The 2017 1959 Les Paul True Historic Murphy painted 1994 Killer Top feature a “hand picked” KILLER top by Edwin Wilson and was painted by Burst Master Tom Murphy and was an exclusive (JSR) Japan Special Run of only 12 guitars built for the top dealers in Japan only and not offered to any other dealers.
 
(The Back Story) Edwin Wilson and Tom Murphy were there at the start of the Gibson Custom Shop some time around 1993 at the old shop and just sort of fell into it. When Henry Juszkiewicz bought the company and moved it from Kalamazoo Michigan to Nashville Edwin and Tom were consulting and told him “the reason why the 59 reissue does not sell well is because the guitar is totally wrong from headstock to strap pin”. Henry challenged them he told them well “if you think you make it better than try it”. So they did and they bought a couple of folding tables and the inception of the Gibson Custom Art & Historic Division was born. 1994 was the first year Tom Murphy painted the very first guitars for Gibson. The 1994 59 reissue’s all had hand picked tops by Edwin Wilson and were painted by Tom Murphy and had the letter K stamped in the control cavity. The letter K designation meant that these guitars all had hand selected “KILLER” tops and Edwin Wilson hand picked every one of them. These guitars are known as the 1994 “KILLER” tops.
The 2017 1959 True Historic Murphy painted 1994 “KILLER” tops guitars are a throw back to the beginning and represent the first guitars Wilson and Murphy built in 1994 and now their last work ever in 2017. The tops were all hand picked by Edwin Wilson and painted by the Burst master Tom Murphy just as they did way back in the day in 1994, only these guitars have a special top carve and have all the 2017 True Historic specs and were built at the request for the top dealers in Japan only. The Murphy Burst finish is incredible and the deep dish carved top is new for 2017 and is spot on to a real 59 done exclusively for this run only. The specially wound PAF pickups are just dripping with tone unlike anything you ever heard before.(The Specs)The 2017 1959 True Historic Les Paul Murphy painted 1994 “Killer” tops have True Historic specs and feature a hand picked top by Edwin Wilson reminiscent of the tops from 1994. The neck carve is true to a real 1959 Les Paul Standard, the top carve has a deep dish true to a real 59 Les Paul Standard (new for this run only), truss rod with no tubing, fingerboard glued to the neck with hot hide glue, neck glued to the body with hot hide glue, top glued to the back with hot hide glue, authentic True Historic plastic parts, hand selected “KILLER” tops by Edwin Wilson, hand selected lightweight Mahogany backs, back color mixed by Edwin Wilson, painted by Burst Master Tom Murphy, special wound authentic PAF pickups, and a hand sanded nitro cellulose lacquer finish. You simply cant get closer to a real Burst than with this reissue. Notice Tom Murphy's initials in the control cavity and the letter K as well.
(The Tone)Nobody and I mean nobody can paint a guitar like Tom Murphy and color of these guitars is just so close to an original its sick! The tone and playability is unlike any other reissue ever done before with great clarity that is focused and very articulate with that Les Paul vintage punch. The guitar is very touch sensitive and very violin like the way the strings break over the nut and sustains for days. The guitar is in mint brand new un-played condition with all hang tags, certificate of authenticity (showing Edwin Wilson and Tom Murphy), special “hand selected” certificate (showing Edwin Wilson selecting the tops), extra toggle cover, warranty card, and original the shipping carton.