On 2003-09-08, Kenny B. rated this Gibson ES-137 a 5...(5599)
Purchase: This review is of a Warranty replacement ES-137 received from Gibson factory to replace the fatally flawed unit I reviewed here on 14 March 2003.
Pros: All the plusses of the original unit remain. Spectacular BluesBurst laquer finish, Perfectly crafted neck with fat fretwire and enough thickness to fit my larger hand well. Perfect intonation all the way up the neck. Easy to bend and great blues or high distortion sounds.
Versatile voice will give alot of different tone qualities. This guitar has a BIG low end for mellow stuff and wall shaking boogie riffs on the neck pickup but can go high with no muddiness for great screaming leads that distort well on the bridge pickup. I play through a Fender CyberTwin and can get warm clean sounds all the way to total feedback Hendrix Heaven. There's no feedback when you don't want it but it's there when requested. The center block/hollow body hybrid design does the gamut of sounds well.
Cons: If you read the review of my previous ES-137, you will hear all about the endless problems with migrating rattles and noises that didn't come from the fretboard. The strap anchor fell off the old unit after only 6 weeks. Turns out it was mismounted at the factory and was drilled through the veneer, missing the anchor block--Result= new guitar from the factory. Took about three months to get the new one but it was worth the wait. All the noises I experienced with number 1 were gone, the strap anchor has stayed on. No problems now for 3 months. I suspect the rattles may have been due to the first guitar having been displayed on the wall in the guitar shop which is located in a very rainy town. Too much humidy?? Then I take it home and store it at the 40% humidity Gibson recommends and the thing self-destructs and starts rattling like crazy. There is a lesson here--watch out for the conditions in the store if they are different from your usual environment.
Bottom line--no dislikes on the replacement unit
Quality: Number 2 is beautiful from end to end and displays the hand-crafted quality I expected from Gibson. ( I wonder if the builder of Number 1 got mixed up with the Jack Daniels guys just before he put the strap anchor hole in the wrong place?) Review Summary: I absolutely love my ES-137 but I had to put up with a messed-up one first before I got a replacement that was done right. Maybe it was a case of new model growing pains, but the new one is great. Fortunately, there were no problems getting the exchange. I now have a Gibson that I can play and enjoy to the max. On 2003-03-14, Kenny B rated this Gibson ES-137 a 2...(4550)
Purchase: Bought new from Gibson dealer for $1800.00 Canadian, about $1200 USD.
Pros: I love the classic Les Paul style neck contour and oversized frets. Very positive feel, great bendability with the short LP scale. The finish (translucent deep blue) is to die for and the tones are warm and rich. Great blues sound that I fell in love with at first listen.
Cons: Unfortunately, this turns out to be a very tempermental guitar that travels poorly. The three-way pickup selector started to buzz audibly and lose contact within a few days and had to be replaced. That cured the first rattle but soon there were several more: Open G string non-harmonic tones, multiple specific note positions that produced audible rattles from the bridge and pickup areas that could not be suppressed by pressing on any accessible structure. These were never the classic fret buzz caused by low action or poor fret leveling as action height adjustment never helped. Each day I pick it up it seems slightly different and often the previous days rattles have gone or changed their trigger frequencies only to be replaced by a new noise. Ocassionaly it plays noise free and I cheer until it goes out of the house to a practise and the rattles take over again. Most of the rattles don't come through the amp but a few, like the open G sting noise do. It's going back to the dealer for a long visit to see if these problems can be fixed
The strap anchor at the neck also came loose after only 6 weeks.
Quality: Beautiful finish and neck. Mediocre pickup switch construction. Plagued with mysterious rattles that make me suspect the integrity of the design and/or construction. Review Summary: This guitar was awesome in the store but acts possessed with demons in real use. If it would stop rattling, I would give it a 4/5. Unfortunately , after 8 weeks of use I have quit playing it because of the unacceptable noises. I will stick with my indestructible Epiphone Les Paul for now! |
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