Ever bought a dud?

[Ronnie Robinson]

I have.

2 months ago, I bought a Les Paul traditional... 2010. It was mint, a Beauty in lightburst, it had hardly been played the seller said it even had the original strings.

So I went to see it, all seemed good and I have owned several LP's in the past so.was confident I knew what I was looking for. But no chance to plug in. I bought it, what could go wrong?

Plugged in the bridge pickup sounded rubbish that's what. Why?.... No idea. Compared directly with my Lp classic (which also has the same classic 57 pickup) there was no comparison, the traditional sounded weak, bland and indistinct.

So maybe it was the bridge pickup? Having played a mates standard LP I liked the sound of the Burstbucker pro through my RV so bought one. Fitted into the traditional and exactly the same problem - weak. Bland and indistinct.

Tried it at a gig but quickly swapped back to my classic which was resonant, powerful and throaty.

So what could it have been? I'm talking in the past sense...as it's now gone the journey!

[Gladmarr]

Years ago, I bought a Gibson Flying V bass. It looked so cool. But strings would g dead on that guitar in days. It was the strangest thing. I've never had a bass like that before or since. Strong it up, it sounds good for a few days, and then the next time you take it out of the case - dead. Boooooo!

[megalithic]

pickup too close to the strings?

[Ronnie Robinson]

Nope

[a.hun]

...I have owned several LP's in the past so.was confident I knew what I was looking for. But no chance to plug in. I bought it, what could go wrong?

...the traditional sounded weak, bland and indistinct...

...So what could it have been? I'm talking in the past sense...as it's now gone the journey!

Wood probably. Every single bit of wood out there is different and not all bits will work together well. That is why tone and resonance can vary from instrument to instrument. (Hugely with poorer quality control!)
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index. ... st-1236003" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also construction. Believe me, there are plenty of dud LPs out there. Couple of tips from my mate John on weeding out bad ones...
Bad neck joints:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index. ... st-2609732" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Bad neck angle:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index. ... st-3464881" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes I've bought a dud. My first fretless bass was a nice looking Washburn but it was only when I played a decent fretless (one which wasn't a dud) that I realised it.

I don't buy instruments without playing them first. That is why!


Andy.

[Ronnie Robinson]

...I have owned several LP's in the past so.was confident I knew what I was looking for. But no chance to plug in. I bought it, what could go wrong?

...the traditional sounded weak, bland and indistinct...

...So what could it have been? I'm talking in the past sense...as it's now gone the journey!

Wood probably. Every single bit of wood out there is different and not all bits will work together well. That is why tone and resonance can vary from instrument to instrument. (Hugely with poorer quality control!)
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index. ... st-1236003" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also construction. Believe me, there are plenty of dud LPs out there. Couple of tips from my mate John on weeding out bad ones...
Bad neck joints:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index. ... st-2609732" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Bad neck angle:
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index. ... st-3464881" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My first fretless bass was a nice looking Washburn but it was only when I played a decent fretless (one which wasn't a dud) that I realised it.

I don't buy instruments without playing them first. That is why!


Andy.

Thanks Andy that's helpful. That was also my thoughts, the sum of the parts just not working together, probably explains why it hadn't been played much since new.

[PBA]

Best thing to do is what you have done already - get rid of it! Did you consider pots and capacitorss? After a problem pickup had been ruled out they would have been my prime suspects.
I've had guitars that seemed lifeless but never a out and out dud.

[bclaire]

This subject reminds me of why I got rid of my '64 Gibson Melody Maker... every so often, I kind of kick myself for selling it and miss it - but this thread reminds me of WHY I got rid of it. Wouldn't stay in tune, fed back unmercifully, didn't sound very good, etc. I like to think that I could fix the squeal by potting as well as the tuning issues but I think it still wouldn't have sounded like much...

... it was pretty though.

[Gladmarr]

I used to avoid Gibsons like the plague because I could never get them to stay in tune. Then I learned how to string the tuning machines better.

http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/repa ... anging.php

...now I can get pretty good results from most if not all of them.

As for the weak pups in that Les Paul, did you actually open up the control cavity? I think new Les Pauls have a PCB inside. If this was mass produced and/or made poorly, anything could've happened to the sound of those pickups if there was something wrong with that PCB.

[Ronnie Robinson]

Best thing to do is what you have done already - get rid of it! Did you consider pots and capacitorss? After a problem pickup had been ruled out they would have been my prime suspects.
I've had guitars that seemed lifeless but never a out and out dud.

You could well be right.... But I just wasn't gelling with it so it was worth trying to get it sorted and just wanted rid.

[Thinline_slim]

I used to avoid Gibsons like the plague because I could never get them to stay in tune. Then I learned how to string the tuning machines better.

http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/repa ... anging.php

...now I can get pretty good results from most if not all of them.

As for the weak pups in that Les Paul, did you actually open up the control cavity? I think new Les Pauls have a PCB inside. If this was mass produced and/or made poorly, anything could've happened to the sound of those pickups if there was something wrong with that PCB.

Thanks for that!

Luckily, the few guitars I bought without playing first have been great guitars.

[JFKFC]

I bought a Gibson Traditional Pro once that was a dud. I bought it to replace taking my 70's Custom out to gigs. It was a beautiful looking guitar but it just didn't sound alive at all. I had a 30 day window to return it so on day 29, it went back. It happens. A guitar is the sum of it's parts and sometimes the formula is just a little off.

[kpunk56]

It could of just been a bad slab of wood. Sometimes as they age they get better.... but its hard to have a guitar lying around long enough to wait that out.

[msmith4432]

Never bought a bad one, but I traded a nice LP standard and a mesa boogie electrodyne for a Gibson LP custom and it was just a dud, didn't sound bad, just didn't have any life to it, so it went to ebay quick

[bclaire]

Actually, in thinking about it, the 1973 Fender Telecaster I used to have was a dud. Weighed a ton and never sounded good. Tried all different kinds of pickups but eventually came to realise that the density of the body wood was the cause. (swapped everything onto a new body for a short while and it sounded awesome... but it then wasn't a '73 anymore)

Sold it when the prices went stupid high since I was never going to use it. Oh, and it played beautifully! just sounded thin and awful...