R7-R8 /R0 question

[jerryo]

I found and played an R0 today...being new to these 'R' series instruments I

noticed that the top has very little carve to it and was almost completely flat.

Question is...are the R7's and 8's flat on top also

 

[thewood1987]

Mine aint!

 

[jerryo]

Maybe i was imagining it...my Traditional has only a very shallow rise in the carve top also.

Maybe the way the light hit the non-gloss finish of the R0 is what threw me off.

 

[Jon Rambo]

No, not all are flat. From the lighting in this picture you can kind of tell the carve on my R7.

 

[jerryo]

No, not all are flat. From the lighting in this picture you can kind of tell the carve on my R7.

Cool...thanks for the photo

That's a nice R7

 

[mraajr]

My R0 is not a deep carve or anything but far from flat. My 68RI Custom has a deeper carve than the R0. I have seen some R9s that are carved really deep. I like those.

 

[Jon Rambo]

Cool...thanks for the photo

That's a nice R7

Thanks, it's an '03. I have no experience with the 2010 models and not much with the '09s but I'd assume they'd still have that carve and not be flat. It may have been that the traditional has that flame so it makes the carve stand out more like you said.

 

[Olli]

Since all R6-7-8-9-0 go in the same CNC machine they should be all the same. There´s only a change when they reset the CNC program, which they do every other year to claim they´ve made the Reissues even more historically accurate (we all know how that story pans out, don´t we?)

The differences between the production years are a matter of a couple of millimeters so there really isn´t that much of a difference when you look at the guitars

The carve is not as deep as in a vintage burst but still substancial. "Flat" for me means Telecaster.
If the guitar you looked at was so dull - I bet it was one with very much VOS gunk on the finish.

EDIT:

Here´s the carve of my 2007 VOS R9 - most of the VOS crap is gone so it´s basically semi-gloss :

 

[ctkarslake]

In another thread it was mentioned that back in the early 90's, Tom Murphy, working for Gibson, would reset the carving machine once in a while. Apparently it drifts in some way and has to be adjusted now and then. Yours could be a bit flatter due to the carving machine drifting? Why this isn't locked down is beyond me!