Played a Few Murphy Lab Gibson Acoustics Yesterday/Today -- My Thoughts

[zombywoof]

Originally Posted by BluesKing777

20 minutes down the road?

Are you back yet?

All of the what you said above is why we value your opinion, ZW!

Err, for the people that think the new L-00 Murph sounds better than a real vintage Gibson L-00, well...really? You think it would sound better than my 1937? Ha ha ha ha ha .... (but I would take the new one out of the house and my oldie, hmm, nope)....




BluesKing777.

Assuming the Murphy Lab sports scalloped bracing to be fair I would be inclined to run one up against a 1940s L00. Just do not happen to have one of those handy.

The thing that I love about Gibson though is that back in the day when they were starting to figure out how to build an X braced flattop it was pretty much an experiment in chaos. The factory itself was a mish-mash of tools dies, and fixtures. Looking at just the L00 they were built with 12, 13 and 14 fret necks, kerfed or solid lining, the occasional raised fingerboard, and such. As the years progressed builds got heavier while finishes transitioned from hand rubbed, to hand rubbed with a final sprayed coat, to fully sprayed. The point is that Bozeman can take a ton of measurements and do as thorough an inspection of a given guitar as they want. Chances are though, it will not be a dead ringer for your guitar even if built the same year as that they were copying.

[ZeroFretWear]

Originally Posted by zoopeda

I was wondering what the hole was for! I had the bridge plate hole plugged in mine but had no idea how it got there. (Bought mine used). lol. Any idea why they do that?

I think that the Gibson "luthiers" use the bridgeplates for target practice during their lunch breaks. I initially thought it was part of their tooling procedure for locating the bridge or pin area, but how do you explain the fact that no two bridgeplates have the giant holes in the same location. The only reasonable explanation is that they're shooting them before installation.

[zoopeda]

Originally Posted by ZeroFretWear

I think that the Gibson "luthiers" use the bridgeplates for target practice during their lunch breaks. I initially thought it was part of their tooling procedure for locating the bridge or pin area, but how do you explain the fact that no two bridgeplates have the giant holes in the same location. The only reasonable explanation is that they're shooting them before installation.

And THAT is why people are calling you a troll LOL.

[guitarman68]

Originally Posted by BluesKing777

20 minutes down the road?

Are you back yet?

All of the what you said above is why we value your opinion, ZW!

Err, for the people that think the new L-00 Murph sounds better than a real vintage Gibson L-00, well...really? You think it would sound better than my 1937? Ha ha ha ha ha .... (but I would take the new one out of the house and my oldie, hmm, nope)....




BluesKing777.

Oh my dear ! That pic alone makes me want it so badly ! I can only imagine how good this one sounds.
By the way, where do you live ?

[BluesKing777]

Originally Posted by guitarman68

Oh my dear ! That pic alone makes me want it so badly ! I can only imagine how good this one sounds.
By the way, where do you live ?

Ha, thanks!

It has been ‘hot-rodded - the original guitar I bought was unplayable - destroyed by amateur twiddling and decorations. Neck set, new ebony fretboard, frets, new ebony bridge, bone nut, bone saddle, ebony head plate, new tuners.....etc.

In the repair ‘package’ that my luthier did quite a few years ago now, was replacing the absolutely horrid original tuners that had been ‘fixed’ by previous owners, covered in Araldite???, with Kluson style replacement tuners from Gotoh? Just pure luxury compared to oldies. I really noticed tuning my poor old 1959 LG1 - next candidate desperate for better tuners!


BluesKing777.

[Joe32726]

Originally Posted by ZeroFretWear

The problem with these Murphy Lab J-45s and Hummingbirds is that the real vintage ones they're modeled after aren't that much more expensive, but are 10 times the guitars the new ones are.
Compare that to the Martin Authentics, and you get a closer guitar in tone and the price difference between new and vintage is magnitudes higher.
All that to say, I don't get why people buy these expensive new Gibson vintage replicas....

I have to somewhat agree and disagree with this post. On a recent trip to Nashville I played several vintage hummingbirds that sounded great. Usually they had significant restoration work done to them and not all of it was good or by a professional. Nothing was under $12K So, the next best thing was a trip to the Gibson Garage. They had a ML hummingbird. It Felt good and sounded great. Man... it was talking to me.... So I'm thinking that I might pull the trigger on it. Unfortunately, a young lady watching me play it decided it would be the perfect wedding gift for her new husband. The salesman virtually took it out of my hands and to the cash register she went. I played 3 other over the next few days and they all fell far short of the eventual wedding present I was playing. Long story, short. Do not buy one of these online unless you can send it back. each one is significantly different. They ranged from wow to you could get this at a yard sale for $50. Best of luck finding one. PS. I prefer to beat up my own gear. I don't need it professionally gouged, scraped and faded before I get it. Just my preference. If you buy your jeans with holes and rips in them , then this might be your thing.

[pcf]

Originally Posted by ZeroFretWear

You were saying that these new Gibsons will be the vintage Gibsons of the future, but they won't be, due to the difference in scarcity.
Anyways, I always compare a good vintage example to a good modern example. No point in comparing dogs.
I did own a very nice J-45 Legend built by Ren Ferguson and crew, which I gifted to my son-in-law.
It didn't rival a similarly nice vintage example, but was the best modern J-45 I've played. And unlike the new Historics I've tried, it didn't have a cheap tacky finish and intentional holes in the bridgleplate.

Vintage has nothing to do with scarcity. There's always a good thread available with someone asking what vintage is that you can reference. And, yes, all the guitars made today will eventually be vintage...even the cheap Recording Kings, etc.

The Legends were ok. The thick, gloss finish was tackier to me than the thin VOS finishes used on the Vintage and Historic series. Is the ML using the exact same VOS finish?

[brencat]

Originally Posted by Joe32726

On a recent trip to Nashville I played several vintage hummingbirds that sounded great. Usually they had significant restoration work done to them and not all of it was good or by a professional. Nothing was under $12K So, the next best thing was a trip to the Gibson Garage. They had a ML hummingbird. <snip>

Long story, short. Do not buy one of these online unless you can send it back as each one is significantly different. They ranged from wow to you could get this at a yard sale for $50.

Thank you for sharing your story. This is sound advice IMO as this has been my personal experience with Gibson acoustics as well. If you can’t play it in person, at least get a sound sample ahead of time to see if it’s in the ball park tonally of what you’re after.

Originally Posted by pcf

Is the ML using the exact same VOS finish?

According to the YouTube interview with Mr Murphy, the ML Gibsons use a completely different finish than the non-Aged Historics.

[mmarchi]

In the spirit of sharing.... J-200 Murphy Lab vs. Standard...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMui...index=25&t=83s

[mo6020]

Originally Posted by mmarchi

In the spirit of sharing.... J-200 Murphy Lab vs. Standard...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMui...index=25&t=83s

The Murphy Labs one sounds much bigger and more open... I didn't expect such a difference tbh.

[cip]

Originally Posted by ZeroFretWear

The problem with these Murphy Lab J-45s and Hummingbirds is that the real vintage ones they're modeled after aren't that much more expensive, but are 10 times the guitars the new ones are.
Compare that to the Martin Authentics, and you get a closer guitar in tone and the price difference between new and vintage is magnitudes higher.
All that to say, I don't get why people buy these expensive new Gibson vintage replicas....

I played 2 actual 1933 l-00s and in my opinion the Murphy Lab l00 was better sounding. I'm just a guy with an opinion though