I want an R9!

shaunf

Hey guys,

I need some help/advice.

I've been overcome with a serious case of GAS for a "new" guitar.

Now, it's always been my dream to own a '59 Burst, but I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon, so I'm prepared to settle for something a little more modest. ?

There's currently 2 guitars that are high on my list of must-have's: a 1959 reissue Les Paul, of which I'd prefer a secondhand one, with a bit of character, preferably with a faded type finish rather than a shiny bright 2010 model, or being the massive GnR/Slash fan that I am, the other guitar that tickles my fancy is the new Slash AFD Les Paul.

So, given that like most of you, I'm located near the Southern most tip of Africa, and Gibson is no longer very well represented on our continent from a dealer/distributer perspective, I'd like some input as to what my options would be in order to acquire one of these dream guitars.

I've been doing a lot of reading on this forum as well as others, but unfortunately rather than answering my questions, it has created additional questions.

I considered going the E-bay route, but to be quite honest, the thought of spending what would be an enormous amount of money to me via an international E-bay purchase scares the hell out of me, especially after reading a couple of topics on the MyLesPaul forum, where several guys have lost their shirts through dodgy sellers and international fraudsters. I've also never used E-Bay or Paypal and so have no buyer history, which a number of the more reputable appearing sellers seem to insist on, or failing this, they won't ship internationally.

I've also seen guitars listed via some of the local sites that piggyback off the Amazon.com catalogue, like WantItAll.co.za and Take2.co.za, however they seem to be really expensive, and I've also read posts by some of the forum members here that seem to suggest that this is an expensive option, and that one can acquire these guitars a lot cheaper elsewhere, which I'd love some more detailed info about.

The other thing of course is that for a purchase of this magnitude, I'd want to try the guitar out to see if it is decent sounding and that I like it. I'd be quite happy to hop on a plane and fly to JHB or CPT or anywhere else in SA for that matter, should a deal progress to an advanced stage where all that would be needed to conclude the deal would be for me to try the guitar out and make payment.

So with all that in mind, please could some of you knowledgeable types impart some of your knowledge to me, and clarify exactly what my options are? Secondly, I know there are certain limitations on this forum as to what can and can't be construed as advertising and what not, so if you do have some advice or info that you're uncomfortable to put out in the open forum, please could you still send this to me via PM?

Thanks in advance! ?

Shaun

nick

See if you can get Reinhard to part with his ?

guitarboy2828

It's probably cheaper to fly to USA and buy that kinda guitar than buy it in SA. haha..

That being said, I'm sure local dealers could bring it in for you. Are you set on Gibson and not possibly Tokai? Tokai's are great guitars and are more easily available in SA, and cheaper! ?

chris77

Look up Marco Melfi on the forum. His father imports some Gibson models. Maybe he can hook you up.

vic

PM Marco Melfi...he's a forum member. He'll have options for you.
Good luck.

PS: Oops...Chris posted first :-[

shaunf

nick wrote See if you can get Reinhard to part with his ?

Grrrrr, I'd managed to suppress my urges pretty well until I saw that post of his with the picture of his R9. That was the catalyst that has caused me many sleepless nights since ! :'(

shaunf

guitarboy2828 wrote Are you set on Gibson and not possibly Tokai? Tokai's are great guitars and are more easily available in SA, and cheaper! ?

Oh, make no mistake, I want one of those too! :-[

Been fiddling on one for the last couple of weekends at my local shop and it is a very nice guitar indeed. I don't see it fulfilling my GAS though. You know how it goes, I personally find if you buy something else as a substitute, you end up still wanting the thing you wanted in the first place. If I buy the Tokai first, I'll still want the R9 or AFD, so I reckon I'm going to go for the Gibbo first and look at a Tokai at a later stage, when it won't be a substitute, but rather I'll be GASSing for it in it's own right.

nick

shaunf wrote
nick wrote See if you can get Reinhard to part with his ?
Grrrrr, I'd managed to suppress my urges pretty well until I saw that post of his with the picture of his R9. That was the catalyst that has caused me many sleepless nights since ! :'(

Talk to Reinhard about bringing one in from eBay. As far as I know hes bought extensively and everything has arrived. I heard a rumour MikeM is also looking at getting an R8 ?

MikeM

There's a guy in the US that you can send a pic of what kinda top you want, speicify what thickness neck and weight you're looking for and even what kinda tone you want. He has a nice reserve of RIs to pick through and find something to your taste. He might ship to SA, not sure.

singemonkey

Yeah. Forget buying locally unless you're talking about a good, second hand deal. There are plenty of ways to avoid dodgy sellers. One is to buy from a reputable forum member on a forum like mylespaul.com. Reason is, they have a serious reputation to maintain on a forum - especially if they want to continue selling there. They also often know other forum members, so you can know that the person is legit ("I hung out with X on Saturday. Boy, what a collection of guitars the guy's got!").

Furthermore, you can ask for advice there on reputable sellers - sellers who've gone the extra mile to ensure customers are satisfied.

With the shipping cost being about $100, and the price of reissues at about their lowest ebb with the combination of a crap economy and a strong rand, you'd be crazy not to buy like that, unless you found an equivalent offer in SA.

The AFD LP will be harder to find and more expensive. Anyway, all he wanted was a good copy of a '59 'burst, so he got someone to make him one. Gibson's copies are probably more or less as good, so why not just look for an R9 that looks a bit like his? Not much diff, IMO.

shaunf

This really does it for me! Where is that drool smiley?

shaunf

And then there's this one that actually makes me want to cry, it's so beautiful:

Sorry guys, got it bad!

guidothepimmp

gibson R9??

whats that? ?

couldn't help myself fellers... they sure are purty :-[

JoeyBones

My friend bought one. It's a really awesome guitar. Makes my Standard feel cheap ☹