got a call last year from a mate who worked in one of the local guitar shops. Apparently some random bloke had walked in the shop, had a look around, and then grabbed the R7 from it's wall mounting and legged it out of the shop. My mate took chase and tackled the bloke to the ground. he in turn let go of the wood and was then taken back to the shop. Unfortunately the police were called...otherwise we could have bound and gagged and sorted him out with a couple of billy sticks......
..so, call came in asking if I would be interested in the R7, road rash included. The price was attractive and the rash was only at the bottom rear of the guitar...murphy aged for real I guess...
So I thought I'd have a look and I sold a years worth of rugby coaching for the attractive price..
The first impression was the weight. Not a lightweight as I had expected, probably due to my 2002 R9 that is quite light. But once plugged in....what a tone...felt like I'd moved a gold Steinberger and moved it into the room...quite incredible. I immediately understood why these custom shops have the price tags they have...seriously incredible tone.
I phoned the seller and told him I'd have it. I also asked if he had also played the tone kraken. he replied , of course. The owner and he had gone south to look at a bunch of guitars and he had tested around 30. Out of the 30 he said that this specific guitar had left it's mark.
Looking at the COA it's a 2012 guitar. Obviously Gibson decided to release a new Goldtop R7 in 2013 with a Gold paint that had more copper content. Looks awesome. I'll settle for the older version however. I have to say, I've been a sceptic at the costs of the Custom Shop guitars, but having played this one, it's worth the extra. I'm pretty convinced it has a lot to do with the weight and the one piece neck, as well as the pups...regardless, it's a tone monster....with a story.
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