Gibson Les Paul Modern Lite Electric Guitar Cardinal Red Satin $999

General_Klinger

Pro

Jan 11, 2026 02:34 PM

6,115 Posts

Joined Nov 2004

General_Klinger

Pro

Jan 11, 2026 02:34 PM

6,115 Posts

Goodluck getting a new one. They're notorious for shipping open box items, or off the shelf demo guitars.

2

1

2

runtestman

Jan 11, 2026 05:23 PM

34 Posts

Joined Nov 2005

runtestmanJan 11, 2026 05:23 PM

34 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank runtestman

Quote from Slickweasels

:

🤡 Liar! Guitar Center pulls that kind of crap, but MusciansFriend, which I realize is the same company, has their own distribution warehouse that is not tied to a brick and mortar store. They sell hundreds of thousands of brand new instruments every year.That said, this guitar is worth $400 tops, not $1000. Only a fool would spend that much on a Chinese Epi.

This isn't a Chinese Epiphone. It's a USA made Gibson. Albeit, it is a very stripped down model.

5

1

ElatedOstrich5190

Jan 11, 2026 05:47 PM

45 Posts

Joined Nov 2024

ElatedOstrich5190Jan 11, 2026 05:47 PM

45 Posts

These should come with a black bridge, tailpiece, and tuners stock.

1

General_Klinger

Pro

Jan 11, 2026 06:57 PM

6,115 Posts

Joined Nov 2004

General_Klinger

Pro

Jan 11, 2026 06:57 PM

6,115 Posts

Quote from Slickweasels

:

🤡 Liar! Guitar Center pulls that kind of crap, but MusciansFriend, which I realize is the same company, has their own distribution warehouse that is not tied to a brick and mortar store. They sell hundreds of thousands of brand new instruments every year.That said, this guitar is worth $400 tops, not $1000. Only a fool would spend that much on a Chinese Epi.

They source from GC stores, in addition to their own warehouses.

5

ripper415

Jan 11, 2026 07:28 PM

261 Posts

Joined Aug 2005

ripper415Jan 11, 2026 07:28 PM

261 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank ripper415

Quote from General_Klinger

:

They source from GC stores, in addition to their own warehouses.

100% true. 2 years ago I bought a brand new, Epiphone Les Paul blackback from musician's friend and instead of shipping from Missouri like usual, it was shipped from Houston TX (I'm in Austin). I thought to myself, hmm that's weird, but maybe they have another, closer wearhouse now? Nope, it arrived wrapped in bubble wrap packaged in a Gretsch box lol. I immediately called customer support and they determined it was actually shipped from a guitar center store in Houston. The guitar looked fine without scratches or anything but it was clearly a floor model that they cleaned up, tuned (arrived in perfect tuning) and mailed to me as "new". They offered me $100 discount to keep it but I insisted that I'd rather have a $700 brand new guitar than a $600 used one. They wound up finding a guitar center store about 30 mins away that had a brand new, in box version in stock and arranged for me to exchange it there. So I had to drive an hour round trip just to get what I originally expected to receive in the first place.

Ps. When making the exchange at guitar center, their manager admitted that this sometimes happens to "new" items ordered from them or musician's friend. For some inexplicable reason they consider floor models "new" because they have never been purchased and removed from the store. He was nice and apologetic and gave me a free pack of strings for my trouble, but I would've rather not had to deal with it in the first place

5

1

jefflins

Jan 13, 2026 02:56 AM

715 Posts

Joined Mar 2008

jefflinsJan 13, 2026 02:56 AM

715 Posts

Quote from Slickweasels

:

🤡 Liar! Guitar Center pulls that kind of crap, but MusciansFriend, which I realize is the same company, has their own distribution warehouse that is not tied to a brick and mortar store. They sell hundreds of thousands of brand new instruments every year.That said, this guitar is worth $400 tops, not $1000. Only a fool would spend that much on a Chinese Epi.

My goodness that's a strong response. So confident, yet so wrong. I've had it happen at least 5 times. Easy enough returns, or you can call and they'll generally give you a credit. All that said, it hasn't happened to me in a while, and at least once they contacted me after the order to say they only had a demo.

3

lswilliams75

Jan 13, 2026 01:22 PM

2 Posts

Joined Mar 2011

lswilliams75Jan 13, 2026 01:22 PM

2 Posts

Quote from ripper415

:

100% true. 2 years ago I bought a brand new, Epiphone Les Paul blackback from musician's friend and instead of shipping from Missouri like usual, it was shipped from Houston TX (I'm in Austin). I thought to myself, hmm that's weird, but maybe they have another, closer wearhouse now? Nope, it arrived wrapped in bubble wrap packaged in a Gretsch box lol. I immediately called customer support and they determined it was actually shipped from a guitar center store in Houston. The guitar looked fine without scratches or anything but it was clearly a floor model that they cleaned up, tuned (arrived in perfect tuning) and mailed to me as "new". They offered me $100 discount to keep it but I insisted that I'd rather have a $700 brand new guitar than a $600 used one. They wound up finding a guitar center store about 30 mins away that had a brand new, in box version in stock and arranged for me to exchange it there. So I had to drive an hour round trip just to get what I originally expected to receive in the first place.Ps. When making the exchange at guitar center, their manager admitted that this sometimes happens to "new" items ordered from them or musician's friend. For some inexplicable reason they consider floor models "new" because they have never been purchased and removed from the store. He was nice and apologetic and gave me a free pack of strings for my trouble, but I would've rather not had to deal with it in the first place

You are correct. I ordered an FSR Strat a couple of years ago and they kept trying to ship me a floor model from a store, which I refused multiple times. Eventually, I had to cancel the order. I've also had to return "new" guitars to MF because they clearly weren't new.

FeistyVolcano733

Jan 14, 2026 11:00 PM

19 Posts

Joined Sep 2023

FeistyVolcano733Jan 14, 2026 11:00 PM

19 Posts

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank FeistyVolcano733

Quote from Slickweasels

:

🤡

Liar! Guitar Center pulls that kind of crap, but MusciansFriend, which I realize is the same company, has their own distribution warehouse that is not tied to a brick and mortar store. They sell hundreds of thousands of brand new instruments every year.

That said, this guitar is worth $400 tops, not $1000. Only a fool would spend that much on a Chinese Epi.

This is a Gibson, made in the USA. These are absolutely terrific guitars. They recently upgraded these with coil tapping by pulling up a knob. The smaller Grover tuners are excellent, the pickups are very good too. I have been a professional guitarist and have been playing for over 50 years. This also comes with an excellent gig bag. This is a thinner body than the regular LP, and it usually weighs less than 8 lbs. It has a satin nitro finish, which will quickly turn glossy in the areas where it's touched the most. It's a lot like a Les Paul jr, but with an arched top. If you play guitar at all, you'll really enjoy it

3

1

MarketBarn

Jan 15, 2026 05:23 PM

30 Posts

Joined Nov 2015

MarketBarnJan 15, 2026 05:23 PM

30 Posts

Got the guitar today smells like chemicals and feels really cheap and where the fret board meets the body there is clear separation which is completely unacceptable. I've seen $200 Chinese guitars that are better built than this USA.

1

ripper415

Jan 16, 2026 07:59 PM

261 Posts

Joined Aug 2005

ripper415Jan 16, 2026 07:59 PM

261 Posts

Quote from MarketBarn

:

Got the guitar today smells like chemicals and feels really cheap and where the fret board meets the body there is clear separation which is completely unacceptable. I've seen $200 Chinese guitars that are better built than this USA.

Yea I've heard similar things about people getting poorly made USA Fender's lately. Quality control and detail to workmanship ain't what it used to be

1

ElatedOstrich5190

Jan 17, 2026 04:38 AM

45 Posts

Joined Nov 2024

ElatedOstrich5190Jan 17, 2026 04:38 AM

45 Posts

Quote from FeistyVolcano733

:

This is a Gibson, made in the USA. These are absolutely terrific guitars. They recently upgraded these with coil tapping by pulling up a knob. The smaller Grover tuners are excellent, the pickups are very good too. I have been a professional guitarist and have been playing for over 50 years. This also comes with an excellent gig bag. This is a thinner body than the regular LP, and it usually weighs less than 8 lbs. It has a satin nitro finish, which will quickly turn glossy in the areas where it's touched the most. It's a lot like a Les Paul jr, but with an arched top. If you play guitar at all, you'll really enjoy it

The Gibson page for the guitar https://www.gibson.com/products/g...iew=gibson doesn't mention the coil tap. The 490R and 498T on my 2024 Inverness Green model only have the single lead wire with the ground being the metallic shielding, they couldn't be coil tapped unless they've also changed the pickups themselves.

PunkKitty

Jan 27, 2026 03:13 AM

146 Posts

Joined Dec 2016

PunkKittyJan 27, 2026 03:13 AM

146 Posts

Out of stock

GeoffreyG4121

Jan 28, 2026 06:23 AM

65 Posts

Joined Feb 2014

GeoffreyG4121Jan 28, 2026 06:23 AM

65 Posts

Quote from ripper415

:

100% true. 2 years ago I bought a brand new, Epiphone Les Paul blackback from musician's friend and instead of shipping from Missouri like usual, it was shipped from Houston TX (I'm in Austin). I thought to myself, hmm that's weird, but maybe they have another, closer wearhouse now? Nope, it arrived wrapped in bubble wrap packaged in a Gretsch box lol. I immediately called customer support and they determined it was actually shipped from a guitar center store in Houston. The guitar looked fine without scratches or anything but it was clearly a floor model that they cleaned up, tuned (arrived in perfect tuning) and mailed to me as "new". They offered me $100 discount to keep it but I insisted that I'd rather have a $700 brand new guitar than a $600 used one. They wound up finding a guitar center store about 30 mins away that had a brand new, in box version in stock and arranged for me to exchange it there. So I had to drive an hour round trip just to get what I originally expected to receive in the first place.Ps. When making the exchange at guitar center, their manager admitted that this sometimes happens to "new" items ordered from them or musician's friend. For some inexplicable reason they consider floor models "new" because they have never been purchased and removed from the store. He was nice and apologetic and gave me a free pack of strings for my trouble, but I would've rather not had to deal with it in the first place

Yup.I just bought an Adam Jones Gibson off Musicians Friend online for $3k.Next day I was sent an email that they don't have any new in box, but basically either a return or a demo model that was placed on the floor.I sent them the screenshot of their still up advertisment for the brand new in box and basically told them it was absolutely false advertisement since they don't have any brand new in box.So pissed off they did that.So icky.I am likely going to just cancel the order out of principle.

Gibson Les Paul Modern Lite Electric Guitar Cardinal Red Satin $999

$999

$1,399

Community Voting

Leave a Comment

14 Comments

Leave a Comment

Related Searches

Popular Deals

Trending Deals