My J-45 is delaminating and Gibson says Too Bad

[uriah1]

ya.
My early 90s J45 ribbon
logo got a big bubble on it.
Local lutheir said nothing he can do
Waiting for it to crack or pop some day

 

[Boreas]

ya.
My early 90s J45 ribbon
logo got a big bubble on it.
Local lutheir said nothing he can do
Waiting for it to crack or pop some day

Nothing he can do, or nothing he can do under warranty?

 

[Boreas]

Have you known of companies that would fix something like that under warranty?

Martin likely would. They tend to pretty fair to original owners. And they have a fairly extensive authorized repair network. Plus they will usually do repairs at the factory if requested.

 

[DekeDog]

In 2020, Gibson replaced a 2007 Memphis ES-335 with a 2020 Nashville model. The 2007 had, among other things, a bad neck binding and fret problems. They were obviously issues on their end. I bought it from a GC and didn't notice the issues until after the return deadline had passed. That guitar was actually the third one from GC, the first two having issues I couldn't live with, and at that point, through all of the frustration, I would likely have taken anything. I blame Gibson and GC. It is interesting that the two I returned ended up back on the wall at GC to sell to some other ignorant buyer.

Returning the guitar to Gibson required jumping through some hoops, but the replacement guitar is flawless, and I was very happy with their customer service. They were easy to work with and very attentive. And I was very surprised they would replace a 13 year old guitar. This happened shortly after JC took over at Gibson, and I think he wanted to create the appearance that Gibson actually cared about their customers and the brand.

 

[uriah1]

Nothing he can do, or nothing he can do under warranty?

Well, he just said he didnt want to try.
Only have 1 luthier within 100 miles.
I could pop it, but afraid it might tear off
ribbon logo and part of Gibson logo
if I peel off the old laquer layer

 

[Ted Keane]

Gibson sent me this this morning.

Gibson Brands Consumer Service via hke0jb7rf8kh5nok.rb1bj.5e-3quo0eak.na237.bnc.salesforce.com​ ​	Aug 8, 2025, 4:23 PM (17 hours ago)
to me

Hello,

Thanks for your patience. This does appear to be normal finish wear with the Nitrocellulose Lacquer, and is in no way going to cause structural problems. This is common along this edge, as it's a high traffic area during play. I hope this brings some peace of mind, but please let me know if I can be further assistance.

Josh Consumer Service Gibson Brands, Inc. 1-800-4GIBSON

 

[Mike Eskimo]

Another reason for not caring about nicks dents, bashes, or chips on a guitar.

Or put another way, another advantage to not being a Guitar polisher.

I know, that doesn’t help the OP much but we all have facets of our life that we just let slide (if you don’t have any area of life that you let slide then , good luck to you sir) and a beat up Guitar is one of mine.

Godspeed !

 

[tap4154]

Gibson sent me this this morning.

Gibson Brands Consumer Service via hke0jb7rf8kh5nok.rb1bj.5e-3quo0eak.na237.bnc.salesforce.com​ ​	Aug 8, 2025, 4:23 PM (17 hours ago)
to me

Hello,

Thanks for your patience. This does appear to be normal finish wear with the Nitrocellulose Lacquer, and is in no way going to cause structural problems. This is common along this edge, as it's a high traffic area during play. I hope this brings some peace of mind, but please let me know if I can be further assistance.

​

Josh Consumer Service Gibson Brands, Inc. 1-800-4GIBSON

Let me fix that text:

"Hello,

Thanks for your patience. This does appear to be normal finish wear with Gibson acoustics, and is in no way going to cause structural problems. This is common along this edge, because we don't properly prepare the neck and fretboard before spraying nitrocellulose, and often do not let it cure long enough before shipping it out. I hope this brings some peace of mind, but please let me know if I can provide a better excuse."

 

[Boreas]

Gibson sent me this this morning.

Gibson Brands Consumer Service via hke0jb7rf8kh5nok.rb1bj.5e-3quo0eak.na237.bnc.salesforce.com​ ​	Aug 8, 2025, 4:23 PM (17 hours ago)
to me

Hello,

Thanks for your patience. This does appear to be normal finish wear with the Nitrocellulose Lacquer, and is in no way going to cause structural problems. This is common along this edge, as it's a high traffic area during play. I hope this brings some peace of mind, but please let me know if I can be further assistance.

​

Josh Consumer Service Gibson Brands, Inc. 1-800-4GIBSON

Obviously a cop-out. I can't remember the last time I played that far up an acoustic neck. If it was along frets 1-5 where capos are thrashed about and where many of us spend our time I could agree.

I would keep the service appointment, have it fixed, have the tech document and describe the peeling/chipping, pay him, and send the bill to Gibson. Yes, you will lose the price of a stamp and envelope, but you will feel better.

Then put it behind you like a bad date. It won't be your last disappointment in life, but possibly your last new Gibson.

 

[Flyboy]

My J-45 is delaminating around the fretboard and neck.I keep it in a humidified room,on a stand.I picked it up the other day and saw this.After dealing with Gibson,they said it's from playing the guitar,and too bad.It happens with older instruments.It's not old.My hand does not go up the neck that far.That's where my thumb would be.I don't play much there.Any ideas?

Buy a Lowden.

 

[jhundt]

I can't read through all the previous posts, so I will simply say this:

The photos show a finish failure, but it has nothing to do with de-laminating.

Next time you post about something wrong, you would do better to post the photo first and ask for advice, before you incorrectly diagnose a problem.

 

[Ted Keane]

I can't read through all the previous posts, so I will simply say this:

The photos show a finish failure, but it has nothing to do with de-laminating.

Next time you post about something wrong, you would do better to post the photo first and ask for advice, before you incorrectly diagnose a problem.

Wow!Hope I didn't hurt your feelings.

 

[Ted Keane]

Think I could sell it for a relic?

 

[jhundt]

Wow!Hope I didn't hurt your feelings.

I apologize. My post does sound really curt and even rude. I think I was writing it at a moment when I was really concentrating on something else and not thinking about how I was wording my message. Please forgive me, and in future I will be more thoughtful about my replies.

 

[tubedude]

Another reason to love gibson.

 

[Uncle Daddy]

Every time I see another Gibson QC issue like this, I pick up my £150 Harley Benton and play the snot out of it and remind myself that there was once a time when the USA had a great manufacturing industry.

 

[Monoprice99]

As it has not delaminated below the fretboard & extended below to the profile of the neck stock, I'd probably tape it off, sand it away to remove the flaky patches for the entire length of the fretboard & refinish the edge of the fretboard. Surprises me, that Gibson didn't bind the neck/fretboard. Epiphone does for their interpretation of a J-45 Studio, but they probably also use poly instead of nitro. It's relatively relic'ed pretty much. Other options for refinishing the entire neck are on the table for consideration/discussion since Gibson has left you to your devices.

 

[tomasz]

From what i see in the pictures, the finish is definitelly flaking off, which can be caused by the rosewood oils. I've seen that before on some guitars. You can try to spot fix it with thin ca gluea, if there is not too many spots to fix, or you are looking at a refinish.

 

[patman555]

Have you known of companies that would fix something like that under warranty?

PRS was amazing to deal with when this happened to my Paul’s Guitar. I sent them pictures of the flaking finish. This was in 2022 on a guitar I had purchased new in 2013.

They immediately said this should not happen and that it was a warranty issue. I shipped the guitar back to them. They completely refinished the guitar for free and returned it to me in perfectly brand new condition. They even polished all the metal parts to like new sparkle.

And of course they communicated constantly during the time it was there to keep me informed about the status. Hands down PRS has the best customer service I have experienced.

 

[Uncle Daddy]

PRS was amazing to deal with when this happened to my Paul’s Guitar. I sent them pictures of the flaking finish. This was in 2022 on a guitar I had purchased new in 2013.

They immediately said this should not happen and that it was a warranty issue. I shipped the guitar back to them. They completely refinished the guitar for free and returned it to me in perfectly brand new condition. They even polished all the metal parts to like new sparkle.

And of course they communicated constantly during the time it was there to keep me informed about the status. Hands down PRS has the best customer service I have experienced.

So if PRS can do it, why can't Gibson?

My local big boy shop, Peach Guitars in the UK is a Gibson stockist, as well as other main brands. The owner once told me he can sell everything on the wall that has Gibson on the headstock. Guitarists know about the self destructing headstocks, dodgy tooling marks, truss rod issues, intonation problems etc, yet continue to buy them. Until people demand better, they won't get better.