• THIS IS THE 25th ANNIVERSARY YEAR FOR THE LES PAUL FORUM! PLEASE CELEBRATE WITH US AND SUPPORT US WITH A DONATION TO KEEP US GOING! We've made a large financial investment to convert the Les Paul Forum to this new XenForo platform, and recently moved to a new hosting platform. We also have ongoing monthly operating expenses. THE "DONATIONS" TAB IS NOW WORKING, AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DONATIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO KEEP THE LES PAUL FORUM GOING! Thank you!
  • WE HAVE MOVED THE LES PAUL FORUM TO A NEW HOSTING PROVIDER! Let us know how it is going! Many thanks, Mike Slubowski, Admin
  • Please support our Les Paul Forum Sponsors with your business - Gary's Classic Guitars, Wildwood Guitars, Chicago Music Exchange, Reverb.com, Throbak.com and True Vintage Guitar. From personal experience doing business with all of them, they are first class organizations. Thank you!

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

  • Thread starter Thread starter ForeverFabFour
  • Start date Start date

somebodyelseuk

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 10, 2020
Messages
457
What are my thoughts?
20k for a 6k guitar that I can't take out of the US without buying a load of paperwork, assuming Gibson will actually sell it to me?
No thanks.
 

jimmi

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
Messages
2,084
I’ve been given four, all free. Gave them all away. That tells you something.
Ok…well part of this may be that I (and maybe you) don’t like the feel of any new guitar. New ones always feel stiff to me. Not engaging.The finish feels different and no amount of aging corrects it it just feels like a damaged finish but not old to me. Honestly some dead mint vintage guitars I have played felt similar at times. Tone wise (acousticly) I think you can find some reissues that are fairly close but that are t always the more expensive line guitars and have never been new ones …more like happy accidents that ended up coming together and less consistent than the vintage guitars (not all of which are great either but seem more likely).

I have some reissues that I like…like a lot actually but those two had 15+ years of playing wear when I got them and were standout reissues and I still had to gut them and rebuild all the electronics. Gibson is never really going to be able to replicate a decades old finish on a new guitar but they really could improve the electronics.

But the problem fir Gibson is that you can find a reissue already broken in at a cheaper price point so why pay extra for a new one? And certainly not vintage territory price tag.
 
Last edited:

jimmi

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
Messages
2,084

modavis99

Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Messages
35
I am getting '73 PAGE @ MSG flashbacks!? that is frggin sweet!

Yes. I gigged it last night. This video was taken directly from the bar's live facebook stream. The camera was by a PA speaker, so the mix is a tiny bit off but you get the point. I realize the guitar looks like any other Les Paul from a distance, but that's cool by me. I'm so glad I played this out - no fear from this point going forward.

 

These go to 11

Active member
Joined
Jan 2, 2023
Messages
127
Yes. I gigged it last night. This video was taken directly from the bar's live facebook stream. I realize the guitar looks like any other Les Paul from a distance, but that's cool by me. I'm so glad I played this out - no fear from this point going forward.

It is a incredible guitar don't let anybody rain of your parade!? I wish i could get one!
 

These go to 11

Active member
Joined
Jan 2, 2023
Messages
127
The Brazilian fetish is silly.
There are a lot of pre-'66 Gibson's with Brazilian fretboard for a lot less than 20k.
I own several.
I don't think the higher price on these is due to the braz board only. From what i researched these get a bit more "special attention" than the other CS ML guitars.
Is it just snake oil? only the owners of these would be able to answer that.
 

jb_abides

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
5,730
I don't think the higher price on these is due to the braz board only.

To reiterate: Tom Murphy's personal involvement including exclusive TM-painted colors, the A5 CustomBucker pickup variant, in addition to Brazilian board -- combined with the exclusive limited number -- all factor into Gibson's market pricing justification.

These don't inherently make it 'worth' more or less or anything, they just are; markets being made by buyers and sellers.
 

These go to 11

Active member
Joined
Jan 2, 2023
Messages
127
To reiterate: Tom Murphy's personal involvement including exclusive TM-painted colors, the A5 CustomBucker pickup variant, in addition to Brazilian board -- combined with the exclusive limited number -- all factor into Gibson's market pricing justification.

These don't inherently make it 'worth' more or less or anything, they just are; markets being made by buyers and sellers.
Yeah i hope "Charliechitlins" does not take my post the wrong way! it was not directed at him. I actually agree with his statement about the Braz craze going on. Is Braz a nice feature? Yes!
is it worth a premium? I would pay a extra $100 just to make my R9 that much more accurate to the real 59's ?
 

modavis99

Member
Joined
Aug 31, 2016
Messages
35
Just curious what did your band mates have to say about the Guitar?

that's a long thread but the short answer is that the bass player, who is also a guitar player, just loves the tone out of this guitar. Most SGs/335/Les Pauls all sound kind of the same, but also kind of different. This Les Paul is just a bit more full sounding. The output is huge too, which sometimes needs management. For the record, I installed Jim Wagner / WCR crossroads pickups. Those pickups sound a lot like the Alnico V custombuckers that came with the guitar, but Jim's pickups do not squeal and that is a requirement for the type of music I play.
 
Joined
Jan 18, 2021
Messages
24
Yes. I gigged it last night. This video was taken directly from the bar's live facebook stream. The camera was by a PA speaker, so the mix is a tiny bit off but you get the point. I realize the guitar looks like any other Les Paul from a distance, but that's cool by me. I'm so glad I played this out - no fear from this point going forward.

I don’t own a 20k guitar but I own 2 Murphy labs and 3 fender Custom shops and I gig them regularly at bars and clubs… some which are sketchy lol. I commend you for gigging your new guitar as it definitely deserves to be played live.
 

jimmi

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 8, 2012
Messages
2,084
Yes. I gigged it last night. This video was taken directly from the bar's live facebook stream. The camera was by a PA speaker, so the mix is a tiny bit off but you get the point. I realize the guitar looks like any other Les Paul from a distance, but that's cool by me. I'm so glad I played this out - no fear from this point going forward.

Thanks for sharing. Your bass player needs turn up (or maybe the mike just doesn’t pick it up well. I am glad you take it out and play it.
 
Top