R7 GT vs R7 BB

[67blackcherry]

It seems to me, there's a ton of love for the Goldtop but not much love for the Black Beauty...and it makes me wonder.
Whenever I see NGD and it's an R7, the majority of time the guitar is a GT and not a BB.

Owners, please chime in...

 

[KennyY]

I've owned one R7 goldtop (briefly) and gone through 4 R7 BBs. I have 2 BB Customs.

I think the goldtop is popular because the it is generally brighter sounding than the all mahogany BB Custom which is darker.
A number of BB customs also have a middle pickup which turns off alot players.

I must be an odd duck, I WAY prefer the BB Custom over the Goldtop.
I play alot of jazz so I prefer the darker sound, and the Custom is more comfortable to play than a L5CES or ES-175.
I like the middle pickup to dial in the out of phase sounding tones.
I can't stand the look of gold.

 

[DanD]

I think if you ranked LPs in popularity/units sold you'd get:

Flame Tops

Plain Tops

GTs

BBs

Almost everyone's LP hero played some type of burst. Some played GTs and still fewer played BBs.

Bloomfield played a GT but everyone associates him more with his flame top.

Clapton same deal.

Jimmy, Duane, Billy, Joe, Brad, Slash, Peter Green, Gary Moore et al played some form of burst.

Randy Rhodes and Frampton come to mind as LP Custom players, tho Randy's was white.

They all played different axes over time but most from the first list are associated with bursts.

That's the only explanation I can give for the popularity of some LPs over others.

Personally I prefer P90s in GTs by a hair over 'buckers in bursts but I'm sure I'm in the minority on this.

As far as BBs go the ebony board makes some difference to my ears. It's a bit more in your face and sharp on note attack. I always feel it's tone is less smooth than rosewood.

But that hasn't stopped me drooling over a '54! eace2

 

[Progrocker111]

As far as BBs go the ebony board makes some difference to my ears. It's a bit more in your face and sharp on note attack. I always feel it's tone is less smooth than rosewood.

This is my experience too, even with allmahogany LP Customs. They have more immediate attack and a bit morte gritty tone. They have a bit more lower mids on the other side, which makes an interesting tonal character.

 

[Phatfrank]

I've got both, and although they both are great guitars I'd have to say I prefer the BB. Sounds and feels fantastic.

FWIW, here in Norway a BB commands a higher price than a similar GT, so I'm not too convinced the BB is less popular.

 

[Marcel M]

This is my experience too, even with allmahogany LP Customs. They have more immediate attack and a bit morte gritty tone. They have a bit more lower mids on the other side, which makes an interesting tonal character.

I agree. Saying the BB is Darker than Standards (GTs included) is really over simplifying it. I have 5 Historic LPs, 2 R8s, 1 R9, 1 R6 and 1 R7 BB and its not the case that the BB is hands down the darkest. The BB is snappy and has a kind of bite that the others don't have that almost makes it "bright" sounding to my ears because its less mellow.... if this makes any sense. Hard to describe. I'd say there are standards out there that are darker than some BBs. Its not so straightforward.

 

[ntotoro]

I've never had an R7 BB, but did have a faded cherry R7 Custom. Basically the same guitar, other than the color. It was actually acoustically brighter than my R7 GT, but my GT is particularly resonant and low-middy.

Nick

 

[67blackcherry]

Personally I prefer my BB to a GT (that's not counting my R4GT & R6GT) and it seems lately I've been playing my R7BB much more often than my R8 flametops - the tone (to me) is much smoother and cleans up better. I don't play with a lot of gain (BF Fender amps w/ Keeley OD pedals) and when I roll off the volume there's a nice warm tone whereas my R8's seem to still have that sizzle.