NAMM 2020 & Historics For 2020

CatManDoo88 · Jan 17, 2020

Seems our wish for a '64 ES-335 Reissue have been answered:

https://www.gibson.com/Guitar/CUSWTP326/1964-ES-335-Reissue/Sixties-Cherry

GotTheSilver · Jan 17, 2020

I see that the Gibson website has the 60th Anniversary R0 priced at $6,499. I assume this means that the 2020 R9s will not be going up in price, but I have not seen any details on the R9s in terms of specs or price yet.

Mr. Legit · Jan 17, 2020

CatManDoo88 said:
Seems our wish for a '64 ES-335 Reissue have been answered:

https://www.gibson.com/Guitar/CUSWTP326/1964-ES-335-Reissue/Sixties-Cherry

Yes, I ordered one on the spot weeks ago once I found out. It is pricey though that is for sure.

Electric Historic Line News:
They upgraded the reflector knobs big time, and are beginning to utilize a more vintage correct head stock logo from what I saw. They are still utilizing thick thumb wheels, and I was informed that they eased off the tapering of the edges of the ABR1. However, the ABR-1 is something I was told they are working on on getting it more accurate. They are using what appeared to be a different truss rod cover that looked thinner than previous years, and now, it looks really good compared to the reproductions out there. The 1960 60th Anniversary guitars are also receiving the upgraded knobs and a commemorative toggle switch cover as well, but they are still going with Luxe capacitors and all the other current upgrades we received last year. This new Custom Shop Historic ES line and SG line now utilizes a period black with gold interior case. Now whether these new cases have the Lifton badges is something I will ask tomorrow when I go again. The neck shape on the two '64 ES335s I held is very comfortable, and the felt a tiny tiny bit slimmer than the '64 SG Reissue. Ironically, when I went last year the '64 SG didn't get as much attention, and this year the '64 ES335 didn't seem to garner as much attention as the others. The Gibson representatives were even telling me the '64 SG was their second best selling Historic last year. Every guitar is available left handed at no up charge except the ones with the Side Pull Vibrola.

Historic Acoustic Line:
They have expanded this range with a Banner LG2, J-55, and others. The necks are beefy on all of the 30's and 40's Reissue guitars. For the Historic level acoustics, the red line cases are back!

Thoughts:
All in all, Gibson is listening to us, and the powers in charge are working on improving in so many ways. The new Gibson head stock logo looks awesome, and looked very similar to my Historic Makeovers one which a VERY good thing. They hit it out of the park with the ES line. They have Flying V's, Explorers, and Firebirds as well that looked really good. If anybody wants any photos of anything specific let me know!

jb_abides · Jan 17, 2020

Mr. Legit said:
Every guitar is available left handed at no up charge except the ones with the Side Pull Vibrola.

If anybody wants any photos of anything specific let me know!

Anything lefty?! Thanks.

More info on Lefty availability for Arch/ES, Custom Electrics, etc.? i.e. "No upcharge", but special order...? Made-to-Measure, or?

Cheers :salude

Mr. Legit · Jan 17, 2020

jb_abides said:
Anything lefty?! Thanks.

More info on Lefty availability for Arch/ES, Custom Electrics, etc.? i.e. "No upcharge", but special order...? Made-to-Measure, or?

Cheers :salude

They have no actual lefty Historics there. They did have a lefty among the USA line guitars, but like many of us here the focus is only on the Historic line level of instruments. The new Epiphone Texan looks great as well, but the chief at Epiphone after speaking with him said it was a huge maybe as to whether there would be a lefty version. Gibson will continue the made to measure line or special order thing going, and every Gibson Custom Shop lefty is built to order and they can build just about any Historic in lefty that doesn't have a Side Pull Vibrola including the ES line, so that means 335, 345, 355, Trini Lopez. As always, NAMM isn't the best place for lefty players and the Gibson guys know that, so really for us you don't get to really play anything unless you can play upside down (I can) Hahaha I hope to snap more photos tomorrow, but these guitars all look good. The neck shape on the '64 ES335 is the best feeling of the ES line to me, but I am biased. Hell, yesterday I was standing next to Tom Murphy and didn't realize it as he was checking out the '59 ES335 they have.

J T · Jan 17, 2020

Are there any Jr's there?

Mr. Legit · Jan 18, 2020

J T said:
Are there any Jr's there?

Yes, I believe I did see some of them, but I'll snap a photo tomorrow. The employees are a lot more lax on the weekends but the place gets way more crowded than the weekdays.

CatManDoo88 · Jan 18, 2020

GotTheSilver said:
I see that the Gibson website has the 60th Anniversary R0 priced at $6,499. I assume this means that the 2020 R9s will not be going up in price, but I have not seen any details on the R9s in terms of specs or price yet.

Are you sure about that? The Gibson website is still showing 60th Anniversary R9s and last year's R0s for me.

GotTheSilver · Jan 18, 2020

CatManDoo88 said:
Are you sure about that? The Gibson website is still showing 60th Anniversary R9s and last year's R0s for me.

Yep! Link: https://www.gibson.com/Guitar/CUSQKW566/60th-Anniversary-1960-Les-Paul-Standard/V1-Deep-Cherry-Sunburst

CatManDoo88 · Jan 18, 2020

GotTheSilver said:
Yep! Link: https://www.gibson.com/Guitar/CUSQKW566/60th-Anniversary-1960-Les-Paul-Standard/V1-Deep-Cherry-Sunburst

Okay, thanks! It seems you can only access it through the banner lower down on the front page. If you use the drop down menu at the top of the page for either "Custom Shop" or "Les Paul", you still get the 2019 Historic Les Paul models (the new 2020 ES Historical and other new Historic models do show up though).

Mr. Legit · Jan 22, 2020

No Les Paul Jr.'s I saw with the Historic line. They fixed the logo for everything and it looks incredible:

Mr. Legit · Jan 22, 2020

The Les Pauls also have part shadows or the one I saw did. I just couldn't photograph it because I was by myself.

garywright · Jan 23, 2020

Mr. Legit said:
No Les Paul Jr.'s I saw with the Historic line. They fixed the logo for everything and it looks incredible:

View attachment 10905

Upper right ..poppa likey !!! :bug

J T · Jan 23, 2020

Mr. Legit said:
No Les Paul Jr.'s I saw with the Historic line. ...

Darn:dang
Oh well. Maybe they left it in the trailer by mistake.

El Gringo · Jan 23, 2020

Mr. Legit said:
View attachment 10870 View attachment 10871 View attachment 10872 View attachment 10873 View attachment 10874

Yes, I ordered one on the spot weeks ago once I found out. It is pricey though that is for sure.

Electric Historic Line News:
They upgraded the reflector knobs big time, and are beginning to utilize a more vintage correct head stock logo from what I saw. They are still utilizing thick thumb wheels, and I was informed that they eased off the tapering of the edges of the ABR1. However, the ABR-1 is something I was told they are working on on getting it more accurate. They are using what appeared to be a different truss rod cover that looked thinner than previous years, and now, it looks really good compared to the reproductions out there. The 1960 60th Anniversary guitars are also receiving the upgraded knobs and a commemorative toggle switch cover as well, but they are still going with Luxe capacitors and all the other current upgrades we received last year. This new Custom Shop Historic ES line and SG line now utilizes a period black with gold interior case. Now whether these new cases have the Lifton badges is something I will ask tomorrow when I go again. The neck shape on the two '64 ES335s I held is very comfortable, and the felt a tiny tiny bit slimmer than the '64 SG Reissue. Ironically, when I went last year the '64 SG didn't get as much attention, and this year the '64 ES335 didn't seem to garner as much attention as the others. The Gibson representatives were even telling me the '64 SG was their second best selling Historic last year. Every guitar is available left handed at no up charge except the ones with the Side Pull Vibrola.

Historic Acoustic Line:
They have expanded this range with a Banner LG2, J-55, and others. The necks are beefy on all of the 30's and 40's Reissue guitars. For the Historic level acoustics, the red line cases are back!

Thoughts:
All in all, Gibson is listening to us, and the powers in charge are working on improving in so many ways. The new Gibson head stock logo looks awesome, and looked very similar to my Historic Makeovers one which a VERY good thing. They hit it out of the park with the ES line. They have Flying V's, Explorers, and Firebirds as well that looked really good. If anybody wants any photos of anything specific let me know!

Hello , I would love to see some photos of the 2020 R9's and R8's including the headstocks please ? Thank you for your informative post !

El Gringo · Jan 23, 2020

Mr.Legit , thank you kindly for your photos and info !

Mr. Legit · Jan 23, 2020

El Gringo said:
Mr.Legit , thank you kindly for your photos and info !

No problem, I have been a member here for a while now, but before that I have been an observer so I don't want to come off as the random guy. I am crazy about the details and I hope I have shared information that many of the videos and such don't. V1, V2, V3, and I have added a close up of the hardware, and the newer logo. Please ignore the names of the files, I have over 500 photos from NAMM.

1960 Gibson Les Paul Anniversary V2 #3.jpg

1960 Gibson Les Paul Anniversary V3 #2.jpg

1960 Gibson Les Paul Anniversary V3 #1.jpg

Gibson Les Paul ABR-1 True Historic #2.jpg

Mr. Legit · Jan 23, 2020

Did I mention they fixed the logo on the ES335's as well, especially the crown? Well they did, and I also have photos of the new reflector knobs. It appears they are still using thick thumb wheels and now a less shaved bridge. At this point in my opinion, if you wanted these to look like the extremely close to the real deal, you would need to only replace the tuner bushings, truss rod cover screws, pickguard(ES & SG Lines), switch nut, pick-guard bracket, and the ABR-1. After that, I don't know what they could do within modern standards and regulations to make these better tributes. The fit and finish in my opinion have closely matched that of my Historic Makeovers Les Paul which is something I never thought I'd ever see or say.

Gibson Les Paul Gold Relfector Knobs True Historic #1.jpg

1964 ES335 True Historic Reflector Knobs.jpg

rockabilly69 · Jan 23, 2020

GotTheSilver said:
I own a vintage 1964 ES-335. It has an absolutely perfect neck profile for my liking! I've never played another neck like it.

I have a 1964 J45 and it has the perfect neck profile too!

Gold Tone · Jan 23, 2020

Mr. Legit said:
Did I mention they fixed the logo on the ES335's as well, especially the crown? Well they did, and I also have photos of the new reflector knobs. It appears they are still using thick thumb wheels and now a less shaved bridge. At this point in my opinion, if you wanted these to look like the extremely close to the real deal, you would need to only replace the tuner bushings, truss rod cover screws, pickguard(ES & SG Lines), switch nut, pick-guard bracket, and the ABR-1. After that, I don't know what they could do within modern standards and regulations to make these better tributes. The fit and finish in my opinion have closely matched that of my Historic Makeovers Les Paul which is something I never thought I'd ever see or say.
View attachment 10923 View attachment 10925 View attachment 10924

My 2019 ‘64 SG has the same corrected crown inlay at headstock

NAMM 2020 & Historics For 2020

Active member

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Active member

Well-known member

Active member

Active member

Well-known member

Active member

Active member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Active member

Active member

Well-known member

Well-known member