Gordon Smith Guitars? Opinions?

HeldByWire

Following on my my previous thread a couple of people have suggested checking out Gordon Smith Guitars. I've had a quick look at their site and first impressions are that they could be exactly what I'm looking for (custom Les Paul-ish guitar that won't break the bank).

Obviously I need to do a lot more reading,googling, etc but I'm just curious if any of you wonderfully knowledgeable people have any experience of these guitars (particularly the Graduate) or know anything good or bad about the instruments or company in general?

AlexHunter

Owned a graduate slimline and played several others. Nice guitars but wouldn’t buy one new for the price. Quality control is hit and miss, pickups will usually need changing and the rear cavity on mine looked like a GCSE woodwork project when you took the cover off.

poor residuals though so there are some second hand bargains to be had which would leave you enough spare cash to offset the above.

OilCityPickups

The new ones are a lot better made than those of a few years ago ... the company is in new hands I believe. 

Funkfingers

AlexHunter said:

Nice guitars but wouldn’t buy one new for the price. Quality control is hit and miss, pickups will usually need changing and the rear cavity on mine looked like a GCSE woodwork project when you took the cover off.

poor residuals though so there are some second hand bargains to be had which would leave you enough spare cash to offset the above.

The only things that I would add to this description are that the machineheads do not inspire confidence and the positioning of the controls is sometimes annoying - both in use and for repairers. 

EricTheWeary

In practice Auden took over the production relatively recently so not many people will have had their hands on one. There are a few shops who stock them so worth getting some hands on time before looking at a custom order maybe. 
They always had a reputation for being a bit variable ( but then so have Gibson) and under the old owners quite poor QC by the end so if looking at used be cautious, might get a bargain, might get a dog. But it's a new start with Auden . 
Lots of instruments depreciate quite badly but you are looking for a keeper so ignore that. 

HeldByWire

It's a custom I would be going for if anything. They are cheap for custom guitars, but if that's because they're just good no frills instruments then that's ok with me!

EricTheWeary

Funkfingers said:

AlexHunter said:

Nice guitars but wouldn’t buy one new for the price. Quality control is hit and miss, pickups will usually need changing and the rear cavity on mine looked like a GCSE woodwork project when you took the cover off.

poor residuals though so there are some second hand bargains to be had which would leave you enough spare cash to offset the above.

The only things that I would add to this description are that the machineheads do not inspire confidence and the positioning of the controls is sometimes annoying - both in use and for repairers. 

If ordering a custom instrument there are upgrades on the tuners, you can also have non GS pick ups if you have something particular in mind. 
Some very nice looking guitars on their website. 

blobb

Don't confuse the old ones with the new Auden ones. The old ones were the classic 'Punk' guitar, some of them were rough and ready working musician instruments, but supposed to be like that. The new ones from Auden are different. There's a good facebook group you can join if you want some first hand experience of the Auden builds.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/GordonSmith/

HAL9000

Only ever played two. One was a pre-Auden Jnr type (GS1?) which, frankly, wasn't anything to write home about. The other was an Auden era Jnr which was really rather nice.

www

I had a bit of a play on a new T-Graf this afternoon as I was hoping to get a Classic-T but that was the closest they had in stock. I'd say it was 'ok' - at a minimum it needed a decent fret dress and I'd say various elements of the finish could be better. By way of contrast I have an Eastman SB59 which is so far ahead of the Gordon Smiths it's untrue. Richards Guitars have an SB59v SB in stock (used I think) - buy it!

fastonebaz

Hi @HeldByWire ;

I have one for sale.   The neck is superb really smooth and fast, sounds slightly different to a Gibson and to my ears nicer.   Great upper fret access and coil taps.  Looks and plays great and build quality is 1st class.  Only reason for selling it is I play in a tribute band and have different guitars now to complete the look. 

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/132350/fs-gordon-smith-gs2-deluxe-honey-burst-2017-750#latest

Winny_Pooh

New ones are great

rawk100

I picked up a GS1000 recently and gave it a quick strum and it felt and sounded great. To my untrained eye I could see nothing wrong and it was priced at just under a grand. It seemed a better guitar compared to one I played about 15 years ago which I found uninspiring at the time. I think Auden are producing some pretty good guitars for the money and I'd definitely consider one of the newer models if I were in the market for a new guitar.

boogieman

I had an old model Graduate 60, the full thickness LP  shape. Build quality was ok, definitely a few rough edges and the finish was very amateur looking. It was in black Shadow finish, basically semi matt, but quite orange-peely. I cut the neck finish back with polishing compound and it came up fairly nicely. The tuners were actually really solid and stable, made by Van Gent. In fact all the hardware was very good

Pickups were GS’s own and a lot thinner sounding than a proper LP, more in SG territory. It did sound good though and played very nicely. I could never get past the terribly amateur letraset style logo though and eventually traded it (and took a massive hit on the price/value). That’s good news for secondhand buyers I guess. 

No idea what the new ones are like but I’ve heard the quality is way better, and certainly more consistent. 

Fuengi

Had a quick little go on a GS1000 in Anderton's a couple of months back, they really stood out as well detailed and designed guitars. Very impressed, worth a look in the flesh. 

pintspiller

QC can be a little ropey at times on the used instruments, and they used this as a unique selling point for a time. My Gypsy (today it's just called a thick-bodied GS2) has a bit of filler on the rear, poor name logo on the headstock and dodgy neck PU volume. I've lived with it like this for nearly 30 years.

Mine was bought as a LP until I could find the right LP. I never did. I think it's the heel joint that did it for me.

The ones that Auden have made since the take over look great. I hope to play some sometime to see what they like.

Whitecat

pintspiller said:

QC can be a little ropey at times on the used instruments, and they used this as a unique selling point for a time. My Gypsy (today it's just called a thick-bodied GS2) has a bit of filler on the rear, poor name logo on the headstock and dodgy neck PU volume. I've lived with it like this for nearly 30 years.

Mine was bought as a LP until I could find the right LP. I never did. I think it's the heel joint that did it for me.

The ones that Auden have made since the take over look great. I hope to play some sometime to see what they like.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi

Whitecat

This is lovely: https://musicstreet.co.uk/products/gordon-smith-gs2-noswar-black-white-fill

Reminds me a little of a doghair Collings 290 at about a third of the price. USA Bigsby too by the looks of it...

EricTheWeary

Whitecat said:

This is lovely: https://musicstreet.co.uk/products/gordon-smith-gs2-noswar-black-white-fill

Reminds me a little of a doghair Collings 290 at about a third of the price. USA Bigsby too by the looks of it...

The GS1000s on the website look amazing, I don't remember it as a model in the old line so I'm guessing Auden have added it. Remind me if the guitars Earl Slick was promoting a few years ago but that might be a wonky memory. 

rich75

I've got a mid-90s Graduate 60 which I've had from new. No issues with QC on my one and it plays really nicely. It also has a really nice finish. I've bought and sold plenty of guitars over the years but that one has always survived.

I have changed the pickups a couple of times and it currently has a set of the Seymour Duncan Slash pickups which work really well, as you'd expect in a LP style guitar.

Based on my experience I certainly wouldn't rule out a used one, but it seems like you should probably try before you buy given some of the stories about QC issues over the years.

meltedbuzzbox

Richard's guitars should give you a nice unbiased opinion