Quote Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
You’re completely right - we should reasonably expect and get a much higher level of quality from a top brand. But reality is that Gibson products have had some serious QC issues for over 50 years. The L-5CN I bought new in 1970 had a very visible splice in the binding, and there was a large (about 4 square inches) patch of raw, unfinished wood on the top starting under the end of the fingerboard (along with other issues that were bad enough in aggregate to prompt my dealer to take it back for a full refund).

Weak quality control, along with the quick fixes and use of random substitute parts on production models, is a major reason for Gibson’s decline and their repetitive financial crises. Epiphone production designs, specs, and methods are Gibson corporate directives. I hope they aren’t doing this to Mesa too.
At least in the last bankruptcy, quality problem were an effect of financial problems caused by Gibson's investments in non-guitar businesses, not a cause of the financial problems. People have been complaining about lapses in Gibson quality for over 50 years. That doesn't mean we shouldn't expect better and stop complaining about worse, but I think we have to concede that it's much less of a financial and reputational problem than it would be in world where substance matters.