59 LP search and experiences(help)

[mdc1mdc11]

Wondering if anyone could share their experiences searching for the right Les Paul 59 burst. Given the multitude of offerings from Gibson, and variance in quality and playability I figured that someone has sorted the places to go to find a good Les Paul. Another option I am looking at are the replica's, Hubers, Anderson. Would rather not visit a bunch of dealers that have unappealing ones sitting on the rack for years, and not because of price.

Questions:

Are the Murphy only built Custom Shop ones generally what most desire?
will the Hubers get the Les Paul sound and more?
Are the VOS a good option?

 

[thenine]

VOS LPs are awesome!

Contact Saul at Centre City guitars, San Diego. He knows whats up and will do you right.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/centre-city-music-san-diego

 

[JackBootedThug]

i've played a real 59 and a 58. i've owned numerous r9's and r7's(never an r8) and the closest to the origional 59 that i have owned or played was my 40th anniversery r9. never played or even seen a murphy though. the real deal guitars actually felt different than the reissues. they were heavier and the necks actually felt longer. strange, but that was my impression.

 

[Chubtone]

I would take a look at this entire thread here and then contact Brad King from Tone Merchants and the owner of Rig Talk.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... p?t=859139

 

[thegame]

This builder has his own section here on RT :
viewforum.php?f=74

Though I have no idea if any of the builders mentioned so far use old growth Honduran Mahogany, or if its even possible to obtain it. The wood Gibson used back then could have been harvested long before the late 50's. Who knows ?

 

[King Guitar]

Bartlett Guitars is the man for legit Les Pauls. He is building me one right now as well as Rob from Tone Merchants.

 

[Ayrton]

Bartlett is as close to going back in time to 1959 as you can get.

 

[King Guitar]

We have 4 build slots with Tom. 3 are spoken for and 1 is available. They are not cheap but not out of reach.

 

[ericsabbath]

the real deal guitars actually felt different than the reissues. they were heavier and the necks actually felt longer. strange, but that was my impression.

I thought they were mostly lightweight

 

[Ventura]

Talk to Jim and Janine at Route66 Classic Guitars. Seriously, these guys are HUGE for North America, they KNOW their guitars INSIDE & OUT; they're super fair and they KNOW a quality Lester when one comes through their stock.

route66classicguitars@yahoo.com

Seriously, they are an AWESOME couple to work with, and they work with some big, big names out there in the biz - they're a high-reputation outfit (by no means to be taken as a disrespect to those retailers already mentioned).

Peace,
Mo