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You can all stop buying historic Les Pauls now...

GotTheSilver

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 14, 2007
Messages
2,433
… because I just bought the best one ever made!!! :hee

(Sorry for the long post, but I hope you enjoy reading it!)

I have been going through a pretty tough life situation for the last 8 months. It’s not over yet, but the light at the end of the tunnel seems to be getting brighter every day. To celebrate, I decided to buy myself a new R9!

I had been scanning the dealer websites for a while. When I saw this 2020 R9 in Iced Tea burst at Mark’s Guitar Loft, I thought it looked gorgeous. I emailed Mark, but I didn’t say, “Hey, how does this one gorgeous guitar sound?” Instead, I asked him to compare the tone of several guitars. I wrote a pretty detailed description of what I wanted tonally out of a guitar. In fact, I never mentioned anything at all about aesthetics – color, flame, mineral streaks, etc., or which guitar I preferred the looks of. All I asked about was tone.

Mark played 5 Les Pauls for me and wrote back that this one particular guitar was a solid standout tonally. When I looked up which guitar he was talking about on his site, my heart jumped when it turned out to be the exact guitar that I loved the looks of! Surely, the stars were well aligned!

I called up Mark and got the full download on the guitar. His description of the tone was exactly what I was looking for. When Mark said, “This guitar won’t last long,” I replied, “I know it won’t last long, because I am buying it right now!” The six day wait for shipping (over a weekend) was excruciating! But she finally arrived, and I’ve gotta say she is everything Mark said she was!

The bridge pickup has that violin like quality that I have heard on other guitars but never been able to get in any of my own guitars before. It is thick yet bright. Great lead tone with overdrive, and great clean tone, too!

I love a middle pickup position for playing clean blues leads and blues rhythm (7th chords, 9th chords, etc.). This one sounds great! It has the fullness that you want, coupled with the bright front end from the bridge pickup, which makes the sound very three dimensional. Single notes have a kind of “pop” to the attack of the note, which I love! When played right, you can get a chimey, almost glassy tone.

I’ve never had the neck pickup on a Les Paul sound as good as this one. It is very clear, round and warm. With overdrive, lead notes really sing. It makes me want to wring every nuance of tone out of it, and makes me more conscious of how my fingers impact the tone, which makes me play better.

On top of that, she is nice and light. I don’t have an exact weight, but she feels comparable to my R8 that is 8.2 lbs. To get the kind of tone and sustain this thing has at this weight is really unbelievable! Being used to the neck on the R8, this R9 neck definitely feels different, but very comfortable.

The fit and finish on this guitar is great! Gibson has really done a great job. And as for looks, well, just look at these pictures! I love the color! I love the flame! Everything is beautiful! These are Mark’s pictures, because I could never take pictures this good.

In short, I love this guitar! To paraphrase a famous quote, you can have my R9 when you pry it from my cold, dead hands!!! Extra special thanks to Mark Bishop! He steered me to a great guitar and provided excellent customer service the whole way!

I can't figure out how to embed full size picture in the thread, only thumbnails!

It is a 2020 R9 in Iced Tea burst! I think it is about 8.3 lbs.

R9_01.jpg

R9_02.jpg

R9_09.jpg

R9_03a.jpg

R9_03b.jpg
 
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jb_abides

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Apr 6, 2005
Messages
5,274
Congrats! Enjoy in good health :salude

Where are the details? Year, specs...?
 

GotTheSilver

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Apr 14, 2007
Messages
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Congrats! Enjoy in good health :salude

Where are the details? Year, specs...?

Thanks! Forgot to add those details. It is a 2020 R9. I think the weight is around 8.3 lbs or so, but don't have an accurate measurement. Iced tea burst. I added these details to my original post.
 

rockabilly69

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Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Messages
2,872
That's a looker and I love that type of "squiggly" flame, reminds me of Pearly Gates. It's great that it sounds the way you wanted it to! I think that Gibson is producing some of the best guitars in their history. I especially like the way they are shaping the necks, less shoulder, but still full feeling!

I just picked up a 2019 R4, and I can't find a single thing I'd change on it.

Hey what ever happened with the Bartlett you got? You never did a review of actually running it thru it's paces. I was waiting for that!!!
 

jb_abides

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Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
5,274
Thanks! Forgot to add those details. It is a 2020 R9. I think the weight is around 8.3 lbs or so, but don't have an accurate measurement. Iced tea burst. I added these details to my original post.

Awesome sauce!

Good luck getting to the end of that tunnel, new weapon in hand... Go get that silver! :salude


p.s. May I please keep looking? I've got a lot but still looking for a recent Historic or two, or three, or ...
 

GotTheSilver

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Joined
Apr 14, 2007
Messages
2,433
That's a looker and I love that type of "squiggly" flame, reminds me of Pearly Gates. It's great that it sounds the way you wanted it to! I think that Gibson is producing some of the best guitars in their history. I especially like the way they are shaping the necks, less shoulder, but still full feeling!

I just picked up a 2019 R4, and I can't find a single thing I'd change on it.

Hey what ever happened with the Bartlett you got? You never did a review of actually running it thru it's paces. I was waiting for that!!!

Thanks, man. Ah, yes, the Bartlett Retrospec! I intended several times to sit down and write up a review of it, but it just never happened. It is a great guitar! Very lively with a lot of "energy", as I like to say. I now have three Les Paul style guitars - the new R9, a 2013 R8 and the Bartlett Retrospec. All are great guitars - very different but still very Les Paul. Like three different LP flavors. I don't want to derail this thread, so I promise I will go back to my Bartlett thread and add some comments in the coming days (he's said that before! :spabout ).

Since I now have the three LP style guitars, I plan to dedicate one to playing slide in open tunings. Not sure which one yet. I have not yet A/B'ed the R8 and Bartlett to the new R9. I have just been enjoying the R9 on its own merits. Once I start comparing guitars, I start to get too nit picky and lose site of just enjoying the guitar, so I am holding off on the comparisons for a while.

And congrats on the new R4!
 

J T

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Oct 20, 2005
Messages
10,501
Wow! Thats a nice one!
Congrats and good luck.
 

ej.

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Apr 2, 2019
Messages
61
Very nice! Glad to hear that it ticked all the boxes for you! Enjoy it. Awesome top
 

Froggie

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Jun 30, 2017
Messages
125
Beautiful guitar, congrats and enjoy. It's stunning.

I love when people are so happy and excited with their purchases. You really have to make the best of the good times and appreciate it when things are going well.

Rock on :dude:
 

renderit

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Jan 19, 2009
Messages
10,951

Marks da man!

Do yourself a favor and get one of these from him.

40935044354_5d17b5d6b3_4k.jpg


You owe yourself 'the FULL MARK'!
 

corpse

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Jun 9, 2007
Messages
4,876
When you are going through hell...keep going.
That is one very "Dutch" looking burst. Glad you are digging it- sometimes things are meant to happen!
 

brandtkronholm

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Joined
Dec 3, 2006
Messages
2,737
...The bridge pickup has that violin like quality that I have heard on other guitars but never been able to get in any of my own guitars before. It is thick yet bright.

Oh yeah! I don't know if its the wood, the pickup, the location of the bridge pickup, or something else, but it seems that this tonal feature isn't to be found on every (or most) Les Pauls.

You got a good 'un. :dude:
 

rockabilly69

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Jul 29, 2001
Messages
2,872
...Since I now have the three LP style guitars, I plan to dedicate one to playing slide in open tunings.
And congrats on the new R4!

I've never set up a Les Paul to play slide, and that's what I play most of the time. I just set them up with a medium action and regular light strings. I have a light touch so that works for me, and I actually learned to play slide before regular lead guitar. When I was a kid my brother Matt handed me a craftsman deep socket and told me to learn how to play some licks like the ones on his Allman brothers records and things would work out for me. And they did:)
 

GotTheSilver

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Joined
Apr 14, 2007
Messages
2,433
Marks da man!

Do yourself a favor and get one of these from him.

40935044354_5d17b5d6b3_4k.jpg


You owe yourself 'the FULL MARK'!

Ha ha! I would definitely consider it if I didn't already have a 1981 Marshall 50 watt JMP 2204. That scratches that Marshall era itch very nicely!
 

GotTheSilver

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Apr 14, 2007
Messages
2,433
I've never set up a Les Paul to play slide, and that's what I play most of the time. I just set them up with a medium action and regular light strings. I have a light touch so that works for me, and I actually learned to play slide before regular lead guitar. When I was a kid my brother Matt handed me a craftsman deep socket and told me to learn how to play some licks like the ones on his Allman brothers records and things would work out for me. And they did:)

Cool! When I say dedicate a guitar for slide, I mean keep it in open G tuning pretty much permanently, maybe with the occasional excursion to open E/D. I already use a medium action anyway. Once I get some experience with it, I may experiment with heavier strings. I don't really want to be delicate when playing slide!
 

herb

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Jan 13, 2002
Messages
981
Congratulations! Beautiful guitar. Play it in good health. :salude
 
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