1996 Gibson Les Paul R9 Darkburst Darkback

Up for sale is my 1996 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul R9 Darkbust with a Darkback. This guitar is immaculate for its age. It has minimal wear (mainly buckle rash), as seen in the photos. There are some light buff marks and a few scratches from buckle rash on the back. However, most of the rash is in the black backplate (easy to replace). There is one check line in the horn. It has excellent sustain and is fun to play at 8.5 LBS. It has clearly been babied its whole life and was likely a case queen for some of its life. The neck is comfortable. To me it is on the medium 59 side, it is not a chunky neck. This guitar has had its original 57 Classics pickups replaced with SD Antiquities, which I might add are great pickups. The original pickups are not included. They are relatively comparable to Dave Stephen’s Vintage Wire pickups, which I currently play in my main guitar. The Antiquities have a nice glassy PAF tone. I replaced the bridge posts with Soft Brass Faber posts, which drill deeper into the body and help to avoid the bridge lean issues that many of these older reissues experienced due to their hard steel posts. Before I received it, the bridge saddles were replaced. When I got it, I sent it to my luthier. He professionally set it up, dressed the frets, and added a bone nut, allowing the new owner to adjust action as needed! You will be hard-pressed to find a clean, great playing and sounding example! It comes with its OHSC, and case candy that is not specific to this guitar. The case candy is stammped for a different 1996 historic, which leads me to believe the original owner had multiple 96's and mixed up the original pamphlet that came with this guitar. Please note this is a 1996, and COAs did not exist until 1999. I will ship fully insured via UPS at buyers expense. This is a SWEET guitar with a beautiful top.

Shipping rates will change with current rates. Please message me with any questions or concerns. I take PP F&F, since I am not a small business, and will not pay taxes associated with PP G&S on this personal sale. This guitar is also available via Reverb, and the price there reflects the fees associated with Reverb. If you would perfer to pay via Reverb, please let me know and I can send you the link.