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

review
GIBSON MURPHY LAB
80
GUITARIST AUGUST 2021
In contrast to the ageing on
the ES-335, the ’57 Junior
is heavy aged and certainly
has a lot more wear
This is very well done. Other than that
the bare wood sections on the mahogany
back and neck look a little unnatural. The
grain pores are open and clearly visible,
and on the neck these would have been
filled by 60 years of finger grease, salty
sweat, or solidified grain filler – and had a
belt buckle taken that much finish off the
back, surely the wood itself would have
been a lot more pitted and compressed.
And are those lacquer dings on the back
just a bit too uniform? It’s the same with
the Junior’s heavy ageing. As evocative as it
is, details like those bare wood patches are
simply less believable.
Yes, we’re being extremely picky, but
don’t forget this ’59 costs over £9k. Our
Junior, well, you could probably buy a
‘player’s grade’ original for a similar £5.5k
amount. But Tom Murphy does mention
that the whole ageing process is in a
constant state of flux and that they are
learning new tricks all the time. So perhaps
moans like this will be addressed further
down the line.
Construction
As for the guitars’ construction, they follow
tradition as regards timbers. Hence the
ES-335 features a three-ply maple/poplar/
6
5
5. There’s very little
ageing to be found on
the tuners or headstock
back at the ultra-light
level of this Ebony
ES-335 model
6. Thanks to the strap
button’s placement on
the heel, ES-335s always
hang differently when
on a strap. It’s all part
of the ride!
GIT474.rev_gibson.indd 80GIT474.rev_gibson.indd 80 09/06/2021 20:0609/06/2021 20:06