monk77
Member
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2015
- Messages
- 23
Hello everyone,
I decided to share my story of the purchase of a 'Gibson CS 1959 Les Paul Standard Golden Poppy Burst Murphy Lab Heavy Aged'. Before sharing any information about the actual guitar, I'd like to go over the history behind this purchase if I may...
I have been playing with Gibson Les Pauls for many years now. In fact, I probably have owned about 20-25 Les Pauls in the past 20 years. Mostly Historics but also Norlins. Never two at the same time! Always trading one for another. However, I never seemed to get a hold of an R9 burst. It was always a few R8's, a couple of R7's, one R6 and a BB7 as far as Historics go... The reason for this is that firstly, I never had the ability to fund such a purchase and secondly, I am pretty picky when it comes to the nature of the "flame". Also the fact that I live in Athens/Greece makes it a bit difficult to come around any R9 in local shops. So it has been trading guitars through my local craiglist for years now... I must say that I have had much luck in acquiring very good sounding guitars, however, the itch for an R9 was never satisfied. Last year I managed to acquire a fantastic BB7 after trading a CS Gibson SG plus cash. The guitar sounded great and I decided to make it a keeper since it ticked many boxes. A year passed, many gigs happened, a lot of studio sessions, and the guitar always came out a champ!
This is the time when I probably have to note WHY I fell in love with Les Pauls... It was the end of the '80s when an uncle of mine gave me two vinyls to study: Led Zeppelin II and Physical Graffiti. At the same time, Appetite For Destruction by Guns n' Roses was released and I can never forget the first time watching the "Welcome To The Jungle" video on the telly... That was it!!! Jimmy Page and Slash became my guitar heroes at the time, as well as their respective guitars. Of course I went through many other great guitar players but Page's burst in conjunction with that of Slash (the famous replica) were always carved in my memory as the epitomy of a Les Paul!
So, going back to the BB7, I realised that the only way I could fund a purchase of an R9 that would cover my taste, would be to sell the BB7 and chip in the rest. A hard decision to make since the BB7 as mentioned before was a great sounding axe, and also because the purchase of the R9 would be via internet, meaning I would have no ability to soundcheck the guitar. A risk that bothered me for many days, but eventually I gave in...
So, with a cold heart, I started making some high res photos of my beloved BB7 and posted it for sale on Reverb and on my local craiglist. After 3 days, a very nice guy from Germany responded to my Reverb listing and the guitar was shipped towards his home. Mind you, this was an exeptional guitar!!! I immediately started to search for R9's in various European shops. Here I would like to point out that my search focused ONLY for Murphy Lab Heavy Aged versions. Everyone has their vices... ML's are mine (among others of course
). I understand and respect people not liking relic'd guitars. However, I do! And when I am willing to spend a serious amount of money for such guitar, I can choose whatever makes me happy.
So I made a top-10 list and started to email the respective shops for additional info, photos, shipping info and any other information I could fish out from them. I was not in a hurry... but I was definitely in GAS land!!! At this point I have to mention that I was sharing my experience with a very good friend of mine, Michalis, who managed to purchase a beautiful ML Les Paul a couple of months ago. As a result, I sent him my top-10 list in order to get some feedback since he did the same when buying his guitar. He agreed with my first choice, however, he sent me a link of a guitar that was for sale in Naples/Italy. Now here is where the situation gets a bit crazy...
I was born in Canada by Greek parents. My parents decided to return to Greece in the early '80s. In 2001 I met, here in Greece, my future wife who was on vacation and who was from... Naples!!! Therefore, the shop that my friend noted (Centro Chitarre) was a shop I always visited before and after I got married and which I always considered as a top-notch guitar shop since it ALWAYS had an extensive custom shop inventory from both Gibson and Fender along with an extremely friendly owner (Cristiano) & staff. Why I never thought of this shop when doing my search, I really don't know... However, after my friend sent me the link I was stoked!!! My top-10 list became a shortly top-2 list between the one in Naples and another in the Netherlands. Both exceptional guitars!!! For reasons that I don't want to go through at this point, the one in Naples made it to number one!!! I eventually contacted Cristiano in Naples, explained the situation and after a very sentimental email, got a beautiful deal on the guitar! Time to pay and ship right? ...Wrong!!! This is my dream guitar... This is my shot to the holy grail, of course in custom shop context and not the real deal... So, F*** it! I'm going to Naples!!! I contact my wife's family with which I have a dear relationship and I decide to go for a 2-day trip in which on the way back I booked a seat for the new guitar on the airplane!!! Rock n' Roll!!! Hahahaha...
My flight to Naples from Athens was at 8:00 in the morning. At 10:30 (Italian time) I was at the shop. They ordered espresso and shoved me in a private room to enjoy my new guitar which I did! This axe resonates so much it is silly!!! I don't want to start an argument regarding ML's vs VOS etc. My BB7 was a VOS and was spectacular! This ML sounds a bit better (and different) FOR MY TASTES. Mind you, although this is an NGD post, I have had the guitar for almost one month in which I have played one gig, many rehearsals and a few studio sessions. Therefore, I am making this post within the honeymoon period but the instrument has been in the works since day one. The guitar weighs at 8lb & 14 oz (4,03kg). It resonates like crazy and has a very vintage/woody sound. I must note that my budget covered a possible pickup change but at the moment I am very happy with how the instrument responds. I have noticed no issue regarding the ML nitro formula. The aging process is top-notch on this instrument to the point that it really feels like an old guitar although of course it was released from the factory in October 2023. It basically ticks all MY boxes and I am very happy with it!
Sorry if I went off for so long... Time for photos. Lets start with outdoors. Hope you enjoy. Thank you all...
Cheers!!!
I decided to share my story of the purchase of a 'Gibson CS 1959 Les Paul Standard Golden Poppy Burst Murphy Lab Heavy Aged'. Before sharing any information about the actual guitar, I'd like to go over the history behind this purchase if I may...
I have been playing with Gibson Les Pauls for many years now. In fact, I probably have owned about 20-25 Les Pauls in the past 20 years. Mostly Historics but also Norlins. Never two at the same time! Always trading one for another. However, I never seemed to get a hold of an R9 burst. It was always a few R8's, a couple of R7's, one R6 and a BB7 as far as Historics go... The reason for this is that firstly, I never had the ability to fund such a purchase and secondly, I am pretty picky when it comes to the nature of the "flame". Also the fact that I live in Athens/Greece makes it a bit difficult to come around any R9 in local shops. So it has been trading guitars through my local craiglist for years now... I must say that I have had much luck in acquiring very good sounding guitars, however, the itch for an R9 was never satisfied. Last year I managed to acquire a fantastic BB7 after trading a CS Gibson SG plus cash. The guitar sounded great and I decided to make it a keeper since it ticked many boxes. A year passed, many gigs happened, a lot of studio sessions, and the guitar always came out a champ!
This is the time when I probably have to note WHY I fell in love with Les Pauls... It was the end of the '80s when an uncle of mine gave me two vinyls to study: Led Zeppelin II and Physical Graffiti. At the same time, Appetite For Destruction by Guns n' Roses was released and I can never forget the first time watching the "Welcome To The Jungle" video on the telly... That was it!!! Jimmy Page and Slash became my guitar heroes at the time, as well as their respective guitars. Of course I went through many other great guitar players but Page's burst in conjunction with that of Slash (the famous replica) were always carved in my memory as the epitomy of a Les Paul!
So, going back to the BB7, I realised that the only way I could fund a purchase of an R9 that would cover my taste, would be to sell the BB7 and chip in the rest. A hard decision to make since the BB7 as mentioned before was a great sounding axe, and also because the purchase of the R9 would be via internet, meaning I would have no ability to soundcheck the guitar. A risk that bothered me for many days, but eventually I gave in...
So, with a cold heart, I started making some high res photos of my beloved BB7 and posted it for sale on Reverb and on my local craiglist. After 3 days, a very nice guy from Germany responded to my Reverb listing and the guitar was shipped towards his home. Mind you, this was an exeptional guitar!!! I immediately started to search for R9's in various European shops. Here I would like to point out that my search focused ONLY for Murphy Lab Heavy Aged versions. Everyone has their vices... ML's are mine (among others of course
). I understand and respect people not liking relic'd guitars. However, I do! And when I am willing to spend a serious amount of money for such guitar, I can choose whatever makes me happy.So I made a top-10 list and started to email the respective shops for additional info, photos, shipping info and any other information I could fish out from them. I was not in a hurry... but I was definitely in GAS land!!! At this point I have to mention that I was sharing my experience with a very good friend of mine, Michalis, who managed to purchase a beautiful ML Les Paul a couple of months ago. As a result, I sent him my top-10 list in order to get some feedback since he did the same when buying his guitar. He agreed with my first choice, however, he sent me a link of a guitar that was for sale in Naples/Italy. Now here is where the situation gets a bit crazy...
I was born in Canada by Greek parents. My parents decided to return to Greece in the early '80s. In 2001 I met, here in Greece, my future wife who was on vacation and who was from... Naples!!! Therefore, the shop that my friend noted (Centro Chitarre) was a shop I always visited before and after I got married and which I always considered as a top-notch guitar shop since it ALWAYS had an extensive custom shop inventory from both Gibson and Fender along with an extremely friendly owner (Cristiano) & staff. Why I never thought of this shop when doing my search, I really don't know... However, after my friend sent me the link I was stoked!!! My top-10 list became a shortly top-2 list between the one in Naples and another in the Netherlands. Both exceptional guitars!!! For reasons that I don't want to go through at this point, the one in Naples made it to number one!!! I eventually contacted Cristiano in Naples, explained the situation and after a very sentimental email, got a beautiful deal on the guitar! Time to pay and ship right? ...Wrong!!! This is my dream guitar... This is my shot to the holy grail, of course in custom shop context and not the real deal... So, F*** it! I'm going to Naples!!! I contact my wife's family with which I have a dear relationship and I decide to go for a 2-day trip in which on the way back I booked a seat for the new guitar on the airplane!!! Rock n' Roll!!! Hahahaha...
My flight to Naples from Athens was at 8:00 in the morning. At 10:30 (Italian time) I was at the shop. They ordered espresso and shoved me in a private room to enjoy my new guitar which I did! This axe resonates so much it is silly!!! I don't want to start an argument regarding ML's vs VOS etc. My BB7 was a VOS and was spectacular! This ML sounds a bit better (and different) FOR MY TASTES. Mind you, although this is an NGD post, I have had the guitar for almost one month in which I have played one gig, many rehearsals and a few studio sessions. Therefore, I am making this post within the honeymoon period but the instrument has been in the works since day one. The guitar weighs at 8lb & 14 oz (4,03kg). It resonates like crazy and has a very vintage/woody sound. I must note that my budget covered a possible pickup change but at the moment I am very happy with how the instrument responds. I have noticed no issue regarding the ML nitro formula. The aging process is top-notch on this instrument to the point that it really feels like an old guitar although of course it was released from the factory in October 2023. It basically ticks all MY boxes and I am very happy with it!
Sorry if I went off for so long... Time for photos. Lets start with outdoors. Hope you enjoy. Thank you all...
Cheers!!!
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