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

[Creekside Guitar]

all of these ML Gibsons are at least half, if not multiple times less than an excellent vintage example.

[mmarchi]

Originally Posted by Creekside Guitar

all of these ML Gibsons are at least half, if not multiple times less than an excellent vintage example.

I guess I need to find a way to play a 40's or 50's J-45 to see for myself. All I will say is that I'm impressed with my ML J-45 (Mahogany).

[Creekside Guitar]

Originally Posted by mmarchi

I guess I need to find a way to play a 40's or 50's J-45 to see for myself. All I will say is that I'm impressed with my ML J-45 (Mahogany).

I'm referencing price, not user preference....in response to being able to pickup a clean Vintage example for "not much more"

[Igotsoul4u]

Ha!! I was playing all those except at the Hamilton and Philly store.

Philly
I played a Murph J200 in philly. It was exquisite sounding. Perfect tone for me. Very deep but no boom. Breathy top end Played amazingly as well. There was a orgiginal JS200 right next to that I was going for but it sounded super dead compared to the Murph lab. The price was just too steep and i need something acoustic electric. It seemed stupid to drill a guitar like that. If I could afford to have a studio only guitar I would have grabbed it.

Hamilton
Didn't like any of the J45s but didn't get to play the smelly guitar you mentioned. There was a Southern Jumbo that sounded really awesome but had some finish issues. The one that took me by total surprise was the S200 Studio. Wow!! I loved it.

[sinistral]

Originally Posted by mmarchi

I guess I need to find a way to play a 40's or 50's J-45 to see for myself. All I will say is that I'm impressed with my ML J-45 (Mahogany).

Originally Posted by Creekside Guitar

I'm referencing price, not user preference....in response to being able to pickup a clean Vintage example for "not much more"

I think it really depends on how far back one goes. I have guitar work done at both TR Crandall and Brooklyn Lutherie, so when I’m in Brooklyn, I’ll often pass by Retrofret. Those are my main frames of reference. Just going by their current inventory, Retrofret has a 1937 Advanced Jumbo for $37,500, and Tom has a 1944 Advanced Jumbo for $21,999. Clearly not in the same price range as a Murphy Lab Gibson, or a Kopp or a PWGC Gibson clone, etc. But Retrofret has a 1958 J-45 for $9,500, a 1934 L-00 for $8,500 and a 1952 Southern Jumbo for $7,500. Tom has a 1949 J-45 for $9,999 and a 1952 J-45 for $8,999. Granted, these cost more than a Murphy Lab/Kopp/PWGC guitar, but not the multiples more that equivalent Martins would cost. When you go into these shops, the guitars aren’t locked up, so you can play them at will (the folks at Retrofret hover, but the folks at TR Crandall leave you—well, they leave me—alone). I’ve played several of these instruments, and they are as described. They are not basket cases needing thousands of dollars of work, and the ones I’ve played were phenomenal sounding.

The point I was making is that the prices of vintage Gibsons put a functional cap on the prices of Gibson replicas. When a 1930s D-28 sells for $150k, or an early 1930s OM-45 sells for $500k, it creates a lot more headroom for replicas. TJ Thompson can charge $50K+ for a replica of an OM-45, because it’s still 1/10th the price of an original (and more than $30k less than what a used one of his sold for). In comparison, guitars like Martin Authentics, PWGCs, etc. are like screaming bargains.

As a left-handed player, I can’t imagine spending more than $5k or $6k on a vintage instrument, especially one with an original bridge, because I would be destroying or at least significantly diminishing its value by having the bridge recut or replaced (keeping the original, of course). I’m perfectly happy with Martin Authentic and PWGC guitars, and a Murphy Lab or similar if I were looking for a Gibson. If I were right handed, I would be sorely tempted by one of more of the ones I linked to above.

On a side note, I passed by Guitar Center on 14th St. on the way home earlier and saw that they had two Murph Lab guitars, a Hummingbird and a J-45. The store was about to close, so I didn’t have time to track someone down to unlock them, but hopefully they’ll be there the next time I pass by.

[Colt45]

I dropped off a couple of my guitars at Russo in Asbury Park about a month ago (consignment) and I played a couple of the Murphy Labs.
I thought they all were pretty nice…broken in feel, tasteful aging and good tone.
Hummingbird, J-45 & Southern Jumbo. I would have been happy with any of them, but I’m seriously downsizing.
The J-45 had just come in and I could smell it from a few feet away. Obviously not cured yet.
The guitar I was tempted to take home was the Gibson 50’s J-45, but I already have a great J-45 Standard…like I said, I’m downsizing?

[Colt45]

I wanted to add to my post above…I played the Gibson 1936 Advanced Jumbo only to compare to my fairly recent purchase of same model and the one I bought I knew immediately it was coming home with me..sounded much different to the one at Russo.

[BluesKing777]

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....

Also......

The real old vintage Gibsons are the price they are now selling for, approx....but what would a used new model Murphy Lab be a week, a year, 2 years after buying it?

Example, 37 Gibson L-00 $7500 at Carters online, new Murphy Lab L-00 1933 reissue, now $5,499 retail.


BluesKing777.

[ZeroFretWear]

Originally Posted by BluesKing777

Also......

The real old vintage Gibsons are the price they are now selling for, approx....but what would a used new model Murphy Lab be a week, a year, 2 years after buying it?

Example, 37 Gibson L-00 $7500 at Carters online, new Murphy Lab L-00 1933 reissue, now $5,499 retail.


BluesKing777.

With the new Gibson, you're gonna lose at least 30-40% of the money you paid for it as soon as you bring it home. Terrible investment, financially and tonally...

[zoopeda]

Originally Posted by ZeroFretWear

With the new Gibson, you're gonna lose at least 30-40% of the money you paid for it as soon as you bring it home. Terrible investment, financially and tonally...

Actually, you lose 100% the minute you swipe your credit card at the store!

It's true you'll only get back 2/3 what you paid if you ever resell.

Tonally, my experience is the opposite. My Historic J45 is my very favorite sounding guitar--even as Authentics, other Historics, and a '46 SJ have come and gone, that one just has my favorite guitar sound ever. "Tonally"--for people who appreciate this type of sound--the Historic series (in general) has been a grand slam home run.

[SalFromChatham]

When I bought a Hummingbird Vintage for $3300 a few years back, it was the most I’ve ever paid for a guitar. I sold it for about a 300 or 400 dollar loss, I think. But the real issue is replacement cost. To buy back that quality today, I would need to pony up five beans. I shouldn’t have sold!

These guitars will hold their value. They will go up over five years or longer. Don’t sell the guitars, and don’t sell Jersey Shore real estate. Too hard to buy it back.

[Creekside Guitar]

Originally Posted by ZeroFretWear

With the new Gibson, you're gonna lose at least 30-40% of the money you paid for it as soon as you bring it home. Terrible investment, financially and tonally...

except everyone is picking these up for 20% off retail.....and my L-00 sounds tonally fantastic. ymmv

[BluesKing777]

Bit of a laugh - Carters have a L-00 Murph - “essentially a brand new.......” for $5295......big saving off retail $5499, eh?

How do you tell if it is scratched?

Not trolling, sorry - I will probably buy one IF I can ever get one to try out in person - local shop has one under ‘coming soon’ ...love to try it next to my Waterloo tux WL-14....


BluesKing777.

[soups]

Originally Posted by BluesKing777

Bit of a laugh - Carters have a L-00 Murph - “essentially a brand new.......” for $5295......big saving off retail $5499, eh?

How do you tell if it is scratched?

Not trolling, sorry - I will probably buy one IF I can ever get one to try out in person - local shop has one under ‘coming soon’ ...love to try it next to my Waterloo tux WL-14....


BluesKing777.

I had the same question when I bought the floor model. How could I tell if anything happened on the floor?

I wasn’t referring to you. All good!

[BluesKing777]

Originally Posted by soups

I had the same question when I bought the floor model. How could I tell if anything happened on the floor?

I wasn’t referring to you. All good!

Yep, sometimes the stars line up, never when you expect it....

When the Taylor 717 Builders Edition came out around 2018/9, I had seen all the foof online and a local shop got one in and honestly, I was going there to buy it if I liked it, whatever they were advertising it at. I played it for a while, loved it, loved that compound neck and mumbled that....attracting a swarm of sales people! I asked for their ‘very best price’ and was quite surprised, said I would take it, thanks.....Standing at the cash register while they do their do....and the shop manager came past and mentioned the shop had a big 25% Off Sale.......off my negotiated price! Dumbfounded Happy Camper, yes!

It makes up for the times when you get to the shop and the guitar you were interested in is......not there! Hmm, long drive for nothing!

Enjoy your new Bird!

Better go play my 2005 Dove Cherry!it looks like a light aged Stage 2.....


BluesKing777.