NGD: 2010 R9 UPDATE She's HERE!!!

shaunf · 2011-01-15T20:04:14+00:00

This little beauty arrives within the next couple of days. Feel like a kid the night before Christmas!

shaunf

She arrived yesterday, which coincidentally was my birthday. Ordered on Friday night, arrived Tuesday morning so 4 days from St Louis, Missouri to Durban ZA, 2 of which was a weekend. To say I'm beyond impressed with UPS shipping as well as their amazing tracking system is an understatement.

The guitar was incredibly professionally packed by the Route 66 Classic Guitars. It was clear they take their customers, including those on the other side of the planet very seriously. When I opened the case I was greeted by all sorts of extra padding in critical areas, bits of the guitar lovingly wrapped in tissue paper etc. The service I received from these guys was beyond superb. It was flawless. Do not hesitate for one second to buy from these guys.

Onto the guitar itself. I am simply in awe.

She is even more beautiful in real life. None of the photos, not the ones from the website I posted at the beginning of this thread, nor any that I tried to take last night do her any justice whatsoever. You just have to see her in person.

I got a surprise when I took her out the case. She felt very light to hand. At 8lb 6 ounces, I knew she was on the average to lighter side, but compared to my Studio, she feels at least half a kilo lighter. I'll get around to putting them both on a scale at some point, since I've never actually weighed my Studio.

The setup on the R9 was perfect. Once tuned up, I tinkered around on her for an hour or so, just getting to know her a bit better. IT took me around 15 minutes to get used to the chunkier neck and after only an hour of playing I can honestly say that prefer it to the 50's style neck on the Studio. Going back to the Studio felt awkward. Even though I have relatively small hands, the fatter neck feels better to me.

My Studio is one of the better USA Les Pauls I've heard and played over the years. It's very resonant, is nice and loud unplugged although the R9 is louder and a little more resonant and "open sounding", compared to the darker sounding Studio. The individual notes seem to ring clearer on the R9 too.

Plugged in, the guitars couldn't sound more different. I found I couldn't use the same amp EQ settings for each guitar. What sounds good for the one was far from optimal for the other. The R9's pickups seem to be hotter than the 490R and 496T's in the Studio. I had to dial back the gain on the dirty channels for the R9 and could add more bass than I could with the Studio, which seems to have a more pronounced bass response, but that seems to bottom out and get wallowy when the bass is pushed to anything above 6 on my amp. The neck pickup sound on the R9 particularly is much better sounding than the Studios, which tends to be a bit on the muddy side.

The R9 seems from initial impressions to be more versatile than the Studio. The R9 likes to be dialed back using the guitar's volume controls, and produces some really rich, warm blues and Jazz tones. The Studio obviously also does this but seems to lose some of the magic when you dial back the volume too much. I think the R9 probably has superior pots and caps, and so this may be a good upgrade for the Studio at a later stage.

At full tilt they both have a raunchy and agressive tone, albeit different from each other. The Studio barks, the R9 snarls. I love both and they compliment each other very nicely.

All in all I'm a very happy, albeit broke guy, and I look forward to getting some more playing time on this lovely lady this evening.

singemonkey

Are you mad? Posting that without pictures!? ???

?

shaunf

I'll try and take some decent pics over the weekend, when I don't have to contend with horrible downlighters as my light source.

aubs1

Congrats again, and happy birthday ShaunF ............

shaunf wrote ............. She felt very light to hand.

Adrenalin rush caused by excitement and happiness.......... ?

shaunf

Aubs1 wrote Congrats again, and happy birthday ShaunF ............

shaunf wrote ............. She felt very light to hand.
Adrenalin rush caused by excitement and happiness.......... ?

Thanks Aubs, and LOL at the adrenalin comment! Never thought of that! Will see what the impressions are tonight when the adrenalin has subsided! ?

Reinhard

Man that was a quick delivery, I am glad you are stoked. Did you have to pay import duties?

vic

I'm afraid Shaun is simply way too busy pampering that R9 than to pay any attention to this thread ! So expect pics and responses only by neeext week ! ?

shaunf

Hi Reinhardt,

I didn't have to pay any duties and the customs clearing/handling fees were included in the shipping cost. All I had to pay was VAT.

Just a question for you guys while I have you on the line: I want to be able to use strap locks for this guitar. I'm using a set of Schaller locks on my Studio, and happened to have a complete spare set lying around. The thing is, the standard screws from the Gibson strap lugs on my Studio fitted fine through the Schaller lugs that get screwed to the guitar, however the screws used to secure the standard lugs on the R9 are much bigger and don't go through the holes in the spare set of Schaller lugs I have.

Are any of you guys using strap lock, and if so, which ones have you used for your historic guitars?

Reinhard

Shaun
I have Schallers on my R9. I remember the top strap buttonnot being an issue but the bottom one was. What you can do is use the Schaller screws, but put half a matchstick or 2 inside the hole, you can even use a bit of wood glue to put them in. This will give you wood the thinner screws can bite into.

Less invasive: Buy 2 Grolsch beers (the bottle with the swing top), remove the red washers and use them as strap locks, works fantastic. You can even drink the beer afterwards.

shaunf

Thanks Reinhardt. I don't follow how you use the Grolsch washers as strap locks. Could you explain this to me?

Hmm, I wonder if it's worth trying to redrill the hole in the Shaller lug big enough to accept the standard screw from the R9 lug...

singemonkey

That situation's being remedied for me on my Les Paul while I have the Bigsby installed. But it made me wonder how the luthier is gonna do it. Am I crazy, or can you fill the hole with cold glue, wait for it to set, and then redrill into the glue and then screw into that guide? I've heard that glue sets as hard as wood so that would seem like a solution?

Reinhard

shaunf wrote Thanks Reinhardt. I don't follow how you use the Grolsch washers as strap locks. Could you explain this to me?

Hmm, I wonder if it's worth trying to redrill the hole in the Shaller lug big enough to accept the standard screw from the R9 lug...

You put the strap on, then pop the rubber washer over the strap button.
You could try grinding down the head on the gibson screw, I think I tried that also without success.

MoJo-JoJoe

Yes. Drill out the hole on the staplock button (assuming the screw head fits and the problem is the threaded shaft of the scew). Make sure you use the original Gibson screw so that the thread is not changed in any way and you're not needing to fill up the hole (using a different screw and plugging the hole will run the risk of your R9 hitting the floor at some point in the future). Also, get some Fender strap button felt protectors so that you don't damage your finish as you tighten the straplock button back to the guitar.

AlanRatcliffe

shaunf wrote Hmm, I wonder if it's worth trying to redrill the hole in the Shaller lug big enough to accept the standard screw from the R9 lug...

Often damages the chroming, which then starts flaking off. You want to do it properly? Fill the holes with wood glue and a proper dowel, tap a pilot hole and use the Schaller screw. Keep the original buttons and screws in case you ever want to sell the guitar.

shaunf

MoJo JoJoe wrote ...assuming the screw head fits and the problem is the threaded shaft of the screw).

Yeah, you got it. The screw head will fit inside the lug, but the threaded shaft is too big for the drilled hole at the bottom of the lug. The standard screws my Studio came with are slightly smaller than the screws used in the R9, and so fitted fine without me having to use the really thin Schaller screws when I originally fitted the Schallers to my Studio.

I'm going to try drilling the lug first using a new drillbit and hopefully without damaging it, as this will be a quick win and also allow me to leave the holes and screws going into the guitar standard. If I mess up the lug or just generally don't come right, I'll buy a new lock/lug and do it Alan's way.

Thanks for the tip re the Fender felt thingys. Any idea where I can get some?

MoJo-JoJoe

shaunf wrote
MoJo JoJoe wrote ...assuming the screw head fits and the problem is the threaded shaft of the screw).
Yeah, you got it. The screw head will fit inside the lug, but the threaded shaft is too big for the drilled hole at the bottom of the lug. The standard screws my Studio came with are slightly smaller than the screws used in the R9, and so fitted fine without me having to use the really thin Schaller screws when I originally fitted the Schallers to my Studio.

I'm going to try drilling the lug first using a new drillbit and hopefully without damaging it, as this will be a quick win and also allow me to leave the holes and screws going into the guitar standard. If I mess up the lug or just generally don't come right, I'll buy a new lock/lug and do it Alan's way.

Thanks for the tip re the Fender felt thingys. Any idea where I can get some?

Yeah that's my mindset ... the Schaller strap buttons cost loads less that the guitar, so rather mod them ... tough if the chrome comes off ... though I've done this literally hundreds of times (also often had to grind the screw head down around it's circumference to make it fit into the straplock - usually with Ibanez guitars) and I've never had a problem with the chrome ... maybe I just got lucky. I just think it's safer to use the original hole and screw.

You can get those felt washers from most music stores that carry Fender parts.

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