NighthawkChris

Ditto man my R7 GT isn’t perfect cosmetically but it is a perfect guitar if you get what I’m saying 😉

If I were you, I'd go for the Chy-na special 😆

What's wrong with this picture? https://saginaw.craigslist.org/msg/d/montrose-gibson-les-paul-custom/7279476025.html

What's up with everyone trying to sell their late 70s early 80s LP Custom Silverbursts and blowing up the prices? I get it about the whole Adam Jones - Gibson thing right now, but man, these old LPs with severe buckle rash, chips and dings are going for crazy dough just because of AJ and the flipping silver finish? I am not looking to get my hands on one, but just because it has that nothing-special silver finish that it demands a few thousand more. Oh well, I get the whole in-demand thing and seems like some sort of fad - IDK. I guess my question is where these silverburst guitars always going for the prices they go for today or is it just that whole AJ thing that blasted up the prices? I never was interested in these before therefore I never minded looking at the going rates in the past. Apparently, the prices are right though, because there are some people spending the dough on these today. To add, who am I to say anything bad because I buy expensive guitars too - not knocking anyone if it's their thing. Just curious if the prices are the way they are today because of this AJ appeal and what others may thing on the topic. Maybe the wrong thread to ask this sort of thing...

Yeah, I'd do this, but the tools necessary aren't too much or expensive. Maybe want to buy that 64ths" card from Stewmac - great investment and can do string action setups consistently every time. Either way, how low the bridge goes depends on the neck angle when the guitar had it set in production as all of them are different. Once it is made one way, it never changes, so I think once you get the guitar up to spec, you'll find that adjustment room can be had. If you eye it out at manufacturer spec, the string action will "look" high, but in actuality, it's as designed and will not be hard to play. No need to have action like a shredder on a LP - i.e. traditional-like guitar. Again, best wishes and good luck. Share pics or it didn't happen!

Measurements? The Gibson spec is 5/64" on the bass side and 3/64" on treble side at the 12th fret. Also, how's the neck relief (measurement). How's the first fret action? Usually want no more than 0.020" at first fret on each string give or take 2 thou. If all these are checking out, you probably will have no other option than to do some filing on the bridge to get action lower so you can adjust upward and not be decked out. I have never had to do bridge filing though and don't advise to have just anyone do this... This would be my last measure IF I really had to go down this path TBH. Was the bridge a replacement - i.e. not OEM so to speak? You mentioned this was used, so no telling what the last guy(s) did here. FYI, my action is 4/64 on the bass and 3/64 on the treble. Anything lower usually I don't like and typically start getting choking out/buzzes going on. Specs are a good baseline, but these are not rules you have to live and die by... I know that some will say that all these specs are a bunch of BS, I've played for 100+ years, never had to mess with this... I'm just trying to help and the only way we can collaborate here to give you best advice per my experiences is to use quantitative measurements. I want your guitar to play good and for you to have confidence that it works for you. Nothing worse than buying a guitar that you have regret for... Luckily as you said, it plays good and hopefully we can somehow improve what you got going on. Good luck and best wishes.

@brad1, that’s cool man your ears aren’t mine. I just have this awful memory of Dave doing the most tone deaf outro of Peace Sells last time I saw them live in Detroit and each time I listen to that song I laugh haha! All that aside, MD f’n blows Metallica out the water. Their riffs are levels above Metallica. I love MD. Maybe not the most hardcore fan, but I have quite a bit of their albums going way back. Put it this way, I can listen to MD all day whereas Metallica I can’t listen to anymore. MD can get my blood flowing whereas Metallica... meh... And Peace Sells is a great song on a great album. The conjuring is one of my faves with my last words. A half hour of pure metal. Loved hearing wake up dead live too. F’n love that song! Yeah MD is a great band and F Metallica for being sellouts. They can take their load and shove it up their (Lars’) a$$. I wouldn’t even Napster that s*** back in the day haha!

Megadeth is awesome I don’t even think about comparing to Metallica. Although Megadeth isn’t that great live - Dave’s vocals are sort of cringe when in the flesh. I’ve gotten used to them on albums though and have no issues really there. Metallica does a better show but again they have f’n Lars in the band whom I absolutely think is overrated AF. I dig the new Vs and personally like the green V. I think there’s a Kramer one too that wasn’t in the video and I like that one better than the Gibsons. I miss my old Focus...

MegaDave!

I have an R9 from 2019 that has Bolivian rosewood - Pau Ferro - and it’s pretty nice. Also have a 2015 LP Custom with Richlite. Both look nice but TBH I can’t tell the difference it makes in tone. I’m a pretty good player too so I am in the belief that if you play well you won’t have major issues with a fretboard material messing with your style. Another R9 I have has the Indian rosewood and it is dark. But this is a higher end guitar compared to the USA lineup. Again to me it is mostly cosmetic and won’t make your playing better or worse whatsoever.

When you condition a fretboard you don’t marinate it. Apply, then wipe off. That’s the best you can do. You don’t want to play a fretboard that is all oily and has s***on it. If you don’t like the color of the board, pass on the guitar. @sbpark said it best about availability. What are you gonna do about that... Want dark rosewood today, gonna pay for it. Buy a used model if you want darker rosewood.

Ok your first post with a new account is to tell everyone to buy a Heritage guitar... And you resurrect an old a** thread from one of the biggest DBs to contribute here. Nice start pal. You must do good with the ladies too.

@Crids, I got a few reissues to share some pics of, lol! Nice Goldtop BTW. Maybe if someone makes a "guitar appreciation" thread or something of the sort, I'd be happy to participate... Check out Mark's Guitar Loft in NH if you're in the market. You need to poll his site from time to time and see what comes in new. He's very professional and courteous to do business with.

I'm testing an image too... I used the lower right hand corner of the text box in this forum that allows us to reply to a message and there's a drop-down menu that by default says "Other Media". There's a selection item that says "Insert image from URL". Then, went to Imgur, copied the BBC code link that Imgur let me copy, removed the [img] stuff surrounding the link, and I made sure that the link had the ".jpg" extension. Voila!. Was much easier before just using the surrounding tags... Oh well, as long as it works. Enjoy the pic. 8.3lb R9 60th Anniversary in dark cherry burst. Bought it from Mark's Guitar Loft FYI. Cool guy...

When I bought my R9, it arrived with the switch tip exploded. No issue getting a replacement though - I actually got 2 from Gibson directly (of course no charge). So yeah, you have to be careful transporting your LP in the case as these switches are prone to "exploding" if it takes a bang. Luckily, the guitar was not messed up... So the moral of the story is that if you use this case to transport your guitar, take the switch cap off if you don't want any issues. Maybe save that foam piece too as it can't hurt. I even save those extra foam inserts that cushion the headstock. As for the impression, well I explained what happened to my R9, so that's not surprising you have an indent in the case where the switch touches the top of the case lid. The worst that could happen it seems is you'll lose a switch tip if again the case takes a bang.

I still think the 3 by 3 headstock looks weird on these. High fret access isn’t as good as it should be for a 24 fret guitar IMO. Stainless steel frets would have been good too.

+1 Yamaha THR

@jdgm, I fail to believe that water weighs less when it solidifies compared to when it is in the liquid state. What is interesting is that water expands when it freezes unlike many other molecules. But generally speaking, if the "count" of water molecules are kept constant in a particular sealed vessel let's say, the weight (or mass for that matter) will never change. The volume will change though by virtue of its expansion when frozen. So the rule in buoyancy states that if something weighs less than the volume it displaces of another substance, it will do what we call float in this particular instance. Being that the volume increases with frozen water and more "space" is taken up as compared to liquid water, the ice which is less dense will weigh less than the more dense liquid water of equal volume. Water is an interesting molecule. It is non-compressible as well. But now, I'm babbling on about H2O. Lol, sorry man, I was just talking about how water expands when frozen with my son. I really have to get out more and talk to people, haha! Too much time at home these days. Cheers mate!

yes it is...

@Plouvier, I'd ask Gibson on a phone call if you really want the answer to your question. Find some time to make a call - shouldn't take that long for them to find out.

Looks great! Bet it plays as good as it looks. Congratulations! 😀

Yup, haha! I had the same issue. iPhone... I cleared all the private data to browse "fresh", but still getting this issue you illustrated on my phone's browser. Not sure if this is a Gibson thing, but nonetheless, this is irritating as I can now only interact here on my PC. Maybe I'll have less typos - silver lining possibly. But thanks for sharing this, I really hope this issue gets resolved.

Basically, in this situation, it could be one thing or a few things... pickup height, nut slot depth, level frets, etc. If you know how to check all the things that make a guitar play right, then go over everything for peace of mind. If you still are stymied, then go to a trusted luthier and have them explain what was adjusted to correct the issue(s). Nighthawks are great guitars. I set mine up with Fender specs as it's a 25.5" scale guitar. If you set your guitar pound-for-pound like a Tele and you still have issues, have someone else take a look. So @beyoung95 string height pickup height neck relief intonation saddles aren't slanting (should be parallel to the body's plane) loose screws/bushings on tuners, bridge, etc. This lists what you can easily adjust if you know how and have the simple tools to do so. If you have unlevel frets or nut slot issues, we are getting out of the league where I intervene with a guitar's destiny. This is when I go to a luthier. But based on your title of the thread, immediately I am thinking nut slot depth issues when cowboy chords go out of tune on a "tuned-up" guitar. Good luck!

2-way TRs can add relief whereas a one-way TR can only add tension to the neck. I like the 2-way TRs better as these are more modern. For instance, my Jackson Soloist has one. So that being said, if you say try to "loosen" the TR to take the nut off or something like this (know someone who tried to do this in the past), if you go too much, you're making the forward bow worse if you don't know you have a 2-way TR. You'll probably never get that nut off, haha! There's a point on a 2-way TR where it is doing nothing - i.e. in-between where it could either add tension or relief to the neck. IMHO, an unengaged TR is a bad thing. You want some tension on it just to hold the nut in place better. Incremental adjustments only after it is set up right at some point in time. I adjust mine once the cold (dry) winter starts and once the hot (humid) summer starts. And I'm not cranking them either - incremental. When I buy a guitar, I do my cranking - if necessary - the first time, then afterwards being that it is stored/used properly, the adjustments are small afterwards so long as these are done at regular times. Either way, never hurts to quick measure your relief and work on keeping it as stable as possible. Best wishes!

My favorites are "rare" and "vintage". Just list the guitar and disclose anything wrong/modified as concisely as possible. I don't care for spec listings because if I am looking for something used, typically I should already know what the specs are supposed to be. I am not interested in reading any stories how the guitar has been kept under a bed for a decade, just tell me what you're selling and take plenty of pictures showing all the good stuff and wear-and-tear. I suppose I don't mind a little history - i.e. second owner, bought at such and such a place. I don't need a sales pitch that this guitar is "killer" and "have too many in the stable"and "set up by professional luthier"... We know that you're selling whatever it is for some cash first and foremost. So list what you're selling and be honest about what you're selling. The better condition of what you're selling should have less description. As the saying goes, a picture says a thousand words.