Collector's Choice #9, aka "The Believer Burst" Electric Guitar

As part of its Collector's Choice Series, Gibson Custom is pleased to offer Collector's Choice #9, a run of no more than 100 replicas of the original 1959 Les Paul #9-0850 aka "Believer Burst" as its been named by it's current owner, Vic DaPra. Among one of the most aesthetically beautiful examples of an original in the series, this special guitar has been recreated based on unrestricted access to the original, allowing the Gibson Custom to capture all of its details, well beyond those only experienced with the eyes. From its classic, full, round neck, to a tone that's described as "an amazing balance of boldness and clarity", each replica is crafted to capture a complete representation of the original. All of its wear and fad are presented to match the guitar's current-day condition, allowing a few collectors and players to truly experience a very special guitar from Gibson's past.

Gibson Custom captures all the aesthetic glory and tone of this exceptional guitar in a very limited run of up to 100, hand-aged and meticulously crafted instruments.

History of the original guitar:
In 1980, a vintage guitar dealer from Southern California placed an advertisement in Guitar Player Magazine, inadvertently creating an obssesion. The ad featured a 1959 Gibson Les Paul serial number 9-0850, one of hte most spectacularly beautiful of its kind. When the issue hit the newsstands, no one was more taken by it than Vic DaPra. "The top was mind-blowing," he recalled. "I knew it was one of the top five bursts in the world and I couldn't take my eyes off of it; the slight fade to the cherry finish, the nice wide chevron. I wanted that guitar...badly." So began a quest that lasted nearly 30 years, when Vic finally had the opportunity to add this exquisite guitar to his collection. He had come close once before in 1985 when it appeared in another vintage guitar shop in the South, but was sold to a collector in Sweden. In 2008, the guitar reappeared in the USA and Vic made sure that it didn't slip past him again. When Vic's book, Burst Believers, was published in 2013, he knew exactly which guitar was going to adorn the cover.