js15
Member
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2001
- Messages
- 136
I haven't posted here in many years, but I have also been without a Les Paul for about 10 years. As a bit of background, in the 1990s and early 2000s, I was a full on gearhead and got my first Historic in the late 90s. I had bunch of Historics pass through my hands at various points, my favorites being a 2001 R9 Darkburst (with double-cream Holmes as in my profile pic) and my very favorite, a 2000 R9 cherry burst with Rolph 59s. By the mid-late 2000s, I slowly sold off a lot of gear for a number of reasons (grad school, stopped playing in bands, got married, other expensive hobbies), including, regrettably, my favorite 2000 R9. I always kept playing though, and when I moved to Korea 6 years ago for work, I brought 2 Strats, 2 Teles, and a PRS with me.
Recently, I decided I'd gone too long without a LP. Luckily there's a great shop here in Seoul, Music Force, that has tons of boutique gear, including more than 50 Historic Les Pauls. It's truly amazing. Anyway, after several hours of trying many guitars, I made my choice.
It's a 2016 True Historic, painted and aged by Tom Murphy. As stated on the COA, it is from a limited run for the Japanese market. The top was hand-selected by Edwin Wilson, and it painted and aged by Tom Murphy and came with an aged case. It also came with a copy of Burst Believers II signed by Vic DaPra. None of this stuff was a major factor for me, as I just wanted a great guitar. But it was a nice bonus. I love how the top moves from wide wavy flames to thin wavy flames to somewhat subdued depending on the angle and light. The board is nice and dark with a bit of nice reddish figuring. It's 8.5lbs. I also love the True Historic specs, especially the top carve and rolled binding. The back is pretty faded to sort of a brownish red. It has a 5 digit serial number, which was also a minor, but nice bonus for me. The aging is fairly light and looks great.
This is the first guitar I bought in 10 years, and I really love it. I don't remember exactly how my 2000 R9 felt and sounded, but I did do a lot of work setting it up and swapping pickups to get it how I wanted. This guitar plays and sounds perfect for me as is, and I really like the Custombuckers. The only other guitar that didn't require any setup work to fit my preferences was a fully custom Strat built to my specs by Matt Brewster at 30th Street Guitars in NY, and that's a guitar I would never sell. Perhaps I'm still in the honeymoon phase, but this guitar feels just as right to me as that Strat.
Anyway, sorry for the long-winded back story. On to the pics:
And here's a pic of my old 2000 R9, which is the only guitar I've sold that I really want back.
Recently, I decided I'd gone too long without a LP. Luckily there's a great shop here in Seoul, Music Force, that has tons of boutique gear, including more than 50 Historic Les Pauls. It's truly amazing. Anyway, after several hours of trying many guitars, I made my choice.
It's a 2016 True Historic, painted and aged by Tom Murphy. As stated on the COA, it is from a limited run for the Japanese market. The top was hand-selected by Edwin Wilson, and it painted and aged by Tom Murphy and came with an aged case. It also came with a copy of Burst Believers II signed by Vic DaPra. None of this stuff was a major factor for me, as I just wanted a great guitar. But it was a nice bonus. I love how the top moves from wide wavy flames to thin wavy flames to somewhat subdued depending on the angle and light. The board is nice and dark with a bit of nice reddish figuring. It's 8.5lbs. I also love the True Historic specs, especially the top carve and rolled binding. The back is pretty faded to sort of a brownish red. It has a 5 digit serial number, which was also a minor, but nice bonus for me. The aging is fairly light and looks great.
This is the first guitar I bought in 10 years, and I really love it. I don't remember exactly how my 2000 R9 felt and sounded, but I did do a lot of work setting it up and swapping pickups to get it how I wanted. This guitar plays and sounds perfect for me as is, and I really like the Custombuckers. The only other guitar that didn't require any setup work to fit my preferences was a fully custom Strat built to my specs by Matt Brewster at 30th Street Guitars in NY, and that's a guitar I would never sell. Perhaps I'm still in the honeymoon phase, but this guitar feels just as right to me as that Strat.
Anyway, sorry for the long-winded back story. On to the pics:
And here's a pic of my old 2000 R9, which is the only guitar I've sold that I really want back.
Beautiful!!--David A