It's easy for some of us on the West Coast to forget the renewed interest in stars and stripes themes in the months following 9/11/2001. Gibson's Custom Shop helped fill that need with an excellent version of the iconic Les Paul Standard. This one has been played quite a bit, so there are some small dings to the lacquer finish and some light scratches, but it's clearly never suffered any serious bouncing or whacking, and the frets don't have much wear so they've got a lot of miles left (note the nice Brazilian rosewood fretboard). Everything appears to be original with no signs of repairs, the Gibson Custom Shop case is in equally good condition and both warranty and customer care papers are included.