A select few... vintage Gibson/Kalamazoo Guitar experts... have come to the same conclusion, that in their opinion, this guitar was "directly" built by the Murphy/Shaw team in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This guitar was manufactured somewhere between 1976-1977 under their Sunrise Guitars brand and was either built as a prototype model or a custom made guitar for a high-profile music client.
My feelings are... that this was built as a prototype model, do to a sticker attached to the back of the neck heel... "Not For Re-Sell". The guitar is built exclusively around vintage Schaller hardware with 1970-era Schaller Tuners and Humbucker Pickups, with hex-head poles. These Schaller pickups were built specifically for Murphy Shaw with their specifications. Fantastic quality humbuckers, with warm and clean tones. These classic pickups allow your guitars natural tone to breath when clean, and break-up naturally when overdriven. Suitable for everything from Clean Jazz, Blues, Classic & Heavy Rock.
Not much more background history exists on this guitar... except, that the person I bought the guitar from, found it in the attic of the house that he had just purchased back in 1980. What city was his home located-in... you might ask? "Kalamazoo, Michigan"
