Gibson LP Special, 1999, black. This guitar is spot on for punk! I'm sure it could handle other stuff very happily too, but it really oozes punk. Plug it in, smash out some big, fat rhythm chords; the harder you hit this, the more it sings. This dates to early 1999. The late 90s is generally regarded to be one of Gibson's better periods for consistent build quality, and you can feel that with this in the hands. The slim 60s style neck is perfectly intuitive, and combined with the slim and fairly light body, it's very comfortable to play and move around with. We arranged some pretty comprehensive pro luthier work on this one on arrival: full fret dress, repairing a minor neck crack, new bridge, inserts, tailpiece and tuners, replaced jack and plate. After all that, it's playing like an absolute dream. The board has some super cool natural wear from play; a theme continued throughout: this guitar hasn't been sitting under a bed. The finish is looking awesome for a bit of wear-and-tear, it really completes the experience: this is a take-no-prisoners noise machine.

Model: Gibson Les Paul Special SL
Made: USA, 1999 (serial 90429342)
Finish: black
Body: mahogany, unchambered, slim profile with body contour
Neck: mahogany, rosewood board
Mods: bridge, tailpiece and inserts replaced with new Gotoh hardware, tuners replaced, jackplate replaced, Switchcraft jack installed
Pickups: original Gibson P-90s
Case: reasonable quality padded gig bag

Cosmetic condition notes: moderate finish wear. You can see the grain peeking through the thin finish. There's a bunch of minor scratches and dimples around the body, most notably in the 'buckle rash' zone. The back of the neck has some odd scratches near the 12-15 fret area, but they don't affect play. The fingerboard has some proper wear, there's indents in the rosewood on the first few frets (looks awesome, can't feel them during play). Overall: fair condition (6/10).

Playing condition notes: Neck is straight, action is low, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electrics tested and working properly. Frets have just had a full luthier fret-dress, so they're perfectly even with heaps of life, 9/10. There's a professionally repaired crack in the neck, not a full headstock break, but my luthier assures me it's very much structurally sound after his expert repair.