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Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus far...

vintage58

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Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus far...

...so, I'd therefore like to know which genius at the Custom Shop made the forward-thinking decision to paint it blue. This is sad... I mean, this top would've positively RULED as a sunrise tea burst or lemonburst, IMHO.


10271550_797187690293381_2718228392858249676_n.jpg
 

J T

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Re: Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus fa

A PRS fan would like it.
 

frenchphil

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Re: Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus fa

i think this blue is only for gibson usa, not historic collection

but you are right , it would have made a great reissue top

gibson seem to like new colors for their usa line
 

vintage58

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The guitar shown here is a hand-picked 2014 VOS R-8.
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frenchphil

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Re: Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus fa

well ok then, i stand corrected

and agree that this blue is a bit of a shame on this flamed top, but to each his own
 

Red Baron

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Re: Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus fa

Buy it and send it straight off to Kim... btw where is it for sale?
 

vintage58

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I already thought of buying it and having it refinished (although the only refinishing option that I'd consider in this instance would be a factory refin by Gibson... YMMV). Anyway, it's a moot point — after looking into it further, I was able to determine that the guitar originally shipped to Ikebe and has already sold.
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Tim Plains

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Re: Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus fa

I was going to say maybe it was custom ordered in blue but your last post shot that theory down. Still looks great, IMO. The only thing I don't like about it is the knobs.
 

emg32

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May 27, 2003
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Re: Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus fa

Blue is a weird color for Gibson to paint a so called "Reissue". Should have just been labeled a Custom Shop Les Paul IMO but oh well. I think it looks good in blue. Not a fan of the gold top knobs with that color either though.

It's a good top but the 2013's and 2014's seem to have a ton of great tops.

I personally wouldn't mind seeing Gibson do some Custom Shop Les Pauls in different colors like that. Maybe just don't label them "Reissues".
 

vintage58

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Gibson Custom appears to have made at least five R-8's and R-9's this year in this color (which, IIRC, is called Aqua Blue). I do agree that this particular one is a nice-looking guitar, even "as is" (i.e., in blue) — but given the near-total lack of strong, wide-flame tops this year, I find it amazing that they didn't reserve this top for a more traditional sunburst finish. As far as tops on reissues go, I've never seen a year quite like 2014. Ordinarily you see a decent top every so often during a given production year, but this year I cannot recall a single one that was truly great. This circumstance stands in stark contrast to 2013, IMO. To their credit, however, Gibson does look this year to be positively CRANKING OUT a seemingly endless parade of skinny-flame, weak tops that are equally mediocre, boring, and forgettable (and that also look roughly identical to each other).
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MikeSlub

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Re: Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus fa

Nothing wrong with blue tops. :hank
 

GotTheSilver

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Re: Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus fa

I personally wouldn't mind seeing Gibson do some Custom Shop Les Pauls in different colors like that. Maybe just don't label them "Reissues".

I absolutely agree. I would like to see some Custom Shop quality LP Standards in colors other than sunburst and gold. It just gets boring after a while. Give me blue, red...
 

Axel

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Re: Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus fa

I like it. Nice to see something different from the norm.
 

emg32

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Re: Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus fa

I absolutely agree. I would like to see some Custom Shop quality LP Standards in colors other than sunburst and gold. It just gets boring after a while. Give me blue, red...

I agree. I'd like to see more off the norm colors. Red, blue, trans black, green, purple, orange, etc.... If done right I think they could look killer.

I'd love to see a darker lemonish top with a VERY VISIBLE greenish hue over top of it also. Similar to the Skinner Burst but with more visible green hue.
 

Gold Tone

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Re: Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus fa

I don't know, a top like that billowing fluffy clouds screams PRS and asks to be painted blue.
 

vintage58

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Not the best Photoshop job, but here's a rough approximation of what this guitar might have looked like in a more lemonburst-y color:


10494805_1628494020709685_4613761942794281382_n.jpg
 

Wilko

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Re: Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus fa

nunis_sideways_top.png
 

Pip

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Re: Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus fa

Come on - nice top, love me a little blue, cool looking Lester.
 

Guitardon

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Feb 3, 2002
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Re: Possibly the most (or "only"?) spectacular piece of maple to grace a 2014 thus fa

I love the look of this one, how much are they selling it for? It would look better with black knobs or maybe the dark amber they used in 2002.
 
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