I hate my Gibson Hummingbird...

[Wendigo]

Just had to get that off my chest. The tone itself is to die for, but as usual Gibson has fricked the nut up and the frets are in the wrong spots or something. I just cantlie to myself anymore; the guitar is poorly built no matter what it cost (and they cost plenty). The guitar just can't be tuned properly so that all chords seem more or less right.
In fact,most things I buy these days seem to be of pretty pile of poop quality no matter what price you pay. It's a shame really.

/rant.

[Randy Bass]

I'm pretty sure all of the junk on the pickguard throws off the intonation as the saddle tries to get away from it . I'd trade it in for a high-end Yamaha.

[Wendigo]

The LL36 was my first choice, but was another 600€ on top so I bought the Gibson.

[Randy Bass]

The LL36 was my first choice, but was another 600€ on top so I bought the Gibson.

Yikes! Have you been able to try a 26 or a 16? I think all of the LL series have solid Engelmann tops and similar specs.

[Bensen]

Have an Epiphone Elite J-45 and love it - awesome built and great sounding.

[Mrjones2004x]

I know completeley different style of guitar but id say i really rate the quality of charvel japanese guitars at the momment. Got the pro mod san dimas and its perfect build wise, no flaws at all. All of the one i tried were spot on and for £650 with a hard case its a steal.

[sidvicious]

take a look at carvin. very high quality and reasonably priced.

sv-

[Ohara]

When I bought my last acoustic, I tried the usual Gibsons, Martins, Guilds and ended up buying a Takamine EF341. It was less money and sounded and played better than anything the other three had to offer. It honestly beat them hands down, in sound and playability. I have also put an Epihphone version of the hummingbird up against the Gibson version. Side by side, I honestly couldn't tell a difference in sound, or build quality. The price was the only difference, and a savings of around $2400.00 if buying the Epiphone, well that money can be put to better uses such as a couple of amps, or amp and guitar, or something way off the wall like a one week vacation for two in the caribbean . The name brands hold the resale value, and by all rights they should considering the initial purchase price, but that doesn't mean they are better guitars (for the most part, not branding everyone of them, just using general terms here) and by that I mean, if a cheap guitar plays and sounds just as good, if not better than a guitar that cost sometimes 10 times as much, why not buy the cheap guitar, save yourself some money and put some tape over the name and let people judge by the sound it makes.

[bclaire]

How long have you had it? I'd bring it to a sympathetic authorized Gibson repair shop and have them fix it. It should be free under warranty...

There's a guy here that I brought one of my J-100's to. The pickup had never been balanced right and I wouldn't get the high strings- he pulled it apart and found that the saddle wasn't perfectly flat- also checked the saddle slot and corrected that as well. It was out of warranty, but he still did the work for free. Guitar is perfect now.

Sounds to me that it's probably just a poorly made and cut nut. It's not like the fret slots could be off since it's all done by machine...

[Bensen]

...It's not like the fret slots could be off since it's all done by machine...

Thats the point. For the price of a Gibson acoustic I can get a custommade guitar from my local luthier with really good wood that he personally chooses and buys. He always builts two guitars at a time and that usually takes 6 weeks. When he has finished them they are perfect - intonation, string balance, frets ... Totally different value than the machine made Gibsons.

[Borderline Productions]

For that price the set up should be perfect. Gibson doesn't care as long as people are willing to pay through the nose for the Gibson name on the headstock.

I would agree that buying an acoustic means going where they have lots to choose from and playing them all without looking at the headstocks. There are always surprises when you do this (in both directions). You also may not find the guitar on the first visit. The right guitar will tell you that it is the right guitar. Bought my daughter a used Alverez for under $200 that sounded better than every other guitar in the store, including several very expensive Taylors. It seemed odd to drop $80 for a hardshell case, but the guitar sounds awesome.

[blackcloud45]

My Hummingbird is fine... now I just have to learn how to play

[indianDYsummer]

For that price the set up should be perfect. Gibson doesn't care as long as people are willing to pay through the nose for the Gibson name on the headstock.

I would agree that buying an acoustic means going where they have lots to choose from and playing them all without looking at the headstocks. There are always surprises when you do this (in both directions). You also may not find the guitar on the first visit. The right guitar will tell you that it is the right guitar. Bought my daughter a used Alverez for under $200 that sounded better than every other guitar in the store, including several very expensive Taylors. It seemed odd to drop $80 for a hardshell case, but the guitar sounds awesome.

I had a $200 alvarez and it was a really solid guitar. A friend gave it to me for my birthday (they bought it at a garage sale for $10). I think it was an RD8.

[Wendigo]

The guitar plays and sounds awesome...no complaints...it's just the intonation in the area around the first three frets that's noticeably off. Many people who hear the guitar say that I am imagining things, but I'm not. It must be the nut or something. I'm gonna take it to a pro and have it set-up/custom nutted etc...and see how it is afterwards.

One thing I have noticed: if you put a capo on it anywhere (even the first fret), the problem more or less disappears which makes me think it must be the nut.

[ESBlonde]

It's the nut slots, I'd put money on it.

Every Gibson cannot be set perfect for every player and although the High end electrics get thatr computerised fret dressing jobbie, everything else greatly benefits from a proper personalised set up. If the guitar is still new(ish) then the dealer should oblige. If not spend a few bucks and get a pro to file the slots correctly to set the strings over the first fret properly. Well worth it.