Gibson R8 advice

mark_jwedge

I have always loved Les Pauls and have a really nice 2007 standard. A VOS R8 has always been my dream guitar. 

A chance has come up to do a deal for one second hand. It’s a 2010 VOS R8. It’s a trade deal so I’m planning to go and try it before negotiating the trade but so I don’t get seduced by the chance of finally owning one and can be a bit more objective about it is there anything I should be looking out for in a 2010 model to make sure I don’t get a dud!!!

crunchman

Check the neck angle and bridge positioning, which were both issues on a 2010 R8 that I had.

The neck angle on mine was too high, so the bridge had to be really high.  That meant it sat very high on the posts and tended to tilt.  You could make it ok by screwing the action down very low, but it was lower than I normally like in a guitar.

The bridge on that one was slightly out of position as well.  I really struggled to get the intonation right.  At one point I put a Nashville bridge on it, as it has more travel for the saddles, but that didn't sound as good.  I put the original back on, but I'm not sure that I had the intonation quite right on all the strings.  One of the guys who used to work in the repair department at Chandlers told me that if it was his, he would have filled the bridge post holes and drilled new ones 3mm away.

The other thing to check is that you like the huge neck on it.  It really is massive.  I found it very comfortable, but it was quite cumbersome to play.  I have very short fingers, but there were things that I struggled to play cleanly on that guitar that I could play quite easily on a different guitar.  On the other hand, I could play if for a long time without my wrist and hand getting fatigued.

If the neck is too big, then the 2017 version of the R8 has the 59 neck profile.  There was one of those for sale in the classifieds earlier in the week.  There might be a few others who bought one in the big blowout last year who are coming to the end of the honeymoon period.  I'm sure there will be more for sale.

terada

*opens coat full of r8s*

what colour are you after? 

Fifty9

I've waited for years because of the cork sniffery. The spec on the 2017s was what I was after but anything after 2013 would be good with. drinking the coolaid with the trussrod condom and hide glue but each to our own...

Go for it if you enjoy how it plays, like the looks of it and can afford it. 

hyperben

Fifty9 said:

I've waited for years because of the cork sniffery. The spec on the 2017s was what I was after but anything after 2013 would be good with. drinking the coolaid with the trussrod condom and hide glue but each to our own...

Go for it if you enjoy how it plays, like the looks of it and can afford it. 

I agree the post 2013s are easily the best ones I've played. Is it the hot hide glue that makes a difference? I don't know, but they do seem to sound better to me. The 2017s are better still because of the R9 neck profile, which suits me perfectly - but each to their own.

crunchman

hyperben said:

Fifty9 said:

I've waited for years because of the cork sniffery. The spec on the 2017s was what I was after but anything after 2013 would be good with. drinking the coolaid with the trussrod condom and hide glue but each to our own...

Go for it if you enjoy how it plays, like the looks of it and can afford it. 

I agree the post 2013s are easily the best ones I've played. Is it the hot hide glue that makes a difference? I don't know, but they do seem to sound better to me. The 2017s are better still because of the R9 neck profile, which suits me perfectly - but each to their own.

More likely the removal of the truss rod condom than the glue.

Ossyrocks

Post 2013 truss rod is the main bonus I think.

I have had a few 2014’s and they were all great. My 2017’s are exceptional.

Rob

Hootsmon

crunchman said:

Check the neck angle and bridge positioning, which were both issues on a 2010 R8 that I had.

The neck angle on mine was too high, so the bridge had to be really high.  That meant it sat very high on the posts and tended to tilt.  You could make it ok by screwing the action down very low, but it was lower than I normally like in a guitar.

The bridge on that one was slightly out of position as well.  I really struggled to get the intonation right.  At one point I put a Nashville bridge on it, as it has more travel for the saddles, but that didn't sound as good.  I put the original back on, but I'm not sure that I had the intonation quite right on all the strings.  One of the guys who used to work in the repair department at Chandlers told me that if it was his, he would have filled the bridge post holes and drilled new ones 3mm away.

The other thing to check is that you like the huge neck on it.  It really is massive.  I found it very comfortable, but it was quite cumbersome to play.  I have very short fingers, but there were things that I struggled to play cleanly on that guitar that I could play quite easily on a different guitar.  On the other hand, I could play if for a long time without my wrist and hand getting fatigued.

If the neck is too big, then the 2017 version of the R8 has the 59 neck profile.  There was one of those for sale in the classifieds earlier in the week.  There might be a few others who bought one in the big blowout last year who are coming to the end of the honeymoon period.  I'm sure there will be more for sale.

Interesting......on a RI 58 what is the optimum  distance from the underside thumb wheels on the post that one could expect from a correctly set neck angle?

c/w Regular Gibson set up specs of action at 2/32s (ish)

Hootsmon

anybuddy ^

crunchman

hootsmon said:

crunchman said:

Check the neck angle and bridge positioning, which were both issues on a 2010 R8 that I had.

The neck angle on mine was too high, so the bridge had to be really high.  That meant it sat very high on the posts and tended to tilt.  You could make it ok by screwing the action down very low, but it was lower than I normally like in a guitar.

The bridge on that one was slightly out of position as well.  I really struggled to get the intonation right.  At one point I put a Nashville bridge on it, as it has more travel for the saddles, but that didn't sound as good.  I put the original back on, but I'm not sure that I had the intonation quite right on all the strings.  One of the guys who used to work in the repair department at Chandlers told me that if it was his, he would have filled the bridge post holes and drilled new ones 3mm away.

The other thing to check is that you like the huge neck on it.  It really is massive.  I found it very comfortable, but it was quite cumbersome to play.  I have very short fingers, but there were things that I struggled to play cleanly on that guitar that I could play quite easily on a different guitar.  On the other hand, I could play if for a long time without my wrist and hand getting fatigued.

If the neck is too big, then the 2017 version of the R8 has the 59 neck profile.  There was one of those for sale in the classifieds earlier in the week.  There might be a few others who bought one in the big blowout last year who are coming to the end of the honeymoon period.  I'm sure there will be more for sale.

Interesting......on a RI 58 what is the optimum  distance from the underside thumb wheels on the post that one could expect from a correctly set neck angle?

c/w Regular Gibson set up specs of action at 2/32s (ish)

My R9 is a fraction under 5mm on the bass side, and a just over 3mm on the treble side.  Not sure what the action is.  It plays nicely.

I think the bigger issue is that you don't want the tops of the bridge posts too far below the top of the tuneomatic.  That was the problem with my old R8.  The tops of the bridge posts were a long way below the top of the bridge, so it wasn't held firmly, and would tilt.

Hootsmon

Thanks crunchy...    any more?

TINMAN82

The blow out 2017 R8s I tried in GG had necks at least as thick if not deeper than my 2013. Clearly there’s a lot of variability.

terada

I find a good way to check is to, when the stop bar is fully screwed down, see how much clearance the high e has over the back edge of the bridge as it angles down towards the stop bar. 

If the bridge is too is too high it will touch/be very close the edge of the bridge. 

Hootsmon

Thanks guys