2009 GIBSON LES PAUL STD BURST BROTHERS R9 LOW SERIAL NUMBER 1959 REISSUE RARE. SERIAL NUMBER B9 9003.. This was the third one made in a series of 33, (1 of them was damaged in shipping). The tops were hand selected by the Burst Brothers, neck profile was dictated, 1 piece back and neck, long neck tenon.. wireless ABR-1 made of zamac, correct control knob placement, aged hardware, custom wound pickups from the Jimmy Page model. Guitar has all of its tags, COA and provenance. The Guitar is in 9.8 condition.

Please note that there is a significant value increase of a 2009 burst brothers over the 2010 model as noted by the vintage guitar price guide..The 2009’s rarely come up for sale as there are three 2010’s currently being offered.,

FULL DISCLOSURE: An interesting note on this particular one is that the neck pickup is a low wind by the factory ..

PROVENANCE AND PRIOR OWNERSHIP: Guitar Center, Watch Tower Guitars and Chicago Music Exchange all sold this guitar and I did come across the original ad from CME and Watchtower Guitars. Of particular note is the CME ad where they list the neck pickup as reading 3.9K ohms, (See photos 13-16).

This is from a former ad.

With Gibson having one of their best runs of the Les Paul '59 Standard in 2019 for the 60th Anniversary there was a special run that happened in 2009 for the 50th that every Burst collector should have on their radar. Limited to only 33 guitars Gibson did this small hand selected run for the GC dynamic duo "Burst Brothers". If you're going to have the best of the best from that Gibson era this run was it. All of the wood was hand selected by Dave and Drew and finished in a vintage correct BB tea burst. Special wound humbuckers and special wound harnesses completed the package and these tone monsters have stood the test of time being sought out by players and collectors alike. Heres a rare chance to own one of the lowest serial numbers in the run number B9 9003. I'm sure if you've read this far you're thinking about adding this to your stable. Don't miss out one one of the Custom Shop's best limited runs.

From one of the forums.

“I purchased one from guitar center hollywood last weekend. Doug D and Eric B showed me about half a dozen of those (and another dozen or so R9s) and I picked the one I liked the most. It was not an easy choice.

I am told there are 40, serials number are in the B9 9001 to B9 9040 range. Those in the serial number 30+ range seem to have slightly thicker R9 necks.

They are definitely standouts next to the production run of R9s in terms of vintage look. Head on, the tops are subdued, almost like plain tops and show just a hint of flames. As soon as you put one on to play it, the 3d flames become visible. There's a lot of movement and depth. The patterns are insane. The burst color is between a faded heritage cherry and an ice tea. They're calling the burst a "honey teaburst". They have a subdued vintage patina, not like the standard gloss R9s or even VOS which look like brand new guitars. The BB guitar backs are stained a darker color than the standard run.

Weights are in 8.5 range, hardware is VOS. Necks are on the thicker side. The particular one I picked weighed in at 8.4, probably among the loudest acoustically I have ever heard, with a mellow, balanced string tone and aggressive snarl when amplified. We've all seen videos of comparisons between a reissue R9 and an original burst where the original burst sounds so much louder acoustically than the reissue. With this guitar, the difference is not so obvious.

Somebody buy B9 9014 which is the only top I saw that I liked better but passed on because of weight (8.8 IIRC). It's wild. The only guitar that played better was the Pearly Gates VOS they had on the wall (#23 or #26 - and by far the best guitar neck I have ever felt in hand) but seemed on thin side.

I'll try to post some pics within the next couple of weeks, I'm a terrible photographer.

I haven't had a chance to bind with the guitar yet. Overall I'm pretty happy about the purchase, just a little curious about the collectability factor of this limited run vs, say, an actual 50th anni limited (not that I have ever sold an instrument, amp or effect that appreciated significantly while in my possession). These are noticeably different in appearance from Gibson's 2007-2009 R9s in terms of the way the top looks, the vintage aging, and character.”