Gibson R9

Ryan990

Ryan990

Well-known member
Anyone here own or played one? I have a couple customs that I love, but I've always been curious about the R9 and how they compare in terms of feel and playability. Is a custom close or is the R9 in a separate league? Just trying to figure out if the juice is worth the squeeze before I drop some $$
 
Ryan990 said:
Yeah I wasn't buying new, and most used I've seen are over $5K, so I wanted to get some opinions beforehand.
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Oh sweet baby Jesus….no way I would do that..5k for a 9? Of course I have not purchased one for over a decade so in today’s economy I’m not surprised that they are that expensive. The last one I purchased was a plain top that I got for $1900….but that was a long time ago….
 
JackBootedThug said:
Oh sweet baby Jesus….no way I would do that..5k for a 9? Of course I have not purchased one for over a decade so in today’s economy I’m not surprised that they are that expensive. The last one I purchased was a plain top that I got for $1900….but that was a long time ago….
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I wish it was the prices from a decade ago but that's not the current world.
 
JackBootedThug said:
Check out the R0’s…
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The R0’s offer three neck sizes. I went for the #2 which is slightly larger than the 60’s neck

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I have two R9s, both bought second hand. They are both great guitars, but I’ve play-tested a lot of R8s and R9s over the years and many didn’t speak to me at all.

Mine are fairly different for what they are. One is a 2011 and one is a 2017. 2011 has a chubbier neck (although less chunky than the 2014 R8 I once owned) and has a wider fretboard. Can’t be sure but I think the top carve is deeper on the 2017 and flatter on the 2011. Changed the pickups and harnesses in both out for Rewinds (A2 bridge / A3 neck in the 2011 and A4s in the 2017). Acoustically, with their standard pickups and with the Rewinds, the 2011 is more open sounding and the 2017 brighter and tighter. Maybe due to the year, most likely due to them just being made from different bits of wood.

I would definitely suggest trying before buying.

I also have a ‘73 Custom with T-Tops, but that’s so different to the reissues as to make comparisons a bit meaningless.
 
Ryan990 said:
I've found some R8's locally but I can't get along with the thicker neck carve.
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I have 3 Historics—2 R8s and a R7 black beauty—I love the thicker neck. I’ve had several custom shop LPs too and they were nice guitars but the historics are special. Not all of them—like all Gibsons you always need to try before you buy. That upsets a lot of people on forums but that’s how it is with Gibson.

Overpriced? I paid $2500 used in 2004 for my first R8, got my other last year for $4k. Since the Covid crap everything on the planet is overpriced. A Marshall JVM halfstack w/Chinese V30s is over $5000. I’ve had Epi’s Burny’s and Orville’s, had PRS’s and Heritage—they aren’t the same as a great Gibson. But yeah you gotta pay the toll
 
Yup overpriced. But buy what you want…I would love to have a stable of them. Right now the Japanese stuff is scratching my itch…
 
Ryan990 said:
I found a 23 for around $4500ish, which seems like a good deal
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Not if it’s a dog. And there are dog R9s out there.

Historic Gibsons need to be purchased in person, not online. If you absolutely MUST do the online route (which is the wrong way) go with someone like Steve @ Wildwood or Mark at MGL. Even then it’s rolling the dice.
 
I had a used 2022 Murphy R8 I flipped. It was amazing but the narrow tall frets were too bumpy when I moved around the fret board. I actually miss the bigger neck on the 58. I even considered a re-fret it was so good. But I was skittish to do that to a new guitar, so I bought an R9 Murphy.

It's awesome as well and the medium jumbo frets are more my style. Plus there is some flame...though the plain top I had was pretty sweet too.

Both sounded almost identical to my ear with the same custombucker pick-ups.

I don't know what your budget is but I got 25% off the new one from a small dealer which is about what they go for on used market. Larger dealers barely offered 10% off. I was like you pay that in reverb fees so why can't you give me more than 10% direct.




Here is the 59 (Dirty Lemon) and the 58 (Lemon Burst).

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