Guitar Gear Gems: Gibson Limited Edition Murphy Lab Aged 1959 Les Paul
Plus, Fender Japan Sho Watanabe Telecaster limited edition
3,3 / 5,0 | 
This week on Guitar Gear Gems we check out the Gibson Limited Edition Murphy Lab Aged 1959 Les Paul Standard run exclusive to the USA. Then we take a peek at the latest limited-run Fender Japan model, the Sho Watanabe Telecaster. Then we have a look a the new Tone City pedal release, which includes three new affordable effects.
Murphy Lab Aged 1959 Les Paul
The Gibson Murphy Lab Aged 1959 Les Paul Standard collection features six new finishes, each named in honor of Murphy: Tom’s Cherry, Tom’s Tea, Tom’s Lemon Burst, Tom’s Tri-Burst, Tom’s Dark Burst, and the exclusive Murphy Burst.
Murphy Lab Aged 1959 Les Paul collection · Source: Gibson
CITES
Each guitar comes with a Brazilian rosewood fretboard and the CITES documentation that goes with it. As they use this much-coveted which is a protected species, they are exclusive to the US market and not being officially sold elsewhere.
The guitars all have super lightweight mahogany bodies, and very fancy-looking AAAA-figured maple tops. Plus, Murphy Lab aging and vintage specifications throughout.
Toms-Tri-Burst with Bigsby · Source: Gibson
Bigsby
A Bigsby-equipped version is available in Tom’s Tri-Burst finish. This limited run of just 50 instruments per finish are all priced at just shy of $20k each. Making these exclusive guitars very much collector’s items for people with deep pockets.
MSRP – USD 19,999
Sho Watanabe Telecaster
Another exclusive run, however, this one is a little more affordable and for the Japanese market. The Fender Sho Watanabe Telecaster is a limited edition model made in conjunction with the artist. This guitar comes in a sparkling gold finish with black binding and is covered in Sho Watanabe’s artwork, on the front and rear of the body.
Source: Fender
Limited Edition
This limited edition model is being sold via the online Fender Japan store and will also be available at their flagship store in Tokyo.
Source: Fender
It is a lot more affordable than the Gibson above, but it isn’t quite as traditional as the 1959 Les Paul recreation. If you like gold and are a fan of Sho Watanabe’s artwork then it could be one to buy.
MSRP – YEN 220,000
Tone City
Tone City Pedals has added three new effects to their lineup and they each offer some great tones, at very reasonable price points. The brand has been a popular one with guitarists looking for good quality, boutique-style effects, just without the boutique price tag.
They manage this by being built in China and the brand has built a solid reputation for making great-sounding pedals.
Source: Thomann
Big Rumble Overdrive/Boost
This Big Rumble overdrive pedal can combine the overdrive section with a clean boost. Both sections can be used individually or combined, making it fairly versatile. It has two modes Jazz and Rock, which hint at possibly some Dumble-style amp tones.
The Clean boost offers up to 20 dB gain, which is great for pushing a tube amp into overdrive.
Source: Thomann
Holy Aura Distortion/Boost
Next up is the Holy Aura Distortion/Boost which is more American-style gain and a little heavier than the Big Rumble in terms of the amount of gain available. It is essentially an amp-in-a-box style effect, which combines an overdrive/distortion section with a clean booster.
It just has more gain available, so users can go from clean to overdrive and from overdrive to high gain distortion if required. Again, there is up to 20 dB gain via the Boost section.
Source: Thomann
Heavenly Lake Reverb/Echo
Finally, there is the Heavenly Lake Reverb/Echo and this one offers just that, reverb and echo combined, making it wash those echoes over your tone nicely.
The delay offers a delay time of 1200 ms and a modulation module with rate and depth control. Each side of the effect can be turned on and off independently, so it is pretty versatile for one pedal.
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