who can i trust......

im going to order the gibson les paul classic from possibly musicians freind or music123. any advice on these companys. ive heard some horror stories in the past about musicians freind.

hey....i would not want to spend that much money on a guitar that i would be buying online...my friend bought a gibbson les paul double cut online and when he got it the neck was all warped....you sould go to a local guitar store that carries gibson and try the guitar you want to buy....i no that their is people that prob have bought guitars from online stores and they guitar was perfect but you should not take a chance when you spending a lot of money like you are planing to do

Musicians Friend is good for small items as well as Music123 but for the pricier items I would suggest doing as StevenN said, get it locally. There are to many problems that can go wrong when ordering over the net as well in shipping. Also, Musicians Friend is affiliated with Guitar Center and GC is all over the place, you might be able to get the same deal there.

MSF

I'm sure both have good return policies when it comes to something that expensive but I would still rather get it from a shop.

I had no problem with musician's friend. Ordered an Epiphone les paul last year. The anticipated date of them getting the guitar in was on time-and shipped out as scheduled. The only difficulty is you may have to wait for a specific model or color guitar to come in from their supplier. I know musician's friend has trouble with Epiphone, because the stock is in such high demand, faster than the item is being distributed and made. Once I got my guitar, I was VERY pleased with my decision and glad that I waited and got the guitar I wanted rather than just picking a substitute because I couldn't wait the extra few weeks. One of my favorite guitars that I own!!

got my gibson sg special faded off of musician's friend. no problems whatsoever... the the guitar shipped in a gig bag that was bubble wrapped and then put inside a box... when I got it, the box was very smooshed... and I was dreading opening it... then I did... pulled out the gig bag. unzipped it.. and pulled out the guitar, expecting it to be in 80 pieces... but it was fine, not a scratch on it. but I got lucky, if I were you, I would go to a shop.. if they don't have the specific color or model you want, tell them to order it, they probably will order it for you. but if you are spending that much money, I would go to a shop

dude, I reckon with a guitar costing that much, you should play that exact guitar before you part with cash...some Les Pauls are better than others (or, more concerning, some are worse than others) Gibson in particular are inconsistant...they may have a good return policy...but thats always a hassle, and there is no guarantee that the next one they sedn will be any better...why not head out to your local Gibson dealer and play every Les Paul they have, then take the one that grabs you most.