Up for sale, a 2024 Gibson Custom Shop M2M 1959 Les Paul Standard “R9” Murphy Lab Heavy Aged Green Lemon Fade in like-new condition, complete with the aged Lifton-style hardshell case, CoA, all hangtags, and case candy. This Heavy Aged Murphy Lab R9 represents the peak of Gibson craftsmanship: from laser-scanned dimensions to chemically-recreated plastics to color-matched finishes, every element of a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard has been rendered in unbelievable detail. Representing the culmination of decades of work by Custom Shop's expert team - a tireless quest to bring accuracy and authenticity to the hands of players - this particularly iteration of the R9 was 1 of 3 for Thunder Road Guitars’ Made 2 Measure Stinger series, featuring (as the name would imply) a headstock stinger and a Carmelia ‘59 neck profile. Choosing between the available tops for this exceedingly small run, the one previous owner of this instrument found this top to be the most deeply figured and visually compelling.

Tom Murphy, the Master Artisan and namesake of Gibson's Murphy Lab, was central to the creation of the Gibson Custom Shop and personally developed the various processes on display for aging the finish, hardware and plastics of these Historic Series instruments. With a quarter century in the saddle, Murphy is a celebrated authority for replicating the character of vintage instruments on the canvas of newly-created guitars.

Tonewoods include a two-piece carved and hide glue-fit bookmatched two-piece AAA flame maple top, a one-piece mahogany body, and a mahogany neck with a Carmelita ‘59 C profile carve and long neck tenon joint, capped with a dark, tight-grained Indian rosewood fingerboard. This Les Paul has a lively and pronounced voice when strummed unplugged, with great bark in the low end, and sparkling, round-sounding plain strings. The CustomBucker pickups are Gibson's latest highly praised PAF iteration, available exclusively in select Custom Shop models. Featuring Alnico III magnets, these low-medium output pickups have all the chirp, honk, and bloom one could want. The set in this particular guitar is dynamic, highly detailed, balanced, and comfortably versatile with any playing style. The bridge has plenty of bite and growl, while the neck pickup has the buttery girth and power one expects without sacrificing clarity. Exceedingly lightweight at only 8lbs 4oz, this Les Paul R9 has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action, and accurate intonation.

Neck Specs:

-Wood: Mahogany
-Shape: Carmelita ‘59 C, measuring .900” 1st fret, 1.000” 12th fret
-Fretboard: Bound Indian rosewood, 22-fret, pearloid trapezoid inlays
-Frets: Medium jumbo, pristine
-Scale Length: 24 3/4”
-Nut: 1 11/16”, nylon
-Headstock: correct 17 degree angle, holly veneer
-Tuners: Kluson Deluxe single-line, single-ring, aged
-Serialization: 9-prefix serial

Body Specs:

-Wood: Mahogany, bookmatched AAA flame maple
-Pickups: CustomBucker PAFs, neck meters 7.85k ohms, bridge meters 7.9k ohms
-Harness: Bumblebee caps, Gibson-embossed pots, R9 stamp in corner of cavity
-Controls: Volume x2, Tone x2, Three-way pickup selector
-Hardware: ABR-1 no-wire bridge, stopbar
-Plastics: Cellulose acetate butyrate cream-colored plastics, gold butyrate bonnet knobs

The Green Lemon Burst nitro lacquer highlights the dimensional, wall-to-wall figuring in the bookmatched AAA flame maple top and exhibits prominent finish checking and various extensive marks of simulated wear as part of Gibson’s Murphy Lab Heavy Aging process. The guitar exhibits no additional playwear.

The original Lifton-style aged hardshell case with pink plush interior is included, along with the CoA and all hangtags.