My new R5

Well the bug bit me. After spending a few great months with my first decent Les Paul (a 1990 Studio), I knew I had to have one with P90s for when I'm in a more mellow mood. After looking at several options from many different years, I came across this one, a 2010 R5.

Apart from a maple neck, it has all the specs I was looking for, P90s, solid body and fat neck. I love that the maple cap is almost perfectly matched, it's even sometimes impossible to tell it's a 2 piece.

Some of these pics are from the shop and a couple of mine which more accurately show the color of it. I'm sure there will be a video at some point!

Weighs in at 9.2lbs, exactly the same as my Studio!

Lovely understated elegance. Love some P90 action.

Nice!

Awesometown.

Be sure to put a file to the pot pointers and hone to razor sharpness for maximum tone.

Hear me now, 'bleed me later.

Chicks dig guys with scars.


True story.

^ lol, those pointers are unnecessarily pointy already. In fact I would say unnecessary, period!

So the question that literally nobody has been asking. How does the R5 compare to the 1990 Studio, both weighing exactly the same.

First thing is the construction.

Studio:

'C profile' Maple neck
Ebony fingerboard
Slightly thinner body (swiss cheesed)
490,498 pickups

R5
Thicker slightly V profile Mahogany neck.
Rosewoord fingerboard
Solid body
P90s

Acoustically the R5 seems a bit more present, the Studio is darker but they both sustain fairly equally.

When plugged in, the R5 excels for clean tones, I guess mainly due to the P90s. The guitar is very touch sensitive, you would need to be David Gilmour to fully demonstrate the capabilities of this instrument. Crank up the Marshall and everything changes, it turns into a rock 'n roll machine, complete tonal satisfaction when playing stuff like Born To Be Wild or Johnny B Good. The P90s compress down nicely with harmonics blooming out everywhere. I haven't yet tried it with a Dual Rec, it'll be interesting to see how it handles that!

The Studio. Well getting this R5 has confirmed just how good a guitar the Studio is. I suspect the R5 could have a better setup but I don't think the Studio's playability could be bettered by any guitar. The maple neck gives rigidity that allows a lower action, combined with the marble smooth ebony board results in the easiest guitar I have ever played. Everybody who plays it comments on that.
Luckily it doesn't fall short in the tone department either. I know some people don't like the pickups but just roll the volume back and they deliver great classic rock tones that have a gritty texture. Wind it up and the guitar will give you any kind of hard rock/metal tone that you desire.

Something that was also very noticeable is the weight distribution of the guitars. The Studio is perfectly balanced as a result of the swiss cheesing combining with the maple neck. The R5 is 'tail heavy'. It's not such a big deal in a 9.2lb guitar but it's definitely another plus point for the Studio's general playability.

I'm not sure what the conclusion (or the point?) of this comparison is. I think maybe a video comparison is in order!

I did a quick vid. The last bit is a bit terrible, was making it up as I went along and the guitar came with 10s which I blatantly can't handle!