New Guitar!! Gibson 2001 R7 Les Paul Black Beauty "Historic/VOS"
I did some wheeling and dealing with some of my old gear to snag a gorgeous 2001 Gibson R7 Les Paul "Black Beauty". It looks to be totally stock and definitely has some gig battle scars, but overall it's in excellent condition and plays beautifully. The acoustic tone is loud and full, and the playing action feels solid and effortless.
This 9.5 lbs. Black Beauty Historic model (the official Gibson name for this line of guitars in 2001... it has since changed to V.O.S - Vintage Original Spec) is the dual pickup version with 7-ply binding on the body, bound ebony fretboard, fat 50's neck, Grover tuners, all gold hardware, block pearl inlays and solid mahogany body and top. The last feature is interesting to note... the body of a Les Paul Custom is a single piece of mahogany with no maple top. The original idea for this model was allegedly from Les Paul himself with the goal of creating a "classier looking" Les Paul that would show nicely on television, which Les Paul was doing a lot of in his career at the time.
I have not even so much as changed the strings on this guitar yet, but I can already tell it has exceptional tone and wonderful playing action. The neck is the extra fat '50s profile and the whole guitar just feels really solid (due, no doubt, to its heft).
I definitely plan to mod this one. It will get locking Grover tuners, an RS GuitarWorks complete electronics kit and new pickups (likely Duncan Alnico IIs).
I'll be posting an update on this once I get all the stuff!