There’s always plenty of discussion on here whenever anyone lists a 59 replica - this one is way better than that one, they’re all way better than Gibsons, it’s the closest thing you’ll get to a real one etc. So what's the opinion of anyone who’s played several different ones from these almost mythical builders?
Personally I’ve owned about a dozen R9s and R8s over the years, including two Murphys and one Florian Jaeger True Historic refinish. I would say they’ve all been good guitars, a couple have been very good indeed and the best, which I still have, is without doubt a ‘bog standard’ 2005 R9. I’ve also owned two Terry Morgan bursts and they were very good replicas, but not outstanding imho. I’ve also handled a couple of Guitar Avenue’s replicas and again they seemed to be nice replicas, but they felt overly heavy and they didn’t ‘wow’ me.
Maybe part of the issue is with the wood and however good you are as a maker you can’t always get the best wood (f’nar f’nar). And however good the wood is, it almost certainly won’t be over 60 years old. A lot is also down to the lacquer/finishing skills, and the ageing, and the parts used, and the pickups etc. So it’s a combination of many factors I guess, and can any one builder really get it right more of the time that any other builder, or than Gibson? I know that the Chapter 11 folks get a lot of stick on here but personally I’ve found their Historic guitars that I’ve owned or played to be of consistently good quality and much nicer than the several LP Standards I’ve owned over the years.
Anyway, discuss...
Comments
(Apologies for repeat posting of this from t’other thread)
• Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@Goldeneraguitars
Confirmation bias!
I've only ever played Standards, Historics and real 50s Standards and they've all overlapped each other in quality terms once you have some good PAF replicas in there.
Surely the list of replicas you've already owned far outweighs the value of a 50s Goldtop already?
• Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@Goldeneraguitars
They really are just well made guitars, skill yes magic and mojo.... No such thing.
I have a Stig from guitar avenue and love it. Every time I go to a guitar shop I make a point of trying out some high end custom shop lp’s just to see how they compare and they honestly feel really cheaply made and play badly in comparison to my replica. I haven’t tried any other replica but I’m not really into ‘vintage accuracy’ per se, just bought it because it was the best les paul i’ve played or heard. I fitted some Wizz PAF’s and haven’t looked back.
Another shot... just because!
It’d be interesting to know how many of the originals were great guitars vs the number of average or dogs among them.
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.
My head said brake, but my heart cried never.