NGD! Johnny A on brown truck today!

[jefrobie]

Can't hardly wait! Tracking shows on truck for delivery. Looking forward to posting a review. It's the Johnny A Standard in ginger that Wildwood Guitars had on their site. A guy on the Gibson forum had stopped in and actually played this guitar for a bit and reported it was just stunning. That the pics on the website did not do it justice. It has the Bigsby which will be a learning experience I'm sure. Anyway, stay tuned & I'll review this. I've read lot's of reviews on the Custom signature, but it's been almost impossible to find them on the mahongany standard.... (maybe that's the doorbell?):banana

[jimmyohio75]

I'm doing the same thing as you right now...waiting for UPS to deliver my new Gibson Les Paul Traditional Pro in goldtop finish. The waiting sucks!! Enjoy your guitar. I know I will!!

[daddyo]

Envy
Envy
Envy
Envy

[stratlad]

CONGRATS. The JA is ultra unique. Take time with it and SIT down with it (for some reason I vastly prefer to play it seated). It has a lot of nuanced tone and spark to it.

[otaypanky]

I got one last month. I live in an area where finding one hanging in a shop just ain't gonna' happen, so I bought it by mail from a shop in another state I do business with and trust. Great people at Alto Music
I'm still having a love hate relationship with it. It's got an unusual voice to me. Some days I love it and some days, not so much - But that I'll figure out in time.

It's gotta get packed up and shipped back to Gibson. I got the return authorization number today. There are bubbles under the plating on the Bigsby. I know the plating wears off easily and quickly from use, but the bubbles will probably just lead to the finish flaking off. The toggle switch won't stay in the neck position, it just pops back on it's own, even if the guitar's not being played. The neck volume pot would intermittently go dead when on 10 and come back on if you roll the volume down. An adjustment screw in a saddle is bent. And keeping the darn thing in tune, without using the Bigsby, is darn near impossible at times. I think it was serial # JA 487.
The return shipping I discovered today is at the owner's expense. I wish it didn't have to go back, but for the price of these things, they're just not things I want to put up with.
I sure hope you have a better experience

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w49/otaypanky/DSCF0010-2.jpg

[giannifive]

IThe toggle switch won't stay in the neck position, it just pops back on it's own, even if the guitar's not being played. The neck volume pot would intermittently go dead when on 10 and come back on if you roll the volume down. An adjustment screw in a saddle is bent. And keeping the darn thing in tune, without using the Bigsby, is darn near impossible at times.

Wow. Sounds like you got a real lemon. This is where I say this lack of quality control is unacceptable for such an expensive instrument, while all the defenders of this storied guitar company say that the occasional lemon slipping through is a statistical inevitability.

[otaypanky]

Wow. Sounds like you got a real lemon. This is where I say this lack of quality control is unacceptable for such an expensive instrument, while all the defenders of this storied guitar company say that the occasional lemon slipping through is a statistical inevitability.

Actually, I don't mind all of this stuff. Sh*t happens. The toggle and tone pot are intermittently occuring problems. The bubbles in the plating are small and could be missed when looking at the guitar. And I suppose the bent saddle screw could have happened after it left the factory, I don't know. Gibson doesn't manufacture the pots and switches and it was probably working fine when it was tested.
What DOES bug me is that after paying the price charged for these, that return shipping is the customer's expense!

[Tone Disciple]

I can tell you that you will like it a lot.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/ToneDisciple/DSC00209.jpg?t=1262876746

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y210/ToneDisciple/ja604-1.jpg

[clothwiring]

I own a custom shop one. Serial 090. Phenomenal guitar, played it last night.

[jefrobie]

Initial Impressions. I've owned several Tom Andersons, a PRS Cu-22, Les Pauls, couple Zions etc... NEVER played a guitar that plays this nice. It is amazing how flat/fast action is right away. I'm sure some of this is Wildwood Guitars setup, but man I'm impressed. The Bigsby stays in tune without a problem...Fit & Finish is excellent on the guitar. Tone wise it IS different than I expected as many have written. I've found it has a clarity to notes my two 339's did not have. Can be very woody & hollowish... Drive tones I'm still working on. I can nail that telecaster "barracuda" that Howard Leese used. I have to use MORE distortion because it's got so much more clear mid-range tones. I love the way that it's flat & fast as far as chording, scales etc, however I like the shorter Gibson scale of my 339's for bending strings etc. It just is a bit stiffer. The standard looks so vintage...I like the understated look even though I would have like the Custom maybe better. But it is beautiful and I think the other guitar could be "welcome to THE guitar" and Jeff....LOL... The tone controls are much more usable and sensitive than I anticipated. On my 339 the tone was either open @ 10 or drop down to 8....Any farther you just end up with mush. On the Johnny for example, I found that 335 ish fat woody sound by taking the tone knob down to 4 or 5. Some folks say it can go into tele country.... I think it looks at it from a distance, and is surely close than my 339's. But maybe not as close as my strat can get. It's got nice warm tones, but also pretty clear clean snap still with mahogany top. I'll keep playing and experimenting, but for now really seems to be a keeper.

[Loud Librarian]

Nice, thanks for the review and comments. I've got two "customs" that I really enjoy. Sorry to hear about otaypanky's problems with his JA. :(

[otaypanky]

It will be better soon, thanks : )

[ToneBrokerBill]

Congrats. This guitar has been on my wish list since I played one last year. Someday.

[stratlad]

Congrats again Jefrobie. Never played the JA Standard - I expect it's a tad warmer than the regular JA. The JA has to be experienced to explain its tone. When I first got mine I was a bit confused by it but I've grown to love it's tones. I think with a good blackface amp on the middle pickup it has superb useful tones for those who mix jazz/ blues and country.

Welcome to the club.

Otay Panky: That's a gorgeous JA.

[mojocaster.com]

Dang man, congrats! :)

[Den]

Congrats ... love my JA ... amazing, versatile guitar that always a kick to play.

[otaypanky]

I got mine back from Gibson yesterday. It's good to have it back. A couple of intermittent items were corrected on warranty and it's playing and sounding great. I'm a happy boy ~

[lamenlovinit]

I wish it didn't have to go back, but for the price of these things, they're just not things I want to put up with.
I sure hope you have a better experience

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w49/otaypanky/DSCF0010-2.jpg

Wow... That sucks so hard... I'm not a gibson defender, in fact I stopped buying them over a decade ago, but I think 2 things are worth pointing out.

1: All your problems are with components. No way that should have gotten through inspection. But at least it's only components. Sucks there's not a local authorized tech you can go to:FM

2: Most importantly, My Goodness that freakin' guitar in your pic is H-O-T! Geez Louise!

I hope it all works out for you and you get to enjoy that lovely hunk of wood with no regrets.

[Pa'ani]

Congratulations on your new Gibson Johnny A...Enjoy!

[Phoebe]

Congratulations on your new Gibson Johnny A...Enjoy!

Sight unseen Gibson? You are a braver man than I.

[dmagalhaes]

CONGRATS. The JA is ultra unique. Take time with it and SIT down with it (for some reason I vastly prefer to play it seated). It has a lot of nuanced tone and spark to it.

So does Johnny!

[otaypanky]

Thanks a lot.
In Gibson's defense, I must point out although the issues were with components, most were all of an intermittent nature. I had the guitar for 2 weeks without either one occurring. There is no way anyone could have caught something like that.
Not having an authorized service facility is a point. I imagine it's not every guitar repair tech or facility that could do repairs that would be up to the standards that Gibson would want to see, and on more major stuff if something went wrong that would open up a whole other can of worms. For some things I'm sure it would be no problem. Some customer complaints might require a judgement call by Gibson too and might not be something they want left to the discretion of a vendor. Likewise with the fact that they expect a customer to pay for return shipping. At first that really bugged me. But after thinking about it a while from their perspective, I'd guess there are lots of things considered a problem by a customer that are actually commercially acceptable or normal. And paying for every little thing someone feels isn't just right could be a huge expense for shipping. Another way to handle it might be for the customer to pay return shipping and if the concerns are indeed determined to be warranty items, then the shipping should be refunded.

[otaypanky]

Sight unseen Gibson? You are a braver man than I.

Maybe, but still far less risky than a mail order bride

[clothwiring]

I have one that I traded into a few years back. I love the guitar, it's so nice and the long scale makes a world of difference to me.

[jefrobie]

Sight unseen Gibson? You are a braver man than I.


Bought the guitar from Wildwood guitars and they don't come any better imho. I read many, many reviews and trusted these guys set up their guitars and really are aware of potential Gibson quality issues. Another interesting thing is I was reading a forum where someone had actually played this very Johnny A Standard at the Wildwood shop and said the online pics did not do it justice (although good!)... Made me very comfortable buying a Gibson online without playing or inspecting it personally...

[murkat]

So, how is the guitar since its been back Bob? ;)

[otaypanky]

As I wrote back in an email to the folks at Gibson, it's absolutely perfect Murkat. Not only were the mechanical issues addressed, the guitar now sounds and plays better. It was obviously gone over pretty meticulously and it's dead on. When I first got the guitar I had a bit of difficulty bonding with it. But now that it's back I couldn't be more pleased with it.

[jefrobie]

The more I play mine the more I'm impressed. It's incredibly versatile, I'm not sure I've had a guitar that can cop different tones. A strat is a strat...This guitar will go from a woody/hollow rich tone to a clear bell-tone and on the drive side it's clarity is incredible. My 339 was great, but the Johnny is much clearer on tones with distortion and does not get into the mush zone. I cannot imagine one without a bigsby, amazing on this guitar. And I've never had a bigsby before....All for now...