Anybody ever buy a Chibson Guitar?

[Wild Obsession]

I don't need any more guitars, but I have "GAS", I was looking for something "cheap" ($300 +/-), and considered chancing a Chibson......

[Gibsonite]

An amateur luthier buddy of mine bought one a few years ago. Gutted the pickups, electronics & tuners and replaced everything with brand-name parts, dressed the frets, did a complete setup, etc. The thing plays and looks fine now but at the end of the day its still a Chinese knockoff guitar worth 300 bucks tops no matter how much time and money he threw at it

[HueyRamone]

My friend got the Glenn Tipton bowtie guitar and it looks fucking awesome. He upgraded all the parts, but the intonation is still bullshit. He might get a pro to try to improve it.

if you need a wall guitar showpiece it might be good.

[Kerry67]

Yeah, I have some of those pieces of crap. It's the cool thing for guys to bash Gibson but still want that name on the headstock. Guarantee that every one of them tell people they are real Gibson's.

[VinnieVincentsVag]

No, but I bought a $3,500 Gibson Custom LP.
It was a piece of shit.
Took it back

[Wild Obsession]

That's ^ another reason why I'm considering a $250 Chibson is that IMO the new $2,500 +/- "Gibsons" hanging on the wall at Guitar Center are just as much a gamble for 10x the cost. As far as the components, fit and finish, etc., the new(er) Les Pauls I have tried out are comparable to $500 guitars from brands like Vintage and Tokai.

[Rocker4Real]

Is that another name for Epiphone?

[Wild Obsession]

Is that another name for Epiphone?

I have seen some comments where people think Chibsons are actually (made by) Epiphone.

[FreddyFender]

One of my bandmates has a fake gibson SG custom (white 3 pickups). He used it for one gig and now it's a wall decoration - complete garbage.

You're gonna need new tuners, new pickups, and whatever you do to the neck is gonna be a waste of time because the shitty wood shrinks/expands, non-functioning truss rods, etc.

It's a bad investment - you're gonna spend time and hundreds of dollars upgrading them, but then you can't ever sell them for more than $100-$200 or so (unless you try and scam someone).

Just buy an Epiphone that feels solid in a color you like, upgrade the tuners, a tusq nut, good bridge and if everything feels good, then upgrade the pickups and electronics. You'll have a great-playing guitar for life.

[FreddyFender]

I have seen some comments where people think Chibsons are actually (made by) Epiphone.

Absolutely false - wishful thinking more like it.

[HueyRamone]

This guy I know had a red flying v and wanted to sell it to me. He said was made by a custom luthier. I played it, neck felt like plastic. It had block inlays and that Les Paul shape thingy on the headstock. He wanted "his luthier" to do those. Wanted $700. I said no. he kept messaging me about it. I just declined, maybe I should have told him I know he's trying to pull a fucking scam and his luthier is a chinese guy and it's a chibson.

That's ^ another reason why I'm considering a $250 Chibson is that IMO the new $2,500 +/- "Gibsons" hanging on the wall at Guitar Center are just as much a gamble for 10x the cost. As far as the components, fit and finish, etc., the new(er) Les Pauls I have tried out are comparable to $500 guitars from brands like Vintage and Tokai.

Find a Chibson and play it and you wont think that. Most of them feel like a $79 guitar, and while Gibsons might be cray overpriced, they dont feel like that. I have heard there are some diamonds in the rough- this guy seemed pleased.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnGDOQB ... annel=JEEJ

[FreddyFender]

This is not the same universe as an Epiphone - these are barely above toys for a Halloween costume:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo7fpRhHcWw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI3L16Yi8Xo

[Guitarmageddon_VI]

Hell some Korean Epis feel like toys. Some sound really good, but have shoddy electronics. Not sure about the newer Epis, but have heard good things about them.

[FreddyFender]

Bad electronics? Sure. But if you pick up a used Epiphone LP with a good neck for $300 and put in another $400 in - EMG passive humbuckers w/ quick connect pots ($250), gotoh tuners ($60), gotoh bridge ($40), tusq nut (15), puretone jack ($5), you are going to have a reliable workhorse guitar that plays and sounds great for the rest of your life. And when it comes time to sell it, you can sell it for a premium due to the upgrades, or put all the original shit back on it and at least get back what you paid for it.

You could do a complete refret of a Chibson and six months later have massive fret sprout from the wood shrinking. You're never gonna be able to really trust it for gigging, and it's worth nothing - never gonna appreciate in value.

[FreddyFender]

Lastly, if you just want a new guitar and want something really cheap, get a Harley Benton! https://www.thomannmusic.com/harley_ben ... itars.html

I got one of their Telecasters set up for my friends kid as a first guitar - $100, solid bones for the money. Needed some tuners and I put a new nut on. Neck played great, didn't feel like a cheap guitar at all.

Harley Benton/Epiphone/Squier/Etc's goal is to sell you the best possible guitar they can make for the money.

The guys selling Chibsons are literally scamming - Selling you something that looks like a Gibson using a burner account. They're already committing a crime, why would they give a shit if they sell you a fucked up product?

[Engine13]

Can't be any worse than 70's Gibsons.

[VinnieVincentsVag]

You're gonna need new tuners, new pickups, and whatever you do to the neck is gonna be a waste of time because the shitty wood shrinks/expands, non-functioning truss rods, etc.

This is exactly what I thought of the Custom LP I bought.
B string wouldn’t stay in tune for nothing.
It was a beautiful guitar tho…for a turd

Exact opposite of the Ernie Ball I bought for the same amount.
Beautiful guitar, great sound, great feel.

[exitflagger]

Since "Chibson" is not a brand and instead is a pretty wide umbrella, it's like any other search for a decent quality guitar. It requires research, knowing what you're getting, attention to caveats, and oftentimes plain old luck. You usually have to figure into the price that you'll need to upgrade some of the electronics and hardware.

If you hear that a large percentage of the "hidden headstock" guitars on ebay are garbage, they probably are. Doesn't mean that somebody somewhere didn't beat the odds and somehow got hold of a good one. Crapshoots are crapshoots.

[Guitarmageddon_VI]

Bad electronics? Sure. But if you pick up a used Epiphone LP with a good neck for $300 and put in another $400 in - EMG passive humbuckers w/ quick connect pots ($250), gotoh tuners ($60), gotoh bridge ($40), tusq nut (15), puretone jack ($5), you are going to have a reliable workhorse guitar that plays and sounds great for the rest of your life. And when it comes time to sell it, you can sell it for a premium due to the upgrades, or put all the original shit back on it and at least get back what you paid for it.

You could do a complete refret of a Chibson and six months later have massive fret sprout from the wood shrinking. You're never gonna be able to really trust it for gigging, and it's worth nothing - never gonna appreciate in value.

I have 4 Korean Epis. Black Beauty, Ace Frehley sig, Korina Explorer, and a white Epi LP custom. All had toggle switches that shorted out.

I did rewire all of them. Most with EMGs, one has Duncans. They are all near 25 years old, still going strong. Newer ones are supposed to be really well made, but have never played any.

[TheDeadBastard]

Lastly, if you just want a new guitar and want something really cheap, get a Harley Benton! https://www.thomannmusic.com/harley_ben ... itars.html

I got one of their Telecasters set up for my friends kid as a first guitar - $100, solid bones for the money. Needed some tuners and I put a new nut on. Neck played great, didn't feel like a cheap guitar at all.

Harley Benton/Epiphone/Squier/Etc's goal is to sell you the best possible guitar they can make for the money.

The guys selling Chibsons are literally scamming - Selling you something that looks like a Gibson using a burner account. They're already committing a crime, why would they give a shit if they sell you a fucked up product?

Monoprice’s guitars are surprisingly solid for the price.

[Gibsonite]

You're gonna need new tuners, new pickups, and whatever you do to the neck is gonna be a waste of time because the shitty wood shrinks/expands, non-functioning truss rods, etc.

This is exactly what I thought of the Custom LP I bought.
B string wouldn’t stay in tune for nothing.
It was a beautiful guitar tho…for a turd

Exact opposite of the Ernie Ball I bought for the same amount.
Beautiful guitar, great sound, great feel.

I have an '88 LPC that hands down, is the best-playing, most comfortable guitar I've ever laid my paws on and I've played a few real-deal '50s ones in my time too. I've also played some '80s - '90s ones that felt like total shit. Depends on how hard they tried on that particular day at the factory I guess lol

[Rocker4Real]

The best thing to do is to mess around on Reverb and try to lowball someone. They at least have a return policy.

[VinnieVincentsVag]

You're gonna need new tuners, new pickups, and whatever you do to the neck is gonna be a waste of time because the shitty wood shrinks/expands, non-functioning truss rods, etc.

This is exactly what I thought of the Custom LP I bought.
B string wouldn’t stay in tune for nothing.
It was a beautiful guitar tho…for a turd

Exact opposite of the Ernie Ball I bought for the same amount.
Beautiful guitar, great sound, great feel.

I have an '88 LPC that hands down, is the best-playing, most comfortable guitar I've ever laid my paws on and I've played a few real-deal '50s ones in my time too. I've also played some '80s - '90s ones that felt like total shit. Depends on how hard they tried on that particular day at the factory I guess lol

I think their quality control took a shit in the 90s

[Wild Obsession]

Instead of a Chibson, I bought a used 2016 Vintage (brand) V100 Les Paul off ebay for $250. The materials, construction, fit and finish, etc. are amazing, only aspect I'm not crazy about are the pick-ups. IMO, put a set of Seymour Duncan 59's in it, and it absolutely rivals the quality of a "modern" (2005 to today) Gibson Les Paul, for a 10th of the price.