BluesKing777

Well, they WON'T want to reissue my 1972 Tele Custom! (Why oh why did I polish it every hour on the hour all these years? And 3 times after a gig? It would be worth more if I left it in the shed) 😁 BluesKing777.

The overall theory is simple really - sell a new guitar reissue of a old famous model and recreate the old look for people who want it NOW and don't want to bother with broken ole things....😬 Originally started by Fender repair department to match old guitar parts after repairs, then when the vintage Fender prices went to the stratosphere, famous touring musos wanted exact replicas of their famous guitar to take on the road, saving the old guitar for...??? the glass case. Then, Fender Custom Shop started offering relic model Fenders - new guitars that looked like an old model. And everyone laughed. Then Gibson Electrics....exact replicas of '59 Les Pauls! Etc.... But mostly, they offer guitars now that are the 'light aged'. Would Gibson Acoustic be brave enough to release a replica of something like my 1937 gibson L-0? Unlikely! 😁: BluesKing777.

As people on various forums have pointed out when ‘aged’ or ‘relic’ acoustic guitars are announced - how will we know if THAT ding or THAT gouge is supposed to be there? Was that in the plan or a booboo that can pass as ‘aged’ now? Where an expected ‘perfect’ finish is pretty easy to show flaws.........it wasn’t all that long ago that I picked up some great acoustic guitars leaning in the dark part of the shop for unloved guitars because they had.....gasp....pick scratches and buckle marks! What a silly world, eh? How will we know what to look for when the relic guitar is 10 years old? (I would still get that L-00 Aged if it played/sounded good/was built correct! Save worrying over the first ding!) BluesKing777.

Yes, I saw that one, but wasn't entirely sure what we are looking at! Maybe stand back a bit and photo both guitars? Here is my J50 with bad finish checking, sometimes caused by rapid change of temp ( cold car to warm house?) - previous owner did it - not Mr Perfect!☺️ Do you think your checking should be straight like this? Is that what you mean? BluesKing777.

That fellow could talk underwater! How about getting a couple of good close up photos of your 2 guitars and show us exactly what you mean....? BluesKing777.

Waterloo ladder fan number one here, so...... Big chunky V. I like all the varieties of the small body 00/000/OM/L-00 guitars, including my rather junky old 52 LG1. So, as they say, you need to try them - go for the big long drive and try the Gibson L-00, the LG1s, a Waterloo....etc Photos: 1952 Gibson LG1 fresh back from repairs a few months back: Waterloo WL-14X left, Waterloo WL-14L right (back when they were new): BluesKing777.

I recently got my 1952 LG1 back from my luthier.......the ladder brace sound is the reason I have it........not many modern guitars have that tone! Get the LG1 to try it - you don’t have to marry it! The nut is 1 11/16” but the neck is fairly chunky 50s Gibson -I often capo up to 3 for more ‘spread’. Slide sounds great! For more ladder braced real estate, consider the wonderful Waterloo WL-14L (ladder braced, 1 3/4” nut, 2 3/4” bridge spacing, V neck, great build and playability from Collings). BluesKing777.

Elixir PB 12 on all mine! Including my LG3, JT! BluesKing777.

What about someone inventing a finish that repels dirt, grime, fingerprints! 😃 ? And the same for my car - I am fairly sure my car paint attracts dirt! Drive off in the ran and it gets clean? Not dirtier! And if that won’t work, what about a finish that you wipe over once with a t-shirt? For guitar AND car! I went through the ‘thin finish’ with lots of others around 10 years ago, but I recently decided I like a big, glooopy, fat gloss! It looks good when it is 20 or so years old. - what will the VOS and Murph Lab stuff look like at 30? Need a new coat or 2? BluesKing777.

Leaning Saddle Of Pizza? Saddle too thin, slot wrong, both made on Friday afternoon or Monday morning.... How could the guitar ever be intonated the way it was designed to be with a thick, straight, high density piece of leg bone as the prototype? I have had my pawn shop find 2002 J50 re-saddled, re-nutted, setup......high density bone parts, great setup and the guitar is a dream after pro work replaced amateur awful. BluesKing777.

Thanks for measuring those bridges - I assume you mean cm instead of mm.... So, the new L-00 Murph is 60 mm bridge spacing and the LG2 Historic Banner is 55mm... That L-00 is getting close to the string spread of the famous early Gibson L-00s - Hooray for Gibson Acoustic at last! ( A whisker less than my Waterloo WL-14s!). My older 2007 Blues King L-00 is around 55mm, like your LG2....like most modern day Gibson acoustics. BluesKing777.

When you have a minute, could you get out your measuring tape/ruler and measure the bridge pin spacing (officially measured from the middle of the thick E to the middle of the thin E string).......I am mainly interested in the new L-00 but curious of the LG2......so do both! I am hoping, personally that Gibson made the spacing like the early 30s L-00 models with a very generous for fingerpicking 2 3/8” but I guess the LG2 would be standard modern Gibson 2 3/16”. So far they are all a big secret. Not on the specs. Thanks in advance! BluesKing777.

The saddle issue is not a new thing - my 2002 Gibson J50 had a Leaning Tower style saddle - my luthier made a nice new fat bone saddle, slotted it in and that's all, she wrote. (New bone nut as well and setup, urgent!). Don't forget to get a nice setup on your new guitars, everyone...maybe leave it for a week or two before getting it done. Well, here below is a nice new video about the Gibson Acoustic Murphy Lab series - after watching it on my TV, I tell you, a person who won some Lotto or a rich person could easily think: "Hmmm, I think I will buy the whole set!" (Video has no mention of leaning saddles or loose tuners!😝) BluesKing777.

So with your card, you initially pay for all 3 L-00s and get credited for the returned? Speaking of the returned ones, you probably should have ripped the wobbly bridges off and tell the shop they fell off.........because my bet is on them sending to some other DORK next ...AS IS. May be wrong and they could be returned to Gibson Montana as faulty, but I have a lack of faith........could have been worth $20 each for a couple of Apple Airtags slipped into the guitars with a bit of gaffa tape! Track their progress! Just a crying shame they are still letting duds fo out....thought they may have fixed that with the new factory. I know they would not all be like it, but my Waterloos (L-00 shaped by Collings) are perfect in all quality respects and still cooking after 5 or 6 years....and I could almost/maybe/probably not buy one...gulp.....online. Collings also make a delightful version of the L-00 with their Collings C10-35......the one I played in a shop was stunningly perfect. But the Waterloos have a much drier old 30s sound, great for roots music....and the C10-35 (sounds like a camera!) was a more ‘pretty’ but versatile kind of thing.......and pretty expensive. Previously, I would have recommended my Martin CEO7, another ode to the L-00 but more ....ha...Martin sounding......except my beautiful fave CEO7 has suffered from the famous Martin binding falling off issue.......pffft. So no getting around it (for me).....I would buy a real vintage 1933 Gibson L-00 and get my luthier to fix anything needed. They have the SOUND! And drama free once set up. And cool! BluesKing777.

Interesting but not unheard of approach - buy 3 and keep the best one! Do you have to pay up front for all 3 or just the one ONE? I assume they were purchased online from 3 different shops as the shops I have viewed online only have one new L-00 each? I semi happily buy anything BUT guitars online these days but I really should employ the buy 3 keep 1 approach to.......everything! QC for guitars bad enough but other stuff like clothes, shoes....well, let us say the sellers are doing their own thing! Truth be told, any guitar I have bought has been the ONLY one the shop had, real shop or online. Anyway, thanks for the update and I have lost interest in bad QC guitars- can’t believe the wobbly ones still go out the door. P.S. nearly forgot - what is the L-00 Murph like to play? BluesKing777.

Here is a video on a couple of acoustics from Acoustic Letter - they rave about these two budget models on various forums - I have never seen or heard any of them in the flesh, but I played a new Yamaha FS5 (2nd video below), way, way more expensive but also heavily raved about everywhere, at a local shop and it was just beautiful....concert size, torrefied top, based on the famous 60s models we are told....though I personally prefer wider necks and spacing for my fingerstyle playing........but it would be an inspiring guitar to begin on. (or you can ignore us all and go and buy the most expensive acoustic in the local guitar shop! Get the Gibson with all the inlays! 😛) These 2, you could be like the learner driver in the BMW! And my preference in guitar shape old and new! BluesKing777.

We await an update on the L-00 after you play it a while! Like I mentioned earlier somewhere, the new Gibson acoustics are scalloped braced whereas my old Gibsons AND Waterloo WL-14X are NON scalloped (my other Waterloo is ladder braced like an old Kalamazoo KG-14). So the new Gibson is not really an exact reissue. Same goes for your new LG2. The Waterloos both capture that dry old mid range small body vintage Gibson. Sometimes the ladder braced sounds older than the real ones! It is a rare thing.....why though, I do not know. Design? Build? Bracing? Both Waterloos have ebony nuts, ebony bridge pins, ebony bridge but rosewood fretboard, flatback construction, wide spacing, very very light.....I’m about to play my ladder right now! BluesKing777.

True! But he wanted that rifle for his birthday, not the guitar Ma bought him! Could have turned out way different....I can imagine him saying: 'Shucks, Ma, but I don't want no geetar - I want that rifle....or that bike!' BluesKing777.

Still have the one at Sweetwater.... BluesKing777.

Some interesting articles: https://www.elvis.com.au/presley/elvis-presley-the-musician.shtml BluesKing777.

So you also have the new L-00 Murphy Lab as well as your L-00 Legend? Fantastic stuff, please report and compare! And please measure the bridge spacing (on both guitars) !!! Compare necks! BluesKing777.

We never know anything! One of my justifications for a Waterloo when they first came out was that they were way more L-00 than the new Gibson ones and......ha ha, wrong.....easier to get than the vintage ones! Boing. Bong. Boing......A quick look on Reverb.com and it appears a used Waterloo is around double the new price I paid back when.... and they are not making many new ones. On another track - watching the Murphy Labs video, Murphy mentions he ‘rolls’ the neck edges like years of hand wear does. Who knew that acoustics were so sharp edged and uncomfortable, eh? But I have 2 examples - one is my Cargill custom 00 where he rolled all edges to give a fab ‘old leather glove’ feel (the neck and specs were based on my Martin OM18V, but more ‘rounded out’ by hand.) My other example is my Taylor 717e Builders Edition - every sharp thing is rounded off ‘for comfort’ - that was the claim. P.S. Still trying to find the bridge spacing on the Murph Labs L-00....... BluesKing777.

That 2 3/8" bridge spacing belongs to an ever decreasing little club! Wonderful combined with a big V neck for fingerpickers and thus the bane of flatpickers. And one of the reasons I love my Waterloo X and L...... Perfect! What else is in the club? Gibson L-00 Legend, you say? All Waterloos???; Martin OM18V, Martin OM18A. Can't think of another.... Have not found out the bridge spacing for the new Gibson L-00 Murphy Lab. BluesKing777.

The L-00 Legend may be very hard to find now.... The new 1933 L-00 Murphy Lab light aged might be of interest and they actually seem to making them! In stock at Sweetwater! https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/L0033LA--gibson-acoustic-1933-l-00-murphy-lab-light-aged-acoustic-guitar-cherry-sunburst BluesKing777.

After watching the interview with Tom Murphy I posted, I wonder if the Murph Lab acoustics will eventually be available in all the Murphy 4 ageing stages? The new ones are currently all ‘light aged’...... I’m thinking the 32 L-00 for me with some severe relic! Could probably get it as a ‘custom’? What I appreciate is that the fretboard and frets are untouched, new, ready to go, where some vintage guitars I have bought...well.... My guitars rarely look any different after I play them for 20 years - they are never going to look ‘relic’d’.......so to buy a bashed up new acoustic is not that different than me buying a bashed up old guitar - I didn’t do any of it, just bought it! Give us the 4 Murph ageing system, Gibson! BluesKing777.