Now in a position to buy R8 (or possibly R9) and after some pointers

hyperben

dbphoto said:

The ageing of the hardware on mine is fine, although it can vary considerably having checked out loads in GuitarGuitar.

The slightly sticky finish everywhere just feels a bit crap to me, and at first I was going to send it back to Peach as the neck felt horribly sticky, but that wore off after a good few hours of playing.

I would much prefer a satin finish on them to be honest, but at £2499 you can’t have everything I suppose.

Especially as it sounds fucking glorious, and well, it looks like this:

That is pretty special! Really nice plaintop.

Voxman

hyperben said:8

dbphoto said:

The ageing of the hardware on mine is fine, although it can vary considerably having checked out loads in GuitarGuitar.

The slightly sticky finish everywhere just feels a bit crap to me, and at first I was going to send it back to Peach as the neck felt horribly sticky, but that wore off after a good few hours of playing.

I would much prefer a satin finish on them to be honest, but at £2499 you can’t have everything I suppose.

Especially as it sounds fucking glorious, and well, it looks like this:

That is pretty special! Really nice plaintop.

Lovely...just my scene! What colour/finish is that?

Ossyrocks

^ looks like iced tea

Voxman

Ossyrocks said:x

^ looks like iced tea

But is it VOS as it looks quite glossy and hardware is quite shiny? 

dbphoto

It's Dirty Lemon VOS

To be fair though that photo above has an iPhone filter on it, (you have to add a filter when you take an iPhone photo right?) here it is straight off the phone and a few others without any filter action.

Depending on the light and angle you view it from it can really change:

Ossyrocks

Voxman said:

Ossyrocks said:x

^ looks like iced tea

But is it VOS as it looks quite glossy and hardware is quite shiny? 

I think it’s VOS. These finishes do vary considerably, some have very little VOS, others have more. It does wear off and become more glossy eventually, or it can easily be polished off. I’m leaving mine alone this time, but I have polished it off before on guitars with a heavy VOS finish. 

One thing I always do is polish the back of the neck using Virtuoso cleaner for a smooth and slick feel.

I wouldn’t get hung up on gloss vs VOS, it’s a subtle difference, and those new ones coming in at Peach are a very very good buy.

Rob

danishbacon

I've only played one and judging by what it got, it's a seriously good guitar. Neck profile very comfortable, guitar is on the lighter side and there are some really nice plaintops around. Good luck on your search

Voxman

dbphoto said:

It's Dirty Lemon VOS

To be fair though that photo above has an iPhone filter on it, (you have to add a filter when you take an iPhone photo right?) here it is straight off the phone and a few others without any filter action.

Depending on the light and angle you view it from it can really change:

Gorgeous! Love it! 

uncledick

I thought Coda were very good on a recent visit.  Tried a load of R8s and 9s (and a PRS 594) but by far the best was the Tom Murphy aged historic.  Made the rest sound incredibly ordinary.  From what I gather it isn't the ageing process that brings out the sound - just the fact  that Mr Murphy gets first dibs on anything in the Custom Shop.  My trip also showed me that my £1000 Nitro McCarty offers a lot of bang per buck.

hyperben

uncledick said:

I thought Coda were very good on a recent visit.  Tried a load of R8s and 9s (and a PRS 594) but by far the best was the Tom Murphy aged historic.  Made the rest sound incredibly ordinary.  From what I gather it isn't the ageing process that brings out the sound - just the fact  that Mr Murphy gets first dibs on anything in the Custom Shop.  My trip also showed me that my £1000 Nitro McCarty offers a lot of bang per buck.

How much did you find the R8s/R9s varied in tone from each other?

gibsongretschfan

Forget which finish or colour you want and just go play a bunch. 

Trust me if you fine The One then you’re not going to care about the other stuff

(and believe me, more than with any other guitar, Les Pauls suffer greatly from The One phenomenon)

hyperben

gibsongretschfan said:

Forget which finish or colour you want and just go play a bunch. 

Trust me if you fine The One then you’re not going to care about the other stuff

(and believe me, more than with any other guitar, Les Pauls suffer greatly from The One phenomenon)

Wise words. This is exactly my experience too. Huge difference between LPs but nowhere near the same differences between Telecasters for example.

Jonathanthomas83

Get a gloss one from Peach, they're a bargain

Voxman

Thanks guys, appreciate the wisdom. 're colour and finish but I want something that fits my specific 'dream' so to speak and I'm patient. Which is why I'm in no hurry whatsoever...I have 10 electrics including a 1990 Les Paul Custom. I'm going to put fresh strings on it and take it with me when I try out custom shop LPs as a frame of reference so to speak.

Voxman

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Get a gloss one from Peach, they're a bargain

I'm sure they are but I don't want gloss. 

dbphoto

Have you considered this?

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/142891/fs-gibson-les-paul-58-reissue-2014-r8-vos-reduced

Bridgehouse

Does it have to be an R8/R9?

My money would go on a feline lion with my choice of pickups and a nice lemon finish.....

uncledick

hyperben said:

uncledick said:

I thought Coda were very good on a recent visit.  Tried a load of R8s and 9s (and a PRS 594) but by far the best was the Tom Murphy aged historic.  Made the rest sound incredibly ordinary.  From what I gather it isn't the ageing process that brings out the sound - just the fact  that Mr Murphy gets first dibs on anything in the Custom Shop.  My trip also showed me that my £1000 Nitro McCarty offers a lot of bang per buck.

How much did you find the R8s/R9s varied in tone from each other?

Not a lot actually.  They were pretty consistent and perfectly useable, it's just that the Tom Murphy was a significant step up in every way.  I see it sold the next day and I'm not surprised.  

Twinfan

Sample of one though - it could just have been one of those great guitars.  I doubt they're all like that.

Twinfan

Bridgehouse said:

Does it have to be an R8/R9?

My money would go on a feline lion with my choice of pickups and a nice lemon finish.....

Jon's guitars are superb, but if you want Gibson on the headstock and/or a nitro finish they're not going to be on your shopping list.