R7 @ Historic Makeovers (undercover R9?)

[brandall10]

Was perusing HM's photos of conversions and saw this R7 -> R9 they did. All I can say is "gawd damn", almost my ideal of a great vintage looking top. Just love the tons of mineral streaks with the very nice but not over-the-top flame.

 

[Big John]

More than one noticeable mineral streak will get a R9 pulled off the line. Maple can be funny when you start removing material. The flat saw'd surface might have perfect grain when it's glued down, and then take on whole new appearance when the sawdust starts flying.

 

[greens]

Was perusing HM's photos of conversions and saw this R7 -> R9 they did. All I can say is "gawd damn", almost my ideal of a great vintage looking top. Just love the tons of mineral streaks with the very nice but not over-the-top flame.

Completely agree, crazy that top got covered up

 

[brandall10]

More than one noticeable mineral streak will get a R9 pulled off the line. Maple can be funny when you start removing material. The flat saw'd surface might have perfect grain when it's glued down, and then take on whole new appearance when the sawdust starts flying.

There are tops like this that occasionally make it to places like Mark's Guitar Loft though. It seems like tastes on this have changed over the years. Back when Gibson put the Historics on the map in a big way w/ the '99 R9 that seemed to be largely Western tops streaks wouldn't fly at all, but now we're at a point where historical accuracy is pretty close - not everyone's cup of tea, but certainly a lot really covet that look.

 

[brandall10]

Alright... so we have an update. I'm happy with it, feel that the flame came out enough and the crossgrain stepped back a bit to look like a pretty good modern R9 top; no way would I choose to gold it seeing how it turned out and I'm sticking to my "it was intended to be an R9 and Gibson goobered the paint job" Absolutely western, no 'peek-a-boo' quality to it. Kim did caption it with "Your guitar has a very authentic look in person" though lol.

 

[greens]

Looks terrific!

 

[Airplane]

that looks A LOT better than expected

 

[brandall10]

that looks A LOT better than expected

So given how it turned out would you still gold it?

I totally get the preference for gold some have, esp. with the proper color and a bit a patina/greening. I almost consider it a completely different variant, like a black beauty. Super cool. Still though, given the choice it would be the 2nd or 3rd historic in my collection, like vs. like (ie. HM vs HM).

 

[searswashere]

That top would make a PRS fan swoon.

It’s me, Im the PRS fan haha.

 

[brandall10]

That top would make a PRS fan swoon.

It’s me, Im the PRS fan haha.

It's a 10 top lol. Also had a late 90s blue Axis with this type of thing going on.

My ideal is a good wide flamed, wavy eastern top w/ flecks that has movement and the whole 3d thing in spades, but the market likes this type too. Surprised this seems to have come out stronger than the R9 in post 10 that I expected it to resemble.

 

[musicmaniac]

Looks beautiful!

 

[StubbyJ]

Congrats!

 

[mjross]

Alright... so we have an update. I'm happy with it, feel that the flame came out enough and the crossgrain stepped back a bit to look like a pretty good modern R9 top; no way would I choose to gold it seeing how it turned out and I'm sticking to my "it was intended to be an R9 and Gibson goobered the paint job" Absolutely western, no 'peek-a-boo' quality to it. Kim did caption it with "Your guitar has a very authentic look in person" though lol. View attachment 617715 View attachment 617705

Looks great!

 

[brandall10]

Other photos to share... apparently it got its clear coat yesterday. So final work over the next few days and it should be shipped next week! Unfortunately out of the country for the next month so it will be a minute before we're reunited.

 

[brandall10]

Alright, some photos w/ clearcoat and the hardware back on

 

[CB91710]

I love it.

But from what's going on just behind the bridge, I can understand why Gibson moved it from the 'burst line to gold.
But they have that option when they have 500 tops to pick from.
IMHO, this is more what you might have gotten had you walked into the store and bought a new '58 or '59 in '58 or '59

Enjoy... it's beautiful.

 

[Patrick S Ginnaty]

Beautiful. Good choice.

 

[brandall10]

I love it.

But from what's going on just behind the bridge, I can understand why Gibson moved it from the 'burst line to gold.
But they have that option when they have 500 tops to pick from.
IMHO, this is more what you might have gotten had you walked into the store and bought a new '58 or '59 in '58 or '59

Enjoy... it's beautiful.

You mean the meta wave thing where it looks a bit like a ripple in a lake? I love that, the area above the toggle switch has a similar thing.

It doesn't look to me like a top I'd associate on a classic LP... don't have BOTB, is there one in there to look up that it resembles in figuring?

 

[RufusTelestrat]

I think what they are getting at is the fact that when they did the original bursts there was no consideration of book match or flitch match or knots or imperfect grain lines. It was glued and routed and assembled painted and out the door.

 

[brandall10]

I think what they are getting at is the fact that when they did the original bursts there was no consideration of book match or flitch match or knots or imperfect grain lines. It was glued and routed and assembled painted and out the door.

I know that era (mid 2005s) tolerated less in the way of variation that bursts had, but I'm certain I've seen R9s from that period w/ more substantial imperfections.

Going with the assumption that it was intended to be an R9 until the end due to the mist of cherry on the binding and ended up being a bad paint job - as least we can see here the issues were evident bare and it only improved w/ the HM paint job.