Thursday, December 27, 2007

Don C's burst (the holiest grail)





We don't call him Don C. for nothing... Don C; Don Corleone, right, of the Godfather fame he is modeled after. This guy's the man... Meet Michael Murphy, a vintage guitar enthusiast, dealer, and connesoir of everything fancy and fine in life. Take for example; vintage furnitures, mechanical watches, Leica & Zeiss cameras and optics (Yes!), sushi, curry, and what have you... vinyl records, etc. etc... Sounds like a perfect copy of me eh? Well, meet the guru himself... the man who mentored me the finer points of vintage guitars and amps, Eric Clapton, Michael Bloomfield, ZZ Top, Peter Green, Rolling Stones, and Jimi Hendrix. Most of you who know me well know that I went to school in Mobile, AL in the 90s. As a freshie there, I bought everything new; being Malaysian mah... I remember vividly the first time I met Michael was in a music store owned by a close friend and Mike (as he is affectionally known) bought a vintage tube radio there. It blew my mind that someone actually appreciates all these gears when they are virtually neglected and treated as trash in Malaysia. The camaraderie clicked instantly and we were suddenly hanging out together, searching for gears, good food, and women scouting :-)
I think we traveled furthest to the west Arlington, Texas where we had a blast of a time in the guitar show, rubbing shoulders with the likes of George Gruhn (vintage guitar pioneer) and Seymour Duncan (pickup maker fame), and to the east, Jacksonville, Florida in search for good old vintage stuffs. Although I left the US in 1997, we still keep in touch till today via the internet... I'm glad for this friendship :-)
So, what have we here on the title? Um um um, my old friend here found the holy grail of all electric guitars in the time of man. It's the Gibson Les Paul Standard in sunburst finish, often called the 'burst' by collectors and lovers around... A 1960 model and looking finer than before...what a good time for a Christmas gift! I leave you to the photos to appreciate the beauty of this burst. Congratulations and my hats of to you Michael, if you're reading this :-)



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