superlead73
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- Feb 8, 2004
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What about the "Stinger" run which was when? '03? Did these have BR board?
Soft Maple=Western big leaf. I am not so sure, I think they started using that in mid 94 or so. Except for the quilts all along.
What about the "Stinger" run which was when? '03? Did these have BR board?
Stinger Series Historic Reissue Les Pauls all have Brazilian Rosewood fingerboards
LINK:
http://www.stingerguitars.com/
Many things became "official" during a certain year, actually had their beginings in the previous year.
Hi Danelectro, I've been hoping someone would attempt this for a while, I actually have 5 historic reissue R9 1959 LP's, a 93, 94, 95, 96 and a 97, so if you want any direct comparisons I would be happy to help. As you rightly state the 93 has the Historic decal on the back, R9 brand in the control cavity, fat 59 neck, long tenon, but the Holly head veneer is thinner than the later models, the neck angle is a little less acute, the colour is more of a light sunburst and the guitar never came with a scratchplate. Incidentally mine is # 9 3100 and is an early November 1993 guitar.
The 94 and 95 both have a thicker holly veneer and have a darker, richer colour, also they both have a more yellowed or aged apperarance to the binding.
The 96 is even darker and heavier but then again I have had a light 96 as well, generally though the 96's I have seen tend to have more PRS type very uniform and well bookmatched tops, the 94's and 95's tend to be a bit wilder and probably have a more authentic, less contrived look.
The 97 is the best of the lot flame wise, very broad big leaf maple. I have had a couple of 98's and they tended to have very impressive big leaf tops as well but had the neck pickup route cut a few milimetres lower down the body, hence the gap at the bottom of the pickguard. Also all the 98's I have seen did not have dial pointers on the volume and tone controls. I never liked the the sound of either of the 98's I had, always thought they were a bit thinner sounding on the treble pickup, is that due to the pickup being that little bit further away?
From 99 onwards I lost interest, Gibson started making them in huge numbers and they lost their rarity value for me after that.
For my opinion, (for what it's worth!!) the best years of the historics are 93-97 with 97 having the best tops, but I like the colour of the 94/95's and the 93's are the rarest.
Keep up the good work!!
Here's an exception...a late '03, Murphy aged, and without a BRW fingerboard
I added a "Links" section to post #2. To kick things off I scanned a copy of my 1993 Historic catalog into JPG format and uploaded the files to Photobucket. If you have additional links with pertinate Historic spec information, reply to the thread and I'll add them to the list in post #2
1993 Historic Collection Catalog
2001 R9's were the first to have the lightweight aluminum tailpiece and tortoise side dot markers among other changes that year.
tortoise came in 1999.
Are you SURE your Y2K does NOT have tortoise? Both my 99s did! Sometimes you have to shine a VERY bright light to see any red or brown!! Many LOOK black with normal light!
So in other words you could have a soft maple top or a hard maple top depending on the supplier of wood!That is correct, as per Walt Carter.
Les Paul Historic Collection Chronicle
1997
* R4 1997 up