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The dollar amount is really unknown, but the deals from CME shed some light on what the cost of new with warranty, and "floor model" without warranty would be. In either case, the risk of something being cause for return to CME is likely even, and IMO if the git is received in perfect condition as a "floor model" (like my floor model was) the lack of warranty is no different that the many gits sold worldwide that were previously used.
My ES-335 figured actually came in a couple of shades darker than the stark white one in the floor model pic below. So the warranty in this case was $2504. A lot of buckazoids. So, it it (a floor model) worth it? To me it was.
Last edited by GNAPPI; 11-30-2017 at 03:52 PM.
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11-30-2017 05:29 AM
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This is a great way to think about this. Thanks!
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I don't know about that. I doubt they were selling many (if any) ES335's for $4400. So the delta between the fire-sale price and the lowest possible warranteed price is something, but I doubt it's that much.
Looking at it more actuarially, the price of the warranty should at some level reflect what it costs the manufacturer to deal with warranty repairs and replacements. I have a hard time believing the average cost of warranty service on a guitar is more than half the selling price of the guitar. So I think there's more than just the lack of warranty baked into the price difference between the two.
John
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Since the gist seems to have been lost, maybe I should re-phrase that as: "What's the Gibson warranty worth... to YOU?"
Regardless of the $$ delta above in THAT particular instance, the fact is that many guitars are sold as new at significantly higher prices than the CME deals, and NOT buying one that has just as good a chance as being satisfactory because it has no warranty is a buyer choice. Buying a store demo is no more a risk than many thousands of gits sold as new that never needed warranty, or the larger number of gits sold as used that would have no warranty.
So the bottom line is if a warranty that is unlikely to be needed is worth thousands of dollars, then by all means players should buy new. Or, rather than bitch about the price buy an Asian copy.
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I get what you're saying and agree with you. Almost always you can spot a significant defect within an hour if you look carefully.
The CME discount cannot be fully attributed to the lack of the Gibson warranty. Gibson is taking a hit on the guitars beyond that IMO.
For those who believe that these guitars are truly "floor models", there's a new shipment available today. This would be about their 5th new shipment of floor models. Obviously these have never been displayed anywhere.
God help me, I just bought my 6th Gibson Memphis from them. It's the boy in me's dream come true to be drowning in Gibsons.
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Gary, I have to say I'm confused by your post. You say it was worth it. Worth the $2504 warranty is how that reads, is that what you mean? And the only thing you mention about anything not right is the shade of color, and that has nothing to do with any warranty.
And with the CME sales we're not talking Gibson warranty vs no warranty, it is CME vs Gibson warranty.
So I really don't know what you're trying to say.
It must be me, because others seem to get what you mean.
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Maybe, mine was a floor model. I added "like mine was" to clear up any confusion
Originally Posted by wmachine
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But you don't get the sexy reflectors, Gnappi.
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I've mostly bought used. I never gave the (lack of) warranty a moment's thought; I've never gotten stuck with a lemon (new or used). On a new guitar, if the pricing were transparent and a warranty with clear SLA/terms were offered a la cart I'd probably pay something, but probably not much. Absent better information, I tend to think of warrantees either as something I'll never use, or something I'll try to use, but find it not worth the hassle factor and the cost of shipping, exclusions and loss of use during the time it takes to resolve a dispute and address the problem. IOW, if I faced a choice between eating $N in repairs and sending it back to the manufacturer for a "free" repair, it would take a pretty big value of $N to get me to go the warranty route. So the value to me of a warranty is somewhere between $0 and not much. Defintely not >50% of the price of an instrument. Originally Posted by GNAPPI
John
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I can tell you this with personal experience. Gibson warranty work is a absolute nightmare. Your guitar is gone for 4-8 months, countless phone calls, and your guitar is returned with dings and dents. Also you pay the shipping costs.
The only positive situation would be if Gibson cannot repair it and sends you a new one.
Over the years I have done 4 warranty claims. Only my Tal Farlow repair was a success returned with only 1 dent.
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I have had one bad experience with a Gibson repair. I didn't need a repair, just a way to get rid of stickiness of the lacquer. Gibson was useless, and that included talking to the Nashville repair manager. Neither of the senior repair guys ever heard of sticky nitro. That was a big disappointment.
To balance that, a friend of mine bought a 339 new. It arrived with a neck twist. Gibson took it back and replaced it with an upgraded 339 that was beautiful. The person my friend dealt with by phone was great and personally selected the guitar. The turn around was about a week and the communications were excellent.
Had he got the 339 from CME without a Gibson warranty, I suspect he would have had the same prompt exchange though.
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Cancelled
Last edited by silverfoxx; 11-30-2017 at 06:06 PM. Reason: cancellation
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If you have to look for hours to find it, it's not a significant flaw. To me, a significant flaw is something that can be seen in a casual once-over. It may be a flaw, but if you have to search for hours to find it, calling it significant is a significant exaggeration.
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Okay, that cleared up your position. Still not sure what the color shades has to do with it, but no matter. Originally Posted by GNAPPI
I think some guys felt that a lack of warranty (Gibson, at least) implied there was something wrong with all of them. I know that was not so, but it did come into play for some, even though it really had little to do with actually using the warranty.
I understand where the Gibson warranty means nothing to some, and that's fine for them. I'm one that puts *some* value on it. Has to do with anything major that *can* happen to a new guitar, usually not too long after it is new. I'm not planning on selling any of them soon, and that's another factor.
I live near enough to not one, but two service centers that I can take it there in person and not have to ship it off to a black hole.
So it can have some value to some of us. But there was no doubt to me that the savings on the CME deals made the warranty an easy sacrifice. And CME did cover purchases themselves, so its not like it was a total gamble.
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Personally I prefer the antique natural to a bare white natural only because the neck is darker (mahogany). Antique natural softens the color transition from the back to the neck. With a maple neck it would be a different story.
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I mentioned the color tint to show rough equivalency to the $4.000+ model.
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When I got my CME 175 natural for $2595 Sweetwater had one for 4,400. Guess that makes that warranty worth $1,805. A luthier can repair a lot of grief for that.
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and most likely do a much better job. Originally Posted by TedBPhx
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it's still a shame how Gibson butchered your new Cherry L5! Originally Posted by vinnyv1k
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Amen Bro ! I hope to see it again someday. Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
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What's happening here? I have read stories about other Gibson dealers being forced to buy set quotas of expensive guitars. Gibson sets minimum advertised prices and minimum selling prices in order to not lose your dealer status. These expensive guitars then sit unsold in shops and are a drain on shop financials as Gibson gets paid quickly whether or not guitars sell. So shops were taking their quotas and selling the guitars on eBay for near cost as a grey market item by sellers not officially connected with the shop in order to pay off their accounts with Gibson. So I am guessing all these "floor models" are the same game. They're "used" so Gibson can't raise a fuss. Originally Posted by Marty Grass
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There's a couple of differences from what you described. First, CME didn't need to buy these Memphis guitars to fill a quota AFAIK. It was a special agreement. The second difference is that these are not being sold by a shadow entity. CME labels them as used and therefor can set their own price point.
Speculation on my part, but it is the best explanation.
Originally Posted by DRS
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I bought a couple of new Gibsons in years past from dealers who sold them as used at a wholesale price. They were new Gibsons without a warranty. I have bought two CME floor model Gibsons which are also new Gibsons without a Gibson Warranty. But these have a CME warranty, which is probably better than a Gibson Warranty. I think this CME blowout will look like quite the opportunity up the road. Probably, the only regret that those of us who bought them will have is that we did not purchase more of them.
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For sure. Originally Posted by Stringswinger
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Does anyone know how long the warranty from CME lasts?
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