BLUEPRINT: Gibson Murphy Lab Acoustics
In the space of a few decades, pre-aged guitars have gone from industry joke to high art. A large part of that turnaround has been down to the work of Tom Murphy, whose work has elevated what was once a (quite literally) scattergun process into something more akin to historical restoration.
Murphy operated independently for many years, but as of 2020 was chosen to head up Gibson’s specially created Murphy Lab, sharing his innovative tools and techniques with a small crew of hand-picked employees. The Custom Shop instruments they finish have become revered for their convincingly vintage look and feel, and many players will swear they sound better for the treatment, too.
Now, in collaboration with Gibson’s Bozeman, Montana “craftory”, the Murphy Lab is expanding its sights to take in a range of five pre-aged, period-correct acoustic models, including a 1933 L-00 parlour guitar, 1942 Banner J-45 and Jumbo Vintage, a 1957 SJ-200 flat-top and a 1960 Hummingbird.
This time, though, it’s not simply about perfecting the belt-buckle rash. As Murphy maintains, “we want all the attention paid to the sound”.
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