Dilemma Solved & NGDish

Fifty9

Revolutions said:

Beautiful guitar!

Three options imo:

1. If if doesn't spark joy: return it or ask for more money off
2. If it does spark joy: play it & don't worry about things that don't affect playing
3. If you want to waste money: get a refin to open up the tone more?

Option 2 is running away with it

LionAquaLooper

In all likelihood I reckon the seller did intentionally leave out the blemish in the description and photos just to get buyers to "bite".  Maybe they did list this in the past with 100% of the details included but failed to sell, so on to plan B. 

Yes it's not kosher but would've been worse if the seller didn't offset this misdeed with a discount - which they did.  And they even offered a refund.       

Iamnobody

Congrats enjoy your new guitar!

Presumably the photos and description showed no COA or candy - therefore suggesting without actually saying that there weren’t any included in the sale?

The blemish looks worse in the close up photo but it’s not really the end of the world when you take a step back. Given the price you’ve done well. 

Kurtis

Fifty9 said:

Kurtis said:

Surely though, given the reduction in price, you wouldn’t expect to get full second hand price should you choose to sell it?

And,  if you did sell it with a similar reduction, then I'm sure someone, like yourself, will snap it up.

Keep the receipt! 

Not thinking about actually selling it, just a concern if I did would it get hit which no one wants do they.

I just pulled the trigger on a good looking bargain then got a couple of surprises post purchase that left me with mixed emotions so sought the wise advice from the brain trust on here. On the plus side it’s an, ahem, absolute banger in person/in the hands. 

On the downside was really more about the transaction / price & whether I’d been duped into buying a factory second as opposed to my feelings about the guitar itself.

I really don’t mind the blemish/stain that much - I see it as individual/character more than a negative tbh and really don’t care about the CoA personally.

This one is all I’ve been after in a LP for a couple of decades since I first saw pearly gates so don’t intend to sell whatsoever. If I ever did need to sell it’ll be worth what someone's happy to pay won’t it. If I sort the blemish and print all the details then I expect most would be happy with a couple of hundred knocked off for lack of CoA but proof it’s genuine. I know how I feel about it so if someone really would walk away because of a CoA theyd be bonkers

What I mean is you probably will "take a hit" but it shouldn't be far out of line with the money you've saved.


IOW I wouldn't worry about it 


If it was me I'd keep it, and play the crap out of it  

Fifty9

Congrats enjoy your new guitar!

Presumably the photos and description showed no COA or candy - therefore suggesting without actually saying that there weren’t any included in the sale?

The blemish looks worse in the close up photo but it’s not really the end of the world when you take a step back. Given the price you’ve done well. 

Yes the CoA is prob 50-50 imho as it wasn’t in photos and I simply asked if there were any concerns I should know about - expecting that, frets, truss rod, electrics, any blemishes & dings not pictured etc to be covered by such a question. Description said he was the original owner too and I simply didn’t think that it’d have been lost given mine just sit in the case. I’ve got a hang tag tho 

 

CoffeeAndTV

I’m in agreement with the majority, enjoy the guitar if it doesn’t affect the tone and feel. It’s a blemish and not a fixed headstock.  

guitars4you

ICBM said:

carlos said:

Isn't poor quality control a Gibson feature at this point? Anyway, I'd send a Harley Benton back if it had that, let alone an expensive guitar.

I don’t think it’s a QC issue, it looks like a typical stand mark. There may be a couple more in the back edge of the body at the bottom - also where you don’t see them.

My Gibson Dove has a brown stain right across the logo where the previous owner left a capo clamped on it. However, it’s the best Dove - maybe the best acoustic guitar - I’ve ever played, and it was cheap. I’ve never once considered selling it. I also… er… sometimes put my capo on the headstock .

Agree it looks like a guitar stand or even a capo

Fifty9

Yeah it’s got to be a guitar stand. Have been back & forth with him and he showed me a pick of all his guitars - he has a studio - with them all resting with the contact midway up the underside of the neck exactly where the mark is

skullfunkerry

Fifty9 said:

Kurtis said:

Surely though, given the reduction in price, you wouldn’t expect to get full second hand price should you choose to sell it?

And,  if you did sell it with a similar reduction, then I'm sure someone, like yourself, will snap it up.

Keep the receipt! 

Not thinking about actually selling it, just a concern if I did would it get hit which no one wants do they.

I just pulled the trigger on a good looking bargain then got a couple of surprises post purchase that left me with mixed emotions so sought the wise advice from the brain trust on here. On the plus side it’s an, ahem, absolute banger in person/in the hands. 

On the downside was really more about the transaction / price & whether I’d been duped into buying a factory second as opposed to my feelings about the guitar itself.

I really don’t mind the blemish/stain that much - I see it as individual/character more than a negative tbh and really don’t care about the CoA personally.

This one is all I’ve been after in a LP for a couple of decades since I first saw pearly gates so don’t intend to sell whatsoever. If I ever did need to sell it’ll be worth what someone's happy to pay won’t it. If I sort the blemish and print all the details then I expect most would be happy with a couple of hundred knocked off for lack of CoA but proof it’s genuine. I know how I feel about it so if someone really would walk away because of a CoA theyd be bonkers

Regarding the first point that I've made bold: if it plays well etc. then personally I couldn't care less whether a guitar is a factory second or not - and in fact, one of my guitars was deliberately bought as b-stock.

Regarding the second point... you're kind of answering your own question there, aren't you?

Not intending to be snarky, but reading that back it does seem like I am - I would be feeling a little miffed in your position to be honest, but the nuts and bolts of it are that you have a great guitar with a mark that almost no-one will ever see or notice, and you got it at a great price, without which you couldn't have afforded it. Keep it, definitely. And congrats on your NGD - enjoy playing the hell out of it!

Fifty9

Agreed skullfunk.

Fishboy7

Very nice LP.  The blemish looks pretty superficial an wouldn't bother me. 

I really hate that any value is put on these stupid CoAs and case crap (can't bring myself to type candy).  

fretmeister

Keep it. It will get other marks as you play it anyway.

And it might only be 7.9lb when you throw that scratchplate into a skip.

ICBM

fretmeister said:

And it might only be 7.9lb when you throw that scratchplate into a skip.

Just about - the pickguard and its bracket weigh about 1.5oz.

Most importantly, you need to do it soon or the finish will fade and leave a shadow…

boogieman

When you said blemish i was expecting a ding in the wood, not a minor finish mark. Presumably it’s not under the finish? If so I’d try a very mild abrasive like metal polish and it’ll possibly come out anyway. 

I’m not you and I do get that some people are fussier than others, but if it’s a good guitar and you got it for a lot less than the normal going rate, I don’t really see what the problem is? You got a bargain, it’s a nice guitar. It’s not like the seller was trying to conceal a major issue like a neck break. 

ICBM

boogieman said:

When you said blemish i was expecting a ding in the wood, not a minor finish mark. Presumably it’s not under the finish? If so I’d try a very mild abrasive like metal polish and it’ll possibly come out anyway.

The problem with these types of marks is that they're not usually on the surface - as WezV said you can occasionally be lucky, especially if it's caught early, but normally the stain has penetrated through the full depth of the finish. It's caused by the plasticiser and black dye in the rubber pad of a guitar stand migrating into the nitro finish, which contains similar solvents and never fully 'sets' in the way a chemically-curing finish like polyester does. (Even some types of polyurethane can be damaged like this.)

If you're really unlucky the mark can also feel rubbery, which is a more serious problem if it's in the middle of the back of the neck, as they often are from a 'lean back' stand rather than a 'side on' one.

Other materials can also do it - the plasticisers and dyes in vinyl guitar strap ends, or even in some leathers, and in cables... it used to be fairly common to see marks from curly cables if they've been left in contact with the guitar on a stand or in a case, but hardly anyone uses them now.

Nitro is basically a really bad choice of material to finish a guitar in, regardless of how nice it looks or feels to a lot of people.

fretfinder

Very nice looking Les Paul and a great weight, good score. Ignore the ‘no pickguard’ brigade, they have poor judgement and probably also think that the world is flat!   Ignore also the ‘refinish’ mob who want you to spend hundreds of pounds and thereby devalue your guitar by, er, more hundreds of pounds. It’s a shame the COA is missing but if you got the guitar for a decent price that’s some compensation. No matter how many people say ‘I don’t care about COAs’, in the real world it does knock a couple of hundred quid or more off the value, rightly or wrongly. Hopefully the guitar will be a keeper but none of us can be certain that our tastes and circumstances won’t change and necessitate a sale one day, so it’s worth bearing in mind the value issues. Enjoy!

Paul_C

It might be possible to get a replacement COA from Gibson, tell them the dog ate it or something

Fifty9

Ok so had a gentle of a scrub with a scotchbrite pad to see if it was surface or deeper. Bit of both is the answer but it’s far less noticeable now so am happy and will leave it. Was like a big ugly black stain visible from afar but now need to be looking for it to notice it. 

The bigger question now tho is to scratch or not to scratch??

ICBM

Always off.

duotone

I vote no scratchplate. Why hide some of that lovely top with a cheap bit of plastic?