Gibson Murphy Lab 1954 Les Paul Custom VOS with Bigsby, Antique Hardware, Ebony

This might be the Holy Grail of LPCs right here.

Here's a super limited Murphy Lab Les Paul Custom, fresh from the Nashville Custom Shop factory with a Bigsby B7. This model is a reissue of the pre-humbucker incarnation of the Les Paul Custom, meaning it's loaded with a P-90 in the bridge and a Alnico V (P-90) 'Staple' pickups in the bridge. The middle position on this guitar is indescribably silky-smooth. It's rich and full, with total clarity and glistening note harmonics.

The neck is definitely 50s profile, super round with even shoulders and tapers somewhat towards the headstock; a real treat for bigger hands.

The 'gold' hardware is very faded on this example, adding to the vintage look. No pitting or corrosion, but almost nickle-like in appearance. The nitro finish shows some super light aging. No pronounced checking added, just a satiny sheen that matches the hardware nicely.

This has to be one of the greatest examples of a reissue. If you are into Les Pauls, come check this out!

Les Paul wanted two colors used on the Gibson guitar that would forever bear his name: gold (for its connection to all things fine) and black (because a player's hands would be easily visible against a dark background). Les got the gold in 1952, but had to wait for the black. The Les Paul Custom was introduced in 1954 and featured elegant appointments like gold hardware, multiple binding, and an ebony fretboard. The '54 Custom was also the first solidbody Gibson guitar to use the ABR-1 bridge, the familiar piece of hardware we've all come to know as the Tune-O-Matic. Matched up with a vintage-style Bigsby vibrato, it's an unbeatable combination.

Underneath it's luxurious inky finish, this historic recreation of the original 1954 Custom features a carved mahogany top, a solid mahogany back, one-piece mahogany neck with long neck tenon, an early '50s rounded neck profile, 24-3/4" scale length, and a 1-11/16" nut width. It also has multi-ply white/black binding on the body and headstock, with white single-ply binding on the fingerboard. Its finer appointments include gold hardware, an ebony fingerboard, large pearl block inlays, pearl headstock inlay, and kidney bean tuners. The original circuitry is preserved with the use of CTS pots and bumble bee capacitors in the signal path and the unique pickup array of a vintage P-90 pickup at the bridge and a rare Alnico V pickup at the neck.

The Alnico V pickup was designed in 1952 by Seth Lover and Walt Fuller for Gibson to succeed the P-90 pickup on several of Gibson's distinguished archtop jazz hollowbodies, most famously the L5 CES, ES-5, and Byrdland guitars. Similar to the P-90 in appearance, the Alnico V is easily recognized by its distinctive rectangular pole pieces. It gets its name from the stronger Alnico V magnets, while each coil has 10,000 turns of 42-gauge wire to achieve its clear, round, ringing sound. It made its debut on a solidbody Gibson in the Fretless Wonder of 1954; the Les Paul Custom, or Black Beauty.

Vintage Original Spec series instruments receive a special nitro-cellulose finish treatment yielding the patina of a gently-aged vintage guitar while handcrafting enhances comfort and playability. Each VOS model has a solid mahogany back; historically accurate long-neck tenon for strength and sustain; and period-correct neck profile, hardware, and electronics.

Features:
Carved mahogany top
Solid mahogany back
Multi-ply white/black binding on top and back
Ebony finish
VOS aging treatment
Gold hardware
ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge
Bigsby tremolo/vibrato tailpiece
1-piece mahogany neck with long neck tenon
22-fret ebony fingerboard
Pearl block inlays
Single-ply white fingerboard binding
Early '50s rounded neck profile
24-3/4" scale length
1-11/16" nut width
Holly headstock veneer
Kidney bean tuners
Alnico V neck pickup
P-90 bridge pickup
CTS pots and bumble bee capacitors
2 volume, 2 tone, 3-way selector switch
Vintage Reissue .010 strings
Includes Custom Shop case, certificate of authenticity