CC#16 Historic Makeover by Jaeger Guitars

[LesPauli]

Hey folks,
So after a long time just dreaming about it I finally had Florian "reinvent" my 2012 R9 last year. After picking up the guitar personally I definitely know now what all the fuss is about. He is beyond the shadow of a doubt a master of his trade and if you are serious about getting the best out of your Les Paul (or as I believe out of any other guitar in fact) he is your man. Every so often he would let me in on some amazing little secrets which made the whole process a very inspiring and educating experience. I know it sounds like I am exaggerating but all I am trying to do is to describe what I felt.

The guitar is just something else I can tell you. I have always loved the fake feeling of a new Les Paul Reissue but as we all know that "gunk" used by Gibson to fake this feeling only lasts for so long. A guitar with the Jaeger finish on the other hand is something else entirely. The whole guitar just feels old now and especially the neck.. I don't even know how to put it. You will not ever want to let it go, that's how good it feels in my oppinion. What also changed is the sound of course. Personally I think the guitar sounds brighter, more open and has a substantially improved sustain. I have only been playing with my "Sunny" ever since.

So long story short: I was so overwhelmed by Florians work that I decided to bring in my CC16 Redeye. Ever since my R9 unterwent the Bavarian Makover my Redeye (which used to sound brighter than the R9 and also more aggressive) sounded like a freaking piece of plastic in comparison. The guitar itself is great and has a beautiful flame top but somehow I always imagined the real Redeye looking a tad bit different. So here goes my next guitar into the famously competent hands of Mr. Florian Jaeger. So far he removed all the hardware from the guitar and carefully took off the fretboard. Hope you guys enjoy!

 

[BigJim]

Love these types of threads!

Can you post a few pictures of your makeover R9?

 

[Sct13]

subscribed!

Cant wait to see the outcome!

 

[musicmaniac]

Can't believe you're doing this to a CC but hey I'll watch!

 

[Sct13]

Yea I thought of that too,,, will the same serial # be placed? Otherwise you COA is meaningless....

 

[LesPauli]

Allright here's some pictures of my R9 as requested.

This is what it originally looked like. I think the colour was called sunrise teaburst.

I think it turned out great

btw I can see why my new project might raise some eyebrows but I have seen CC makeover posts around here before. For now I'm just eager to see how Florians version of the redeye will turn out

Instead of CC16XX the "real" serial number of the guitar will be printed on the headstock. The one that is written inside of the big cavity on the backside.

 

[joff]

Don't forget to have the red blob on the correct side of the bridge pu volume knob!

 

[LesPauli]

As expected even a CC Les Paul comes factory built with little gaps between the body and the neck so a reset it is!

 

[somebodyelseuk]

I keep reading about these gaps, but has anyone had the board off an original and not seen a gap?

 

[LesPauli]

I keep reading about these gaps, but has anyone had the board off an original and not seen a gap?

I think it's not so much about whether the bursts got a perfect fitting neck or not. If I had to make an educated guess I'd say it's more about having as much contact between the components as possible without drowning it in adhesives. Why else would you glue it on. The way I see it is the better the connection is the more it should affect the sustain when playing the guitar. Then again it might also be on such a low level that iit's too delicate to even notice. A makeover such as this basically changes the whole guitar so it's kinda hard to tell in the end which of the steps even had a certain impact or not.
That's just my humble oppinion, I'm not an expert by any means.

 

[Sct13]

Those gaps are acceptable.... there is an error margin.... it’s those large gaps filled with glue that are problematic.... this isn’t bad at all

 

[somebodyelseuk]

I'm not judging, just curious. If the glue sets as hard as people say, it'll actually transmit vibration better than a wood to wood contact. Same with bolt ons, you get more vibration transmitted through the bolts than the neck face.

 

[cherrick]

I'm not judging, just curious. If the glue sets as hard as people say, it'll actually transmit vibration better than a wood to wood contact. Same with bolt ons, you get more vibration transmitted through the bolts than the neck face.

I agree with the bolts. I do not agree with the glue-sound-transmission assertion.

 

[Sct13]

I didnt want to get into the glue argument....butt......

There is some truth to Protein glue having excellent transmission, if it dries to a glass like hardness....I have no evidence to support this, however my work with violins and various glues kinda makes this obvious. But not all protein glues are the alike.

the goal is simply to join two pieces of wood together with the available means. Any tonal characteristics are a bonus....

In Gibson's case, the larger gaps show a disregard in the quality of the build. the glues used are are because of ease of use, work time, dry time, quality of the hold.

No consideration is given to the acoustic transmission.....

they (Gibson) made the change from white wood glue to Protein glues in 2013 because they knew it would sell ...(they listened to their customer base somewhat).

I'm glad they did, I think the special attention to the neck joints forced them to do better. Because people were checking up on them.....

 

[RoadDog]

That turned out fanrastic!! I've got an R9 at Historic Makeovers right now... I'm nervous but I can't wait!!

 

[LesPauli]

That turned out fanrastic!! I've got an R9 at Historic Makeovers right now... I'm nervous but I can't wait!!

Thanks man. No day goes by withouth me playing it. It's almost impossible to not pick it up it I'm telling you. I'm sure you'll be experiencing the same!

 

[LesPauli]

Just a quick little update. Florian got the neck off. Apparently Gibsons glue-on-job was sort of a mess which in return made it easier to remove the neck.

 

[LesPauli]

So the neck itself is fully stripped now as you can see below. Meanwhile I started to research about the original Red Eye when it comes to pickups. I noticed that there's some sort of inconsistency. Of course the guitar was originally equipped with PAFs which were later on swapped with a combination of coverless zebra / double white pups. I reckon those were Gibson models but I am not quite sure since Ed endorsed his own set of OX4 as most of you surely know. Early this year the guitar changed it's owner into the hands of Jason Isbell. This is where I noticed that the pickups had covers on them again. I've tried to find out details about all the installed pups but unfortunately any search on Google gets spammed with entries about the CC16. I have yet to search on this forum which I will do next.
As for now I am somewhat at a loss about what to do. When asking Florian he said that I should definitely get my hands on some V.I.P. lovers. Then again those are quite hard to come by these days. The whole thing leaves me with 3 options as far as I can see:
a) just keep the factory pickups that the guitar was shipped with
b) get my hands on an OX4 Ed King set and throw that one in
c) somehow manage to get some V.I.P.s maybe even after the makeover which would mean that they won't get aged

Anyway that's just what I am pondering over. If you have some sort of input that might help me you're more than welcome to chime in.

 

[RocketKing]

Swapping out pick ups in a les paul is a routine job for any decent tech.
Therefore I say to keep the stock ones in for now (provided you get along with them) until you have decided if you actually want another set and what

 

[LesPauli]

Swapping out pick ups in a les paul is a routine job for any decent tech.
Therefore I say to keep the stock ones in for now (provided you get along with them) until you have decided if you actually want another set and what

Good point. Especially as long as I am undecided about what to do. I'll have to stay sensible about it

just a little sidenote: I finally found some information as to why the Pickups have covers now. Jason just had them put on the zebra / double white combo.