Your points make sense, but in my case I play a historic R7 as my main guitar now and I love it.
Probably one of the best sounding guitars I've ever heard let alone am able to play.
I bought it without knowing all the info or details about historics though and a/b'd it against a number of other les pauls, historic and not, none of which impressed me. First the sound got me and then the fact that I really like gold tops was a big plus. And also, check the gold top on a guitar like a historic or Joe's model and then compare it to the top on an epiphone and tell me they're the same.
Mine's a 2004 model and I don't know whether it's south American or African mahogany but going by the way it sounds who cares.
The point I tried to make in that forum when I read the pages and pages of people complaining about historical inaccuracies is that if you pick up any original early paul from 52 on you'll find that no two were identical. They were all shaped and finished by hand and in some cases even the bridge was slightly off from another held side by side.
Danny, you're absolutely right about historical junkies fussing over their guitars but at no time did I ever read anywhere on Gibson's site that their historic models were accurate in every way. It's just not realistic wheneven the early originals weren't completely uniform from one to the next.
Having two friends who have owned vintage shops for a lot of years and even though I had no interest in them at the time I've spent a lot of time there and have been lucky enough to see a lot of old Gibsons as well as hearing from other Gibson fanatics a world ahead of me when it comes to old guitar knowledge. Based on that I still don't see what all the historically accurate fuss is about. People want a guitar that's "hand made" and then when it is they complain about incacuracy. If you want a one piece body and every last detail down to what you believe it should be like then find a good luthier and have him or her build you a historically accurate les paul but even then it's only their take on historical accuracy.
When you're dealing with a large company who puts out a large number of guitars a day it's not realistic to believe that 3 or 4000 will buy you a guitar historically accurate in every way.
From what I can see getting one custom made by a pro will run around 8000 and up.
I know a guy well that builds absolute accurate vintage style les pauls. There's about a 1 1/2 year wait, you're looking at a LOT of money and even then it's still a piece of wood that hasn't been played for 50 years like a real old guitar. It'll look just like the real thing. It'll be light weight and everything will be placed just so. Will it sound like a 50 year old guitar? What do you think?
People that are paying 5000 for an R9 or R0 are getting what they pay for. A fairly accurate non weight relieved or chambered instrument with superior light weight wood that feels and plays like the original with the original maker's logo on it. Isn't it kind of ridiculous to throw 5000 or 6000 at a store and then decide to do some research?
I have to laugh when I go onto some of these les paul forums and there page after page after page of guys with pictures going "look at my top, no look at my top" and on and on with no and I mean absolutely NO mention of anyone saying "screw the top, this guitar has a killer tone."
I only go to those forums now for a little comic relief.
I'll tell you, if you buy a guitar because it has a one piece back and a fantastic top that novelty will wear off in time, while if you get a guitar simply because the tone floors you, that's one you'll hang onto.
If you don't believe me check the classifieds. They're overloaded with les pauls, all having the "best 10 top on the planet and the last guitar you'll ever want."
Why are they selling this unbelievable piece of historical accuracy and musical machinery?
Because it didn't have the sound. Eventually they woke up to that fact and now it's time to dump it and make it someone elses problem.
That's not to say that some aren't killer sounding instruments. My point is just that if it sounds amazing then that should be your first and main priority.
As far as the JB guitar it's not an historic model and was never advertised as such. From what I can see it's Joe's take on what makes a great sounding and playing instrument, based on the real thing and unlike a lot of other endorsers he actually " plays them" every night.
You're not paying those buck to hold a real 57, 58, or 59 les paul in your hands. You'd have to sell your house to do that. What you are paying for is to play the same guitar that Joe smokes the stage with night after night, which tells you that 1- it's made right, and 2- it's a workhorse, an instrument that'll stand up to stage abuse on a regular basis and if you don't think that's worth good money then you're not being realistic.
The other guitarist in my band played and actually raved about his epiphone les paul, even though it was out of tune almost constantly and didn't sound that hot so he spent another 300 on pickups. Still didn't sound that hot. It's gone and he's replaced it 2 or 3 times now with other cheaper guitars when he could have spent the extra money on a good stage instrument that wouldn't let him down. He's spent about 1000 each for 3 different guitars and he's still constantly retuning and changing things. He could have bought a JB LP or historic and been done with it.
I play my R7 at least 3 nights a week for 3 or more hours a night, not including my own practice time and I know a lot of you guys play more than that. Do you want a guitar that has perfect checking that only you can see or do you want an instrument that kills and stays in tune every time you step on stage?
I apologize about this book of a message guys but I think there's a lot of misinformation out there about what makes a good guitar and it's true value under stage conditions.
The great thing is that with so many of these guitars out there you can play a ton of them before making up your mind and there's also a lot of used ones going for much less than the new advertised price .
