Gibson Murphy Lab '59 Les Paul Standard Reissue Ultra Heavy Aged

85
AUGUST 2021 GUITARIST
review
GIBSON MURPHY LAB
PROS It’s a fabulous example
of a dot-neck ES-335 that plays
and sounds amazing
CONS An almost-new looking
guitar with big lacquer cracks
looks spoilt not enhanced;
unaged plastic parts; why
Ebony, not Tobacco Sunburst?
PROS Believable fi nish; great
weight; big neck; playability;
sound is close to the real thing
CONS Unaged plastic parts;
’board edges too sharp in
places; P-90 could do with a
shim; cost of ageing elevates
the price; only one colour
PROS Gibson at its best; largely
one of the most convincing
ageing jobs we’ve seen;
stunning sounds and playability
CONS It comes at a price; it’s
diffi cult to make bare wood
areas look convincing
GIBSON MURPHY
LAB ’59 ES-335
REISSUE ULTRA-
LIGHT AGED
PRICE: £5,099 (inc Lifton pink-
lined case)
ORIGIN: USA
TYPE: Double-cutaway, semi-
solid electric
BODY: Laminated maple/poplar/
maple with f-holes and solid
maple centre block
NECK: Mahogany, 59 ‘medium C’
profi le with hide glue join
SCALE LENGTH: 624mm (24.57”)
NUT/WIDTH: Nylon/42.85mm
FINGERBOARD: Bound dark
Indian rosewood, pearloid dot
markers, 305mm (12”) radius
FRETS: 22, medium/jumbo
HARDWARE: Nickel-plated
ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge,
lightweight aluminium stopbar
tailpiece, Kluson vintage, single
line, single ring deluxe tuners
STRING SPACING, BRIDGE:
51.5mm
ELECTRICS: 2x Gibson
Custombucker Alnico 3 pickups,
2x volumes, 2x tones, 3-way
pickup selector; CTS 500k pots
with paper-in-oil capacitors
WEIGHT (kg/lb): 5.55/7.82
RANGE OPTIONS: See Murphy
Options box
LEFT-HANDERS: No
FINISH: Ebony (as reviewed).
Vintage Natural and Watermelon
Red are also available (see
Murphy Options) – ultra-light
aged nitrocellulose
GIBSON MURPHY
LAB ’57 LES PAUL
JUNIOR SINGLE
CUT REISSUE
HEAVY AGED
PRICE: £5,499 (inc Lifton pink-
lined case)
ORIGIN: USA
TYPE: Single-cutaway, single
pickup solidbody
BODY: 1 mahogany
NECK: 1 mahogany, ‘Chunky C’
profi le, glued-in
SCALE LENGTH: 624mm
(24.57”)
NUT/WIDTH: Nylon/42.85mm
FINGERBOARD: Rosewood,
pearloid dot inlays, 305mm (12”)
radius
FRETS: 22, medium
HARDWARE: Wrapover bridge/
tailpiece Kluson strip tuners with
white buttons – Murphy Lab
heavy aged nickel
STRING SPACING, BRIDGE:
50mm
ELECTRICS: Custom Dogear
P-90, volume and tone controls.
CTS 500k pots with paper-in-oil
capacitors
WEIGHT (kg/lb): 3.42 /7.5
RANGE OPTIONS: See Murphy
Options box. The standard
Custom Shop non-aged 1957 Les
Paul Junior Single Cut Reissue
VOS (in TV Yellow or Vintage
Sunburst) costs £3,299
LEFT-HANDERS: No
FINISH: TV Yellow (as reviewed)
– heavy aged nitro-cellulose
GIBSON MURPHY
LAB ’59 LES PAUL
STANDARD
REISSUE ULTRA
HEAVY AGED
PRICE: £9,199 (inc aged Lifton
pink-lined case)
ORIGIN: USA
TYPE: Single-cutaway, solid
body electric
BODY: Solid mahogany with
fl amed maple cap, hide glued
NECK: Mahogany, 59 ‘medium C’
profi le with long tenon and hide
glue join
SCALE LENGTH: 624mm (24.57”)
NUT/WIDTH: Nylon, 42.85mm
FINGERBOARD: Bound dark
Indian rosewood, cellulose nitrate
trapezoid, 305mm (12”) radius
FRETS: 22, medium/jumbo
HARDWARE: Heavy aged nickel
plated ABR-1 tune-o-matic bridge,
lightweight aluminium stopbar
tailpiece, Kluson vintage, single
line, single ring deluxe tuners,
authentic profi le pickup covers
STRING SPACING, BRIDGE:
51.5mm
ELECTRICS: 2x Gibson
Custombucker Alnico 3 pickups,
2x volumes, 2x tones, 3-way
pickup selector; CTS 500k pots
with paper-in-oil capacitors
WEIGHT (kg/lb): 5.55/7.82
RANGE OPTIONS: See Murphy
Options box
LEFT-HANDERS: No
FINISH: Lemon Burst (as
reviewed). Various colours
available (see Murphy Options) –
ultra-heavy aged nitro-cellulose
8
8
9
will admit that we’ve all seen reliced
guitars and commented that “you’d never
see ageing like that in real life…” only for
a guitar with exactly that look to turn up
the next day. What’s more, Tom Murphy
really does know his onions, and Gibson
has many more originals at its disposal for
reference than we’re ever likely to see.
The Murphy Lab is in its infancy. We’d
guess that Gibson will see which models
fly and which ones tend to hang around,
and then amend the line-up accordingly.
With that in mind, we’d probably wait for
the right ES-335 to come along. As for the
’59 Les Paul, this one really is closer to an
original than we’ve ever seen before. In
fact, from the front we’d be hard-pressed
to tell it apart from a genuine ’59.
It’s important to remember that what
you get here is a vintage-style guitar with
no issues of provenance or originality.
Pots are crackle-free, there are no fret
issues and, to be frank, a few more minutes
on a setup bench – as with virtually any
new guitar – would raise their game even
further. Expensive and not quite finished
they may be, but you could also argue that
they’re the closest most of us will ever get
to the real thing.
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VIDEO DEMO http://bit.ly/guitaristextra
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