The RI Club

[jameswithesg]

a few of my reissues... 2004- R6 Goldtop' date=' 2007- R-57 Black Beauty-3 w/bigsby VOS finish,

2008- R8 50th Anniversary Washed Cherry Tom Murphy aged finish

[img']http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v375/shad40/Gibbos004.jpg[/img]

 

this looks like the perfect trio of guitars, (for lesters anyway)

[Howlin4Hubert]

Thanks for the info pinefd.

 

I checked out your sit and WOW that is awesome! I would love to purchase one of those for my son someday, and one for me

[marauder]

Hi guys, I'm new here, but I used to be on the old forum.

This thread finally kicked me up the *** to post some pics.

 

Here's my R8.

 

[stevezapp]

Hi guys' date=' I'm new here, but I used to be on the old forum.

This thread finally kicked me up the *** to post some pics.

 

Here's my R8.

 

[img']http://www.maccentral.demon.co.uk/vos/vos-1.JPG[/img]

 

 

Very sexy

[Rabs]

Haha, I know (think I know) you were kidding, but I meant w/out the flamed top. I'm a sucker for a nice looking plain top ... my favorite guitar porn

 

I know its a bit late but im new on here so thought id join the action..

 

Heres my LP Classic 1960s re-issue :)

 

 

 

[LWAG]

(amp on 1 watt mode).

(amp on 5 watt mode).

I love my Gibson R7 because when I was shopping for a '59, I had no idea I'd find a '57 in the hit-and-miss of London's used guitar scene.

I had always wanted a Gold Top/Dark back VOS, so when I found one in budget, I jumped on it/snapped it up/bought it within five minutes.

£3, 995.00

 

Then weeks after I bought it, I found it on Instagram posted by the seller.

My guitar more as it was when I bought it (when I bought it they put the scratch plate in the case and I left it off); It was hanging next to another Gold Top/a Tom Murphy (with a light back) and I first saw my gold top without a scratch plate hanging next to this other gold top with a light back) - they had the prices on, this was £3, 995.00 and the other one was £4, 500.00 and I was looking at an R9 around the corner in MaCari's on Charring Cross Road/around the corner for £3, 295.00 and decided in MaCari's around £6k special guitars/great awesome Gibson Les Pauls special with prices un affordable, I saw the prices of everything and set myself a £4k budget on getting a Les Paul, and when I walked in to this other place, I saw my guitar I had always wanted but could never afford brand new in budget; I bought it.

I did try and get a deal, but they said it was already reduced to £3, 995.00 (which was fine by me, but I thought I'll try).

 

When I bought it, they gave me an aftercare plan, and said in that aftercare plan I got with the purchase, they'd fit what I like at no extra cost if I bought them it (because they didn't have it in stock), so I went from NoTom to Regent Sounds (for the straplock system I use) and to look for pickups, all on a tiny street in London called Denmark Street (home to the only Gibson Dealer I know), but Regent Sounds only had the straplock system, so I went to Wunjo Guitar, across the street on this tiny street, found the pickups, and took it to them to be installed.

I took it home, found I wanted another bridge (when comparing it to my Gibson Custom Shop), so I went to sleep, woke up, (my home's in Thornton Heath), I took it out to Croydon to Feline Guitars (my guitar guy)/showed him my buy, and bought and they fitted a Tone Pros bridge, and then my guitar became 'complete'/how it is now/today.

 

I also swapped the two toggle switch knobs around from my Gibson VOS R7 & my Gibson Custom Shop, because I think my Gold Top looks cooler with this toggle switch knob; Doing that, I accidentally (IMO) made my Gibson Custom Shop look cooler/meaner/redder/signifying a whole new chapter with this R7;

**That chapter of Gibson ownership where you enjoy looking at your Gibson while playing your Gibson without a mirror or a camera.

 

Guitar after cost of pickups (Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro Slash Signature Humbucker set) and cost of Tone Pros bridge and installation: £4, 200.00

 

What I love about this guitar, apart from how it looks, feels, is that it's a solid body (because I already had chambered Gibson Custom Shop), so finding this guitar was awesome, much like finding my first Gibson.

[LWAG]

Mine's a 2005; had it have been a 2015, it'll have been a True Historic Gibson tells me (a Gold Top with a bright back); had my guitar have been a 1995, it'll have been black, but my R7 was sold to me as a True Historic, but that was false, my guitar was used/relic'd (not by Gibson) and for a quick second I thought I had a £420, 000.00 guitar instead of the £4, 200.00 I spent, but it turns out mine's a Reissue, that a former owner relic'd themselves, and my 2005 is a 2005 Gold Top/Dark Back and Gibson told me the serial number is the same as one in 1957, 1995, 2005, 2015 (every 10 years).

 

Does that reused serial number mean I have an Historic Reissue R7?

 

 

What's the difference between Reissue and Historic Reissue?

[pippy]

Mine's a 2005;...my guitar was used/relic'd (not by Gibson) and for a quick second I thought I had a £420,000.00 guitar instead of the £4,200.00 I spent, but it turns out mine's a Reissue, that a former owner relic'd themselves, and my 2005 is a 2005 Gold Top/Dark Back...

I'm having a bit of trouble taking all this in.

Are you telling us, in all seriousness, you spent £4,200 on an "owner relic'd" 13 year old '57 Standard Gold-Top re-issue?

 

 

You almost had us there!....Nah; not really. You can buy one BRAND NEW - and not, therefore, f'kd up - for under £3,000;

https://www.musik-pr...AiABEgJ_AfD_BwE

 

Pip.

 

EDIT : Good "Thread From the Dead" resurrection! A thread originally posted in 2009! V. COOL!!!

[LWAG]

I'm having a bit of trouble taking all this in.

Are you telling us, in all seriousness, you spent £4,200 on an "owner relic'd" 13 year old '57 Standard Gold-Top re-issue?

 

 

You almost had us there!....Nah; not really. You can buy one BRAND NEW - and not, therefore, f'kd up - for under £3,000;

https://www.musik-pr...AiABEgJ_AfD_BwE

 

Pip.

 

EDIT : Good "Thread From the Dead" resurrection! A thread originally posted in 2009! V. COOL!!!

A couple of things;

Mine's a personally sought after hard to find gold top/dark back.

The serial number is 7 5233 Mine's a 2005 reissue (confirmed by Gibson).

 

That's a gold top/light back (not a gold top/dark back of my dreams).

The serial number on that 2016 starts with an R

http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2016/Custom/Standard-Historic-1957-Les-Paul-Goldtop.aspx

(as confirmed by Gibson.com) - the one you think I should have got R7 60051).

I paid £3, 995.00 for the guitar before bridge and pickups.

That's £2, 991.00 £1, 004.00 cheaper with none of the dark back, and all of the R in the serial number.

But last and most important; That's online and they say it's not a good idea to buy a guitar without holding it first.

I'm happy with my 2005

 

If it wasn't for that R7 in the pots cavity, I'd have thought I scored an original 1957. But it's an R7 with an original 1957 serial number (something Gibson told me is on a 1995, my 2005, and a 2015 (as well as a 1957) - the 1995 one is a Black '57 Reissue, the 2015 is a True Historic Gold Top/Light back Reissue, mine a Gold Top/Dark back 2005 Reissue (confirmed by Gibson).

Before I found it, I was in another shop around the corner looking at an old new stock 2015/2016 £3, 225.00 R9, trying to love it for 15 minutes (but it was chambered) - my one, it took me all of 5 minutes to pull the trigger and buy it.

 

... Sounds like this.

[pippy]

Thanks so much for letting me know how to spot a reissue.

As far as your guitar is concerned; well, what can I say?......

 

Pip.

[LWAG]

Thanks so much for letting me know how to spot a reissue.

As far as your guitar is concerned; well, what can I say?......

 

Pip.

Do you suggest I have a fake?

It's a really nice Gibson.

These are its aftermarket MusiCap capacitors making for a higher than normal output/boost...

I think I figured out a solution to a problem I've had with these being too much output by using Input II on my amp to compensate and it seems to work a treat/figured that out today, had the guitar since November; you live, you learn.

(not my photo/same amp).

[pippy]

Do you suggest I have a fake?...

Not even remotely.

I can tell a genuine reissue when I see one thanks.

 

Where was the dealership with the CR9, though? I've seen loads of Dark-Back GTs over the years but not a CR9. That IS a rare instrument.

BTW I live about 2 1/2 miles from Thornton Heath as the crow flies. They've made a nice job of the middle bit of the High Street (North Side).

 

Pip.

[LWAG]

Not even remotely.

I can tell a genuine reissue when I see one thanks.

 

Where was the dealership with the CR9, though? I've seen loads of Dark-Back GTs over the years but not a CR9. That IS a rare instrument.

BTW I live about 2 1/2 miles from Thornton Heath as the crow flies. They've made a nice job of the middle bit of the High Street (North Side).

 

Pip.

I bought my guitar used from NoTom on Denmark Street last November.

They do used rare and vintage guitars.

There is one Gibson Dealer left though on Denmark Street still selling new 2018/2019 Gibsons for £4, 000.00 but they're light back according to them yesterday (Sixty Sixty Sounds) and to get one with this finish I found/love; would have to be what Gibson call 'Made to Measure'; also, they said the new Reissues would be chambered and for one like I wanted/found; a solid body like this would again, be 'Made to Measure; which will also take longer too (and cost more).

 

That CR9 was old new stock in MaCari's (Charring Cross Branch); It wasn't a dark back though, it was left over from when they were the Gibson Dealer around the corner on Denmark Street... It was the only Gibson Les Paul they had with this headstock I love (Les Paul signature, snot green tuners) that had a 50's neck profile for under £4, 000.00 - They had others for more than what I wanted to spend.

[LWAG]

I think they've sold it

http://www.macaris.co.uk/guitars/electric-guitars/gibson-electrics?&pg=1

I remember them telling me about that 60's Iced Tea one after I didn't care for that CR9, but that CR9 was a burst, not a dark back, and that was it for me in MaCari's, that CR9 I didn't like because it was chambered and this 60's neck profile (thinner, like my 1996 Gibson Custom Shop).

http://www.macaris.co.uk/1960-vos-iced-tea-faded/p/p631

 

 

Luckily I found what I was looking for (didn't expect to find a gold top/dark back finish though, that was amazing) around the corner.

[LWAG]

My 1996 Gibson Custom Shop Red Sparkle Top is dark back chambered.

Is that rare?

 

I mean, I spoke about it in my initial introductory post

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/142660-i-love-gibson/page__pid__1934120

and a user here asked me if I was sure if it was chambered, to which I (& Feline Guitars of Croydon) are sure of 1, 000%.

[pippy]

The red sparkle finish was discussed by both of us in someone else' post where they had a Custom Shop version which was confusingly called an Historic.

Yes, the red sparkle Custom Shop Standards are (AFAIK) few and far between. In fact the one in the earlier thread was the first I'd ever seen.

 

...according to them yesterday (Sixty Sixty Sounds)...they said the new Reissues would be chambered...

This doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

 

One of the fundamental specs for an Historic is that it has a solid body - which is why the Chambered Reissues are so uncommon - at least in the UK.

Almost everyone who wants to buy a reissue wants one like they were made in the '50s and 1960. The first CR's were made in 2004 and there have been small quantities released every so often ever since but for a dealership to say "The new reissues would be chambered" has me scratching my head. It simply isn't going to be the case. The vast majority will be solid-bodied as per every year since the Historic Division was set up in 1993 (and there is always the chance that no chambered reissues will be made at all). Unless THEY know something that WE don't...but I can't see total reissue chambering being a realistic possibility.

 

FWIW I was in Denmark Street on Sunday (four days ago in the interests of future post-perusal) and the whole of the top end of the street is being re-worked. Many instrument shops are being inconvenienced. Macari's Denmark St. branch is undergoing big change. Wunjo has moved from half-way-up to the corner of Denmark St. and Charing Cross Rd. but still on the same (west) side of the street. Macari's Charing Cross Rd. branch is still extant but with far fewer Les Pauls in evidence than they had on show previously. I hope the move is good from the business perspective for Wunjo. They happen to be my favourite shop in the street (and where I found my own 1993 R9 which is the 131st R9 ever made).

 

Pip.

[LWAG]

The red sparkle finish was discussed by both of us in someone else' post where they had a Custom Shop version which was confusingly called an Historic.

Yes, the red sparkle Custom Shop Standards are (AFAIK) few and far between. In fact the one in the earlier thread was the first I'd ever seen.

 

 

This doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

 

One of the fundamental specs for an Historic is that it has a solid body - which is why the Chambered Reissues are so uncommon - at least in the UK.

Almost everyone who wants to buy a reissue wants one like they were made in the '50s and 1960. The first CR's were made in 2004 and there have been small quantities released every so often ever since but for a dealership to say "The new reissues would be chambered" has me scratching my head. It simply isn't going to be the case. The vast majority will be solid-bodied as per every year since the Historic Division was set up in 1993 (and there is always the chance that no chambered reissues will be made at all). Unless THEY know something that WE don't...but I can't see total reissue chambering being a realistic possibility.

 

FWIW I was in Denmark Street on Sunday (four days ago in the interests of future post-perusal) and the whole of the top end of the street is being re-worked. Many instrument shops are being inconvenienced. Macari's Denmark St. branch is undergoing big change. Wunjo has moved from half-way-up to the corner of Denmark St. and Charing Cross Rd. but still on the same (west) side of the street. Macari's Charing Cross Rd. branch is still extant but with far fewer Les Pauls in evidence than they had on show previously. I hope the move is good from the business perspective for Wunjo. They happen to be my favourite shop in the street (and where I found my own 1993 R9 which is the 131st R9 ever made).

 

Pip.

I see, Sixty Sixty Sounds on Denmark Street could tell you what they told me about the 2018/2019 line Vs. Made To Measure.

I remember for certain the dark backs aren't common this year/will be a made to measure order/half sure that applies to a solid body reissue though... If you're that concerned, you could always phone them up.

 

Well I passed up on that Old New Stock CR9 for £3, 225.00 for my gold top/dark back, tbh, I would do it again, that first guitar wasn't for me, because it was chambered and, so is my first Gibson.

 

I also remember that Chambered R9 burst in Macari's having that Gibson logo behind the toggle switch, which was also a deciding factor for me to continue to look/move on from it and not buy it for £3, 225.00

I'm a sucker for all things rare and unique, believe me - so the fact that I passed on it really is because I liked it, but I didn't love it.

All my Gibsons (for Gibson money) have been guitars I've fell in love with at first play.

That 2016 R7 Serial number you suggested from Gibson.com brand new for £1k less (before p+p)? for what I paid on mine also had that logo behind the toggle switch, which for me, would have blown the deal, it's a nice guitar I'm sure, but that stamp though authentic and 100% cool, is not for me, yet, while I'm still on budgets for these things.

[pippy]

The only thing which counts for diddley-squat is that you are happy with your guitars - and you are - so all's good.

 

I'd very much like to try a CR9, though. Many folks who own real 1959 'bursts have said the CR guitars are closer to their original '59s than are the solid-bodied reissues.

That makes me very curious and intrigued to pitch one against my favourite R0 to see how different (or similar?) they might be...

 

Pip.

[LWAG]

The only thing which counts for diddley-squat is that you are happy with your guitars - and you are - so all's good.

 

I'd very much like to try a CR9, though. Many folks who own real 1959 'bursts have said the CR guitars are closer to their original '59s than are the solid-bodied reissues.

That makes me very curious and intrigued to pitch one against my favourite R0 to see how different (or similar?) they might be...

 

Pip.

Amen, these are £1, 000, 000.00 worth of fun for a fraction of the price.

[LWAG]

The red sparkle finish was discussed by both of us in someone else' post where they had a Custom Shop version which was confusingly called an Historic.

Yes, the red sparkle Custom Shop Standards are (AFAIK) few and far between. In fact the one in the earlier thread was the first I'd ever seen.

Up until I chanced across that other thread from a user in Switzerland that yeiled

Just recieved an email from Gibson Customer Service:

 

 

I had not seen one that looked that much like my 1996 Gibson Custom Shop...

But until I find out if that Swiss Red Sparkle Top/Dark Back is chambered or not, based on Gibson's response, and what I've seen of the guitar, I'd guess it's a mistake, since my Red Sparkle Top lives next to a '57 VOS, by chance, and - for me, as owner of these two (My M&Ms I fondly called the two back when I started taking snap shots of 'em)... The subtle differences between a 1957 Reissue and this 1996 that looks like that 1997 Red Sparkle Top, when it came down to measurements of the neck, I could tell it wasn't a 1957 neck profile.

I would still love to know if that 1997 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul is chambered though, but, maybe it is, maybe it isn't, with out that shot of the cut away, I can't be sure, but from the shots that user provided, I'd believe it was a solid body if I didn't know/own my one.

- When I joined, a user asked me when I spoke about it, if it's a verified fact my one's chambered lol... So... A little curious now on that other Red Sparkle Top in out in Switzerland that has the same finish and logos from around the same time period and even the same golden bridge/hardware... If that was a solid body with a 59 neck maybe?

 

Until seeing that guitar on this forum, the following was the only other one in the world that looked like mine.

But it's not red, it's a sunburst version.

They're asking $23, 000.00 for it though, I paid £1, 985.00 and it was on sale/marked down from £2, 800.00 but whatever it was, it was love at first play.

http://guitarsofa.com/index.php?fi=detail&id=1041#.WvTJ2dJ942w

vs what I bought;

My 1996 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Standard Red Sparkle Top.

That one has binding around the headstock and is in Hong Kong (maybe a different market full of more Billionaires and higher than London rents)? maybe that binding makes all the difference? Maybe that it's a what I would call a sparkle burst and mine's a bonafide Red Sparkle Top idk (IDK what Gibson call this other one in HK, but it looks pretty) maybe I just got really lucky when I got it for £1, 985.00? But that $23k guitar looks more like my red one than that 1997 Red Sparkle Top with different pickups in Switzerland with the same logos and bridge as seen in http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/142511-help-me-identifying-this-guitar/

[pippy]

As far as the other Red Sparkle goes; the only solid-body Les Pauls made between late-'82 and the appearance of the 2013 Traditional were the Historic reissues. I know they use the words 'historic' and 'reissue' in their reply but my guess is that because the guitar in question had several features not found on a 'proper' reissue it will probably be weight-relieved one way or another. This is just my guess, of course. Only an x-ray can tell for sure. But, as I said in the original post, it's certainly a curious one.

 

The Sunburst Sparkle top? They might be asking $23,000 but if you notice you'll see they have had it in stock since 2015......

 

Pip.

[LWAG]

As far as the other Red Sparkle goes; the only solid-body Les Pauls made between late-'82 and the appearance of the 2013 Traditional were the Historic reissues. I know they use the words 'historic' and 'reissue' in their reply but my guess is that because the guitar in question had several features not found on a 'proper' reissue it will probably be weight-relieved one way or another. This is just my guess, of course. Only an x-ray can tell for sure. But, as I said in the original post, it's certainly a curious one.

 

The Sunburst Sparkle top? They might be asking $23,000 but if you notice you'll see they have had it in stock since 2015......

 

Pip.

I found out last night by chance when I saw a price for something in HKD and I had never heard of HKD before on something my friend was showing me, I asked and she said 'Hong Kong Dollar' and I remembered this 1996 Sparkle Top in HK for $23, 000.00 - Turns out that $23, 000.00 guitar in Hong Kong converts to £2, 162.89, and that price $23, 000.00 was in HKD and not USD.