I Finally bought a Historic R8

[Buzz]

Finally, after thinking about it since '94 I forked over my blue collar dollar for a '58 R8 s# 1 1848. This one has a really dark fretboard and I liked it the most out of many I tried at local Guitar Centers. But, I don't like it enough to keep it and plan to take it back under the 30 day refund policy. First off, the top is about a 5 on a scale of 10 (for '58 reissues). The weight is about medium, but it hasn't been weighed on an accurate scale. Some of the finish color came off while polishing the back of the neck, and I heard similar stories about that here. Overall the finish quality is somthing you might expect on an economy Gibson, very very poor in my personal opinion. After alot of polishing it has improved a little. The tone is really really bright, and this is mainly due to the '57 Classics, they are the worst PAF replica on the market! I had to adjust the neck and set the action, inotation, etc.

My '88 reissue '59 Les Paul actually sounded beter than it did, but I think that the '58 would sound fine with some good PAF replica pickups. My '88 has S. Duncan Antiquities, I've owned this one for 11 year, and have tried '57 Classics, Tom Holmes, and a set of genuine PAFs. If you have '57 Classics, rip those sucka's out, sell them on Ebay and get a set of T. Holmes, Antiquities, Fralins, Burstbuckers or whatever. I doubt it would hurt the value of any Historic to replace the '57s due to the overwhelming majority's negative opinion of them.

I am currantly running an auction for my '88 and I'm hoping to find a good "players" '52 -'57 Les Paul. If I buy a Historic it would have to be one of the best.

eBay item 1484899522 (Ends Nov-18-01 16:54:32 PST ) - '59 Gibson Les Paul Flametop Murphy Pre-Historic
Address: Click here to view auction

 

[Buzz]

Here is a link to 4 digital pics of the '58 Historic C L I C K H E R E

 

[58Lover]

Sorry to hear about your R8

I just picked one up too, but I tend to take a bit of exception to the slams on the '57's - I find them to work just fine for me, but I know of a few "Les Paul Heavy Hitters" (i.e. famous players) that find they work for them too. Remember, sound IS objective....

Which leads me to ask.. if you didn't like the top (one of the most obvious reasons to buyan RI) why on earth did you take it home? What. were you thinking that it would get better in the morning?

Just asking.....:dude