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That flamey neck is gorgeous. Now you need to wear it down.

I've owned several of these over the years. They are great guitars and Gibson put amazing maple tops on all of them. Here's the big issue I had, that cutaway is not comfortable for playing up high. It looks good in the pics but it puts you hand in an uncomfortable position and I used to get cramps in my arm while gigging.

I LOVE Blackmore’s vibrato bar usage and his embracing of flash when he felt so inclined. I was surprised he didn’t use the bar or even have it on his Strat for this last time. He was such a rocker BITD. Love his playing.

Honestly, holding onto the other guitar wasn't even a temptation. I know it's worth more on the open market, but I didn't want maple and victory inlays; I wanted the spruce top and clean fretboard (if I could have custom ordered one, I'd probably have gone with no inlays at all). I did think about asking for some sort of monetary credit for the hassle, but I figured it was already gonna be a rougher day on the guys at the shop than on me, plus they had to pay quite a bit of extra shipping between the return of the wrong guitar and overnight air for the right one. And on my end, two more days of waiting and a stop by the UPS store on my way to work isn't exactly a heavy cross to bear. And now I have a funny story to tell about my new guitar.

The horseshoe crab inlay is badass.

Frank Beard was a killer timekeeper. Both times I saw him with the Top he was flawless. I mean totally perfect. He was always underrated and I am glad BFG gave him the props he did. RIP. BFG should just hang up the ZZ banner now and return to touring as Billy Gibbons solo with his BFGs. It is not ZZ Top without Frank and Dusty.

I was traveling yesterday and stopped at a gas station for a rest room break. I decided to grab a Powerball ticket. Handed the girl a twenty. She gave me the ticket, four fives and three ones in change. I immediately said “hey you gave me too much change”, and she was thankful that I was honest. I believe in karma, and while every man has his price, mine would be a lot higher than $5. THAT SAID, if they sent me that wrong guitar, it would have taken me several more minutes to come to the decision you made to call and tell them. If it was Guitar Center, it might have taken several hours, or maybe days LOL. You made the right and moral decision, but if I was the owner of that shop, I would have at least credited you $50 for your trouble.

So I picked up a 2009 VHT 2/50/2 Power amp for running my Tone King Imperial and Friedman IR-X through just to try something new. I had planned on getting into the whole Synergy thing next year, but a fellow on TGP offered to sell me a SYN2 with Tone King Imperial and Marshall JMP modules, a Syn 5050 power amp, a Live Wire 9 outlet power conditioner (this ain't fancy, but it's at least better than remembering a power strip), and a Gator Rack case for $1900 shipped. I couldn't pass that up, so I "loaned" myself the money out of savings knowing I'd have at least a redundant power amp and the Tone King Imperial module to sell. What I'm trying to figure out is which power amp to sell. VHT 2502 Pros - Separate volumes, presence, and depth knobs and separate hi/low signal and voice buttons for each channel. Separate Class A/Class AB switches for each channel. Cons - Built in 2009. Looks pretty good inside, but it's bound to need a cap job sooner than later. The two tubes for Channel B (12AX7/12AU7 complement) cracked in shipping, which gives me a touch of gear hypochondria that something else may be lurking to fail at some point. Cannot be bridged, so no more than 50 watts (class A) to a single speaker (this is more theoretical than anything because it's not like I'm using the 50 watts available to begin with). The lack of bridging makes it easy to accidentally flip Channel B on without a load when not running two cabs. This is a user error thing, but things happen on a dark stage. In fact, I have already blown one fuse, haha. Heavy and takes up two rack spaces. Incidental - EL34 Power Section Synergy 5050 Pros - Lighter, and only takes up one rack space. It's a newer unit that was serviced before shipping. These are also designed and built by Fryette, so the quality is there. Brigable to 100 watts, which also takes Channel B out of the mix (no accidental fuse blowings or worse if you hit the wrong standby). Cons - While there are volumes for each side, presence and depth are universal. There are also no options for A vs. AB, voicing, or hi/low signal. Incidental - 6L6 Power Section. Also only uses a 12AX7 as a phase inverter for each channel, rather than the 12AX7 for the same purpose in the 2502 but with an additional 12AU7 for each channel as a line driver. Overall, neither sucks, and this is a high class problem to have. The VHT is older gear with all the ups and downs of that, and it weighs 10 more pounds (though a lot of that weight is in the transformers I'm guessing, which is not for nothing). The Synergy is newer with a more recent service but is not as flexible in many ways. Even today, the Fryette 2502 is pretty much the same as the VHT badged ones, and they still cost a bit more. And it does sound really good - just smooth, clean power for days. But the Syn 5050 sounds pretty nice too. Either way, one needs to go, and I was curious what the opinions around here are.

I’d put this up against any “PlexI” clone out there. Beautiful inside and out, this is no “KIT” from someone’s garage. Well, actually I think he does work in his garage, but non the less. LOL Get you Classic Rock ON!

My 2Tek is the only bass I’ll ever need. These both appear to be beautiful examples.

I resemble that remark.

basically, someone bought this guitar a few years ago and thinks now it's worth 10x what they paid? I want to try what they are smoking!

Jazzburst is best!

@velorush nailed it! Beware of the Dog!

I played this same RR50 and 100% concur with Travis’s assessment. I recorded a track with it for an upcoming album and it sounded like, well, a plexi. No pedals needed. Buy from bubs and get yer 70s on!

Love that headstock design. Before now, I'd only ever seen it on the Pat Martino model.

A lot of those are men! Don't ask me how I know!!

It's a beautiful guitar. GLWTS.

From what I've seen, what he had were likely $450 tickets...

Ummmmm, no

I like Josh’s Playing, but what I like most is his loyalty. He still uses brands that took care of him with he was lesser known. Tone Speak is a few of the guys formerly of Eminence, LP is LP, Morgan, and Bradshaw are all guys that he has used for a decade or so. With JB’s music branching out with more texture and layers Josh’s Rig really shows his roll and how much thought he puts into it. I can’t say enough good things about him.

Maybe the older ones, and most of that was the pickups. All Gibson did was leave the Bucker where traditionally the P90 would be in an LP DC and fill in the gap with a couple extra frets. I did not care for what I felt was “Over Chambering” of the original run. The later ones felt better to me. Now that being said, I really liked, but could not afford at the time the Custom Shop Version with the different headstock. https://reverb.com/item/100315057-1998-gibson-custom-shop-les-paul-dc-pro-snakehead-butterscotch I also thought if they would have put that headstock on the Modern Double Cut it would have look well MORE FUCKING MODERN. LOL I still like that design, I believe they just screwed the pooch on the launch. Let’s through out a great guitar with no artists behind it, and hope it sticks. And then we have this. Which, I personally love, but they only went like 85% of the way. The colors are usually just off, the tops are blah. Just give it the “HIstoric” treatment like it could have been the best guitar they built in 58-61. https://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/products/gibson-custom-shop-les-paul-special-double-cut-cme-2413903?source=google&utm_campaign=gibson-cs&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22624313754&gbraid=0AAAAADRxQTiafNOGh1gr5JUBeOv_Nku4K&gclid=CjwKCAjwtKrUBhAhEiwAr77ZopWhabNQ1CD2VyjjqdCPDJcKV5WiJk8-TT5AWG7gnxgSt1fyNkqpyRoC-NYQAvD_BwE Thanks guys, I needed to get that off my chest. I think it’s been eating at me for a while.

Apparently not excited enough to pay for decent seats. 🙄

Haven’t had time to put it up yet. Hopefully tonight.