In Favour of 2015 Gibsons

mikeyrob73

just thought i would ask the question,is it just me as i have no other point of reference with Gibsons, this being the first 2 i have ever actually owned.  

i own 2 , a Junior and a Studio and i love them both. anyone else like them as there seems to be a universal dislike on them

usedtobe

Never played one. Some people don't like some of the features, apparently. I like my 2016 one..

Alnico

Disregarding tuners which can be changed and a head stock that could easily be refinished by someone who knows how, i tried one and here's what i thought.

The Junior was a really good, well made and great looking guitar that sounded surprisingly good. The nut was adjusted well on the model i tried in PMT Cambridge and once it did finally get in tune it held it well. I've got a Floyd Rose Guitar and owned guitars with brass nuts so that didn't really bother me at all, it was just how that guitar is and that's fine.

I've got big hands and i like wide necks but that just felt too much, a bit like a school-classical guitar would. Obviously it's not the same neck shape or anything but it felt unnecessarily wide, especially around fret 4-10 for some reason, that's where my left hand found it the most difficult. That part of my fingers just before the join my left hand was constantly fighting to reach over that far edge of the board so i was straining to play it really, although it has to be said not drastically, it's just that i couldn't ignore it.

Overall i felt the wide neck doesn't suit the guitar and that's why i didn't jump all over one when they were cheap. I still wouldn't own one but now it's just more to do with the fact i don't get on with the neck shape overall, just like some people can't get on with V-Neck profiles, etc.

If the tuners work for you and you get on with the logo *and* the neck then it's an amazing guitar for you at prices that will probably never happen again, not quite the way they did last year / this year anyway.

I think @Wazmeister got the cheapest deal on a '15 Junior that i heard of ?
What was it again Warren ? I seem to remember it being less than £300 !

Well done on liking them anyway. Just the fact it's NOT a Strat is what matters the most. It's what makes you feel and play the best that matters the most.

John_P

Ones I've played have certainly been well made guitars.  
I'd didn't like the neck profile so I prefer other years, sounds like the neck does suit you so it's good. 

lustycourtier

My jnr was about £220 from Amazon and it's great. I also have a 2015 335 which is the best 335 I've owned. 

mikeyrob73

Yeah the tuners are a bit marmite but touch wood i have had not a single issue with mine. The wider neck my little fat fingers have really grown to love, so much so that when i switch back onto  my CV Tele or the FMT it feels more alien 

WezV

At the amazon price of £285 they were amazing guitars.  At full price the features just split the crowd too much but you would still struggle to get those features cheaper.

But they are well made, especially given they don't have any of the usual cost cutting you see on budget Gibson's. The finish was great on mine.  Woods were lower grade but perfectly suitable - I even had a one piece body on mine, although the grain was not the prettiest.

 I did get rid of mine mine in the end. I intended modding it to make it more like a proper junior, but in the end it was too nice to bother it.  All my plans for it just seemed redundant.   I made myself a junior and deluxe instead, and the junior got a slightly wider than normal neck

Never had any issues with the wide neck, or the nut.  Tuners didn't seem 100% reliable but worked well, I just didn't trust them as they always found something to do.

mort

I have a junior and a standard. Very happy with both. The tuners are great if you just want a quick 'pick up and play' for 10 mins. Press the button, in tune in 10 seconds. 

Jez6345789

Yes I still like my Amzon cheap as chips slab junior.

i have small hands but is well setup and plays fine.

you can see why people did not like change and the signature logo should of been pulled by marketing at the first discussion. Metal nut is fine works well. I still have the auto tunes on and frankly they work fine. 

I might prefer a bit a bit darker sounding p90 as I find the standard one brighter than my general p90 experience but it's not a seal breaker.

i will probably turn it into a project guitar when I get time next year. A lot better fit and finish than the Mexico cabronita I bought in the Thomann blow out.

imalrightjack

I hated the wider fretboard, it just felt unnatural.  I found the auto-tuners to be too slow on stage but wonderful in the studio.  My Midtown 2015 required a good bit of fretwork to get it up-to-scratch and I've since replaced the tuners and pick-ups and added a Bigsby (all preference stuff).  It's a great guitar - and doesn't have the wider fretboard.

jeztone2

I tried one & the fingerboard put me off. Also I'm totally cynical of motorised tuners on a fixed bridge guitar. It's solving a problem that doesn't exist. Not for me anyway.

Reading between the lines I suspect Gibson's CEO wants to be seen as some sort of Steve Jobs Innovator. That's fine, but for a brand associated with heritage & conservatism. It doesn't work. 

eSully

I have a Junior and a Traditional I got in the amazon sales last year. Both amazing guitars with beautiful finishes. The Trad has a really chunky neck but it feels more natural than the Junior, I find the junior a bit too flat for the width of the fretboard. The rounding on the Trad feels a lot better so that is my go to guitar. I'm very happy with them, completely appreciate why they're marmite for a lot of people but also appreciate that marmite effect got me 2 great quality guitars for bugger all

darhart

I went a bit overboard on 2015 Gibsons.... I found them to be really nice, well built gutiars and have no problems at all with any of the contentious features.

p90fool

I loved the Jr I played, in fact I went straight home and ordered a pickup out of one then nailed it to me Les Paul.

I didn't mind the wide neck too much as I have long fingers, my only concern would be the fairly radical difference when swapping between guitars live.

mort

darhart said:

I went a bit overboard on 2015 Gibsons.... I found them to be really nice, well built gutiars and have no problems at all with any of the contentious features.

Go on, what's "a bit overboard" ? 

darhart

mort said:

darhart said:

I went a bit overboard on 2015 Gibsons.... I found them to be really nice, well built gutiars and have no problems at all with any of the contentious features.

Go on, what's "a bit overboard" ? 

Les Paul: Jr, Deluxe, Traditional, an SG Standard, a 335, a Midtown, and a Japan market V. The wife's not happy......

(I am

rossi

I got a 2015 Midtown .Love it .No issues at all .

mort

darhart said:

mort said:

darhart said:

I went a bit overboard on 2015 Gibsons.... I found them to be really nice, well built gutiars and have no problems at all with any of the contentious features.

Go on, what's "a bit overboard" ? 

Les Paul: Jr, Deluxe, Traditional, an SG Standard, a 335, a Midtown, and a Japan market V. The wife's not happy......

(I am

I see....... 

You're not alone, similar story here, 2x Les Paul standards, junior, 335 & 339.

I was meant to sell one of the standards after deciding which I preferred but still can't decide nearly a year later !

JookyChap

I had a Junior and it was great. Only sold it to free some pennies up, but probably shouldn't have in truth. The neck never worried me - I've played the odd acoustic, which generally were wider - and I thought the autotune brilliant. Felt a bit unnatural plugging your guitar in to charge, but hardly earth shattering. It was kick Gibson time really and by not making the changes optional they gave everybody the target. 

A5D5E5

I've not played any 2015 gibsons, but I've retro fitted the tuners to a couple of les Pauls as i think they are great.  I only wish they fitted my B7 so I could put them on that as well.

guitarcookie1

I got my LP Junior for £285 from Amazon, which I think was a complete bargain. 

It's extremely well put together and you can't fault the finish at all. 

The tuners work perfectly as long as you keep the battery charged, and are really useful for trying out alternative tunings. 

I like the wide neck too, possibly because I spent about ten years playing a classical guitar before I picked up an electric. I have small hands as well. 

The headstock logo isn't that bad, you can't see it when playing, and it might be collectible one day; who knows...

Might change the pickup for something less bright but will definitely change the wiring to 50's style first.