Murphy Lab Custom Shop 1933 L-00 Ebony - Light Aged, Limited Run

Sonic Evaluation

Wildwoodians, one of the greatest vintage guitars I've ever played in all my time at Wildwood was a early-'30s L-00, and this Murphy Lab reissue captures the charms and delights of L-00s from that era with exceptional accuracy. It captures everything I love about a great L-00: the warm, woody tonality, the pitch-perfect balance, the shocking punching power, remarkable responsiveness and the kind of presence that makes it sit front and center at every jam and recording. On a scale of woody to rich ("woody" meaning a vintage-style tonality with a stronger emphasis on the fundamental tones and "rich" meaning a more modern sound with greater emphasis on overtones), this guitar is about halfway between the woody side of things and the middle. This means it has a classic old-school sound but with just the right amount of sparkle and jangle.

This serial may not have the cannon-like bass of a dreadnought, but it's definitely a bazooka! The impact may be smaller, but the explosion of low-end is no less impressive for its more focused blast radius. "Punchy" doesn't do the midrange justice, as it hits with a hulk-sized fist that can go through walls of sound. The trebles have a lovely golden sheen to them, which makes strumming full chords awfully fun. And as far as responsiveness dynamism go, this serial is hard to top. It speaks beautifully at low volumes, and it becomes bolder and sunnier-sounding as you reach the limits of its headroom (which is considerable for a guitar of its size) as more and more sweet overtones pop out of the soundhole thanks to the delightful musical compression that takes place when this serial's top gets moving.

This L-00 excels equally as a fingerstyle guitar and a small-bodied strummer, and it will follow you faithfuly wherever your fingers wander along your acoustic journey. I have no doubt you'll love its versatility, vintage sound, and pugnacious personality as much as I did!

• Serial Number

  20326030

• Brand Name

  Gibson

• Model

  Murphy Lab Custom Shop 1933 L-00 Ebony

• Limited Edition

  One of a Small Run made for Wildwood Guitars

• Finish Color

  Ebony

• Finish Type

  Murphy Lab Light-Aged Nitrocellulose Lacquer

• Top Wood

  Solid Thermally-Aged Adirondack Red Spruce

• Bracing

  Red Spruce X-Bracing attached with Hide Glue

• Binding

  Single-ply Antique Cream on Body Top

• Back & Sides Wood

  Solid Mahogany

• Neck Dimensions

  .850 1st - .910 9th

• Neck Wood

  Mahogany

• Neck Shape

  Slim Taper

• Fingerboard Wood

  Darker Rosewood

• Fingerboard Radius

  12"

• Fingerboard Inlays

  Mother-of-Pearl Dots

• Frets

  19 Legend Wire

• Scale Length

  Short

• Nut Material

  Bone

• Width at Nut

  1.725"

• Saddle String Spacing

  Standard

• Electronics

  None

• Saddle

  12" Radius, Bone

• Rosette

  Antique Cream Rings

• Hardware

  Murphy Lab Light-Aged Nickel

• Tuners

  Murphy Lab Light-Aged Square-End Style with Cream Buttons

• bridge

  Darker Rosewood Sloped Rectangle Open-Slot

• Pickguard

  Aged White

• Case

  Gibson L-00 Redline Black Hardshell