Used Gibson Custom 2014 Gibson Custom Shop Wildwood Spec Featherweight R9 1959 Les Paul - Throback Pickups

What This Guitar Is
This is one of the most sought-after configurations a 1959 Les Paul reissue can come in. A Gibson Custom Shop Historic Featherweight Wildwood Spec R9 at under 8 pounds is rare on its own. One that has been upgraded with a certified ThroBak SLE-101 LTD Custom Limited Series PAF set is a different conversation entirely. This guitar checks every box that serious R9 collectors and players look for, and the combination of the Wildwood Featherweight platform with ThroBak's top-tier PAF reproductions puts it in a very small category of instruments.
The Wildwood Featherweight Platform
The Wildwood Spec Featherweight program was built around a simple idea: hand-select every piece of wood in the guitar for the lowest possible weight without sacrificing tone. Necks, fingerboards, bodies, tops, and even the small mahogany wings glued to the headstock were individually chosen from the lightest and most resonant available stock. The body is solid non-weight-relieved mahogany, meaning no chambering or weight relief of any kind, just a naturally lightweight piece of old-growth mahogany that happens to be both resonant and light. The top is carved figured East Coast maple, which Wildwood specifically favored for the 59 Featherweight run because it pairs with lightweight mahogany to produce an unusually open, airy tone with exceptional sustain.
At 7 lbs 14.5 oz this guitar is exceptional. Most R9s run between 8.5 and 9.5 lbs. Finding one under 8 pounds with a non-chambered body and a highly figured top is genuinely difficult, and this one comes in well under that threshold.
The ThroBak SLE-101 LTD Custom Limited Series PAF Set
The original Custom Buckers that came in the Wildwood Spec Featherweights are excellent pickups. The previous owner took it a step further. The guitar currently wears a certified ThroBak Electronics SLE-101+ LTD in the bridge and SLE-101 LTD in the neck, both from ThroBak's Limited Series PAF line, certified July 24, 2009, with the full documentation card included in the case.
ThroBak SLE-101 pickups are wound on the same Leesona 102 and original Gibson Kalamazoo-made Slug 101 winders used to wind PAFs at the Parsons Street plant in the 1950s. Wire lots 30027 and 50026 are documented on the certification card. The bobbins are butyrate, tooled to vintage specs. The baseplates are vintage PAF style, stamped in the USA. The covers are nickel plated at the same Kalamazoo shop that plated original PAF covers. Alnico 2 magnets are custom cast in the USA to vintage formulations. The result is a pickup that does not approximate vintage PAF tone, it replicates the construction, materials, and winding process as closely as modern manufacturing allows.
The SLE-101 LTD Custom set is a matched pair voiced specifically to work together, with the bridge wound slightly hotter than the neck to balance output across both positions. These are not pickups that are easy to find on the used market as a certified matched set with full documentation.
Construction Details
The neck is one-piece mahogany with an early 50s rounded profile, measuring approximately .900 at the first fret and 1.010 at the twelfth, which is the full, satisfying C shape players associate with the best sounding R9s. The fingerboard is one-piece rosewood with a 12-inch radius, cellulose trapezoid inlays, and 22 frets at 24.75-inch scale. The headstock uses a holly veneer as per the original 1959 spec. Binding is slightly darker single-ply cream on both the top and neck, period correct. The bridge is a Gibson ABR-1 with a lightweight aluminum stop tail mounted on Tone Pros long studs and anchors, which improve resonance and sustain transfer compared to standard studs. Tuners are Kluson Deluxe with tulip buttons. Electronics are CTS pots and Bumble Bee capacitors throughout. Hardware is nickel.
The finish is gloss nitrocellulose lacquer in Amber Burst, showing the warm amber center of the heavily flamed East Coast maple top transitioning to a deep cherry red at the edges and back. The flame on this top is exceptional and photographs well across the full body.
What's Included
The guitar comes with the original Wildwood Spec Gibson Custom Shop hardshell case with the Wildwood Spec badge on the exterior and burgundy lining, the Gibson Custom Shop COA, and the original ThroBak certification card documenting the pickup set with signatures, wire lots, winder identification, and warranty information.

Complete Specs
Model: Historic Featherweight Wildwood Spec 1959 Les Paul Standard Gloss, R9
Year: 2014
Serial Number: 942806
Weight: 7 lbs 14.5 oz
Finish: Amber Burst, Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer
Top: Carved Highly Figured East Coast Maple
Body: Solid Non-Weight Relieved Mahogany
Neck: One-Piece Mahogany, Early 50s Rounded Profile, Approximately .900 First Fret / 1.010 Twelfth Fret
Fingerboard: One-Piece Rosewood, 12-Inch Radius, Cellulose Trapezoid Inlays
Scale Length: 24.75 Inches
Nut Width: 1 11/16 Inches
Frets: 22
Headstock: Holly Veneer
Binding: Slightly Darker Single-Ply Cream, Top and Neck
Pickups: ThroBak SLE-101+ LTD (Bridge) and SLE-101 LTD (Neck), Custom Limited Series PAF, Certified July 24 2009, Wire Lots 30027 and 50026, Leesona 102 and Slug 101 Winders
Controls: Two Volume, Two Tone, CTS Pots, Bumble Bee Capacitors, Three-Way Toggle with Thin Washer and Jackplate
Bridge: Gibson ABR-1
Tailpiece: Gibson Lightweight Aluminum Stop Tail, Tone Pros Long Studs and Anchors
Tuners: Kluson Deluxe
Hardware: Nickel
Includes: Original Wildwood Spec Gibson Custom Shop Hardshell Case, COA, ThroBak Certification Card with Full Documentation