Gibson Les Paul Electric Guitar Formerly Owned by Gary Lee Conner of the Screaming Trees

This Gibson Les Paul Custom electric guitar with a large number 2 sticker under the bridge was played by Gary Lee Conner (b. 1962) of the musical band Screaming Trees. This single cutaway, solid body guitar is constructed of maple and lightweight mahogany with an ebony finish fingerboard. 

Taking their name from a guitar distortion pedal, Screaming Trees were formed in Ellensburg, Washington in 1985 by singer Mark Lanegan (b. 1964), guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bassist Van Conner (b. 1967), and drummer Mark Pickerel (birthdate unknown). Barrett Martin (b. 1967) replaced Pickerel in 1992 and was the drummer on the band’s most commercially successful albums.  

Screaming Trees is one of the bands that pioneered the Grunge musical style. Despite finding early success and being one of the first Grunge bands to sign with a major label, Epic Records in 1989, due to their erratic output, Screaming Trees never saw the same level of success as other Northwest bands like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam. 

Following the June 25, 2000, opening concert for the Experience Music Project, now MoPOP, the group announced their official breakup. After the breakup, Lanegan pursued a successful solo career and worked on other projects including Queens of the Stone Age and, after moving to Ireland in 2021 announced a new collaborative project Dark Mark vs. Skeleton Joe with Joe Cardamone of The Icarus Line. Van Conner went on to form the bands VALIS and Musk Ox, and Gary Lee Conner formed a new band in 2010, Microdot Gnome, and in 2020 released two solo endeavors, Revelations in Fuzz and The Opposite of Christmas.