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Donnas spotted at HOG

Guitardon

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Joined
Feb 3, 2002
Messages
2,134
New one in this week. Nice too.


donna-vi.png

x
 

GotTheSilver

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Joined
Apr 14, 2007
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2,433
Giggity!!! I've never been very tempted by the CC series, but my Gawd there are some beautiful guitars in this thread! If I had the money...
 

Guitardon

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Feb 3, 2002
Messages
2,134
Nice flame and color but not sure what's going on with the dartboard tailpiece...

I would think it is copied from the original - anyone who has seen the original please chime in. i was wondering this myself.
 

Tom Wittrock

Les Paul Forum Co-Owner
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Aug 2, 2001
Messages
42,567
I would think it is copied from the original - anyone who has seen the original please chime in. i was wondering this myself.

The original has some pitting. They don't "match" those marks on each tailpiece. Instead they give us something similar. :)

DSCN5336.JPG
 

Guitardon

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Feb 3, 2002
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The original has some pitting. They don't "match" those marks on each tailpiece. Instead they give us something similar. :)

DSCN5336.JPG

Thanks TW - you've always got the answers. I knew they wouldn't put something on the guitar that wasn't correct. I wouldn't expect them to match exactly. I think when I posted my NGD Donna I mentioned the dings and noted the nice job Gibson did on it, they look cool.

Is this really another shot of the real Donna? Man is so she changes with every shot i have seen these days. What a beautiful close up of the flame. Up until now the only photo i ever seen was in the Believers Burst book. I have that image ingrained in my brain so when i see other shots i love my guitar even more because some of the shots i have seen lately make me realize why they picked the top for my guitar. Thanks much for the photo and answer to the question about the dings:dude:
 

Guitardon

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Feb 3, 2002
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Most Bursts do. :)

DSCN2885.JPG

I hate to expose my ignorance but are you the owner of the original Donna? I think I read where you picked out the tops for the run, is that correct? Although I have been following the forum recently a lot I stay away for long periods of time and I really don't know who is who. It gets too expensive for me to stay tuned in for too long because I get crazy and buy one after the other. With retirement in front of me I am thinking of staying away from this place - I get tempted every time I see a new Donna and only a fool would drop that kind of dough in my financial state:##
 

class5lp

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May 10, 2005
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1,629
I hate to expose my ignorance but are you the owner of the original Donna? I think I read where you picked out the tops for the run, is that correct? Although I have been following the forum recently a lot I stay away for long periods of time and I really don't know who is who. It gets too expensive for me to stay tuned in for too long because I get crazy and buy one after the other. With retirement in front of me I am thinking of staying away from this place - I get tempted every time I see a new Donna and only a fool would drop that kind of dough in my financial state:##

The answer is simple. Don't retire and feed you guitar addiction. We all share here and its perfectly normal for you tell us about your addiction!
 

Tom Wittrock

Les Paul Forum Co-Owner
Joined
Aug 2, 2001
Messages
42,567
I hate to expose my ignorance but are you the owner of the original Donna? I think I read where you picked out the tops for the run, is that correct? Although I have been following the forum recently a lot I stay away for long periods of time and I really don't know who is who. It gets too expensive for me to stay tuned in for too long because I get crazy and buy one after the other. With retirement in front of me I am thinking of staying away from this place - I get tempted every time I see a new Donna and only a fool would drop that kind of dough in my financial state:##

Yes, I have owned [and named] Donna since the late 80s. My name is Tom Wittrock, but my user name is TW59. I have a hard time keeping people straight on here, and I've been here a long time.
I was involved in selected top blanks, along with Edwin Wilson of the Custom Shop, and on a second visit I also got help from Charlie Daughtry [CDaughtry, owner of Nicky and long time friend]. I had no background in selecting maple tops, and relied on Edwin to make most of the selections. And keep in mind, they might look different after they are carved.
Here's a few I selected last December:

DSCN3382.JPG


I wonder which one is the "keyhole" Donna? :hmm

DSCN3391.JPG
 

Peanut73

Les Paul Froum Member
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Aug 23, 2015
Messages
118
Hi Tom,

Were the blanks selected from a normal pile of R9 tops, or were they presorted for CCs?
 

Tom Wittrock

Les Paul Forum Co-Owner
Joined
Aug 2, 2001
Messages
42,567
Hi Tom,

Were the blanks selected from a normal pile of R9 tops, or were they presorted for CCs?

Most of them came from pallets of 300-500 tops, not designated for anything.
There was one special pallet that arrived when Charlie and I were there in early July, and the tops were already extra special and a few were marked with names like Donna, Nicky, and Ace. This was a much smaller pallet, probably under 200. We still hand selected through those. And another similar pallet was delayed and arrived a week or two later. I haven't been back to Nashville since the early July trip. But, they don't need me to select tops, as long as Edwin has the time.
 

Guitardon

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Feb 3, 2002
Messages
2,134
Yes, I have owned [and named] Donna since the late 80s. My name is Tom Wittrock, but my user name is TW59. I have a hard time keeping people straight on here, and I've been here a long time.
I was involved in selected top blanks, along with Edwin Wilson of the Custom Shop, and on a second visit I also got help from Charlie Daughtry [CDaughtry, owner of Nicky and long time friend]. I had no background in selecting maple tops, and relied on Edwin to make most of the selections. And keep in mind, they might look different after they are carved.
I wonder which one is the "keyhole" Donna? :hmm

Daa! I feel like a knucklehead. I thought TW stood for Tone Wood:laugh2: Thanks for the clarification. I used to hang around here a lot back in the Brazilian days, I went through about 15 of them but sold them all over time. Then a few people turned me off and I tuned out the form. I only come up for air when I get the itch to see what is new with the Historic models - hence I bought a Donna (you did a great job on picking the top for mine). I also bought a few 13's and 14's thanks to the information I gained from the good guys like yourself, Charlie D and Mike S etc.. You guys keep me popping my head up in the forum from time to time. But now on a fixed income I wanted to go out in grand style and although I liked the concept of the 2015's I figured I would rather have a CC and Donna was my only choice since I love the dark color. If I liked the faded ones I would sell off else everything else except my original 56 and grab a Nicky - she is a beast of a guitar too. Who knows I am nuts I just might..............

Thanks for lending Donna to Gibson so we can all have a piece of her. I took mine to a rehearsal today with a blues trio and got to play Still Got the Blues For You. I may not be Gary Moore but man when I hit the intro and solo's through a little Champ I got the chills.

Thanks again for your responses throughout the years:salude
 

Tom Wittrock

Les Paul Forum Co-Owner
Joined
Aug 2, 2001
Messages
42,567
Well, I never hung around this section of the LPF, until I got involved with the Collector's Choice series in 2011 [when I first tried to get Donna made]. Gibson had great difficulty getting any tops for a run of Donnas [needed 25 minimum].
Sandy came out in 2012, and Donna was revived in late 2014 and was in the stores at the end of July.

Before that I stayed mostly in the Vintage area, with [too many unnecessary] visits to the old Backstage area. :ganz
 
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