The NEW $20,000 Murphy Lab 1959 Limited Edition Brazilian Les Paul... what are your thoughts?

[AA00475Bassman]

lol. Brick N Brew in Franklin NJ. It will be the best Mustang Sally anyone has ever heard

Your doing something 99.9 of the members deep down dream of - to play & entertain !

 

[bursty]

I guess this thread is the same as the one about PAF replicas now. I thought I just wrote this but that was over there...

I just looked up the other thread you mentioned and that is pretty odd; we both posted just a few hours apart lyrical quotes from 'Won't Get Fooled Again'

We're obviously on the same wave length as far as the whole corporate money grab business model ....... you know what they say about great minds

 

[S. Weiger]

I certainly know the history in regards to the way Henry G ran Gibson and the Chapter 7 business also . Edwin Wilson was not treated fairly and that's a fact !

For the record, it's Henry J (Juszkiewicz) ..
My God how this thread reminds me of the good 'ole days back in 2003 with braz board Historics..

 

[modavis99]

Your doing something 99.9 of the members deep down dream of - to play & entertain !

Hey thank you

Just as a quick follow up, I understand the frustration some members express here. $16K is a lot of money. And frankly the $500 Epiphone guitars are perfectly fine to gig with. My son has a $500 Epi 335 that is a nice guitar.

I will say that this Les Paul just feels better made than every other Les Paul I've owned before, which includes probably a dozen or so historics I've bought and sold made between 2006-2022.

I had a 2018 braz that wasn't nearly as good. That one felt like just a run of the mill historic that happened to have a braz board. The lacquer seemed thickly applied, it had the feel of a guitar dipped in plastic - which is my main complaint about most guitars including the USA line.

It feels like Gibson spent a lot of time on this guitar. The hard lacquer, thinly applied, along with the aging gives this guitar a really broken-in feel when it is being played. I think the frustration from some on this board boils down to this: Gibson should make every guitar this good, and should charge less.

Also, just for the record, I'm not a Gibson pickup fan. I have a rant on the other forum about how bad most Gibson pickups sound including the awful-sounding custombuckers -- my opinion. The pickups on this run (A5 custombuckers) are good but they squeal at higher gain (think GnR) so I changed them

 

[bursty]

........ frankly the $500 Epiphone guitars are perfectly fine to gig with. My son has a $500 Epi 335 that is a nice guitar.

I gave a couple guitars to a friend that runs a recording studio and he plays blues gigs at a local pub

One of the guitars I gave him is a completely stock circa 2004 Epiphone Dot (335) and he uses it for his main gigging guitar

 

[MattD1960]

Fair enough. But virtually every company that sells a product follows the formula of producing 'new', 'improved', 'enhanced', 'updated' etc versions of their products. It's a well worn trick. The good news, for those that feel frustrated with "last year's model" is that you'll never fall for this marketing tactic again (I hope). And BTW...your "last year's model" is every bit as good as the new one.

I personally dont have issue with this just for the record, was only trying to distill what i believe is the cause of the upheaval. That being said I also think alot of people confalt the Reissue guitars with the real thing more often then they realize. the idea of "planned obsolecense" isnt new at all (i phone 15) but these customers want their R.... to hold up for all eternity like the real deal vintage counterparts do but thats impossible. I for one think what gibson is doing now is Fing awesome and i cant afford any of it. They are only making what we have all said we wanted

 

[Carlosdjimenez]

Smart move from Gibson. Makes the regular Murphy labs suddenly affordable.

 

[garywright]

pros can write it off

 

[El Gringo]

You should get 30K for it if you list it as:
Pre-20k Braz 'good woody' year.

I am always impressed Ren and this post shows off your wit

 

[El Gringo]

Women pay more for limited edition handbags....not because there are more costly parts, or because they hold more stuff...but because buyers respond to "rare", "limited edition", etc etc.
People pay MUCH more for mined diamonds when compared to lab built diamonds when in fact they are exactly the same. Arguably, the lab built diamonds are better because they don't contain flaws. But people pay alot more for mined ones because of perception. Period.
Brazilian fingerboards are not gonna transform a guitar into a killer. And you'd have no way to prove the wood is the reason. Yet, people still gobble it up, because it's limited.
Costs of parts has very little to do with pricing. (see "Marketing 101") When you finally learn this, markets will make alot more sense and become easier to navigate.

Gibson exists to make money. If they can sell a bunch of these (and I have not doubt they will sell all of them), good for them. They're smart. And I bet everyone who buys one will wind up fine (or better) financially in the long run. These brazilian runs have always done well as collectors pieces. (Limited edition Nike air jordan, anyone?)

Worth getting upset over? Not in the slightest. If you want one, buy it. If you don't want one, don't buy it. If you only care about utility, buy an Epiphone Les Paul for $700 and put in some Throbaks or Seymour Duncans. If a $9000 Les Paul historic makes sense to you, but you scoff at a $20k LP (really $16k), perhaps it's time to take a hard look at your own internal reasoning.

Well said =Bravo

 

[These go to 11]

Hey thank you

Just as a quick follow up, I understand the frustration some members express here. $16K is a lot of money. And frankly the $500 Epiphone guitars are perfectly fine to gig with. My son has a $500 Epi 335 that is a nice guitar.

I will say that this Les Paul just feels better made than every other Les Paul I've owned before, which includes probably a dozen or so historics I've bought and sold made between 2006-2022.

I had a 2018 braz that wasn't nearly as good. That one felt like just a run of the mill historic that happened to have a braz board. The lacquer seemed thickly applied, it had the feel of a guitar dipped in plastic - which is my main complaint about most guitars including the USA line.

It feels like Gibson spent a lot of time on this guitar. The hard lacquer, thinly applied, along with the aging gives this guitar a really broken-in feel when it is being played. I think the frustration from some on this board boils down to this: Gibson should make every guitar this good, and should charge less.

Also, just for the record, I'm not a Gibson pickup fan. I have a rant on the other forum about how bad most Gibson pickups sound including the awful-sounding custombuckers -- my opinion. The pickups on this run (A5 custombuckers) are good but they squeal at higher gain (think GnR) so I changed them

I am not gonna lie when i seen them i really wanted one in a bad way! They are friggin works of art IMHO and if i had the money i would get one. You only live once and since i will never own a old
original and a really good replica is a lot of hassle these new ML 59's are the bomb! Greg Koch has played a few on WW's video's and they are impressive to say the least.
Congrats on getting one!

 

[ADP]

I am not gonna lie when i seen them i really wanted one in a bad way! They are friggin works of art IMHO and if i had the money i would get one. You only live once and since i will never own a old
original and a really good replica is a lot of hassle these new ML 59's are the bomb! Greg Koch has played a few on WW's video's and they are impressive to say the least.
Congrats on getting one!

Don't hold back, I think you can lower your standards a bit further to a True Historic...

 

[jb_abides]

It's academic to me as there are zero lefty guitars in the run.

I've got several Brazilians from the 2003 era, and while I love them, there is no tone mojo from Brazilian over similarly constructed Indian rosewood histories reissues [mine span from 2002 through to the current era.]

I've seen and held ample righty Murphy Lab guitars which have come thru my local dealers; I've got 5 dealers within 45 minutes and ~10 dealers within 90 minutes. I personally like the razor-era more, especially the worn necks of that era. Overall, I find the appearance of the Murphy Lab ones a bit 'meh'... granted, I never hankered for a relic, but am not opposed to a great one coming into my world. I stupidly passed on a lefty Rossington, because money was tight. Coulda-Shoulda. Oh Well.

Given what I've seen so far, and with the ongoing question mark over long-term duration of the new finish formulation, I am sticking pat with VOS even for my planned M2M orders, TBD.

What I like MOST about this run is Tom's sprays and colors, executed on well-chosen tops. To me, that's the stand-out feature. That alone isn't worth a $10-15k upcharge; it can be argued neither is Brazilian. That said, the market has been made and is being made. People have bought them... I mean, people have bought NFTs for millions, FFS! I am guessing there's some negotiating room and we'll see more if they remain unsold and the economy takes a turn. But the limited edition collector appellation allows Gibson to get these prices in today's market. And this is a collectible that you can't easily tell if it's been slightly tarnished with wear. Thus can go from lighted wall hanger to pub or church stage, wipe and return. No worries. That will all change if the finish flakes enough to unreasonably degrade over time.

If that puts more dollars in their coffers to keep the Gibson brand functioning into the future, keep on. If it allows them to more easily fund production improvements or product design that trickles down through Custom Shop into Epiphone, keep on. I neither begrudge Gibson for making these nor folks who are enjoying them. No reason folks can't enjoy a special run... Go, great guns.

 

[These go to 11]

Don't hold back, I think you can lower your standards a bit further to a True Historic...

C'mon everyone knows a TH is nothing more than a Historic with upgraded plastics! I already got one of those!

 

[jimmi]

Interesting thread. The economics just don’t make sense to me though. The 2018 Brazilian board guitars cost less than these and have the same top carve etc right? Additionally, I personally can’t pay the price I could pay for a vintage guitar for a replica no matter how good that replica is. A copy is still a copy even if it is a great copy. I just bought a 50s conversion that is mostly original 50s minus electronics including a Brazilian board and original gold finish for not much more than these list for. Maybe it is what it costs for Gibson to make these at the right margin. They do have an issue that every year they are competing with a growing used market.

I have several reissues and I actually really like them. At least two I would put in the same league as an instrument as my vintage guitars after changing the electronics which imho is where the biggest hurdle is for them. I would much prefer that be right than the board be Brazilian.

 

[MarcB]

competing with a growing used market.

Bravo.. .. glad someone has pointed this out.

 

[clapciadrix]

Hey thank you

Just as a quick follow up, I understand the frustration some members express here. $16K is a lot of money. And frankly the $500 Epiphone guitars are perfectly fine to gig with. My son has a $500 Epi 335 that is a nice guitar.

I will say that this Les Paul just feels better made than every other Les Paul I've owned before, which includes probably a dozen or so historics I've bought and sold made between 2006-2022.

I had a 2018 braz that wasn't nearly as good. That one felt like just a run of the mill historic that happened to have a braz board. The lacquer seemed thickly applied, it had the feel of a guitar dipped in plastic - which is my main complaint about most guitars including the USA line.

It feels like Gibson spent a lot of time on this guitar. The hard lacquer, thinly applied, along with the aging gives this guitar a really broken-in feel when it is being played. I think the frustration from some on this board boils down to this: Gibson should make every guitar this good, and should charge less.

Also, just for the record, I'm not a Gibson pickup fan. I have a rant on the other forum about how bad most Gibson pickups sound including the awful-sounding custombuckers -- my opinion. The pickups on this run (A5 custombuckers) are good but they squeal at higher gain (think GnR) so I changed them

Thank you for breaking down the actual guitar. I get that the price is controversial, but Im really interested in the guitar itself.
maybe you can share some pictures?

 

[jimmi]

Bravo.. .. glad someone has pointed this out.

I will illustrate their problem. I have owned about 16 Gibsons starting from the first one I bought in 1985 or so in middle school. I have never bought a new one.

 

[F-Hole]

I have never bought a new one.

I’ve been given four, all free. Gave them all away. That tells you something.

 

[modavis99]

Thank you for breaking down the actual guitar. I get that the price is controversial, but Im really interested in the guitar itself.
maybe you can share some pictures?

Sure. I gigged it tonight and the bar live-streamed it. If allowed I’ll post a link. Otherwise here are a few photos