NGD: 2003 Les Paul R7 Brazilian “Stinger” #44/46

[LP59Burst]

I just bought this '03 Les Paul R7 Brazilian “Stinger” #44/57 from Mark at MGL (picture credits to Mark @ MGL).

Been looking for one of these for about 10 years or so. When I had the money there weren't any for sale and when I didn't there was... well, except for this time.

Ships tomorrow, get here is 5 days, so not exactly a NGD... yet

 

[vanguard]

Good God that's killer

 

[Midnight Blues]

Nice! Congrats, HNGTD and play her in good health!

 

[1allspub]

Super cool! I love the way Mark does his pics.

Congrats and HNGD!

 

[mjross]

Yeah baby, had a chance to buy one of these in a lefty a few years ago and passed it up. Yeah, don‘t say it, I know!

 

[LP59Burst]

Yeah baby, had a chance to buy one of these in a lefty a few years ago and passed it up. Yeah, don‘t say it, I know!

Wow, that's got to be a rare bird. I wonder how many of the 57 "Stingers" were lefty models. I'm somewhat ambidextrous which means I can play like crap with either hand.

 

[mjross]

Wow, that's got to be a rare bird. I wonder how many of the 57 "Stingers" were lefty models. I'm somewhat ambidextrous which means I can play like crap with either hand.

Yeah, could not have been many! I still kick myself when I think about it!

 

[LP59Burst]

I asked this on the other LP Forum but wanted to get as many opinions as I could so...

I'm not a fan of the BB1/BB2 pickups and I've had a few in the past and changed them all.

Fiddled with adjustments and they just don't have my sound.

I much prefer A2 PAF's clones and I do have a set of SD "Antiquities" sitting in a box.

I know these guitars are collectable but are they really in a "collectable" class a notch ot two below the "Artist" signed and played series, or the "CC", and other such guitars?

I'm an expert solderer, have all of the RS guitar works pots I'd need and both vintage Sprague and Russin PIO caps, and I've rewired many guitars, so I'm thinking about changing the "guts" and pups to the SD "Antiquities" but I don't want to do something that could lower the value.

I'm sure it comes up often here but I couldn't find anything for what I'd call modding rare, collectable (?), guitars that are not really in the true non-vintage "collectable" class.

What's are your thoughts on this?

 

[JMP]

It’s your guitar. If you want to change the electronics, that’s what you should do.

 

[fretnot]

If you still aren't digging it, are you going to sell it? Not everyone cares about replaced electronics, while others do.

 

[Bobby Mahogany]

I asked this on the other LP Forum but wanted to get as many opinions as I could so...

I'm not a fan of the BB1/BB2 pickups and I've had a few in the past and changed them all.

Fiddled with adjustments and they just don't have my sound.

I much prefer A2 PAF's clones and I do have a set of SD "Antiquities" sitting in a box.

I know these guitars are collectable but are they really in a "collectable" class a notch ot two below the "Artist" signed and played series, or the "CC", and other such guitars?

I'm an expert solderer, have all of the RS guitar works pots I'd need and both vintage Sprague and Russin PIO caps, and I've rewired many guitars, so I'm thinking about changing the "guts" and pups to the SD "Antiquities" but I don't want to do something that could lower the value.

I'm sure it comes up often here but I couldn't find anything for what I'd call modding rare, collectable (?), guitars that are not really in the true non-vintage "collectable" class.

What's are your thoughts on this?

To each his own for sure, in all cases.
In the past, I would have been kinda caught with "keeping it original"
even if I wouldn't have considered selling it. The mods with solders that could
"leave a mark" of my "tampering" would have made me refrain from
doing anything, probably.

But I have changed!


And now I try to enjoy life to the fullest!
And I encourage everyone to do so.
It seems to me that you know how you would want that guitar
and that includes modding it. So I say "Mod it!"
Well, first receive it, feel it and play it and then, if needed, mod the electronics.
Since you're an "expert solderer", you know what you're doing
and can be careful to do the job as seamless (seemless LOL!) as possible.
That guitar is gonna become "your guitar" and will rock your World,
making you a better guitarist (the motivational effect!) or at least
letting you enjoy life better!

If ever there comes a time when you want to sell it, you can convert it back
or advertise it modded with the original parts in the case, or offer to mod
it back on demand.
That could make it as or more desirable but I don't think it would lower it that much.
Again, go for it.
Enjoy life!

 

[delawaregold]

Pickups are BB2 and BB3, and yes, changing them
would hurt the value.
​

 

[mdubya]

Unpopular opinion:

If you cannot enjoy a guitar of this caliber for what it is, maybe you should move it along?

RS Guitarworks and Duncans? Are you trolling us?

On the other hand, if you keep the original stuff with the guitar, it should barely matter.

 

[LP59Burst]

Thanks for the input and for reminding me they're BB2/BB3 pups. Now, I'm going to rethink this a bit.

First the guitar isn't going anywhere after it gets here tomorrow. I don't think you should sell a guitar because you don't like the stock pups. Kinda like demolishing the house to get rid of termites.

I'm going to test the pots and if there close to 500k and the taper is umm "usable" they may stay.

Pups, well I like SD Antiquities. I think they sound great. That being said I was going with Doyle Coils anyway which are my personal favorites.

But, before I change the BB2/BB3's I'll go through and adjust the pups and fiddle around with the pole heights and see if that works. How to Properly Set the Pole Piece Height on Humbuckers

If not, then I'm breaking out the soldering iron and all bets are off...

 

[delawaregold]

 

[frehley76]

My 03 R7 Braz has had different pickups since I can remember. It has been my number 1 since new, so mine has its fair share of bumps and bruises. Mine is simply an excellent guitar that could not spend its life in a case. I bought it to play it and tailored it to my liking.

 

[Tim Plains]

A few extreme OCD collectors won't want a guitar with broken solder joints, I wouldn't sell anything to a guy like that in the first place, and exterior condition is more important. Are you going to not play this guitar because you'll wear the frets? Heaven forbid some white haze on the top from your arm...

Take the pickups / electronics out, use what you want, return it to stock if you sell it, it's no big deal. A rational buyer won't give you grief over original solder joints.

 

[J50315]

Gorgeous! Message me if you ever decide to move it.

 

[Top Gun]

Looks nice, enjoy!

 

[LP59Burst]

Well the '03 Les Paul R7 Brazilian “Stinger” arrived today from MGL and I was amazed at how it sounded.

I was playing it acoustically for a while and it just rings out with a clear voicing and it has tremendous sustain.

I did some adjustments on the BB2/BB3 pickups and balanced everything out the way I like it and it sounds perfect.

I'm not changing anything.

This is the best sounding and most playable Les Paul I've ever owned / played.

I may end up putting the Doyle Coils in the "420" '03 Les Paul R9 Brazilian I bought from Mark at MGL a while back. Here's a few pictures of that one - (picture credits to Mark @ MGL).