• 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!

~2025 Murphy Lab and Historic Reissue Updates from Mat Koehler

jb_abides

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
6,786
@matkoehler provided spec info in this clip, which also covers the Firebird 'Platypus' and other new releases.

Not going over everything in the video, since it's covered elsewhere, but SPOILER ALERT: there's an 'avalanche' of new stuff coming including new body shapes, a celebration of 50 years in Nashville, etc.

I just want to document Mat's citations for ~2025 Murphy Lab and Historic Reissue Updates for future reference; let's watch for more specific information to come in since many folks had questions regarding the ABR-1 shape update, etc.

Murphy Lab specific --
  • Updated Aging: refinement to process and methods still happening in the Lab
    • Tom Murphy has a thematic 'story' rational and matching tools for the aging techniques
  • Greened knobs
  • Mat mentions faux-cracked knobs
Historic Reissue in general --
  • "parts are new" --> still unclear what's specifically new or different today, from what we've seen before as 'New Gibson' with those updates having been discussed prior
  • Another citation of scanning, shape, supplier materials to better reflect historic accuracy where still possible, permissble
  • For example, we've already seen some 'torpedo' ABR-1s but when was the cutover, if any, or is it a mixed transition
  • ABR-1 functional improvements which departs from history: saddles won't rock, 'no-wire' won't fall out unless purposefully pushed in to release, smoothed over parts including saddles
...

Firebird 'Platypus' --
  • "the untold story of the Firebird lineage"
  • 2-piece mahogany body
  • Set neck
  • Inline tuners
  • More accurately constructed Firebird pickups ===> presumably these are the recently updated and already released ones... although perhaps another new update is possible. Like the parts, hard to keep 'gospel' from the casual nature of the video.
 
Last edited:

Wizard1183

Member
Joined
May 30, 2024
Messages
99
Well... Murphy gonna Murphy.

I am ahead of that game: I received several knobs with real cracks, brand new right out of the case, both Custom Shop Reissues and USAs!
😂 Pretty simple to do, just turn them a bit more past 10 or past zero and it’ll make cracks

Now you’ll pay $20 on top of MSRP per knob for the faux crack because it’s you know? ML
 

jb_abides

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
6,786
'Get out yer Gibson and play!'

We Build Excitement... Gibson


@matkoehler evokes 80s car ad sloganeering when describing forthcoming offerings from Gibson


Murphy Labs: "We're aging everything..."

Nothing really new or different from the prior videos, exccept: Laquer line on the edge of fretboard now 'broken' to allow for better rolling of binding.
 

Wizard1183

Member
Joined
May 30, 2024
Messages
99
'Get out yer Gibson and play!'

We Build Excitement... Gibson


@matkoehler evokes 80s car ad sloganeering when describing forthcoming offerings from Gibson


Murphy Labs: "We're aging everything..."

Nothing really new or different from the prior videos, exccept: Laquer line on the edge of fretboard now 'broken' to allow for better rolling of binding.
In all fairness what else can they can do? They’re running out of ideas. They’ve pushed the envelope as far as they possibly could in build. Now it’s purely aesthetics. I believe the cow is beginning to run out of milk….

But have no fear!!! Gibson is probably last ditch effort? Will be the introduction of their ultimate cash cow: Gibson Les Paul Collectors Edition Jimmy Page #1, (I’m thinking $75k minimum) then the $25-30k JP historic reissue, and USA standard and then Epi version. Other than that??? New renditions of all the Collectors Choice models. I mean I can’t think of anything else they could do?
 

matkoehler

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 12, 2014
Messages
554
@matkoehler provided spec info in this clip, which also covers the Firebird 'Platypus' and other new releases.

Not going over everything in the video, since it's covered elsewhere, but SPOILER ALERT: there's an 'avalanche' of new stuff coming including new body shapes, a celebration of 50 years in Nashville, etc.

I just want to document Mat's citations for ~2025 Murphy Lab and Historic Reissue Updates for future reference; let's watch for more specific information to come in since many folks had questions regarding the ABR-1 shape update, etc.

Murphy Lab specific --
  • Updated Aging: refinement to process and methods still happening in the Lab
    • Tom Murphy has a thematic 'story' rational and matching tools for the aging techniques
  • Greened knobs
  • Mat mentions faux-cracked knobs
Historic Reissue in general --
  • "parts are new" --> still unclear what's specifically new or different today, from what we've seen before as 'New Gibson' with those updates having been discussed prior
  • Another citation of scanning, shape, supplier materials to better reflect historic accuracy where still possible, permissble
  • For example, we've already seen some 'torpedo' ABR-1s but when was the cutover, if any, or is it a mixed transition
  • ABR-1 functional improvements which departs from history: saddles won't rock, 'no-wire' won't fall out unless purposefully pushed in to release, smoothed over parts including saddles
...

Firebird 'Platypus' --
  • "the untold story of the Firebird lineage"
  • 2-piece mahogany body
  • Set neck
  • Inline tuners
  • More accurately constructed Firebird pickups ===> presumably these are the recently updated and already released ones... although perhaps another new update is possible. Like the parts, hard to keep 'gospel' from the casual nature of the video.
Hey there jb_abides -- it seems misunderstood where my finger was pointing in terms of a faux crack -- I was pointing to the screw area of the pickguard. We are indeed adding a little faux crack there with the Ultra Heavy aged stuff. No cracked knobs...not intentionally anyway...ha!

Regarding new parts, it has been a gradual running change to the new stuff and we're finally at the point now where everything is refreshed for R8/9/0s. Some tweaks coming to other historic models but these things take time...It's truly like moving mountains.

Let me know what questions you all may have! Without this turning into another hundred page thread hopefully...
 

JASIII

Active member
Joined
Sep 19, 2020
Messages
150
Hey there jb_abides -- it seems misunderstood where my finger was pointing in terms of a faux crack -- I was pointing to the screw area of the pickguard. We are indeed adding a little faux crack there with the Ultra Heavy aged stuff. No cracked knobs...not intentionally anyway...ha!

Regarding new parts, it has been a gradual running change to the new stuff and we're finally at the point now where everything is refreshed for R8/9/0s. Some tweaks coming to other historic models but these things take time...It's truly like moving mountains.

Let me know what questions you all may have! Without this turning into another hundred page thread hopefully...
Hi @matkoehler , fellow Wisconsin native here! Have the new ABR-1s been released for sale as parts yet?
 

jb_abides

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
6,786
Hey there jb_abides -- it seems misunderstood where my finger was pointing in terms of a faux crack -- I was pointing to the screw area of the pickguard. We are indeed adding a little faux crack there with the Ultra Heavy aged stuff. No cracked knobs...not intentionally anyway...ha!

Regarding new parts, it has been a gradual running change to the new stuff and we're finally at the point now where everything is refreshed for R8/9/0s. Some tweaks coming to other historic models but these things take time...It's truly like moving mountains.

Let me know what questions you all may have! Without this turning into another hundred page thread hopefully...

Thanks for joining in @matkoehler, sorry for any misunderstanding, perhaps that's on me getting cross-threaded with the greening of the knobs, too.

I've tried my best to accurately document the drips and drabs coming across from the posted sources I see.... but, I am just a guy watching YouTube, ha.

Thanks for any clarification you offer here... You know, everyone REALLY wants someone to produce a year-by-year change each and every each part: be it screw, knob, pickup surround, details on the ABR-1 shape... all sorted out since you took over, with continuity since 2013. Probably above your paygrade but maybe nobody is really assigned to track the details for publication. But we are willing to take what we can get!

Hope all went well after NAMM -- I am sure it's both energizing and tiring both in the run-up and time on the ground in front of the legions each with their

Take care and thanks!

PS: More lefties! Always gotta throw that out there... :cool:
 
Last edited:

matkoehler

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 12, 2014
Messages
554
Hi @matkoehler , fellow Wisconsin native here! Have the new ABR-1s been released for sale as parts yet?
And a fellow fan of Royal Teaburst I see! That was my doing. As far as I understand, the new range of historic reissue aftermarket parts is scheduled to go live on the website later this month. BUT we are in the process of moving to a new website and checkout system and whatnot, so I'm not sure if that might delay things.
 
Top