Gibson quality control is horrible lately. I bought a standard and had to go through 3 of them before I got one that didn't require a luthier on a brand new 2500 dollar guitar. Honestly, if you want a Made in USA guitar buy a USA Strat. If you want a new short scale, "Les Paul", buy the epiphone right now, if Gibson wakes up and starts producing real instruments again I will buy another. Usually I would say buy the Gibson but not with the crap they are releasing to the public these days. The other option here is buying a used Gibson, I think that 88 to 93 were some of the best most consistent instruments they've made in recent times.