My Top: It's Gold

GAD

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New Gibson Historic R7 Day here.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]2003 R7 (1957 reissue) with a Brazillian fretboard. For those who don't follow this stuff, Gibson swore that there would never be any more Brazillian fretboard Historics EVAR!!1!, and the 2003s were the only way to get a modern one for many years. That is until 2018 when Gibson started selling a bunch of Historic reissues with Brazillian again because, well, because Gibson. [/FONT]

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The fretboard doesn't really show up that red under normal light, but it's quite striking when I fire up the big light guns.

This is another Marks Guitar Loft buy, and he was once again a terrific guy to deal with.

I pulled the Burstbucker pickups and put in my magic pair of old WCR Goodwoods (from before they were Godwoods) and I've been playing it all damn day. It's got a very different vibe than the 2018 R9 I just bought and I'm still trying to settle on what those differences are, exactly. Regardless, here's a pic of them cuddling:

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In other news, I now have even less space in my house. :confusion:
 

walrus

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Oh, that is a beauty! I will assume that it ROCKS! Congratulations!

walrus
 

GAD

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It's different than my 2018. They changed the way that they're made and the new one is more defined. I think I may do a mod on the gold top because the low end is a little flabby for my tastes. We'll see.
 

Nuuska

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hello

For some reason I always disliked white and cream on pickguards and other plastic parts on guitars.

Just wondering how that gold-top might look with black or mother-of-pearl or tortoise or some other colour - dark gold/amber should be fine - saw a picture with black - nnnaaahhh
 

GAD

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I Think they came that way from Gibson for a year or two. I'm not up on the details there, but here's an example:

Goldies-2.jpg


I could be wrong about that and a bunch of people just like black better and customized them. Dunno.
 

shihan

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Welcome to the club! That is one beautiful GT. I know you’re enjoying it.
Here’s mine:
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Neal

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So, if an R-9 and an R-7 cuddle long enough, and close enough, do you find a R-8 nine months later?
 

GAD

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Welcome to the club! That is one beautiful GT. I know you’re enjoying it.
Here’s mine:
45356328-CD85-410B-868C-BA975C5A2E7A.jpeg

Nice! I thought about getting an R6 because I love me some P90 goodness but the R7 was available and I liked it.
 

shihan

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P-90’s or humbuckers, you can’t go wrong. Ive heard nothing but good things about the R7’s. I love my Guilds, but to me, the GT is the king of guitars.
Have you tried top wrapping the strings? I think it makes a difference in the tension. I like it, you might not, but it’s worth a set of strings to see.
Mine originally had mimi humbuckers, but I put P-90’s in it back in the late ‘70’s because that’s what Freddy King had.
Yours is so beautiful; the gold really shines. Mine is pretty green in places, doesn’t show in the pic.
 

johnreardon

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I have three Goldtops

First is a 2008 Joe Bonamassa Limited Edition Les Paul I bought from a friend a while ago. Unfortunately he had Joe sign the pickguard, which I don't like. Will probably get one made at some time. The standard pickguards for R7s don't fit.

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This is my 2006 1956 Reissue

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Finally my 2004 1957 Reissue

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The R6 gets the most plays
 

fronobulax

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My college roommate was a seriously better bassist than I was so he played in the band that got most of the campus gigs. But he let me be road crew. The guitarist had a gold top Les Paul. He spent way too much time apologizing because it was a '60's (or was it 70's?) issue and not one of the iconic instruments from the '50's.
 

GAD

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My college roommate was a seriously better bassist than I was so he played in the band that got most of the campus gigs. But he let me be road crew. The guitarist had a gold top Les Paul. He spent way too much time apologizing because it was a '60's (or was it 70's?) issue and not one of the iconic instruments from the '50's.

They stopped making Les Pauls in 1960 if memory serves, and what we know as the SG became the Les Paul signature model until I think 1968 when the Les Paul we all know came back. I could have those dates off - I'm not as sharp on old Gibsons.

The '68s are pretty darn cool. They look a lot like the 1956 models but with the newer knobs (which I dislike):

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In late '69 the "Norlin Era" officially began, though things changed in '66 when Ted resigned (so say the Internet forums). The '70s put them firmly into the Norlin era and the '72 Les Paul Deluxe with its mini hums had changed a fair bit from the originals. Purists would look at that and say "Ugh - that's no '59!" Remember, though, that in 1972 a '59 burst would have only been 12 years old and while there weren't many of them made, they were nowhere near commanding the ridiculous prices that they did at the height of the guitar collector craze.

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The whole "products sucked in the '70s" thing is hard to escape and Gibson was doing things like using laminated bodies and cutting costs in other ways because it was the '70s.

Of course, Ace Frehley was playing a Les Paul Custom and '70s Customs weighed about 14 pounds. Just look at the way he's holding it on this magazine cover. It wouldn't surprise me if he added that third pickup in an effort to do some weight relief! I look at that pic and imagine a 3-hour long photo shoot with Ace's body language just screaming, "PLEASE just let this be over so I can put this freaking thing down."

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shihan

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If I recall, the first LP reissue, the ‘68, had a one piece body (with maple cap), one piece neck, mini HB’s, and small headstock.
The ‘69, which I have, is same body & PU’s, a 3 piece neck, and a larger headstock. In ‘70, they went to the ‘pancake’ body with 3 layers of wood. It was all downhill from there for a while.
 
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