A stunning 1995, early Historic, Gibson Les Paul Standard Yamano R9 for those of you that know.

Yamano Gakki are one of Japan’s biggest musical instrument distributors and handling the distribution of Gibson and Epiphone guitars from 1988 as well as working closely with Gibson on the Orville by Gibson range. They set high quality control standards on their imported Gibson guitars, with the woods being hand picked in the production phase at Kalamazoo making these guitars highly sought after, widely considered the best of the best.

You can’t not take a moment to gaze at this one. If you like your Les Pauls on the highly figured side then well this is a no brainer. There is a reason these guitars are regarded highly, it looks a million dollars.

Its obviously been very well cared for, almost blemish free. It just screams attention to detail and looks totally killer, in fact probably one of the nicest R9’s we have had here.

The neck and fretboard show no signs of use with the frets looking almost new, in fact the whole guitar looks to be near mint condition.

Plastics are unmarked with the hardware only showing slightest blemishing, maybe more from being left in the case than too much use. There is a crack on one of the knobs but we will replace this (and include the original in the case) before shipping as we have a few of these in our parts drawer.

Electronically we have a pair of 57 classic pickups married to some CTS pots. All looks un-touched.

Sonically this guitar ticks quite a few boxes. The guitar has a good weight of 4.2Kg and it certainly has all the sonic hallmarks of a great Les Paul. The neck pickup is smooth and clear and the bridge has plenty of bite without ever sounding harsh or brittle. Mixed together there is plenty of clarity and none of the midrange heaviness you would expect.

Considered by many to be the best of the best especially for the time, this guitar certainly lives up to its billing. If you’re looking for that illusive ‘burst tone, this is surely the place.