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Guitars don't need to shout to be heard across the universe. The Gibson Custom Shop Murphy Lab 1959 Les Paul Standard Reissue Plain Top Beauty of the Burst #122 Light Aged proves that with quiet, absolute authority. An exacting tribute to the legendary Burst documented on page 122 of Yasuhiko Iwanade's Beauty of the Burst, this instrument celebrates a different kind of '59 greatness — not the wildly figured tops that dominate the conversation, but the workingman's Burst: understated, battle-ready, and relentlessly powerful. While the figured top BOTB #78 announces itself with cosmic visual drama, the #122 lets its tone do every word of the talking. The plain maple top opens the voice up — raw, harmonically rich, and beautifully unfiltered — allowing every frequency to breathe and bloom without the distraction of flash or ornamentation. Beneath it, the fully cherry aniline-dyed mahogany back — finished with the same period-correct dye method used on the original 1959 instruments — glows like a dying star under stage lights, a deep, saturated beauty that rewards those who look closely enough to see it. Murphy Lab Light Aged nitrocellulose covers the entire instrument with the kind of honest, earned character that only Gibson's master artisans can deliver — making this #122 feel as if it has already lived a lifetime of late-night sessions and world-shaking performances.

At the heart of this tone machine sits a matched pair of unspotted Custombucker Alnico 3 pickups — wired through CTS 500K audio taper potentiometers and period-correct Paper-in-Oil capacitors — delivering that unmistakable late-'50s PAF voice: warm, authoritative lows, vocal mids, and a top end that cuts through any mix without ever crossing into harshness. From the celestial sustain of Jimmy Page to the snarling grind of Joe Walsh, the haunting phrasing of Peter Green, the Texas heat of Billy Gibbons, and the arena-sized roar of Slash — this guitar taps directly into the cosmic source of rock history that plain-top Bursts helped define. The legendary Carmelita V1 neck carve fills the hand with perfect balance between comfort and authority, paired with Indian rosewood fingerboard, aged cellulose nitrate trapezoid inlays, and historic medium-jumbo frets across its full 24.75" scale. Every period-correct appointment has been chosen with obsessive fidelity to the 1959 original — down to the smallest material specification. It arrives in the iconic Brown/Pink Lifton Reissue 5-Latch case with Certificate of Authenticity, Historic Reissue hang tags, and Gibson Custom Switchplate Medallion. Not flashy. Not polite. Just pure, vintage Les Paul gravity. Welcome to orbit.

Welcome to orbit.

Model: CS GHII BOTB #122
Body Construction: Solid
Body: 1-Piece Lightweight Mahogany
Body Top: 2-Piece Plain Maple, Hide Glue Fit 
Body Finish: Murphy Lab Aged Nitrocellulose (Light-Aging) Fully Cherry Aniline Dye Back
Body Binding: Single-Ply Royalite
Neck: Mahogany
Fingerboard: Indian Rosewood
Fingerboard Inlay: Aged Cellulose Nitrate Trapezoid
Nut: Nylon, 1.69"" 
Neck Profile: "Carmalita" (.860" - .975")
Neck Joint: Long Tenon, Hide Glue Fit 
Frets: Historic Medium-Jumbo 22 
Truss Rod: Authentic 1950s No-Tube
Radius: 12"
Fingerboard Binding: Cream, Single Ply Royalite
Scale Length: 24.75"
Headstock: Holly Head Veener, Ebony Stinger
Bridge Pickup: Custombucker Alnico 3
Neck Pickup: Custombucker Alnico 3
Controls: 2 Volume, 2 Tone, CTS 500K Audio Taper Potentiometers, Paper-in-Oil Capacitors
Pickup Selector: 3-Way Switchcraft
Outpuck Jack: 1/4" Switchcraft
Bridge: No-Wire ABR-1 (Nickel-Plated Brass Saddles)
Tailpiece: Lightweight Aluminum Stop Bar
Hardware Color: Nickel
Pickup Covers:  Authentic Profile Nickel Silver
Strap Buttons: Aluminum
Switchwasher: Replica Cellulose Acetate Butyrate
Pickguard: Laminated Cellulose Acetate Butyrate
Truss Rod Cover: Authentic Stepped 2-Ply 
Switch Tip: Amber Catalin 
Tailpiece: Lightweight Aluminum Stop Bar
Tuning Machines: Grover Milk Bottle Tuners 
Mounting Rings:  M69 Cellulose Acetate Butyrate 
Control Covers: Black Royalite 
Control Knobs: Gold Butyrate Top Hats
Case: Brown/Pink Lifton Reissue 5-Latch Case
String Gauge: .010, .013, .017, .026, .036, .046
Weight: 8lbs 13oz. 
Accessories: COA, Historic Reissue Hang Tags, Gibson Custom Switchplate Medallion 9w/Historic Black Plastic Cover in Case) 
Case: Brown/Pink Lifton Reissue 5-Latch