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

review
GIBSON MURPHY LAB
82
GUITARIST AUGUST 2021
give or take a hair’s breadth, the ES-335’s
seems slimmer due to its perceived extra
length and the guitar’s much bigger body.
But in reality there’s all but nothing in it.
Our Junior’s neck is marginally deeper, but
it’s the fuller shoulders that really provide
the added girth.
The guitars’ fingerboard edges are
beautifully rolled, but the corners of the top
nuts are left a little sharp, and if anything
the edge rolling on the Junior is slightly less
uniform. You can’t help thinking that a little
more time fettling these would really make
a difference. Other than that, they offer a
delightful and fuss-free playing experience.
With our trusty Blues Junior fully
warmed up and a classic drive pedal
(Analog Man King Of Tone) in line, it’s
time to hear what these can do. First up is
the ES-335. Played clean and with just a
hint of reverb, it’s a gloriously rewarding
set of tones. Every switch position offers
a distinct voice and all the old clichés slip
smoothly off the tongue: crisp and nicely
nasal for the bridge, quacky and chiming for
both, and smooth and plummy for the neck.
Turning down the volumes there’s a dip in
treble response but in a really pleasing way;
the taper is remarkably smooth and, while
the volume itself doesn’t drop significantly
until below 7 or so, we could find a place for
every single sound – on every single switch
setting. Particularly sweet was both pickups
on, bridge up full and neck at about 7. Fruity!
A guitar like this gives its best when its voice
is left to breathe, so a hint of King Of Tone
simply ramped up what we already had by a
few notches. This left bends free to sing and
vibrato sounding very musical.
Swapping instruments and running
through the same sequence of settings,
everything about the ’59 Les Paul seems
tighter, that big lump of mahogany and
maple perhaps lending a bit more muscle.
The tones are darker, too, but not by much
– the Les Paul makes the ES-335 seem
more ‘scooped’ overall, and it’s that extra
kick of middle that provides the punch. At
extreme volumes, we’d guess that where
the 335 might lose control and start banshee
howling, the Les Paul would simply stay
calm and carry on screaming.
On to the Junior and, even before we plug
in, there’s noticeable power to its acoustic
response with a quickly rising sustain tail.
It’s very similar to our original ’57, which
simply sounds a little more mature and
slightly smoother with less ‘youthful’ attack.
With its controls full up, there really is
nothing wrong with the new Junior’s voice.
It’s nicely mid-focused and edgy, raw and
really quite ballsy. Our real example does
sound very similar, with a few exceptions:
it has a sixth gear – the new ’57 sounds like
the real thing with the volume just slightly
pulled back. Adding a touch more gain, not
least from any simple boost/overdrive, and
you really do get close.
However, the way the controls work is
noticeably different. The new ’57 model
has slightly less range and lacks the ability
to produce the surprising clear and clean
tones of the original with the volume pulled
back, not to mention the tone. It’s this
interaction that’s less pronounced on the
From the front we’d
be hard-pressed to
tell this Murphy Lab
Les Paul apart from
a genuine ’59
The beating heart of the Junior
is its single P-90 pickup under
that ‘dog-ear’ cover, matched
by the even more simplistic
wrapover bridge
GIT474.rev_gibson.indd 82GIT474.rev_gibson.indd 82 09/06/2021 20:0609/06/2021 20:06