Interesting look at Gordon smith construction today

pintspiller

DefaultM said:

I always used to see these in a local guitar shop, but I just assumed that they were a beginners guitar. Mainly due to the headstock logo looking cheap.

The logo on mine looks like an eight year old put it on, but the guitar's great!

sg1300t

I got a GS1.5 earlier this year, took less than 4 weeks from order to delivery. It's lovely, very "alive" in the hands when I play it and has a fast,uncompressed attack. Very nice neck too, no sharp fret ends and a rolled fretboard. I went for the Gotoh bridge for more control over intonation and it's spot on.

It's very plain looking but in a good way - it means business. I like everything about it, my Yamaha has been getting a lot of case-time since it arrived...

dindude

Good to see some love for the newer GS’s, here’s mine.

https://i.imgur.com/Ytu2P6j.jpg

JDE

I always assumed they had some kind of “arrangement” with the magazines back in the day. Every one I ever played, apart from one, was dogshit. The exception was a left handed hollow body with a trem which could almost have been made in a different factory, it was so much better. But with retrospect it probably wasn’t much better than a good Epiphone, but I was 16 at the time and hadn’t played many guitars.

rivercider

I had a GS2 in the mid 80s which was superb and everyone who played it gushed about it. I took it to Kinkade Guitars and got Jonny to change the wraparound bridge to a TOM style but then I stupidly sold it after 2 or 3 years.
My next GS was a Gypsy semi that was shit. The grass ain’t always greener.

grayn

I have an Auden GS Graduate and it's superb.
The new guys certainly seem to know what they are doing.

Nerine

I never really understood their place in the market. 
Similarly with JJ guitars. What happened to them? They got raved about back in the day also, but again, another fly by night type of thing it seems. 
That said, it's gotta be preposterously difficult to come to the market and upset the Status Quo with guitars. Most of the established makers have been around for a long time, and its a very saturated marketplace. 
Not only that, people aspire to play "branded" guitars a lot of the time. Like, if I'm a massive Steve Vai nut, I'm gonna want an Ibanez. Not something that is similar, even though it may be a better all round guitar. 
That said, I bought my Suhr Classic Pro because it was better than any Custom Shop Fender I have owned or played. Even very recently. But then Suhr aren't exactly an unknown. 

dindude

Nerine said:

Similarly with JJ guitars. What happened to them? They got raved about back in the day also, but again, another fly by night type of thing it seems. 


Gordon Smith - the 44-years-of-continuous-production fly by night company!

Bigsby

grayn said:

I have an Auden GS Graduate and it's superb.
The new guys certainly seem to know what they are doing.

Yup, Auden seem to be doing a great job. Very happy with the GS1000 I ordered in 2018. Amazing value for money.

Nerine

dindude said:

Nerine said:

Similarly with JJ guitars. What happened to them? They got raved about back in the day also, but again, another fly by night type of thing it seems. 


Gordon Smith - the 44-years-of-continuous-production fly by night company!

I wasn't saying GS haven't been around for a long time. 
I just remember them being promoted quite heavily in Guitarist magazine around about the same time as JJ guitars etc.

JerkMoans

Interesting thread. Got a GS 1 Heritage in a trade recently and am very pleased: it’s a stripped down, well-made Little Rock n roll machine in the whole LPJ mould.

Certainly no QC issues with this one: while I know little of PRS SEs and like beasties, these seem well worth the money. Even more surprising that they’re made in Blighty: would expect labour costs to be prohibitive.

Pictures! (Excuse the scruffy office environment where I must sell my surplus labour)

https://imgur.com/a/IVloBzW

professorben

WezV said:

They did veneer fingerboards as a feature for a while, might suggest it was mid-90’s

Old GS vary more than a Gibson Friday afternoon special, that’s all there is to it.

i was looking at a new one last week and the finish was spot on.  The old issues are gone.


i remember a customer telling me they refused a white finish because they didn’t have a clean spraying environment.  Says it all 


i would still love a simple  GS1 and would accept some signs if the hand of the maker

I’ve an ‘83 GS-1 and it’s an absolute belter. 
Not cray cray prices tbh either. 
Picked mine up for £280 with a Hardcase last year. 

ZenOvertone

I had an old GS1 for years, a working guitar that was well used when I got it, I viewed it a lower end LPJunior and it worked quite well however the bridge was not great and was already leaning on the studs.  I had an SG of theirs briefly too before noticing the set neck was not straight on the high E side (high E almost off the fingerboard at 15th fret) so promptly sent that back to the shop and saved up for a Gibson SG Standard.

I have seen one of the new ones and they are miles better