(SOLD) Moon LB-91 Limited Cherry Red 1991
Moon LB-91, cherry finish, made in Japan 1991. Moon are a small custom builder based in Tokyo. They rose to prominence in the 1980s when Larry Graham, who more or less invented the slap bass technique, started playing their excellent JJ series basses. They build to order, so if you've got the $3-5k and don't mind waiting the 12-18 months, you can score one of these in your preferred colour and hardware combo. Moon made 150 of these LB-91 guitars as a limited run offering in 1991, so there's not many kicking around in the world. It's approximately Les Paul-ish, although there's shades of MIJ classics like the Aria PE series visible in the shape too. It's super lightweight: at 3.3kg, your shoulders are really getting off easy. The body is very resonant and feels really alive in the hands, every little note rings true. The pickups are a low-noise P90 style by Bartolini. They're superbly clear, with a snappy attack and singing top end, balanced by a satisfying girth through the bottom end. It makes for a touch sensitive, exciting tone; I really like it. It's not quite clear whether the pickup covers were black originally and have been painted cream, or were cream originally and have worn to show the black underneath... either way they look a bit weird, but it's a vibe. I really like this guitar, it sounds and feels fantastic and is certainly suitably offbeat to tickle my perpetually contrarian tendencies.
Model: Moon LB-91
Made: Tokyo Japan, 1991 (serial L106017)
Finish: transparent red, gloss nitro, single ply guard
Body: mahogany
Neck: mahogany, rosewood board, 24.8” scale, 12” radius, slim C profile
Weight: 3.300kg
Mods: pickguard and truss cover removed and missing, one knob blacked over, pickup covers painted
Pickups: Bartolini low noise soapbar style x2
Case: none
Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. The headstock has dimples on the end and back and some minor scuffs on the front, not also the truss cover is missing. The neck is clean and smooth in the hands, minor dimples on the back only. The back has a bald patch up from the switch cover, as well as a decent amount of scuffs and dimples around the whole body, mostly along the belly carve and in the elbow area. The sides have minor scuffs around the whole body, they're most notable in the elbow area and top horn. The front has some scuffs around the knobs, behind the bridge and in the elbow area, as well as some dimples on the top horn and play wear above and below the strings. Note the guard is missing. Overall: good condition (7/10).
Playing condition notes: Action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electrics tested and working properly. The frets have some normal wear but they're fairly even with no major buzz issues, 7/10 for fret life left. Wearing fresh 10/46 strings.