1 Topic by ZampraZ (edited by ZampraZ 2009-10-16 16:42:40)

  • Registered: 2006-05-25
  • Posts: 444

Topic: New guitar R8

I bought this new R8 two days ago, same day Les Paul died. Weird. Been to lazy to post up pics.
Plays great, feels great. Was originally going for an Ice Tea but this guitar resonated a lot more and sounded better. Gave it a setup myself, straightened neck, heightened action and put on some Dean Markley 11-52s. This is probably the best playing guitar I've played. The strings do not feel as stiff as you would think, feels like 10s but sounds great.

I really really wanted to put up a video clip, but my camera starts  clipping at incredibly low volumes, I tried turning the volume down to stop the clipping but it was so low it was barely audible, and I don't have a mic so you're gonna have to go by on a shitty phone cam video...


Sounds like **** but meh, nothing I can do about it. Most annoying thing is all the bits where I'm playing a bit faster the notes sound so blurry like soup...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BUF91rlB5s

  • From: Belgium
  • Registered: 2009-07-23
  • Posts: 302

Re: New guitar R8

Beautiful guitar! Sounds great, despite the video quality.

What amp do you use ?

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3 Reply by ZampraZ (edited by ZampraZ 2009-08-15 15:56:53)

  • Registered: 2006-05-25
  • Posts: 444

Re: New guitar R8

Plutux wrote:

Beautiful guitar! Sounds great, despite the video quality.

What amp do you use ?

its just a fulldrive 2 pedal through the clean channel of a spider valve. Which I'm selling as soon as I get enough money to buy a jubilee clone tongue

It sounds like the guitar is constipated because the camera cuts off all the treble...

  • From: Florida, USA
  • Registered: 2008-06-04
  • Posts: 1,420

Re: New guitar R8

Congrats man!  Looks and sounds a lot like mine!  I have the washed cherry VOS model as well.  Gotta love that FDII.  It's my desert island overdrive box.  Killer playing and tone!

'67 and '74 Fender Twin Reverbs, '74 Marshall 1987 lead mkII, Metro Superlead 100. Pedals from TC Electronic, Ibanez, Dunlop, BK Butler, Electro-Harmonix, Fulltone, Maestro/Gibson, Loopmaster switching, VoodooLab, Boss. Gibson and Fender guitars, Dimarzio pickups.

5 Reply by ZampraZ (edited by ZampraZ 2009-08-16 01:43:59)

  • Registered: 2006-05-25
  • Posts: 444

Re: New guitar R8

Yeah the FD2 is a great pedal. However, I'm not near satisfied, I need to save up for a 2550 clone now. I'm about $900 bucks short, I have a goal to have made the money within 3 months. Even if it means working at McDonalds (they don't have any open spots, already checked big_smile) Today I am proud to say I own less than a dollar in cash xD

It takes some decent amps to get that powerful, no-fuzz marshall tone... Who was the idiot who said money couldn't make you happy? xD

  • Registered: 2009-01-01
  • Posts: 665

Re: New guitar R8

Wonderful tone and great playing. Congratulations! Another Fulldrive II user here. cool
Are you getting your 2550 clone from Ceriatone? Just wondering. I'm a satisfied Ceriatone customer myself and will get more of Nik's amps.

  • Registered: 2006-05-25
  • Posts: 444

Re: New guitar R8

Bluesbreaker wrote:

Wonderful tone and great playing. Congratulations! Another Fulldrive II user here. cool
Are you getting your 2550 clone from Ceriatone? Just wondering. I'm a satisfied Ceriatone customer myself and will get more of Nik's amps.

That's the plan!

  • Registered: 2009-01-01
  • Posts: 665

Re: New guitar R8

That's a good plan! My next amp will be Nik's Tweed Deluxe because I always wanted a small low-wattage amp for small gigs and jamming. The 2550 will be next on my list.

  • From: Germany
  • Registered: 2006-05-31
  • Posts: 489

Re: New guitar R8

First of all that is a beautiful looking instrument. Second, I watched the video and as I post alot of youtube videos myself, I can imagine what this guitar sounds like in "real life". It would be great if you posted some more sounds of that guitar, clean, crunch, solo, all pick up position to get an even closer glance at the beauty of its sound.

Anyways, congratz on this LP. it's awesome, to put it in a nutshell.

:-)

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  • From: North Carolina
  • Registered: 2008-10-26
  • Posts: 2,926

Re: New guitar R8

Man they sure matched the grain up perfect on that top.  I hope that the spirit of Les Paul lives strong in your new toy and you play the hell out of it because Les wouldn't have had it any other way.  Congrats on a beautiful piece of history!

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  • From: Sonoma, Ca.
  • Registered: 2006-08-16
  • Posts: 852

Re: New guitar R8

AD3THREE wrote:

Man they sure matched the grain up perfect on that top.  I hope that the spirit of Les Paul lives strong in your new toy and you play the hell out of it because Les wouldn't have had it any other way.  Congrats on a beautiful piece of history!

I was thinking the same . That top is beautiful.

  • From: Sandy Eggo
  • Registered: 2007-04-29
  • Posts: 1,369

Re: New guitar R8

Great looking R8, I would hesitate to call Cherry 'Faded' at all! How's the neck? R8's are supposed to have the biggest necks of the reissues, which would be good for me, I'm just thinking about future guitars.

Haha now it's time to go to town modding her out!

"Music is the only thing that you can share with a million million people and you don't lose, you gain. It helps you to get energy and to live long, because when your soul is very happy then you don't want to die." - Ali Akbar Khan
  • Registered: 2006-05-25
  • Posts: 444

Re: New guitar R8

Danny! wrote:

Great looking R8, I would hesitate to call Cherry 'Faded' at all! How's the neck? R8's are supposed to have the biggest necks of the reissues, which would be good for me, I'm just thinking about future guitars.

Haha now it's time to go to town modding her out!

No R7s have the largest necks. But in reality the difference is negligible since they are hand-sanded and R9s are bigger than R8s some time and vice versa. Model has no real impact on neck size

  • From: Sandy Eggo
  • Registered: 2007-04-29
  • Posts: 1,369

Re: New guitar R8

Ah sorry, I was just thinking Burst Reissues. You'd think there'd be a relative size difference between R0's and R7's though at least.

"Music is the only thing that you can share with a million million people and you don't lose, you gain. It helps you to get energy and to live long, because when your soul is very happy then you don't want to die." - Ali Akbar Khan
  • From: North Carolina
  • Registered: 2008-10-26
  • Posts: 2,926

Re: New guitar R8

To my understanding they do everything CNC then Sand by belt sanders to knock off the big stuff and then its hand sanders from there.  A little more pressure from one guitar to the next will make a difference.  Back with Fenders in the 50's the V neck was supposed to be a mistake.  A new employee started sanding with a belt sander and made dozens so Leo decided to use them anyways.  I read that somewhere in the 50 years of the Stratocaster book.

AD3THREE's Website

  • From: Massachusetts
  • Registered: 2008-10-27
  • Posts: 577

Re: New guitar R8

Now that the honeymoon stage is done, ZampraZ, how's that R8 treating you now?

To all the LP nuts out there:

How would you rate a R8 vs R9?  There is a shop near me that has a couple of 2009 R8's really cheap...under $3k.   Slimmer than normal necks..but not much off...  I guess I have been conditioned to think that the 59 is the end all of Les Pauls...How does a 58 stand up to a 59?  With the reissues, is there much difference?  The wiring appears to be the same...same components...same pick-ups...other than the wood itself (which varies from guitar to guitar not model to model), what differences in tonal qualities between them that would make one say gotta have a 59 over a 58 or vice versa?  Is the quality or tones that much different that would cause an almost $2k price difference?

2009 Gibson Les Paul 1958 VOS (with black plastic)
2008 Gibson Les Paul Traditional Goldtop (with the cream plastic from the 58RI)
> Marshall Bluesbreaker 2 pedal >Boss sd-1> DD3 > Vox Ac15cc1
  • Registered: 2007-09-30
  • Posts: 556

Re: New guitar R8

59's have larger frets and flamed tops.  Thats really it.  The necks are very close and the tones are very close.  I have one of each and I like both, but like any guitar of the same model (59 vs 59/58 vs 58/58 vs 59) the guitar itself will justify the end tone, just pick out a good one that you like, not just b/c its a good deal.  Both models can be had for all sorts of prices now, some good and some rediculous lol.

Ben

PS - You can't just have one, you need both and when you thought you had enough, buy some more.  That's my philosphy lol.

  • From: Florida, USA
  • Registered: 2008-06-04
  • Posts: 1,420

Re: New guitar R8

Ben is 100% correct.  The difference is the frets, tops, and arguably the neck profile.  The '57 feels very large while the '58 and '59 feel similar.  Keep in mind that a lot of the carving, sanding, and machining is done by hand because they are custom shop guitars so variances are to be expected.  I think they sound identical though the gorgeous flame top of the '59 may inspire you to play just a little bit better.  There are some killer deals on both right now due to the economy.  I frequent the Gear Page emporiums and there are usually some really nice guitars over there for pretty cheap.  I saw a R8 recently go for $2200 and a R9 for mid $3K.

'67 and '74 Fender Twin Reverbs, '74 Marshall 1987 lead mkII, Metro Superlead 100. Pedals from TC Electronic, Ibanez, Dunlop, BK Butler, Electro-Harmonix, Fulltone, Maestro/Gibson, Loopmaster switching, VoodooLab, Boss. Gibson and Fender guitars, Dimarzio pickups.