting, different wire, etc. The specs we preferred in A/B tests were still the same one as the original Custombucker -- Alnico III -- with the exception of the wax potting. It's subtle but removing the wax added a little bit of wildness and feedback susceptibility we all preferred. We did some focus group tests that corroborated our internal testing as well. So we moved on to the rest of the wiring assembly and by 2019 we had vintage taper pots and real PIO bumblebee caps which added some additional character to the Custombuckers, especially when rolling off the volume.

All that said, making true clones of late 50s humbuckers is different project entirely because of the specific materials. All humbuckers are created the same at their most basic level; it's just the material and aesthetic nuances that make for a PAF clone. Butyrate bobbins based on scans of originals, original spec purple enamel wire, original spec 3M black tape, long magnet of various types, recreations of the metal spacers and wood shims and screws and poles and whatnot. Pickup covers are important too and when the time comes we'll dive into the plating and all that. One interesting little historic tidbit is that Gibson used two different places for plating in the late 50s -- Star Silver for gold plating and Kalamazoo Metal for Nickel. But I digress. Thanks for the question!

In regards to the PU covers.. is it true the modern ones are much thicker and have a brass core that’s plated.. and the original were thin with no brass?

 

[sputnik]

When will we see another from the Archive Collection?

 

[matkoehler]

Hi Matt! Hope all is well. I put in an M2M through my dealer in May 2022. Last week the dealer contacted CS to check on the order and learned that the order was never put into queue. The rep from the CS offered to expidite the process and get me my order in 8-12 weeks. He then came back a few hours later and said they had more or less what I had orderd in an older PSL (2021?) lying around and could offer me that. So...I guess I'm asking if you have any advice. And specifically, why would Gibson have one lying around? Would it be a case where some other dealer had rejected it? Is it probably a candidate for the demo or mod shop, eventually? Just wondering if I should take my chances and have something now or wait another couple of months. No idea how these processes work.

I can only speculate from the Product Development side of things but if you are in direct contact with the CS already, ask them! Probably a perfectly rational explanation, but I would not know. They would not point you towards a guitar that wasn't first quality, I know that much.

 

[madrivermoco]

When will we see another from the Archive Collection?

 

[Phoenician]

Does anyone have a link to the most recent M2M catalog?

I have one from 2018 but I can‘t seem to find a current one. Google has failed me so far.

 

[jhawk77]

Does anyone have a link to the most recent M2M catalog?

I have one from 2018 but I can‘t seem to find a current one. Google has failed me so far.

When I was looking into M2M [edit: I was looking into M2M about a year ago, for context] my local dealer basically said [a catalog] didn’t exist. I think Mat has eluded to them trying to improve that whole experience, so maybe some kind of catalog is coming in the future.

To get a quote I just had to tell my dealer what I was after, he sent it in, a couple months later I got back a quote. I learned a few of my requests weren’t possible after I got the quote back.

Seems like an unnecessarily lengthy process and would have been nice to have some kind of catalog to start with.

 

[TM1]

When I was looking into M2M my local dealer basically said one didn’t exist. I think Mat has eluded to them trying to improve that whole experience, so maybe some kind of catalog is coming in the future.

To get a quote I just had to tell my dealer what I was after, he sent it in, a couple months later I got back a quote. I learned a few of my requests weren’t possible after I got the quote back.

Seems like an unnecessarily lengthy process and would have been nice to have some kind of catalog to start with.

Call me old fashion, but I still like to look at a Colour paper catalouge. I had those in the late Sixties when I was learning how to play. It was funny cause I had the red Gibson catalouge that I think was from 1965 and then the green covered Gibson catalouge and I just liked the red one better cause it had cooler Gibson’s.

 

[goldtop0]

When I was looking into M2M my local dealer basically said one didn’t exist. I think Mat has eluded to them trying to improve that whole experience, so maybe some kind of catalog is coming in the future.

To get a quote I just had to tell my dealer what I was after, he sent it in, a couple months later I got back a quote. I learned a few of my requests weren’t possible after I got the quote back.

Seems like an unnecessarily lengthy process and would have been nice to have some kind of catalog to start with.

Haven't heard of any M2M catalogue.
It depends on which dealer you use to get the quote from Gibson CS as to how quickly you can get things nutted out, for example through Music Zoo my quote took maybe a week from the get go, however it then took just under 2 years for the finished 335 to be delivered(ordered during covid lockdowns etc).

 

[Gibsongt]

Hi Mat, With Gibson ABR bridges (old and new), sometimes they fit loose on the posts. If so, I often bend each post slightly outward, to make the bridge fit snug, so it will not fall out. However, sometimes there is still some play forward and back that can cause the intonation to be off slightly, unless you push it one way or the other, and intonate it accordingly. Has Gibson considered widening the posts by a few thousands so that the ABR fits snug on the posts? BTW... I love my 23 ML R9! Thanks! Charlie

 

[chrisw67]

Hi Mat - first of all, thanks for this thread - it’s taken me almost 3 days to go through all the posts and have learned a lot!

I’ve had a bunch of LPs in the past, from a 76 Deluxe through to a 2011 Wine Red Standard, but found myself lucky enough to be able to get my hands on my first Custom Shop Les Paul - a cherry sunburst R0 (serial no 0 32xx). And I have to say, it’s unbelievable how good it is! I thought my 2011 was good, but this thing knocks it out of the park. I’m not sure if it’s the electronics, the choice of woods, the use of hide glue (PLEASE can Gibson USA use that stuff?!), but it’s a monster! Well done to Gibson - it’s damn near perfect and NOW it’s every bit as good as I could have hoped for. I do have a couple of questions, though…

1. When I was trying it, I noticed that it wasn’t playing as ‘buttery’ as other similarly-priced brands (mentioning no names!) to the point that I was seriously considering throwing some money at one of those instead. I’m glad I didn’t - as soon as I got home, I took the strings off and spent 5 minutes up and down the fretboard with some metal polish on the frets (taking care to mask off the rosewood board, of course!) and they came up as bright as they should have been. The cloth I used for the polish was black afterwards, so it was obvious how much gunk it removed. I don’t think it’s because the guitar had been hung on the wall for months - maybe a couple of weeks, according to the case candy, and none of the other manufacturer’s guitars were like that. Which makes me wonder if it’s something that Gibson could be doing as part of their QC - I would have hoped that the frets on a brand new guitar costing this much would be nothing short of perfect! It’s a 5 minute job, after all… Just to put you in the picture, I also tried out 3 new R9s before pulling the trigger on mine, and they all felt the same. Which brings me to my second point…

2. Actually... I was going to ask another question about the neck on my R0 and how similar these necks are supposed to be to the R9... But what the hell - I love what I've got, so I'm just going to appreciate it for what it is! But I've just seen this video of your good self showing Lee Anderton around the Custom Shop - his shop is where I got my R0 from!

Apologies if this post is a bit long, but thanks so much for all your answers on here - you’ve already imparted an absolute wealth of information!

 

[DutchRay]

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[Pat Boyack]

The world needs more Firebirds and RDs. Come on!!

 

[William Payne]

Hello @matkoehler

My ego would like to think that I am the only one to think of this and it is my magical idea but I know that is not true. So there really is no point in keeping this secret.

After giving up guitar 12 years ago I have decided recently to relearn guitar again, so I am a bit out of touch regarding what you guys have been up to over the last decade.

My goal for 2024 and maybe 2025 is too save up for a Gibson Custom Shop guitar. I accept as a guitar fan that I am not going to be able to afford an original 50's burst, it is just out of the question. So my dream is sort of to save up enough money where I could find someone who is the highest expert on vintage bursts and have Gibson Custom Shop build the most authentic as possible replica of a vintage burst that they possibly can make. Not aged, but have it be like someone found an untouched burst in a case in a warehouse somewhere.

A decade ago back when lots of original burst owners were on this forum one common complaint I used to read about the historic reissues was accuracy. I would read that the hardware wasn't 100% authentic, or the bridge height was wrong, or the neck profile was not authentic to original bursts. Or the neck angle was wrong, or the tailpiece/bridge angles weren't historically accurate. Or inlays, pots, wiring, etc, etc, the list goes on.

The more I think about what my dream Gibson would be the more I think that others would buy this and it could almost be a "Gibson Master Series" or "Gibson Heritage Series" or something.

Over the last decade you guys have done a number of reproductions of authentic vintage bursts. So you guys have the dimensions and the details and know the original neck profiles and body carves and everything of the authentic guitars.

If I spent a year or more saving my money would I be able to call up Gibson Custom Shop and get such a perfect accurate replica of a vintage burst with no aging have it like it just came off the 50's production line and have it so accurate that no expert out there would be able to tell the difference between it and an original one?

I would be highly surprised if there was not a line of willing buyers for a series of Gibson Custom Shop guitars that were that historically accurate. I know there are wood limitations and stuff but its 2023. With modern technology, I don't see why it can't happen. Id even love the paint to be the same so that it faded just like the originals.