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If you buy online you can return within 14 days so may be worthwhile looking nationwide.
Can't think of any specific issues if it sounds good then go for it. You may be set on an R8 but could be worth considering early 80's Japanese LP guitars. They are similar money but built very well and are starting to appreciate in value.
Look out for neck alignment, do the strings pass the end of the neck with even spacing to edge of the fret board on the 2 outer strings? Sometimes they are very slightly out and you can have a larger gap one side that the other. A very small difference is normally no problem but if it's more than slight then you can have issues with strings slipping off the fretboard at the dusty end.
2013 onwards have the custombuckers which are a notable improvement over the previous burstbuckers.
I have a 2016 R8 in Bourbon burst. Its a fantastic guitar. Well Made, no problems to report other than the binding bleed. Which is fairly common on some years as they use the period correct dye. Or so they say they do!
I played as many as I could get my hands on around the guitar shops in Birmingham. To be honest I didn't find any custom shop guitars with any glaring problems. They were all very good. But very different to each other. The neck shapes varied a lot. Mine has a fairly beefy neck, which I took to very quickly in the shop. It sounded better to my ears too.
Now the build quality on the standard usa range varied massively! Some were very nice but I looked at a load to find a good one. A big problem on the standards I can't stand is when the neck pickup ring doesn't butt right up to the neck leaving a gap. This reveals a very rough looking neck joint! Unacceptable for the money if you ask me.
View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
https://www.vintageandrare.com/uploads/products/61525/2397989/original.jpg
The first thing I check is the bridge height above the body. For me, if it's higher than will allow the tailpiece to be screwed down fully tight to the body without the strings pressing on the back of the bridge (the top E can do slightly) then the bridge is too high because the neck has been fitted at too steep an angle, which is common.
I know some people disagree that it's a problem, but I've never found one with a high bridge that feels or sounds quite right to me, and I think it affects the tuning stability too.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I agree about the neck angle. My r8 has the tail screwed down to the body and the strings are clear of the bridge. Couldn't do that on my old standard. Which was a 2012 I think.
View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
I think its important to clarify the measurements that work and the visual clues that point to issues. Both neck angle and bridge height are very easy to check, fouling of string and height of tailpiece also give significant clues. There will be many fine Gibson's that sit at the higher side of average, there will be some where it is too high.
Also worth checking the bridge mounting method. traditional ABR posts and thumbwheels will start to tilt if the bridge is too high. A standard with ferrules and one piece posts/thumbwheels is less likely to suffer from this., and whilst the top of the ferrule fits nicely in the thumbwheel, you rarely see them set that low
I think you described the 70's Custom i was working on as extremely high. That was 4.4 degrees with a bridge height pretty much on 1/4". the strings cleared the back of a nashville bridge with the tailpiece decked. To me it was it was far from what i would class as too high. It was only just above average really.
I have an 81 standard (refin to custom) in at the mo that does look very steep. I just checked it and it is about 5 degrees. Its also a flatter carve, so you would expect a very high bridge. I actually started with the bridge and pickups very high when stringing it up last night. Its actually much better than expected and i had to immediately drop it all down. top thickness must be more than expected from the carve. The bridge is under 1/4" between base and body. the strings clear the back of an ABR-1 bridge with room to spare, they just clear a Nashville. Here is a pic, although the tailpiece is a turn away from being decked at this point (and the strings came out he pack rusty ).
I believe Gibson aim for 3-4 degrees on the historics and 4-5 on everything else. I don't know why they don't just do a nice 3.5-3.8 on everything. That would work perfectly for me. I suspect you would want to knock at least half a degree of that. There is an element of personal preference and ergonomics within this. I have always liked the way a steep neck angle wraps around you slightly
It definitely can be a problem, and definitely worth checking on a Gibson purchase... The level of variation is unacceptable.
I would be happy to diagnose the pictures below as "too high" based on no other data. Its not hard to find other examples of Gibson's like this
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The one in the bottom pic is ludicrous. I wouldn't even be surprised if that's outside Gibson's own tolerance.
I don't know what the tolerance could be reduced to if the joints were CNC cut, but I would think well under half a degree (ie +/-0.25º or less) could easily be achieved.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I just checked my epiphone too. It was my second guitar, first Les Paul many years ago and is the guitar i have owned for the longest (22 years at this point). I am unsurprised to find it to be bang on 5 degrees.
....
If anyone is wondering how to check, there are many spirit level App's you can get free that give very accurate readings
check the surface - 1.1 degrees towards the worktop edge
check the neck angle (depress the strings at the body and take a readings from different positions for the most accurate readings) - 3.3 degrees the opposite way.
As the readings are the opposite way, add the measurements together. 4.4 degrees in this case
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On a strap the flatter angle just seems right, almost like a Tele.
It’s from the slight variation in hand fitting the necks. I don’t mind it
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