gringopig's guitars
2019 Gibson custom shop 1959 60th Anniversary Tom Murphy aged
A 2019 Gibson Les Paul custom shop 1959 re-issue with a difference.
Not only is it the 60th anniversary model with special custom switch plate and added cheapo diamond but this is one of the very few which were hand aged by Tom Murphy.
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This is actually a bit special.
There are loads of 1959 Les Paul re-issues. After all, 1959 is seen as the peak year for electric guitar design, rightly or wrongly.
Certainly, the demand is high for this particular subset of features.
2019 marked 60 years since the release of what was just a continuation of the 1958 model really and consequently, Gibson introduced actual new features for the 60th anniversary model.
New wiring loom and, most importantly, new pickups. A version of custombuckers with alnico 3 magnets and no potting. No dip in gloop. No protection against howling microphonic feedback at high gain.
However, what you do get is amazing sensitivity to nuance and an amazing clear high end. No muddiness here. There were people who didn't like it as they expected Les Pauls to sound like a dog barking in a dank swap. More fool them. This guitar got me interested in hand made PAF pickups.
It also is incredibly light and resonant and I now see why the players who picked these things up in the mid 1960's likened them to louder Telecasters without the hum. Les Paul guitars don't need to sound dark and muffled.
