Maestro By Gibson Double Cutaway Electric Guitar For Sale (2024 Update)

My Gibson SG Maestro came via FedEx yesterday and was very well packaged by double box. The fit and finish are first class as expected. It had a very good setup right out of the box. It plays and sounds excellent as expected. No problems that a few reviewers claim but maybe they are just Nay Sayers. I have a Gretsch White Falcon and this Gibson has great tone and playability as does the Gretsch. American Musical Supply is great to work with and I would not hesitate to purchase more gear. I may consider putting one of my own Compton Bridges on it but right now I see no issue with the stock bridge it came with. I had one of the original Gibson SG guitars back in the 60's and played a lot of gigs with it. I had given it to my Son and decided to get another one.Pop's

I'm completely happy with my purchase of a Gibson 61 SG with Maestro Vibrola. The guitar arrived quickly with no issues other than a rosewood fretboard that, like on so many new Gibsons was a bit too light and grainy feeling. This was easily resolved by doing what I've done on most of my instruments with either rosewood or Laurel fretboards, I darkened it using black leather shoe dye, then finished with lemon oil. The result is a fretboard that looks and feels like vintage, dark brown Brazilian rosewood. Onto the more important things to look for. Out of the box, frets were nicely dressed and crowned, and intonation was spot on. No need to raise or lower the action. The slim neck is very fast and suits my taste. The Maestro Vibrola took a bit of tweaking and adding graphite to stay reasonably in tune, but truth be told I bought this model mainly for the vintage aesthetic. The Burstbucker pickups sound great, and the craftsmanship overall was flawless. I purchased the last one in stock which happened to be pictured on the website so there were no surprises. A beautiful grain, tight and even. I'm a happy purchaser.Reviewed by Andertons Music Co.

Overall: This is my umpteenth Epiphone custom sg guitar ive bought since the last guitar i had which was the more lower end 61 standard i bought here used last year. The caps pots and Gibson USA burstbuckers are definitely a step up in the right direction and are true to the original reissue Sg standards back in the beginning of the Gibson sg. It sounds like a 2000 dollar Gibson reissue sg but at Epiphone import prices. I intend on keeping this guitar for a lifetime and is a good backup guitar to my similarly pricef esp ltd viper 1000 deluxe i bought a year ago from a competitor in the now disconnected tiger eye finish from zZounds. Lastly i also intend on getting a real Gibson sg custom 63 version used for a discounted price. One more thing i might buy a backup les Paul sg standard by Epiphone just in case this one gets stolen or lost. Thank you Epiphone custom for stepping up your game and making better sg custom shop guitars than in the past. The black Epiphone sg custom with gold hardware is no joke either and i might another one when i get done paying for this Les Paul sg standard first fron here.Isaac

I got this guitar in sparkling burgundy and the finish is beautiful. The workmanship on this guitar is great; it feels very high quality. The fretwork is also really good, with no fret ends sticking out to cut my hands. That being said, the pickups are not very good. I initially debated purchasing the guitar since it sounded very ice-picky and thin when I played it in the store. But I decided to take a chance, knowing the return policy that GC has. I brought it home and the first thing I did was go over it completely. The fretboard was very dry. Even my wife, who doesn't play guitar, looked at it and commented on that. So removed the strings and polished the frets and cleaned/conditioned the fretboard. Then I swapped out the Alnico Classic Pro pickups, which are rather bad, and put in a set of Probucker 2/3 pickups that I had sitting around. Better strings, polished frets, and some nicer alnico 2 pickups made a huge difference. It sounds full and thick and warm, and it plays like an angel. I highly recommend it, as long as you can swap out the pickups.Robert

Now that I'm in my 60's, jumping around on the stage with a 10lb Les Paul is no longer an option. I'd never even consider an SG, but it was so lightweigh I thought I'd give it a try. OMG why did I wait so long? This thing is a Rock 'n Roll time machine! Besides being incredibly lightweight and resonant, it sound amazing. And due to the double cut and neck joint construction, it's soo easy to play all the way to the 22nd fret. The wide slim taper neck is incredibly fast… and its light weight means no neck dive. I should have picked one of these up years ago!Steve

Yes, this guitar is 100% worth it. I wanted to wait a full year of owning the guitar to write this so that I'd be certain. There's too much good to write about this SG to be honest so to summarize I can't even call this guitar a rock and machine id call it a musical weapon. It sounds absolutely phenomenal which for me was the most important part. I'm used to strats which id been playing the last 18 or so in terms of playability, it def plays different but it plays really nicely. It has a lot more pop and feels stiffer. The finishing and everything else is top quality as well. Guitar is beautiful. Not only does the guitar sound awesome with literally any type of gain, but the cleans are extremely nice sounding as well. This guitar is the real deal, I waited a long time to pull the trigger on this thing and it was 1000% the right decision.Pd

If you're buying and enjoying an SG you're probably aware it's a unique and quirky instrument. The body is very light despite being all mahogany and it does suffer the classic neck dive and tuning stability issues common with Gibson guitars. But these are aspects of the guitar more than negatives in my opinion. It's a classic shape. It's very light weight and plays easily. If you don't like the Les Paul because of its chunky neck and thick neck pocket you may be pleasantly surprised by the thinner neck and upper fret access of the SG! It tends to be a darker sounding guitar with it's all mahogany body and neck with rosewood board and classic nickel fret wire. But I'm nit picking here. You only need listen to Angus Young's classic tones to hear how this guitar can cut thru a mix with the right amp. The medium jumbo frets and shorter scale length are great for easy bends. With volume and tone controls for each pickup you get a lot of control over the sound of the guitar. If tuning stability is an issue try pencil graphite or Nut Sauce to lube the well cut (usually well cut) nut. Gibson is unfortunately known for let's say less than perfect fit and finish on their instruments. You will probably see imperfections in the paint job and finish if you look closely enough. That's just par for the course with Gibson. But I'm a Gibson fan. They make instruments that don't sound like anything else and the SG is one of those iconic rock and roll machines! I highly recommend it!Donnie

Now that I'm in my 60's, jumping around on the stage with a 10lb Les Paul is no longer an option. I'd never even consider an SG, but it was so lightweigh I thought I'd give it a try. OMG why did I wait so long? This thing is a Rock 'n Roll time machine! Besides being incredibly lightweight and resonant, it sound amazing. And due to the double cut and neck joint construction, it's soo easy to play all the way to the 22nd fret. The wide slim taper neck is incredibly fast… and its light weight means no neck dive. I should have picked one of these up years ago!Steve

Yes, this guitar is 100% worth it. I wanted to wait a full year of owning the guitar to write this so that I'd be certain. There's too much good to write about this SG to be honest so to summarize I can't even call this guitar a rock and machine id call it a musical weapon. It sounds absolutely phenomenal which for me was the most important part. I'm used to strats which id been playing the last 18 or so in terms of playability, it def plays different but it plays really nicely. It has a lot more pop and feels stiffer. The finishing and everything else is top quality as well. Guitar is beautiful. Not only does the guitar sound awesome with literally any type of gain, but the cleans are extremely nice sounding as well. This guitar is the real deal, I waited a long time to pull the trigger on this thing and it was 1000% the right decision.Pd

If you're buying and enjoying an SG you're probably aware it's a unique and quirky instrument. The body is very light despite being all mahogany and it does suffer the classic neck dive and tuning stability issues common with Gibson guitars. But these are aspects of the guitar more than negatives in my opinion. It's a classic shape. It's very light weight and plays easily. If you don't like the Les Paul because of its chunky neck and thick neck pocket you may be pleasantly surprised by the thinner neck and upper fret access of the SG! It tends to be a darker sounding guitar with it's all mahogany body and neck with rosewood board and classic nickel fret wire. But I'm nit picking here. You only need listen to Angus Young's classic tones to hear how this guitar can cut thru a mix with the right amp. The medium jumbo frets and shorter scale length are great for easy bends. With volume and tone controls for each pickup you get a lot of control over the sound of the guitar. If tuning stability is an issue try pencil graphite or Nut Sauce to lube the well cut (usually well cut) nut. Gibson is unfortunately known for let's say less than perfect fit and finish on their instruments. You will probably see imperfections in the paint job and finish if you look closely enough. That's just par for the course with Gibson. But I'm a Gibson fan. They make instruments that don't sound like anything else and the SG is one of those iconic rock and roll machines! I highly recommend it!Donnie

First of all, why I waited so long to add a Les Paul to the collection is beyond me. This thing is so comfortable to play, between the weight balance and the neck feel. I mostly play slim taper as I've smaller hands, but theres just something about this 50s neck. The feel is something I'd describe as substantial, like you're not just playing something that's super light and borderline weightless, but instead an extension of yourself. The range on the P90s is absolutely bonkers. The lows actually give you some great clarity, while the higher you go, the more it pushes and begins to punch. The neck pickup (and middle position as well) sound wonderfully warm and comfortable, especially through my Orange TH30. I do not understand why I waited so long to get my first Les Paul, and I can safely say this guitar will not leave my side for a long long time. Bonus points for how quick this shipped…ordered on a Friday, delivered on a Saturday! Freaking fast, and faster than I anticipated, but not complaining at all. Thank you so much AMS for helping me be the rock star I know I am!Matt

So I have several guitars and have come to enjoy the sound of p 90 pickups. Wow. This thing does not disappoint. The quality of build is outstanding. The Tv yellow is beautiful. Being mostly a Fender player, I was very unsure of the neck size. Wow, I actually love it. Being a bit older, this guitar neck is actually a little easier for me to dig into. The frets are amazing. I can do thinks on this neck that I can no longer do on my thinner necked guitars. It's an awesome guitar. I never owned a Gibson but wow.. the Case itself is worth the purchase. Holy moly every guitar should automatically come with a case like this. Awesome purchase.Dorje Champa

This guitar has an amazing vibe to it. The P90s are awesome. They have that midrange snarl that we all know and love. The 50s neck is very chunky, but in a good way. The feel of this guitar literally throws be back in time to the 50s. Combine that with the retro look and the classic TV yellow finish, it just makes me want to jam to some good old school rock and roll. Being a couple pounds lighter than my Standard, I can play this one all night without any shoulder issues. There is so much to love about the look and feel, but let's not overlook that fact that this is a tone monster! I will definitely be using it in some upcoming recordings. That being said, there are some not so awesome issues that need to be mentioned. A very minor issue is the intonation. All the strings were slightly sharp at the 12th fret. This was even across all the strings, so it has nothing to do with the wrap around bridge. This could have been set properly before leaving the factory with a small turn of the set screws in the bridge. No biggie though. A couple minutes with a screwdriver and a tuner and I have that issue fixed. The bigger issue is the condition of the binding and the fretboard. It looks to me like they were both damaged by the Plek machine during the factory setup. There are compression dings in both, the binding and fretboard. There is also a section that looks like a file carved into the fretboard. There is a similar compression ding in the binding right behind the nut. If that wasn't enough, the binding on the low E side is uneven and looks like a groove is carved into it lengthwise. You can see these in the attached photos. I don't know how these defects made it past quality control. If I was doing the final setup at the factory I would have flagged this one as a factory second. I guess the rumors about the improved quality at Gibson is a matter of the luck of the draw, because the fit and finish in the areas I mentioned are quite poor on mine. Yes, these flaws are cosmetic and won't affect the playability in any way, but I still expect better from Gibson. I guess some things will never change over there and this is what we have to expect if we want their name on the headstock. I give this guitar an A+ for tone and feel, a D for quality control and defects. All things considered it gets an overall C+. At the end of the day it is still a keeper because I love playing it, defects and all.Mike

I am a novice so I can't speak to how this compares to other similar guitars and bought this for my daughter. In hind sight the floahting bridge was probably a bad idea for her as it's a difficult guitar to tune especially after re- stringing. The guitar did arrive mostly in tune and playable. After just a few hours of play I noticed the output jack was loose and had twisted the wire inside. I had to remove it twice to re tighten it in the first three days at which point I resorted to using locktight on the nut. Same issue with the internal nut that holds the wammy bar in place so it got the same treatment. My daughter loves the guitar so I can overlook the initial flaws and as they were pretty simple fixes, however, if you are looking for a first guitar you may want to consider something else.Tim

It's a great guitar for metal. The guitar is gloss black not flat or matte. Be Shure after you purchase to check the hardware. The nut for the input cable on mine was stripped out also it's hot all the time even when the volume is turned down. Turned down I mean and not off it's not dampend in tone just sound. You will need to buy a gig bag or Epiphone stile case the hardshell roadrunner case does not fit because of the length of the guitar and the tremalo. Other's have said it doesn't stay in tune keep in mind new string's stretch. I tuned mine 3 times then after the strings stretched it stays in tune. It's an excellent sounding guitar with great sustain. I jamm on it every night. I would definitely buy another. Hope this helps. Thanks.. Jeff…Jeff

Just got my guitar yesterday. Here are my thoughts. The packaging was decent and in the original Mitchell box. The guitar itself was in excellent condition and it was brand new. The piece is a beauty. It feels good only two issues. One is that the fret ends are a bit rough and second the truss rod cap was a bit loose. Other than that the guitar is beautiful. It plays very decent and I am a beginner so won't be able to give a very technical input.Numair

I have a few Mitchells, and none are bad guitars, though I have had to work on every single one of them, and this one was no exception. The guitar itself has a decent feel, and the pickups aren't horrible. I did have to do some big neck adjustments and file down some frets to get rid of fret buzz and dead frets. After some time working on it, I do enjoy playing it. It's really good for sitting around practicing if you want to save mileage on your more expensive guitars. I cannot say however that I would recommend this guitar unless you know how to work on it.Gorden

I bought this for my daughter and am experienced at guitars set ups. Out the the box its ok for a beginner. But Not for me. So I adjusted the neck and action. Intonation was way off. Neck adjusted easily. Action I was able to get to 1.75mm at 12th fret on low e with no fret buzz. Same as my ESP guitar. The guitar did intonate perfectly. Pickups are fine for a beginner. After a good set up I would play the guitar. Pickup is just ok. If you are a serious player then this guitar could be great as a beater. Proper set up. Vuy a used Seymore Duncan off ebay and throw in the bridge for cheap. Rough up paint and spray the finish with a can up duplicolor and clear coat it. Im considering getting one for myself and doing all of the above. I would have less than $200 in it. I guitar I keep on stand, not case and grab to play. If I ding it up I don't care. The neck was a little rough. I hit with 7000 grit paper and the neck is fast and good. Or if they lower price on other colors to $99 I might buy one of each color.dwsguitars

Guitar came on time and well protected. Pictures accurately showed condition of the item. Guitar also came with extra strings, pick, and strap which were unexpected and greatly appreciated! Needed tuning, but that was specified in the item description. Overall, great product at a lower price that is being thoroughly enjoyed!restwithpeace

I purchased this guitar when I decided I wanted to learn how to play a guitar and wanted an inexpensive one to try. This guitar has fit the bill perfectly. It is a good basic guitar. I've been following the training DVD that came with it, and it's made it easy to learn on. I would recommend the guitar to anyone looking for an inexpensive starter guitar.bbloomster

Bought this for my 11 yr old daughter, its a little big for her but not too big. The quality is better then I expected and the wood looks beautiful. She is taking lessons now and it is holding up fine. Sounds great, came with extra strings, picks and strap.cmunoz333

Horrible! This is such a wasted effort by GIBSON to even produce this guitar. I went through three units from MF and each unit had substantial faults. I bought a Blackberry, Pellham Blue and a Faded Pellham Blue unit. #1: Paint blemishes………..each unit had light and dark rough areas from poor paint work. There was impressions in the paint from being handled prior to curing. #2: Body routing………..was not consistent and very uneven around the entire perimeter. #3: Low output pickups……….The DS-C pickups measured just 7.25ohm across all three units I had. The bridge and neck pups are the same. They are stamped GIBSON on the underside but have a paper sticker displaying a different model number for each. They are exactly the same! #4: Improper pickup sizing……….the pups are designed as a one size fits all method which means they all measure exactly 48mm's pole spacing, yet the bridge spacing is 52mm's. This does not allow for correct string oscillation (and poor alignment). #5: Poor tuners………the tuners are 14-1 ratio and do not hold tuning well. I tried down tuning and they still had to be retuned after several minutes. #6: Cheap Head-stock design………it's a piece of plastic laminated to the wood (had poor routing on the edges). The truss rod cover is painted logo, not embossed. #7: Broken components……….one of the units came with a defective 3-way switch and another had screws falling out of the pick guard plastic. How does that get past QC Gibson? #8: Fret boards were unfinished………one unit had sanding dust still one it and another looked as though it was never finished out. It was as rough as an old rustic barn wall. The frets weren't dressed properly either. #9: Improper balance……..neck dives because GIBSON routed out TOO MUCH of the body cavity for the electronics. Hint to GIBSON = Less is More. #10: High action………could not be resolved. #11: Cheap metal components. GET THE PICTURE FOLKS?Speedforhire

Where to start. Loved this axe right off the wall. Great acoustic qualities. Easy on the shoulder with very good strap balance. 3 days later realized it needed some upgrades to truly live up to the Gibson logo on the headstock. I use a '65 Blackface Deluxe at low volumes, no pedals, and let the gear do their thing… This Bird fell short of what I expect. After a set of Gotoh nickle tuners, lightening bar bridge w/lags & studs, DR Pure Blues 11s, nickle covered P94 (neck), nickle covered 498 (bridge), CTS 300K linear pots, .002 Panasonic poly film cap as a treble bleed, .022 Orange Drop 100v cap for tone, vintage shielded wiring, Schaller mushroom head strap buttons, fret ends groomed, enlarge the side markers, shellac soak & buff the fret board, wet sand & buff the satin neck finish, wet sand & buff that stupid looking gloss from the body finish, Top hat knobs with pointers… This axe has the look & snap you'd expect from a neck thru Bird. Very sweet voice. Solid & stable on stage. I still want to knock some height & put a shoulder only crown on the frets. I'll put an amber toner on the neck at the same time. That can wait until a bit more of a break-in period. Still have less then 750. in it & it sounds, looks & plays like a million. How great a deal is that?Joe

I've read a LOT of negative reviews about these guitars.. fortunately, I decided to try it for myself. The ONLY way you will not enjoy this guitar is if you are expecting an expensive customshop instrument. There are obviously differences between a customshop guitar and a budget model, but NONE of the things I've read about these are accurate. It's a well constructed American made guitar.. quartersawn maple neck, poplar body, rosewood fingerboard. The bridge adjusts and intonates perfectly, the electronics and pickups work well and sound decent. There are NO corners cut on these guitars.. they are designed to be inexpensive to meet a price point and do this perfectly. If you are expecting a vintage holy grail instrument with all of the bells and whistles you will be disappointed (and probably aren't very clever). If you are expecting a decent instrument on a budget, you will be very pleasantly surprised.. I have MANY Gibsons that run the gammut from vintage to customshop reissues to floyd rose equipped Les Paul Axcess and I am very satisfied with this guitar. I recommend treating yourself and buying one, they are a joy to play.the realist

I bought this item for my daughter for her birthday and she loved it, it came to our door on time, it was playable and very attractive, unfortunately a relative with a drug problem stole it within a day and we haven't been able to afford a replacement. It would be wonderful if BCP would be willing to ship another to us, but either way, very good product. I'll buy another one in time when we are able to afford it.Steve H.

I would give it 20 stars if I could. I’m not going to say that I can even play guitar. I am still trying to learn. I have a Stratocaster that I have been learning chords and following the lessons in a book that is instruction for learning scale. But the semi-hollow body has such a wounderful tone that I have to get better. It is so Inspirational that I have been practicing more than I ever did with my strat. LOVE IT! Thank you.Ronald P.

Now that I'm in my 60's, jumping around on the stage with a 10lb Les Paul is no longer an option. I'd never even consider an SG, but it was so lightweigh I thought I'd give it a try. OMG why did I wait so long? This thing is a Rock 'n Roll time machine! Besides being incredibly lightweight and resonant, it sound amazing. And due to the double cut and neck joint construction, it's soo easy to play all the way to the 22nd fret. The wide slim taper neck is incredibly fast… and its light weight means no neck dive. I should have picked one of these up years ago!Steve

Yes, this guitar is 100% worth it. I wanted to wait a full year of owning the guitar to write this so that I'd be certain. There's too much good to write about this SG to be honest so to summarize I can't even call this guitar a rock and machine id call it a musical weapon. It sounds absolutely phenomenal which for me was the most important part. I'm used to strats which id been playing the last 18 or so in terms of playability, it def plays different but it plays really nicely. It has a lot more pop and feels stiffer. The finishing and everything else is top quality as well. Guitar is beautiful. Not only does the guitar sound awesome with literally any type of gain, but the cleans are extremely nice sounding as well. This guitar is the real deal, I waited a long time to pull the trigger on this thing and it was 1000% the right decision.Pd

If you're buying and enjoying an SG you're probably aware it's a unique and quirky instrument. The body is very light despite being all mahogany and it does suffer the classic neck dive and tuning stability issues common with Gibson guitars. But these are aspects of the guitar more than negatives in my opinion. It's a classic shape. It's very light weight and plays easily. If you don't like the Les Paul because of its chunky neck and thick neck pocket you may be pleasantly surprised by the thinner neck and upper fret access of the SG! It tends to be a darker sounding guitar with it's all mahogany body and neck with rosewood board and classic nickel fret wire. But I'm nit picking here. You only need listen to Angus Young's classic tones to hear how this guitar can cut thru a mix with the right amp. The medium jumbo frets and shorter scale length are great for easy bends. With volume and tone controls for each pickup you get a lot of control over the sound of the guitar. If tuning stability is an issue try pencil graphite or Nut Sauce to lube the well cut (usually well cut) nut. Gibson is unfortunately known for let's say less than perfect fit and finish on their instruments. You will probably see imperfections in the paint job and finish if you look closely enough. That's just par for the course with Gibson. But I'm a Gibson fan. They make instruments that don't sound like anything else and the SG is one of those iconic rock and roll machines! I highly recommend it!Donnie

Horrible! This is such a wasted effort by GIBSON to even produce this guitar. I went through three units from MF and each unit had substantial faults. I bought a Blackberry, Pellham Blue and a Faded Pellham Blue unit. #1: Paint blemishes………..each unit had light and dark rough areas from poor paint work. There was impressions in the paint from being handled prior to curing. #2: Body routing………..was not consistent and very uneven around the entire perimeter. #3: Low output pickups……….The DS-C pickups measured just 7.25ohm across all three units I had. The bridge and neck pups are the same. They are stamped GIBSON on the underside but have a paper sticker displaying a different model number for each. They are exactly the same! #4: Improper pickup sizing……….the pups are designed as a one size fits all method which means they all measure exactly 48mm's pole spacing, yet the bridge spacing is 52mm's. This does not allow for correct string oscillation (and poor alignment). #5: Poor tuners………the tuners are 14-1 ratio and do not hold tuning well. I tried down tuning and they still had to be retuned after several minutes. #6: Cheap Head-stock design………it's a piece of plastic laminated to the wood (had poor routing on the edges). The truss rod cover is painted logo, not embossed. #7: Broken components……….one of the units came with a defective 3-way switch and another had screws falling out of the pick guard plastic. How does that get past QC Gibson? #8: Fret boards were unfinished………one unit had sanding dust still one it and another looked as though it was never finished out. It was as rough as an old rustic barn wall. The frets weren't dressed properly either. #9: Improper balance……..neck dives because GIBSON routed out TOO MUCH of the body cavity for the electronics. Hint to GIBSON = Less is More. #10: High action………could not be resolved. #11: Cheap metal components. GET THE PICTURE FOLKS?Speedforhire

Where to start. Loved this axe right off the wall. Great acoustic qualities. Easy on the shoulder with very good strap balance. 3 days later realized it needed some upgrades to truly live up to the Gibson logo on the headstock. I use a '65 Blackface Deluxe at low volumes, no pedals, and let the gear do their thing… This Bird fell short of what I expect. After a set of Gotoh nickle tuners, lightening bar bridge w/lags & studs, DR Pure Blues 11s, nickle covered P94 (neck), nickle covered 498 (bridge), CTS 300K linear pots, .002 Panasonic poly film cap as a treble bleed, .022 Orange Drop 100v cap for tone, vintage shielded wiring, Schaller mushroom head strap buttons, fret ends groomed, enlarge the side markers, shellac soak & buff the fret board, wet sand & buff the satin neck finish, wet sand & buff that stupid looking gloss from the body finish, Top hat knobs with pointers… This axe has the look & snap you'd expect from a neck thru Bird. Very sweet voice. Solid & stable on stage. I still want to knock some height & put a shoulder only crown on the frets. I'll put an amber toner on the neck at the same time. That can wait until a bit more of a break-in period. Still have less then 750. in it & it sounds, looks & plays like a million. How great a deal is that?Joe

I've read a LOT of negative reviews about these guitars.. fortunately, I decided to try it for myself. The ONLY way you will not enjoy this guitar is if you are expecting an expensive customshop instrument. There are obviously differences between a customshop guitar and a budget model, but NONE of the things I've read about these are accurate. It's a well constructed American made guitar.. quartersawn maple neck, poplar body, rosewood fingerboard. The bridge adjusts and intonates perfectly, the electronics and pickups work well and sound decent. There are NO corners cut on these guitars.. they are designed to be inexpensive to meet a price point and do this perfectly. If you are expecting a vintage holy grail instrument with all of the bells and whistles you will be disappointed (and probably aren't very clever). If you are expecting a decent instrument on a budget, you will be very pleasantly surprised.. I have MANY Gibsons that run the gammut from vintage to customshop reissues to floyd rose equipped Les Paul Axcess and I am very satisfied with this guitar. I recommend treating yourself and buying one, they are a joy to play.the realist