1990 Gibson Les Paul Custom Heritage Cherry Sunburst w/Case

This 1990 Les Paul Custom is in good condition and all original, and it plays the way you'd hope — it came in set up well, with no electronic or structural issues. The top is the highlight: it's held up beautifully, with only some very minor swirl marks under close light and the Heritage Cherry Sunburst still rich and even.

The back is where this guitar has earned its keep. There's a fair amount of buckle rash across the lower back, along with general swirling and a handful of scratches — none of it through to wood, but it's there and visible, and the photos show it honestly. The back of the headstock has a couple of light scratches, and there's a small ding on the back of the neck that's hardly noticeable in hand. The pickguard shows some wear. The neck pickup mounting ring has a crack but is holding together fine and stable — a cheap, easy swap down the road if a future owner wants it perfect, but not something that affects playability now.

It weighs 9 lbs 10 oz, which is on the more manageable side for a Custom of this era.

Included is the original Gibson brown hardshell case. The case shows honest wear but no functional issues — latches and hinges all good. No COA or other paperwork.

The Les Paul Custom has always been the dressed-up version of the breed — the "Black Beauty" lineage, except here it's wearing a Heritage Cherry Sunburst over a maple top, which is a genuinely great look when the cherry hasn't faded. This one hasn't. You get the full Custom treatment: ebony fingerboard, pearl block inlays, multi-ply binding on the body, neck, and headstock, the split-diamond headstock inlay, and gold hardware throughout.

It's also a 1990, which puts it squarely in what collectors have come to call Gibson's "good wood" era — a stretch of production from this period that's earned a strong reputation for the quality of the timber and the way these guitars turned out. That's not marketing; it's a view you'll hear repeated across the vintage community, and it's part of why early-'90s Customs get the attention they do. Mahogany body with a maple top, set mahogany neck, the long sustain and thick midrange that's the whole reason people reach for a Custom in the first place. If you already know what a Les Paul Custom is and does, this is a clean, original example of one from a desirable year.

Body: Mahogany with maple top
Neck: Mahogany, '50s-style rounded profile
Fingerboard: Ebony, pearl block inlays
Frets: 22, medium jumbo
Scale Length: 24.75"
Nut Width: 1 11/16"
Binding: Multi-ply — body, neck, and headstock
Headstock Inlay: Split diamond
Pickups: 2x Gibson humbuckers, gold covers
Controls: 2 Volume, 2 Tone, 3-way toggle
Bridge: Tune-o-Matic
Tailpiece: Stopbar
Tuners: Gibson, gold
Hardware: Gold
Finish: Heritage Cherry Sunburst, nitrocellulose lacquer
Case: Original Gibson hardshell