I bought a new 2023 Gibson Custom 1959 M2M. It's by far the best Les Paul I've ever played. Mine's in factory burst like yours. Mine was painted by Mr. Murphey too. I bought it new that way from the Custom shop. Best $7,500 I've ever spent. I have unpotted PAF pickups in mine. I absolutely love them.
My keeper Les Paul has quite a similar vibe to it. I bought a 1999 R9 from a guy living in Japan. It had been on display in a store under neon lights, which faded all the red out of the guitar, leaving it in a teaburst finish with brown back. I suspect the original owner swapped the plastic, I changed the tuners, added a lightweight tailpiece, RS electronics, Timbucker pickups and replaced the inlays with vintage cellulose inlays. Glorious Les Paul.
That's a gorgeous Les Paul and the story and sound make it an obvious keeper. I have a regular 1996 LP Standard that I've upgraded in terms of vintage wiring harness and pickups (Lollar Imperials), but I always find myself lusting after R8/9's after videos like this. Thanks very much for kicking off my GAS again !
It's a nice looking burst. The flame is a bit too intense for my personal taste (and that's just personal preference) but the burst is just right. I also like the vintage p-up rings.
I have bought for over 5O,000$ of Les Pauls and the best was Sandy the Collector's Choice and A historic reissue 59 Custom, A Joes Walsh signature Custom Shop for 11,000$ was disappointing) Shop however I have a friend who plays only standards and frankly once you plug it in add a bit of distortion you don't hear much different at all at most less than 10% so it is all clever marketing. Nice Guitar in your video thanks for posting. (I am not THE steve morse).
I know u know ur stuff, but at 2:18 I was reminded so forcibly of that scene from spinal tap that i had to laugh. where he's showing a reporter the "sustain" of a guitar that isn't plugged in
At first, when you said you heavily modded your R9, I was horrified. And then you said, "Tom Murphy," and I was like, well ok then. I just received my 1959 VOS and it is a thing of beauty. It actually looks very similar to yours. Anyway, thanks for the video - it's always fun to hear other players sharing their love and passion for the instrument. I know my Les Paul will be with me for a long time.
I LOVE the story of you and your wife makin that deal together. It really adds that special something to the adoption of that guitar. Many people would be surprised to know repaint is NOT as expensive as they’d think. I might do it with one of mine soon. Would I be correct to guess Kossoff and Bonnamossa were influences on you? 🧐
Beautiful guitar ... I like what you did to it. I have a 2016 R8 I kept, had a 2016 R9 and and a 2018 R0. sold those two and kept the R8, it's "special" and was just better than the other two. Resonant like yours and the 2016 R8s had flamey tops for some reason. Looks like a 59 with a fatter neck I like. I have big hands... loved your video!
I played the 2024 Les Paul Custom "Black Beauty" and I prefer it over the 2024 R9. However, my friend preferred the sound of the 1968 Les Paul Goldtop reissue. Each to their own I guess.
That's such a cool story about the refinish! I'm surprised you didn't put a bone nut on it though. And I notice you have it top-wrapped. I top-wrapped my Les Paul for about two days once, but I couldn't stand it and had to change it back. It made the guitar all jangly like a Jazzmaster or something. I love my Jazzmaster, but that's not the feel I want from my Les Paul. I like the idea of the softer bending strings, but to get that, I just through-string it and raise the tailpiece until it feels right. Awesome guitar, thanks for sharing!
@@MythosPedals Yeah, you're right, the nylon nut is factory spec for 50s Gibsons. I just figure since you went to such great lengths in terms of mods and upgrades and a nut is one of the simplest and easiest...it was the first thing to go on mine. I prefer bone. I love the sound of your neck pickup, great brightness and clarity! I'm way more picky about humbucker neck tone than bridge tone. Are good sounding neck pickups as easy to make as good sounding bridge pickups? I imagine there's a lot more going on in terms of string rotation over the neck pickup area than the bridge pickup area. Does that difference present unique challenges to you when making pickups?
I love this video. This minutiae may not matter to most but it matters to me. I love the Mcready videos also. I don’t know if there will be another video on checking. I find that is the most lacking on that guitar. I have to say I love the thing though
Got a list somewhere of all the upgrade parts? I got an R9, been thinking about swapping some stuff out but feel weird about doing it to such an expensive guitar haha
That top is so incredible... reminds me of that iced tea finish they have. I love my 19' R9 60th anniversary... I drove from Montreal, Qc to New Hampshire to pick her up. I was actually looking for a new 50's Standard. After jamming between a 50's and 60's and sales guy brought up an older R9 and I straight up told him no... I didn't want to touch something I couldn't afford lol I mean, why tempt the devil right? So my wife how was with me to me to grab it and told the rep to hand it to me. I actually refused lol So I gave in... loved it man... it was like butter. So, put it back and put a deposit on a 60's Iced tea. On my way out my wife stopped me and said "Stop f&%king around, you already have a few standards, get your dream guitar! So go back in and get your deposit". I brushed it off.. and two weeks later she brings it up again "Did you look for that guitar?" So I said no... "She called the store the next day and got my deposit back lol she came to me and said "Here is your money, now look for YOUR R9 and let's do it". I did... Mine is in Orange Sunset fade and yeah man... I love it! One of those stories I could never forget.
You like a lot of high end bite. Reminds me of Santana sound but just a little smoother. I usually avoid high end bite at all costs, but last night at a show I switched some gear up and it got in there. Watching your video and realizing that it's not necessarily a bad thing makes me feel better about it.
The best two sounding I've owned were a 2005 LP Supreme and a 2007 LP 59RI. Still have the 59. I miss the Supreme. Both just have that something extra in the tone. And by chance both are very beautifully figured wood.
There is hardly a Gibson out there that doesn't sound great if you plug it into a good amp and know how to play. Bad tone is 99.99% the fault of the player.
I can top the mod category. I have a Brian Moore MC1 2.13. Relax! She's a Chinese model. Quite frankly, I bought Mordred because I had not seen a Brian Moore in decades. Price was right. Took her home. Problems started right away. The pickups were cheap, the piezo wasn't working, and the MIDI controls were useless. So I swapped out the bridge humbucker. Sounded great, but the neck wouldn't play worth a damn. Swapped that one out, and the piezo started bothering me. So I ripped out all the MIDI and piezo and replaced the piezo with an LR Baggs. Promptly wore divits in every fret. So I have a guitar with a bunch of holes in it from all the missing hardware. I needed a level and crown on the frets anyway, so I bring it in. "Why not put LEDs in the holes?" The guy asks. Great idea! I neglected to ask if he's ever done that before. Eighteen months later, I get Mordred back. New locking tuners. New nut. And the LEDs are working. All the more proof a man can make a fool of himself in inventive ways. The tailpiece is original. That's about it. No refinishing. Mordred is a deep, flamed maroon, and it suits her. A flamethrower should be understated.
2:35 honestly surprised me. For what these guitars cost, no modifications should be necessary, or even wanted. Basically, this guitar was modded to no longer be a Gibson Custom Shop. It's now a Gibson Les Paul version of a "Partscaster", albeit a high end version. Beautiful guitar though.
To be fair the newest ones are much better from the get go. The plastics on this year was horrible and once you spend time around the actual vintage models you’re cursed with knowledge of how they look. I wanted this guitar to be as close to a vintage Lester as possible for what I could afford. Now I feel like it is and I couldn’t be happier
@MythosPedals At the end of the day, that's the most important thing. BTW, that top is insane. It's one of the nicest I've seen on an LP. The nicest I ever saw was on a PRS.
Can you tell me why you went back to the RS True 60's? What didn't you like about the Whiskerbuckers and what do you like more about the RS set? Thanks.
The whiskerbuckers were potted which for this sound I didn’t like and they just didn’t have the same note detail and personality that the true 60s did. They are a much more balanced set.
Your LP looks beautiful and sounds great. I bought a Murphy Custom shop Les Paul Red Eye model. Didn’t like the pickups, so I installed a set of Cream T Whiskerbuckers that were plekked from Pearly Gates and now it sounds amazing!
Been down the pickup rabbit hole and stumbled across your videos. You have some old demos of of the Cream T Whiskerbuckers. Those sound great too. If you have time, I’d be curious why you switched and what you like about the True 60s compared to the Whiskerbuckers
After spending time with them I just found the True 60s to be more what I wanted. I think I just prefer unpotted pickups as well. I think the whiskerbuckers are very good but they don't have the "THING" that most PAF style pickups have that I look for. Ironic that I LOVE LOVE LOVE Billy Gibbons tones but they just didn't get them there to my ears or in my head.
Zach, your Les Paul is pretty much what i envision my dream one looking and sounding like too hahaha. One final question, though: what’s the pickup height? It would really help a lot to know :)
Did you mention the weight? Found out Greenie is 8lbs.15ozs. which is exactly what my #1 LP weighs. The unpotted BB 2&3 pickups ohm out at 7.5 and 8.5 respectively. We'll balanced pickups are critical, especially the middle position.
