SilverHamer
01-04-2008, 10:44 PM
I have been playing Gibsons all of my musical life. During this time I have been very picky about how anything else I play would measure up to Gibson and I thought that the sun rises and sets on the Gibson guitar factories. That is until about 3 1/2 years ago when I found an imported Hamer that plays and sounds every bit as well as my SG...and for less than HALF the price. THIS spoke volumes to me about how the Gibson craftsmanship is no better than the imports...of course that could also mean that the guys building them overseas have come a long way in their craft, and I have to believe that the latter is the case. But Gibson has slipped a little in my honest opinion.
Enter the VOS...that stands for "VINTAGE ORIGINAL SPECS." Back in the days when Seth Lover, Bill Lawrence, and Les Paul were working for Gibson, the products which they produced became major collector's items...anything from the late 50's (59 in particular) is worth tens of thousands of dollars if it is in good condition. Martin Barre (Tull) played a 1959 Les Paul while on tour for many years until someone appraised it for over $40k. He began to worry about it getting stolen and would actually buy an extra seat on flights so the guitar would be sitting right next to him. Soon afterward Martin met Paul Hamer and began playing his guitars.
REAL vintage Gibson guitars are equipped with PAF (Patent Applied For) Humbucking Pickups which were originally designed by Seth Lover. Seymour Duncan acquired Seth's pickup machine from Gibson when they closed the plant in Kalamazoo, MI some years ago....and now Seymour is building the Seymour Duncan 59's on the very machine Seth used to build his...and he builds them to the exact same specs, out of the exact same materials, (wire specs, etc) as Seth did back in the day. The neck on vintage Gibson guitars is a little bit thicker than they are in modern times as well. No big deal, just a different carving job on that piece of mahogony.
HERE is the part Gibson is doing to really PISS ME OFF. Yes, an honest vintage guitar in good condition IS worth a lot of money. But today they are taking something made in modern times and trying to "SPIN" it into something vintage with their marketing strategy. Example...the Gibson SG Standard of today retails for around $1299...I believe MSRP is a bit higher but you see them for $1299 average retail. The body and neck is solid Mahogony...cut and carved on the same machines as those which are destined for the CUSTOM SHOP. The difference in the wood-working is simply that the neck for the VOS is carved a little thicker...no major feat there, just a couple of adjustments on the carving machine...a tweak of a knob here and there. Nothing major.
BUT, because they put one piece of Mahogany through the Custom Shop, the pricetag suddenly goes UP significantly. Below are screen grabs from the Guitar Center website and I compare the SG Standard with the one immediately below it, which is the SG Standard VOS...
Modern SG Standard Listing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v354/LarryC/SG_STD.jpg
SG Custom Shop Standard VOS:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v354/LarryC/SG_VOS.jpg
The most significant differences between these two guitars as listed:
VOS Custom Shop.............................................. .Standard
Solid mahogany body.........................................Ditto
Mahogany neck with long tenon..........................Ditto
22-fret rosewood fingerboard.............................Ditto
Holly headstock veneer.....................................Standar d Masonite?
1960s slim taper neck profile..............................Modern Neck Profile
Acrylic trapezoid inlays.....................................MOP trapezoid inlays
Vintage Original Spec aging treatment.................Hang it, spray it, rub it
Single-ply cream neck binding............................Ditto
Nickel hardware.......................................... ....Chrome hardware
Vintage tulip tuners.........................................Sta ndard keystone tuners
24-3/4" scale............................................. .....Ditto
1-11/16" nut width..........................................Dit to
Burstbucker pickups.........................................49 0R & 489T
2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way selector switch.............Ditto
ABR-1 bridge with stopbar tailpiece....................Tunomatic with stopbar
$1400 difference? Any perceptible upgrades are negligible at best...chrome vs nickel, the finishing technique, and pickups. But to be honest, those Burstbuckers are not so shit hot over the 490R and 489T, NOR are they VINTAGE! WHO THE FUCK ARE THEY KIDDING??? I have read where that the actual cost of building a Humbucker pickup is about $40 each, so I see no justifiable markup in the electronics...not that should affect the bottom line out the door price in such a drastic way. And is a Custom Shop case any better than the standard Gibson USA case??? HAHAHA.
Nope, not worth $1400 more in MY book. I am sure the Custom Shop model is nice, but cosmetically it looks just like the regular SG, save for the smaller pick guard. This is only ONE example. If you care to take the time to do so, look and compare the Les Pauls...not the SG versions of the Les Paul. And even the SG versions are rediculously priced...
I don't think that Gibson makes a particularly bad guitar these days, but their marketing strategies leave a bone in my craw. And if THAT much appears obvious, one must wonder about the things that aren't so obvious. BOTTOM LINE...the VOS is a major SCAM, but people keep allowing themselves to be sucked into it as if they are getting something really special. And as long as people keep doing that, Gibson will keep building them and inflating the prices and calling them VOS. Solution...buy an SG Standard and put a set of Seymour Duncan 59's on it for an extra $150...at least they are wound on Seth Lover's original machine and built to HIS specs...and $150 extra sure beats the hell out of $1400!
Sorry for such a verbose rant...but I'm pissed. LOL.
Enter the VOS...that stands for "VINTAGE ORIGINAL SPECS." Back in the days when Seth Lover, Bill Lawrence, and Les Paul were working for Gibson, the products which they produced became major collector's items...anything from the late 50's (59 in particular) is worth tens of thousands of dollars if it is in good condition. Martin Barre (Tull) played a 1959 Les Paul while on tour for many years until someone appraised it for over $40k. He began to worry about it getting stolen and would actually buy an extra seat on flights so the guitar would be sitting right next to him. Soon afterward Martin met Paul Hamer and began playing his guitars.
REAL vintage Gibson guitars are equipped with PAF (Patent Applied For) Humbucking Pickups which were originally designed by Seth Lover. Seymour Duncan acquired Seth's pickup machine from Gibson when they closed the plant in Kalamazoo, MI some years ago....and now Seymour is building the Seymour Duncan 59's on the very machine Seth used to build his...and he builds them to the exact same specs, out of the exact same materials, (wire specs, etc) as Seth did back in the day. The neck on vintage Gibson guitars is a little bit thicker than they are in modern times as well. No big deal, just a different carving job on that piece of mahogony.
HERE is the part Gibson is doing to really PISS ME OFF. Yes, an honest vintage guitar in good condition IS worth a lot of money. But today they are taking something made in modern times and trying to "SPIN" it into something vintage with their marketing strategy. Example...the Gibson SG Standard of today retails for around $1299...I believe MSRP is a bit higher but you see them for $1299 average retail. The body and neck is solid Mahogony...cut and carved on the same machines as those which are destined for the CUSTOM SHOP. The difference in the wood-working is simply that the neck for the VOS is carved a little thicker...no major feat there, just a couple of adjustments on the carving machine...a tweak of a knob here and there. Nothing major.
BUT, because they put one piece of Mahogany through the Custom Shop, the pricetag suddenly goes UP significantly. Below are screen grabs from the Guitar Center website and I compare the SG Standard with the one immediately below it, which is the SG Standard VOS...
Modern SG Standard Listing:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v354/LarryC/SG_STD.jpg
SG Custom Shop Standard VOS:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v354/LarryC/SG_VOS.jpg
The most significant differences between these two guitars as listed:
VOS Custom Shop.............................................. .Standard
Solid mahogany body.........................................Ditto
Mahogany neck with long tenon..........................Ditto
22-fret rosewood fingerboard.............................Ditto
Holly headstock veneer.....................................Standar d Masonite?
1960s slim taper neck profile..............................Modern Neck Profile
Acrylic trapezoid inlays.....................................MOP trapezoid inlays
Vintage Original Spec aging treatment.................Hang it, spray it, rub it
Single-ply cream neck binding............................Ditto
Nickel hardware.......................................... ....Chrome hardware
Vintage tulip tuners.........................................Sta ndard keystone tuners
24-3/4" scale............................................. .....Ditto
1-11/16" nut width..........................................Dit to
Burstbucker pickups.........................................49 0R & 489T
2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way selector switch.............Ditto
ABR-1 bridge with stopbar tailpiece....................Tunomatic with stopbar
$1400 difference? Any perceptible upgrades are negligible at best...chrome vs nickel, the finishing technique, and pickups. But to be honest, those Burstbuckers are not so shit hot over the 490R and 489T, NOR are they VINTAGE! WHO THE FUCK ARE THEY KIDDING??? I have read where that the actual cost of building a Humbucker pickup is about $40 each, so I see no justifiable markup in the electronics...not that should affect the bottom line out the door price in such a drastic way. And is a Custom Shop case any better than the standard Gibson USA case??? HAHAHA.
Nope, not worth $1400 more in MY book. I am sure the Custom Shop model is nice, but cosmetically it looks just like the regular SG, save for the smaller pick guard. This is only ONE example. If you care to take the time to do so, look and compare the Les Pauls...not the SG versions of the Les Paul. And even the SG versions are rediculously priced...
I don't think that Gibson makes a particularly bad guitar these days, but their marketing strategies leave a bone in my craw. And if THAT much appears obvious, one must wonder about the things that aren't so obvious. BOTTOM LINE...the VOS is a major SCAM, but people keep allowing themselves to be sucked into it as if they are getting something really special. And as long as people keep doing that, Gibson will keep building them and inflating the prices and calling them VOS. Solution...buy an SG Standard and put a set of Seymour Duncan 59's on it for an extra $150...at least they are wound on Seth Lover's original machine and built to HIS specs...and $150 extra sure beats the hell out of $1400!
Sorry for such a verbose rant...but I'm pissed. LOL.