muttznmongrelz
New member
Me...back in the day...Happy 4th to all who served past and present and to all those enjoying their "Freedom" as a result.
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Happy 4th!!! Proud American: '81 Gibson XR-1 Cherry Sunburst...
- Thread starter muttznmongrelz
- Start date
Me...back in the day...Happy 4th to all who served past and present and to all those enjoying their "Freedom" as a result.
guitarSQUIRELL
New member
Re: Happy 4th!!! Proud American: '81 Gibson XR-1 Cherry Sunburst...
Happy 4th to all guitarists out there.
Happy 4th to all guitarists out there.
muttznmongrelz
New member
Re: Happy 4th!!! Proud American: '81 Gibson XR-1 Cherry Sunburst...
Awesome!!! Love it!
Awesome!!! Love it!
muttznmongrelz
New member
Re: Happy 4th!!! Proud American: '81 Gibson XR-1 Cherry Sunburst...
Ready for a Def Leppard Cover Band!!!
Rare as they were only produced from 1981 to 1983 as a predecessor to the Studio Model and a favorite of Steve Clark from Def Leppard-as an '81 XR-1 was one of his two primary guitars during the Pyromania Recording and Tour. Other than the replacement of a faulty 3 Way Pickup Selector Toggle Switch...this guitar is all Original Stock 1981 Gibson Components w/Gibson OHSC - a rare, vintage First Year of Production - 1981 Gibson Les Paul XR-1 Fretless Wonder!
Manufactured in Nashville, TN in January of 1981 making it one of the very earliest made. This guitar is solid and weighs about 10.5 lbs with no weight relief and is of much higher quality than today's Gibson's. Vintage Cherry Burst Finish is carried throughout the guitar; back, neck, even the sides of the headstock are finished in a Cherry Burst Pattern.
XR-1 Specifications:
Neck - Three Piece Laminated Maple Construction, 1 11/16" Nut, Rosewood Fingerboard with Pearl Dot Inlays, Chrome Plated Machine Heads, Gibson XR-1 Truss Rod Cover, 22 Frets, 24 3/4" Scale Length.
Body - 3 Piece Mahogany Body with a Carved Maple Top, Single Cutaway, Adjustable Chrome Tune-O-Matic Bridge & Stop Bar Tailpiece, No Binding on Body, Neck or Headstock, Body Size = Length 17+3/8", Width 12+3/4", Depth 2".
Electronics - Two Black/White Coil "Dirty Fingers" Humbuckers, Standard Les Paul 2 Volume/2 Tone Controls, 3 Way Toggle for Pickup Selection with an added feature of a Coil Tap Switch located near the Volume/Tone Controls which splits the pickups to a Single Coil Tonal Option.
************************************************************
I dialed in the pickup height to what I consider the "sweet spot" sound-wise and slightly adjusted the settings on my Peavey 5150 Combo to a nice useable tone with the guitar; 5150 actually sounded good across the board for all my guitars with the slight changes to the settings. I have a pretty good take on the XR-1 and it's "Dirty Fingers" Humbuckers, Coil Tap Switch for Single Coil Mode (which it does surprisingly well at) and the overall feel of the guitar.
It's 99.9% Stock 1981 Gibson other than a replaced 3 Way LP Selector Toggle Switch (Gibson Replacement no less), frets freshly leveled and polished, full set up w/new strings and pretty much cleaned wiring, pots, jacks, etc. (Invoice for all work was included - done 05/15/15) and the frets are low from design and playing...I think someone loved this one and played it a lot over the years but they took very good care of it. While it's got some belt buckle wear on the back, it's neither beat up nor does any wear go through the finish - which by the way is really quite beautiful with the Burst carried over onto every part of the body, neck and headstock.
It's heavy, but not as heavy as my '82 Standard...damn close though...compared to today's Gibsons, this baby is from a very different period in time where Gibson used much different components, better woods, and a different level of build quality overall...thank God for "Non-Channeled/Tone Chambered/Swiss Cheese" Gibsons!!!
The guitar balances well in any playing position and feels solid. Neck isn't "fat" like I expected it to be and feels quite comfortable in the back shape. It's well put together with a nice fit/finish...Hell...it's held up this long. Plays well and it is very easy to change fret positions or slide down the strings w/one's fingertips. It's a fun player and the more I play it the more I like it.
How does it sound; the "Dirty Fingers" are nice pickups...more "grit" than usual for a Gibson, more than the usual 490T/498B or 498T/500B Sets anyway. Very quiet like the Gibson Bill Lawrence HB-R/HB-L Sets that I so love...no feedback or ambient noise AT ALL when plugged in at volume and not being played. I have say that the "tone" is still pretty much Classic Gibson "Woman Tone" in the neck and more "Rock N Roll'" in the Bridge. The Volume Controls are very responsive and you can most certainly use them to dial down from full output to instantly familiar "Blues" and even "Jazz" Sounds...through a 5150 no less (Low Output Channel with Gain Boost Button "Off"and Bright Switch "On")!
I've found that the pickups sound best at just above "6-7" on the Volume and with the Tone Maxed out at 10 for maximum Treble for slightly warmer Classic LP Tones but the Tone Pots are useful as well with a non-drastic variable roll up and down. The Coil Tap is useful and I was impressed with just how "Single Coil" Sounding the Tapped Positions were for both the Neck and Bridge with just the tinniest bit of Single Coil Hum - middle position with both Neck & Bridge Coils combined still sounds like a Gibson Low Output Humbucker but no shock there. Honestly, I wouldn't change a thing on it to include the electronics as they function perfectly and without any hiss, popping, excess noise, etc. and sound AWESOME!!!
Overall, it's a very nice older Gibson Les Paul that was a short lived 2 year Model before the Studio Line was introduced. They're quite well liked and well-reviewed by people that own them; either original owners who have hung onto them or picked one up somewhere along the way, or, "use to own one but sold it and wish they had it back".
In all seriousness; between the Dirty Fingers Humbuckers, Coil Tap for very well done Single Coil Tones and rolling the volume up and down...you can achieve an amazing array of Rock, Blues & Jazz Sounds...all rolled into one cool well maintained 34 year old Gibson Les Paul.
Ready for a Def Leppard Cover Band!!!
Rare as they were only produced from 1981 to 1983 as a predecessor to the Studio Model and a favorite of Steve Clark from Def Leppard-as an '81 XR-1 was one of his two primary guitars during the Pyromania Recording and Tour. Other than the replacement of a faulty 3 Way Pickup Selector Toggle Switch...this guitar is all Original Stock 1981 Gibson Components w/Gibson OHSC - a rare, vintage First Year of Production - 1981 Gibson Les Paul XR-1 Fretless Wonder!
Manufactured in Nashville, TN in January of 1981 making it one of the very earliest made. This guitar is solid and weighs about 10.5 lbs with no weight relief and is of much higher quality than today's Gibson's. Vintage Cherry Burst Finish is carried throughout the guitar; back, neck, even the sides of the headstock are finished in a Cherry Burst Pattern.
XR-1 Specifications:
Neck - Three Piece Laminated Maple Construction, 1 11/16" Nut, Rosewood Fingerboard with Pearl Dot Inlays, Chrome Plated Machine Heads, Gibson XR-1 Truss Rod Cover, 22 Frets, 24 3/4" Scale Length.
Body - 3 Piece Mahogany Body with a Carved Maple Top, Single Cutaway, Adjustable Chrome Tune-O-Matic Bridge & Stop Bar Tailpiece, No Binding on Body, Neck or Headstock, Body Size = Length 17+3/8", Width 12+3/4", Depth 2".
Electronics - Two Black/White Coil "Dirty Fingers" Humbuckers, Standard Les Paul 2 Volume/2 Tone Controls, 3 Way Toggle for Pickup Selection with an added feature of a Coil Tap Switch located near the Volume/Tone Controls which splits the pickups to a Single Coil Tonal Option.
************************************************************
I dialed in the pickup height to what I consider the "sweet spot" sound-wise and slightly adjusted the settings on my Peavey 5150 Combo to a nice useable tone with the guitar; 5150 actually sounded good across the board for all my guitars with the slight changes to the settings. I have a pretty good take on the XR-1 and it's "Dirty Fingers" Humbuckers, Coil Tap Switch for Single Coil Mode (which it does surprisingly well at) and the overall feel of the guitar.
It's 99.9% Stock 1981 Gibson other than a replaced 3 Way LP Selector Toggle Switch (Gibson Replacement no less), frets freshly leveled and polished, full set up w/new strings and pretty much cleaned wiring, pots, jacks, etc. (Invoice for all work was included - done 05/15/15) and the frets are low from design and playing...I think someone loved this one and played it a lot over the years but they took very good care of it. While it's got some belt buckle wear on the back, it's neither beat up nor does any wear go through the finish - which by the way is really quite beautiful with the Burst carried over onto every part of the body, neck and headstock.
It's heavy, but not as heavy as my '82 Standard...damn close though...compared to today's Gibsons, this baby is from a very different period in time where Gibson used much different components, better woods, and a different level of build quality overall...thank God for "Non-Channeled/Tone Chambered/Swiss Cheese" Gibsons!!!
The guitar balances well in any playing position and feels solid. Neck isn't "fat" like I expected it to be and feels quite comfortable in the back shape. It's well put together with a nice fit/finish...Hell...it's held up this long. Plays well and it is very easy to change fret positions or slide down the strings w/one's fingertips. It's a fun player and the more I play it the more I like it.
How does it sound; the "Dirty Fingers" are nice pickups...more "grit" than usual for a Gibson, more than the usual 490T/498B or 498T/500B Sets anyway. Very quiet like the Gibson Bill Lawrence HB-R/HB-L Sets that I so love...no feedback or ambient noise AT ALL when plugged in at volume and not being played. I have say that the "tone" is still pretty much Classic Gibson "Woman Tone" in the neck and more "Rock N Roll'" in the Bridge. The Volume Controls are very responsive and you can most certainly use them to dial down from full output to instantly familiar "Blues" and even "Jazz" Sounds...through a 5150 no less (Low Output Channel with Gain Boost Button "Off"and Bright Switch "On")!
I've found that the pickups sound best at just above "6-7" on the Volume and with the Tone Maxed out at 10 for maximum Treble for slightly warmer Classic LP Tones but the Tone Pots are useful as well with a non-drastic variable roll up and down. The Coil Tap is useful and I was impressed with just how "Single Coil" Sounding the Tapped Positions were for both the Neck and Bridge with just the tinniest bit of Single Coil Hum - middle position with both Neck & Bridge Coils combined still sounds like a Gibson Low Output Humbucker but no shock there. Honestly, I wouldn't change a thing on it to include the electronics as they function perfectly and without any hiss, popping, excess noise, etc. and sound AWESOME!!!
Overall, it's a very nice older Gibson Les Paul that was a short lived 2 year Model before the Studio Line was introduced. They're quite well liked and well-reviewed by people that own them; either original owners who have hung onto them or picked one up somewhere along the way, or, "use to own one but sold it and wish they had it back".
In all seriousness; between the Dirty Fingers Humbuckers, Coil Tap for very well done Single Coil Tones and rolling the volume up and down...you can achieve an amazing array of Rock, Blues & Jazz Sounds...all rolled into one cool well maintained 34 year old Gibson Les Paul.
Last edited:
Rand-O-Monium
New member
Re: Happy 4th!!! Proud American: '81 Gibson XR-1 Cherry Sunburst...
Decide to keep it?
I'd go Cream plastics/Gold knobs.
Tasty!
Decide to keep it?
I'd go Cream plastics/Gold knobs.
Tasty!
muttznmongrelz
New member
Re: Happy 4th!!! Proud American: '81 Gibson XR-1 Cherry Sunburst...
Thanks! Yeah, PRS research and discussion with a couple of people who owned them and "never bonded" with them lead me to believe I prob wouldn't have been impressed...I don't like "light" guitars and even though it was 2" of mahogany it was under 8lbs.
The cream would look good but I don't want or plan to change anything on it - it's made it this long and looks and sounds good.
Thanks! Yeah, PRS research and discussion with a couple of people who owned them and "never bonded" with them lead me to believe I prob wouldn't have been impressed...I don't like "light" guitars and even though it was 2" of mahogany it was under 8lbs.
The cream would look good but I don't want or plan to change anything on it - it's made it this long and looks and sounds good.
Last edited:
Rand-O-Monium
New member
Re: Happy 4th!!! Proud American: '81 Gibson XR-1 Cherry Sunburst...
Cool!
& Thanx for your service!
Cool!
& Thanx for your service!
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