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Orville by Gibson reissues vs Gibson pre-historic

sumitagarwal

New member
Joined
Mar 18, 2016
Messages
8
I've had a bunch of reissue Orville by Gibsons, both the LPR-57/59 and LPC-57B's. I'm always shocked at just how good these are, having also had multiple Gibsons and Heritage's. My #1 is a 1992 Fuji-gen built sunburst reissue with a solid top.

As I've learned more about both them and the early Gibson reissues I'm surprised at just how similar they are, in overall build and detail (cutaway binding, "wrong" bridge pickup position, 57 classics, pickguard gap at bridge pickup, etc).

Recently I was checking out this thread and found myself wondering where the ObG reissues would fit into the specs and timeline on there, is anyone knowledgable enough to weigh in?:

https://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/...r-History-of-the-Historic-Les-Paul-Collection

Les Paul Historic Collection Chronicle

1993
* Historic Collection introduced. Models include; '54 Black Beauty, '56 Goldtop, '57 Custom Black Beauty/3 Pickup, '57 Goldtop, '57 Custom Black Beauty/2 Pickup, '57 Custom Black Beauty with optional Bigsby Tailpiece, '59 Flametop, '60 Flametop
* First 25 Sunburst and first 15 Goldtops were painted by Tom Murphy.
* Deep neck joint.
* Thin Holly head veneer.
* Silk screened les paul logo.
* Correct pickup routing.
* Les Paul classic aged inlay.
* 57 Classic pickups.
* Kluson replica tuners.
* Vintage letter styled serial#.
*"Historic collection" decal on the back of the headstock.
* Indian rosewood fingerboard.
*"AAAA" grade soft maple top.
* Regular gibson usa brown case.
* Regular early 90s style cherry sunburst.
* Cherry sunburst and heritage darkburst"
* Some models lack pickguard

1994
* Historic parts; only pickguard, pickup rings, trussrod cover.
* Regular gibson usa white pearloid inlay.
* "AAAA" grade soft maple top.
* Darker transparent orangy cherry sunburst. (1994-1996)
* First year for the R8
* First 200 of 1994 painted By Tom Murphy
*"Historic collection" decal still on the back of the headstock.
* 1995-2002 both Eastern and Western Maple used for tops

1995

1996
* "Flametop" R8 introduced in Buttersctch and Vintage Red finishes
* R4 1996 up

1997
* ID micro chip in the neck joint.
* Brass bridge saddles instead of steel bridge saddles.
* "AAAAA" grade soft maple top.
* Brighter transparent orangy cherry sunburst. (1997-199
* Pickguard blueprinted and caused a gap, revealing improper placement of the bridge pickup
* Brighter back cherry color.
* Junior 57 1997 up
* Junior 58 1997 up
* Special 58 1997-2000?
* Special 60 1997-up (when they discontinued the Special 58, they incoporated the SC into the Special 60)

1998
* R2 1998-2003
* No pointers on knobs?

1999
* 40th Anniversary '59 RI - Painted and aged by Murphy (100 made?)
* No R8 this year
* COA began.
* Thin body binding.
* Thin lacquer finish.
* "AAA" hard maple top.
* new vintage taste cherry and darkburst.
* Vintage style back red filler color.
* Refined parts positions and neck shape.
* Bridge pickup moved to its proper place
* R9 Plaintop 1999-2000
* Gibson Stops flame enhancing
* Limited quantity of "Killer Top" R9s, "AAAAA" tops, stamped R9K in cavity

2000
* No R8 this year
* Vintage lifton style brown case for R9/R0.
* Lemon Burst, Tri Burst.
* Black Custom Art Historic case. (TKL)
* No COA.
* No tortoise side markers.
* Rounded fretboard inlays.
* Heavyweight tailpiece.
* '57 Classic PUP's.
* Thick jack plate.
* Thick switch plate/washer.
* Fine-knurl switch nut.
* Amber knobs.
* Gibson label potentiometers.
* Orange drop capacitors.

2001
* R9 production limited to 500 units US, 1000 worldwide due to "parts constraints"
* Custom Authentic models introduced (broken-in finish, aged hardware, Grovers)
* Dickie Betts '57 Goldtop introduced (limited edition of 114)
* R8 returns with a flametop
* Thin neck binding.
* New round edged pearloid inlay. (2001-2002 only)
* Vintage style mid jumbo size frets.
* New thick jack plate. (2001-2002 only)
* Aluminum tailpiece.
* Tortoise side markers
* Very bright red sunburst.
* Faded Tabacco, Iced Tea, Washed Cherry.
* Lifton case is standard for R9/R0
* COA standard
* Limited run of Brazilian board R9's given to award dealers. About 50 guitars in the 9 1203 to 9 1250 range all but 6 of them aged by Tom Murphy
* 38 Official Brazilian R9's

2002
* Genuine Kluson tuners for the early units.
* Improved tuner bushings
* More accurately shaped fingerboard inlays
* Non-wire ABR-1 bridge for the early units.
* Amber tophat knobs
* CTS pots
* Owners Card (listing name, serial number and the dealership), Certificate of Authenticity, Reissue Strap, an Embroidered Les Paul Swatch and a Custom Care Kit.
* Burstbucker type 2 & 3.
* Inlay material changed to swirly plastic, corners sharpened. (only R9/R0, later for all models)
* Vintage style thin jack plate. (only R9/0, later for all models)
* Vintage style thin toggle switch washer. (only R9/0, later for all models)
* Vintage color toggle switch knob. (only R9/0, later for all models)
* Vintage style CTS pots and oil caps. not bumblebee. (only R9/0, later all models)
* Dark deep cherry sunburst.
* R7 gets Bursrtbuckers
* Left handed Historics get side dots added to the underside of the neck
* Custom Authentic loses Grovers
* 8 Official Brazilian R9's
* 5 Guitar Center R0 models built (listed as "LPR0PTKBNH1 LP 60 Plaintop")

2003
* Brazilian boards installed from January through May as follows:
** of 4 3001-4 3150 35 of these were R4 Custom Black Beauties = 115 BRW R4s
** of 7 3001-7 3707 220 of these were R7 Customs, 4 GTs were 02 specs, 28 were Juniors = 455 BRW R7s
** of 8 3001-8 3256 31 of these were Juniors = 225 BRW R8s
** of 0 3001-0 3163 50 were G0s, 20 were Specials = 93 BRW R0s
** R6s and R9s Do not share with other models, so all 148 R6s and all 674 R9s are BRW.
* Price drop on R8s and R9s
* Truss rod cover moved away from nut
* Headstock shape changed
* Tuners arranged to be inline
* Vintage style CTS pots
* Bumblebee Caps
* Return to wired ABR
* Madagascar rosewood fingerboard.
* Eastern hard maple top
* "AA" grade eastern hard maple top.
* R9 flametop becomes less flashy due to increased use of Eastern Maple
* R8 returns with a plain top
* Burstbucker type 1 & 2.
* Gold knobs instead of previous vintage amber knobs.
* Corrected tuner positions. "V" intead of "l l" way.
* Transparent orange to regular red cherry sunburst.
* "i"dot on gibson logo moved to the correct position.
* Refined parts positions and neck shape.
* Inlays changed to swirly plastic, sharp corners on remaining models
* Special run of "Stinger Series" guitars. Music Machine "Stingers" have Brazilian Rosewood fretboards
* 50 Guitar Center R0 models built

2004
* Cloud 9 chambered models introduced in limited quantities
* Jimmy Page signature model introduced; 25 Murphy aged guitars signed by JP, 150 Murphy aged unsigned models, 870 Custom Authentic non-Murphy aged guitars produced, run complete in 2007
* New custom shop black case.
* "AAA" eastern hard maple top.
* Silk screened logo moved to the correct location.
* Short Truss Rod Screws the right size

2005
* TR screws return to the wrong size

2006
* VOS finish with aged hardware introduced
* CS begins using Plek machine used for dressing frets and cutting nut slots
* Real vintage looking maple top grains/figures.

2007
* Brighter back red filler color.
* Real honduran mahogany.............
* 50th Anniversary Goldtop (Ewwww) 157 to be built
 
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