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Murphy Lab brittle finish (2022 ML R9)

hdm3

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YES, this is always the case, per Gibson and Tom, the ML finish formulation is distinct, more brittle, and prone to accelerated aging -- even left untouched.



Yes, Tom painting/spraying is distinct from Murphy Lab as is any guitar that doesn't specifically cite Murphy Lab (and its unique finish formulation), regardless of aging or Tom's involvement -- although his involvement is pretty much exclusive to Murphy Lab since its founding as far as I've seen.


FWIW, apart from straight ahead 'VOS' which might count as a form of 'aging' there are VOS Aged, that are not Murphy Lab. I just picked one up.
What I am refering to is the runs he does for dealers like wildwood. They also sell regular ML and regular gloss and vos. I am specifically curious about the Tom Murphy Painted series He does them for them in Gloss, VOS and aging. These are not Murphy Lab guitars, they are Tom Murphy painted/aged and many are just Gloss or VOS but still done by Tom .He was doing these runs before the murphy lab too. Heres a link to them:

 

jb_abides

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What I am refering to is the runs he does for dealers like wildwood. They also sell regular ML and regular gloss and vos. I am specifically curious about the Tom Murphy Painted series He does them for them in Gloss, VOS and aging. These are not Murphy Lab guitars, they are Tom Murphy painted/aged and many are just Gloss or VOS but still done by Tom .He was doing these runs before the murphy lab too. Heres a link to them:


As explained, there are only 2 lacquer finish formulations, ML or Not (i.e. VOS/Gloss), regardless of who's done the burst painting. These are 'TM-painted' and also have the 'Murphy Lab' appellation, thus have the Murphy Lab finish.
 

hdm3

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As explained, there are only 2 lacquer finish formulations, ML or Not (i.e. VOS/Gloss), regardless of who's done the burst painting. These are 'TM-painted' and also have the 'Murphy Lab' appellation, thus have the Murphy Lab finish.
Before the Murphy Lab was established, he still did these runs(aged and gloss/vos for wildwood painted by him), did Tom Murphy have a different formula for his Tom Murphy painted guitar runs vs regular custom shops before the lab?
 

F-Hole

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Hands up who thinks Tom Murphy actually paints any guitars in a “lab” (FFS). Spoiler alert, there’s a number of subcontractors doing the spraying who have no relationship with Gibson, many of whom were owed significant sums and left in the lurch when Gibson went bust.

It’s nothing more than marketing sleight of hand, to put it as politely as I am able.
 

hdm3

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Hands up who thinks Tom Murphy actually paints any guitars in a “lab” (FFS). Spoiler alert, there’s a number of subcontractors doing the spraying who have no relationship with Gibson, many of whom were owed significant sums and left in the lurch when Gibson went bust.

It’s nothing more than marketing sleight of hand, to put it as politely as I am able.
Not talking about the Murphy Lab guitars(I think its well known he doesnt paint the ML guitars). Talking about the Tom Murphy painted or painted/aged runs which he did paint himself.
 

F-Hole

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Not talking about the Murphy Lab guitars(I think its well known he doesnt paint the ML guitars). Talking about the Tom Murphy painted or painted/aged runs which he did paint himself.

You think?

🤦
 

jb_abides

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Before the Murphy Lab was established, he still did these runs(aged and gloss/vos for wildwood painted by him), did Tom Murphy have a different formula for his Tom Murphy painted guitar runs vs regular custom shops before the lab?

Yes, it was the VOS finish, he just painted and relic'd as all were done prior... with a razor for the crazing. There are TM Aged and non TM Aged pre-Murphy Labs.
 

jb_abides

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Hands up who thinks Tom Murphy actually paints any guitars in a “lab” (FFS). Spoiler alert, there’s a number of subcontractors doing the spraying who have no relationship with Gibson, many of whom were owed significant sums and left in the lurch when Gibson went bust.

It’s nothing more than marketing sleight of hand, to put it as politely as I am able.

You are mixing circumstances and timeline.

Post-bankruptcy reorganization, 'Murphy Lab' is a segregated specialized unit contained within Gibson Custom Shop overseen by Tom; he has trained a number of employees who are Murphy Lab specialists to execute his designated processes.

Now during the JC/Cesar era, there's 'Murphy Lab' which Tom oversees as an operational subset of the Custom Shop, and then distinct special models and runs Tom personally sprays, but doesn't necessarily do the full relic job [freezing, banging, etc.], which is billed as Murphy Lab aging when aging specified.

As for the HJ-era, there were TM Aged and Gibson Aged; both VOS finish razored. Tom had involvement in the TM Aged only, not the "factory" Gibson Aged ones.
 

hdm3

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Yes, it was the VOS finish, he just painted and relic'd as all were done prior... with a razor for the crazing. There are TM Aged and non TM Aged pre-Murphy Labs.
Appreciate the info. Youre a wealth of knowledge.

Always cool to find more info about our guitars.

I got mine because I fell in love with the guitar, and the top/color was exactly what I wanted. It just happened to be a wildwood spec Tom Murphy painted guitar. But seeing it was gloss and there were WW spec runs from before mine too that were gloss and vos made me wonder all these questions. Found that on the gloss and VOS he signed the cavity since theres no razor signature on the top. Not sure of he does this on all the guitars he paints.

Heres a pic of it for the heck of it:

2019 60th anniversary 59 reissue
Wildwood spec
Tom Murphy painted in Toms Lemon (Gloss)IMG_7719.jpeg
 

jb_abides

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Found that on the gloss and VOS he signed the cavity since theres no razor signature on the top. Not sure of he does this on all the guitars he paints.

Awesome, congrats. It's rather rare these days to see a verified TM paint job in Gloss. Enjoy!
 

Wasatch

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Nov 29, 2024
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I have noticed the “Tom-painted” guitars seem to have flame that pops more than any others. It made me curious if he perhaps does a very light staining of the tops before spraying them. Because they do look different, and as a friend said, “it’s not like Tom has magic paint…”
 

hdm3

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Jul 16, 2021
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I have noticed the “Tom-painted” guitars seem to have flame that pops more than any others. It made me curious if he perhaps does a very light staining of the tops before spraying them. Because they do look different, and as a friend said, “it’s not like Tom has magic paint…”
Not sure if they are "enhanced", but ive seem some that were not impressive at all from the same series.
 
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