gibson br9 and br9 amp. good price?

Michael Butler · From: California, USA

this is from a local craigslist. this person has posted a ton of things and they all need some sort of TLC.

i already have a later model, 1953, br9 amp but to have a set would be great.

should i ask to see the pickup? i've heard that some people will take the old out and replace it with whatever.

thanks,
mikeB

https://ventura.craigslist.org/msg/6013395107.html
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Nathan Laudenbach · From: Montana

Swapping out the pickup would be a good thing.

Bill Creller · From: Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)

I always hear that the BR9 had the P90 pickup. Don't know about that, even though I had two BR9s. I bought the first one new, in 1947.
Gibson must have made thousands of those, and a figure I remember from someone on here was 15,000 !!

Prices for those is all over the place, on Ebay...Last one I had I sold for $125 bucks..

Jeff Mead · From: London, England

That price looks about right but isn't an amazing deal. The guitar goes for around $300 and the amp for about the same.

You would need to figure in a new set of tuners for the guitar for sure. You can get an aged set, to match the guitar for about $75, I think.

You're right, a lot of people "harvest" the pickups from these and also the plastic jack plate as it is exactly the same part as was used on a vintage Les Paul.

They are great steels though. First lap steel I ever bought and I still use it a lot - even though I now have a few multi-neck instruments, I nearly always take it if I'm doing a guitar gig and sneak it in on a few songs.

Jack Hanson · From: San Luis Valley, USA

The Kluson tuner strips themselves should be just fine. They definitely need buttons, which will take a couple of hours time and cost a minimal amount of dollars to replace. The first BR-9s had the Gibson "wide oval" or "racetrack" pickup; the later ones had a P-90. Gibson P-90s mounted on lap steels had wider-spaced pole pieces than those mounted on Spanish guitars; they are not interchangeable. Can't definitively tell from the photos, but that one appears to be one of the earlier models. Both types of pickups sound wonderful to my old ears when they're working properly.

A nice set, but not uncommon by any means. BR-9s were marketed as Gibson's bottom-of-the-line student instrument. They were available from the late '40s through the late '50s, and boatloads of 'em were produced in three distinct variations over that time span. Both the instrument and amp appear to be in excellent physical condition. Not a smoking hot deal, but not outrageously priced either.

Judson Adair · From: Oklahoma, USA

I have one that was my wife's grandfathers. I have the previous generation amp with it. I am not really a fan of the guitar. The spacing is too wide for my taste and the tone is only kind of okay. If you are looking for an inexpensive collectors piece to hang on your wall they look cool but if you are looking for a player I think you could find something better for the price.

That being said it is the guitar that got me into playing steel. I also think it is neat for when my son gets older to have his great grandfathers guitar.

Michael Butler · From: California, USA

thanks to all for the comments. i appreciate it.

i did notice that he indicated that there was an electronic problem with the guitar. so, that could be the pickup, the wiring or the input jack. all should be repairable under the pickup cover. that assumes that the pickup is not dead. i have replaced buttons on tuners before so that shouldn't be a problem.

thanks again. i think i'll give it a while and see if the price is lowered.
mikeB
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