Purchased from a retail guitar shop this last year for my personal collection. Life events have caused me to list some of my collection, check for others listed here on Reverb as well. Even though it’s a 2012, it’s brand new. Still has all the hang-tags and plastic on the Gibson logo! Of course 100% original with the exception of new strings put on before shipping to me. This is the R7 with the beautiful chocolate dark back and nice chunky neck. No excuses on this one. Clean, perfect condition with the original Gibson CS certificate, OHSC and case candy.From Gibson: At the direction of legendary Gibson President Ted McCarty, Gibson engineer Seth Lover began working on a tone circuit with hum-cancelling capabilities sometime in 1954, applying for a U.S. design patent – hence the name “Patent Applied For,” or “PAF” – on June 22, 1955. By early 1957, the standard double-coil version of the humbucker pickup had begun to appear on Gibson ES-175s and ES-350Ts, and eventually on the Les Paul Model Goldtops of the same year.