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Are the 2014 R9's really all that?

rockabilly69

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 29, 2001
Messages
2,870
My 2014 R7 is the best Les Paul I've ever owned. It's light, resonant, and has a great balance between pickups. I love making music with it.
 

96 lppp

New member
Joined
Mar 2, 2005
Messages
774
These are my R8's - now I'm seriously wondering if the R9 I'm looking at will blow these away or is it going to be....meh.....
They sound & play great and stay in tune all night.

Hi, after seeing your 2 Les Pauls I'd keep both of them. Looks alone, they are obviously the best available and would be very difficult to find for reasonable price. I have a 2005 R9 that is alot different sounding than my 2014 R9 unplugged and plugged in.

Both of my R9 Les Pauls have identical new RS super pots with different pickups. As awesome as my 2014 LP is I would not dump my 2005 LP since I like having different sounds available.

I would buy another R9 Les Paul and keep it for 1 year and then see if one of the 3 is no longer needed. This is how to build up credit debt and know what Ramen noodles are!
 

thunderkyss

Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2002
Messages
743
These are my R8's - now I'm seriously wondering if the R9 I'm looking at will blow these away or is it going to be....meh.....
They sound & play great and stay in tune all night.



There is something serioiusly wrong with you if you're considering selling one of those.


Honest.


If you had a sick loved one, or a house to save, or something like that... I'd pimp myself out before thinking about selling one of those two.
 

alnico59

New member
Joined
Nov 4, 2014
Messages
150
I don' have a '14 R9 but I did own a '13 that I sold. I now own a '14 R8 and a '04 R7.
'04 R7 best of the bunch. I would keep your old LP's and needed/desired upgrades.
 

sws1

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 4, 2001
Messages
2,846
I dig mine:

14R9%202%20of%203_zpsc7fgk0ao.jpg
 

B Ingram

Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2016
Messages
730
These are my R8's - now I'm seriously wondering if the R9 I'm looking at will blow these away or is it going to be....meh.....

I'm very happy with my "2014" R9 (one of the 2015 R9's where Gibson carried over the 2014 specs & serial numbering).

The only right answer is to play one, then decide if it's better than your existing guitars. I wouldn't recommend buying online, as I think most will agree that even within a series with identical specs each guitar has its own voice. Some you may like better than others.
 

akstrat61

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 16, 2004
Messages
1,845
Don't sell the '02 R8, that is one I regret selling. Mine had RS pots and pups that were changed (early alzheimer's keeps me from remembering what?) and that guitar KILLED! :jim

The grass is not always greener, especially if you can smoke it!:dude:
 

alnico59

New member
Joined
Nov 4, 2014
Messages
150
Don't sell the '02 R8, that is one I regret selling. Mine had RS pots and pups that were changed (early alzheimer's keeps me from remembering what?) and that guitar KILLED! :jim

The grass is not always greener, especially if you can smoke it!:dude:

Only my opinion, the new ones look better on paper but are not. Hyde glue and all. I'd install steel studs and do maple flame mod on the older ones.
 

jb_abides

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
5,245
She's ok, by the way.

Good. Does fact you are not replacing the S might indicate you are going to have the kids share in driving the cars, and you don't want another performance car....? Or just over it? Any car can be mishandled, especially while learned and gathering experience... Happened twice to me. :##

The correct answer here is to ground her, take away all non-education privileges and electronics, make her get 3 summer jobs.... keep all your existing LPs, get the best R9/R0 you can grab (TH, if they speak to you) and play the heck out of it. :hank

YMMV :salude
 

67blackcherry

Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2015
Messages
205
Good. Does fact you are not replacing the S might indicate you are going to have the kids share in driving the cars, and you don't want another performance car....? Or just over it? Any car can be mishandled, especially while learned and gathering experience... Happened twice to me. :##

The correct answer here is to ground her, take away all non-education privileges and electronics, make her get 3 summer jobs.... keep all your existing LPs, get the best R9/R0 you can grab (TH, if they speak to you) and play the heck out of it. :hank

YMMV :salude

Not long after she started driving the Audi, I sold my '68 GTO and bought a 2005 Porsche 911 Carrera 2S...so I'm good to go in the performance dept!

Still on the fence about an R9....it's a good deal but I've actually been playing both my R8's lately and they sure are great guitars, and I'm not sure the $4500.00 outlay will be worth it.

I have the $$$ and I'm on the fence about buying another guitar - what the heck is wrong with me???
 

B Ingram

Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2016
Messages
730
... Still on the fence about an R9....it's a good deal but I've actually been playing both my R8's lately and they sure are great guitars, and I'm not sure the $4500.00 outlay will be worth it.

I have the $$$ and I'm on the fence about buying another guitar - what the heck is wrong with me???

There's absolutely NOTHING wrong with you. If you don't have an overwhelming "this one is right" moment when playing a prospective guitar or amp, you'll probably not be excited by it after the honeymoon is over.

This past month, I wound up getting a '63 Deluxe, a '66 Pro Reverb, an EP-3 and re-necking my fave Tele. I was taking a little risk on one of those things, buying before playing. But I got good deals on each, and every single one of them was a "played one chord & knew I would keep this forever" moment.

Didn't need nor asked for anyone's advice, and I couldn't care less what anyone thinks about it. Add in a LOT of NOS tubes (came across a once-in-20-year opportunity) and a couple speakers, and I've probably blown the next 5-10 years of my budget for music gear. But I have zero second thoughts about any of it.

When you come across the right guitar and know that one must come home with you, you'll know it...
 

JPP-1

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 11, 2006
Messages
1,336
The biggest mistake you are making here is assigning a tonal valuation to a given year. Historic LPs all have there own sonic fingerprints as does every guitar. There are some nice upgrades to the 14s that in all liklihood do enhance tone such as a sleeveless truss rod, hot hide glue, thinner lacquer etc and many people also like the custom buckers which I think are unpotted.

I would NOT consider an R9 to be an investment unless it's a very rare signed signature edition that you get at MSRP. However, a used R9 like any classic used guitar bought right should hold its value which means its cost of ownership is just minimally greater than an Epiphone LP.

IE, if you buy a used Epiphone LP for $300 keep it for a year then sell it and get your $300 back, your cost of ownership in this current interest rate environment is around $3 which is what that 300 would generate in a savings account An R9 bought for $4K and sold for $4K would cost about 40 dollars a year. Therefore, depending on your financial situation, the difference in cost of ownership for a year between a used R9 and a used Epiphone is $37


Greetings - I've got a little $$$ coming my way; my 20yo daughter wrecked my (first real performance) car, a 2007 Audi A3 S-line that I absolutely loved. I want to purchase a guitar to remind me of that great little car.
She's ok, by the way.

I've heard so much about the 2014 R9's (and R8's) that I think I'm ready to purchase one but my question is....are they really all that? I've got all my LP bases covered (R4GT, R4BB, R6GT, R7BB, R8(x2) and R0 Special) and I figure if they really are that amazing, I can easily sell my '98 R8 & '02 R8 and make up my $$$ plus some. Even that NGD thread, the OP owned an older R8 and he said the new THR8 is worlds apart which is what I've heard and the 2014 is pretty much a TH, correct? I know the R9 would be a prudent investment, so there's that also to consider.

(this may be blasphemy, here on the LPF, but I'm also considering an Ibanez Iceman PS10LTD....just because I've always loved those and KISS/Ace is the reason I picked up the guitar back in '77...I know it's a Paul Stanley model but still...)
What to do, what to do?
 

CAGinLA

Active member
Joined
Jan 4, 2016
Messages
489
The biggest mistake you are making here is assigning a tonal valuation to a given year. Historic LPs all have there own sonic fingerprints as does every guitar. There are some nice upgrades to the 14s that in all liklihood do enhance tone such as a sleeveless truss rod, hot hide glue, thinner lacquer etc and many people also like the custom buckers which I think are unpotted.

I would NOT consider an R9 to be an investment unless it's a very rare signed signature edition that you get at MSRP. However, a used R9 like any classic used guitar bought right should hold its value which means its cost of ownership is just minimally greater than an Epiphone LP.

IE, if you buy a used Epiphone LP for $300 keep it for a year then sell it and get your $300 back, your cost of ownership in this current interest rate environment is around $3 which is what that 300 would generate in a savings account An R9 bought for $4K and sold for $4K would cost about 40 dollars a year. Therefore, depending on your financial situation, the difference in cost of ownership for a year between a used R9 and a used Epiphone is $37


I would love to live on a planet where I could sell my guitars for exactly the same price that I paid for them new! :teeth
 
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