Sun Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Just want to know how many gibson les paul models that Tom Murphy do both of painted and aged? I know only Gibson 1999 40th Anni Vintage world. Thanks for all of your valuable info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 He's done loads. I doubt there even can be a definitive list owing to the nature of his work before, during and after his time as an employee of Gibson. Google (and watch!) "tom murphy aging and distressing gibson guitars (parts 1 - 7)" and you will get an idea of why I say the above. Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skilsaw Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Taking a new guitar off the factory floor and beating the $hit out of it does not improve it. Selling these "aged" guitars for more $$$ is a scam. They've been doing it for years with new furniture. Whip it with a chain, blotch on some stain then rough sand patches... It is not antique. It is new and abused. Say you see the real thing... an original 60's LP. The price depends on condition and authenticity. All original spec electronics, tuners, etc. The price goes down if the guitar has been beat to snot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I love his work. The winter stuff is especially impressive, he tents it out there for two months at a time: We so love Lamar Valley, we have a couple of his like this one: Just makes yer heart race!: Can't forget Hayden Valley: Wait... oh... sorry, wrong Tom Murphy. Nevermind. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 ...sorry, wrong Tom Murphy. Nevermind... NICE, though! Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masliko Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Taking a new guitar off the factory floor and beating the $hit out of it does not improve it. Selling these "aged" guitars for more $$$ is a scam. They've been doing it for years with new furniture. Whip it with a chain, blotch on some stain then rough sand patches... It is not antique. It is new and abused. Say you see the real thing... an original 60's LP. The price depends on condition and authenticity. All original spec electronics, tuners, etc. The price goes down if the guitar has been beat to snot. I agree with you.Making "imitations of real relics" to me are worthless.I wouldn't even pay $500 for one.Fake guitars are for the deluded and i would be embarrassed when someone asked me,how my guitar got so beat up.."oh,i paid for & it was done at shop with keys and sandpaper" what a joke.Something is either real or not,there is no in-between. And Tom Murphy is a joke for doing it IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 I agree with you.Making "imitations of real relics" to me are worthless.I wouldn't even pay $500 for one.Fake guitars are for the deluded and i would be embarrassed when someone asked me,how my guitar got so beat up.."oh,i paid for & it was done at shop with keys and sandpaper" what a joke.Something is either real or not,there is no in-between. And Tom Murphy is a joke for doing it IMO. Its not worthless if people are paying for those guitars. I wouldn't get one either but people are free to purchase what they want and companies are free to meet whatever demand is out there (within the law of course ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Taking a new guitar off the factory floor and beating the $hit out of it does not improve it. Selling these "aged" guitars for more $ is a scam... ...Something is either real or not,there is no in-between...and Tom Murphy is a joke for doing it IMO. The artificial "relic'ing" of instruments always raises interesting questions and viewpoints. First-off I'd like to make it absolutely clear that I've never bought - nor even remotely considered buying - a pre-beat-up guitar. With all due respect to both skilsaw and masliko (I assure you both I'm really not having a 'pop' at either of you) starting at the back and working forward; Tom Murphy got interested in the 'aging' thing almost by accident. From what I remember... Owners of fine, old - but broken - instruments needed them to be repaired and brought them to Gibson. TM (who, if my memory serves me, worked in the repair and restoration dept. of Gibson at the time) thought that it was a shame to let the instruments go out the door with what were obviously brand-new 'whatever was needed' fixes and so started to practice techniques which would render the repaired area undetectable to the naked eye. Understandably this made the owners of these instruments very happy. IMO this was a Very Good Thing and TM should be praised for his painstaking efforts in this area. Should the repairs have been left obvious and 'real' or disguised and fake? Or is 'in-between' sometimes justified?....................... I've never seen anyone claim that a new guitar is improved by it having been beaten-up. Selling these "aged" guitars for more $ is purely a commercial undertaking - no more; no less. No-one is being scammed. Buyers KNOW the guitars under consideration are not original 'vintage' instruments. Buyers KNOW there's no magical 'MOJO' in these things. No-one is being cheated. If a certain number of customers want to spend more money on a pre-beaten-up axe then who can argue against the companies' decision to make the goods available? Which brings us back to TM. TM decides to try to make brand-new repairs/wood inserts etc...etc...undetectable to the naked eye so that a Vintage instrument still looks properly Vintage after serious repair work. He perfects his skill over the years. This skill becomes an in-demand commodity. He profits for having perfecting his skill over the years. Why blame Tom Murphy? Because some people DO want to buy pre-beat-up guitars? Who even cares? WHY? Good luck to him, I say. FWIW I read that TM himself painted the very first 100 'proper & official' 1959 re-issues to come out of the Historic Division (now Custom Shop) when it was established in 1993. Mine is #131. Bugger. And he didn't 'Age' it either; I'm doing that myself..... Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajay Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 I think most of them are purchased by Gigging musician's looking to impress women or men?,?). Chicks see John Mayer playing a Strat with all of the finish gone from the top half of a guitar. The women ask their boyfriends, " can't he afford a nice guitar?" The boyfriend answers, that is a $45,000 Vîntage Fender StratocasterI." Insert poor working musician with Murphy Burst. Girl says to girlfriend "Look at the loser with the beat up guitar!" Girlfriend answers, "that is worth thousands of dollars. The old guitars are what all of the rich musicians play!" Insert musicians into girl's girlfriend's apartment. Or Girlfriend." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masliko Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Its not worthless if people are paying for those guitars. I wouldn't get one either but people are free to purchase what they want and companies are free to meet whatever demand is out there (within the law of course ) What i mean by what i said,is that they are worthless to me,and my friends think the same.As far as I'm concerned anything that is an "imitation" of the real IS worthless,and i wouldn't but one or respect the person who owns it,because they must be deluded. Yes,people can buy what they like and run keys and sandpaper along guitars as much as they want but they always be an imitation of the real(fake) The funniest thing i can think is someone with a $7000 fake guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deeman Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 The funniest thing i can think is someone with a $7000 fake guitar. Its not a fake guitar. Just think of it as another finish color or option. You can get a nice gold top, sunburst, or for some more money, relic. There is nothing fake about it. I wouldn't get a relic guitar either but I just don't understand why you're so angry about it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaicho8888 Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Seems like it takes lots of hours to fake a relic...tough way to make a living...relicn' guitars...guess it's not my kind of occupation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brantobrien Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 People are so polarized on the "issue" of relic guitars. They can't be called fake as they are real guitars, but I can relate to the responses of people that don't like the idea. I used to completely stand in that camp until I met a guy that had his beloved strat ripped off. He spent years with that guitar and to him it felt like a perfect worn in pair of jeans. The new ones didn't feel right. He had completely given up until he picked up a custom shop heavy relic. Looked and played very similar to his old guitar. It inspired him to continue to create music, so why should I be upset? Besides that, he could play circles around me, so I'm just glad I got to hear him play no matter what guitar he's holding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Sutherland Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Seems like it takes lots of hours to fake a relic...tough way to make a living...relicn' guitars...guess it's not my kind of occupation. When I was in my younger years, I was infatuated with anything Stevie Ray Vaughan/Jimi Hendrix and Fender Strats. So after a night out watching a Stevie/Jimi tribute band (and a lot of drinking), when I got home I thought it would be a good idea to douse my strat in lighter fluid and throw a match on it (the guitar player seen earlier in the evening did an encore ala Jimi Hendrix at Monterrey where he lit his guitar on fire, the whole nine yards). I took said strat out into the driveway, doused it with lighter fluid (BBQ lighter fluid, not the proper way to do this I quickly learned), and threw a match on it. After some replacement parts, it kinda looked cool, and a few years later I gave it to a bar owner in Korea to hang on his wall... I would never do this to a guitar today, particularly a Les Paul. But everyone is free to do whatever they like to their own instruments, and they are free to purchase their instruments, new or used, in any condition they see fit. I like the aged look and I like the way they look new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I like the aged look and I like the way they look new. The great thing about buying a used LP is that you never have to worry about the first 'ding'... The weirdest thing is that of my LPs the one I cosset the most is the least valuable (my '91 1960 Classic) just because it's still in mint condition. The most trashed (in comparative terms) is, perversely, the 'most highly-valued' ('95 R0) because it gets dragged out to any 'outing' no matter how rough it might turn out to be. I've posted the following observation before in a similar thread but I'll say much the same thing again anyway; In 'Real Life' the most stunning (in a visual sense) Les Paul I've ever seen was in the window of one of London's main 'vintage' dealerships. I didn't go in. I looked at it in silence for a long while and left. To this day I don't know whether it was a genuine '58 - '60 or an aged R-I. I don't care. It was the most beautiful LP I've ever seen. If it was an original then I'd be really happy because there's no way I could ever be able to summon up the ante. If it was a R-I then I'd really rather not know because it would have been within financial reach (give-or-take a kidney)..... In a similar vein just please have a good look at this example from the good souls at Mark's Guitar Loft / Dave Johnson / Historic Makeovers. I'd have sold off 90% of the herd and snapped this one up in a heart-beat if I had seen it in time. Not a shadow of a doubt. http://www.marksguit....php?id=94271HM I know it's not a real '59. I wouldn't be buying it so that I could impress women or men. But then again I'd never have dated a girl who was so stupid as to have asked "Can't he afford a nice guitar?"... P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I remember the relic thing starting. I remember bein all like wait WHAT? and all like that's some dumb sh1t there. Then I went into some store out west and I don't remember where but I'll say near Palm Springs CA I think I was there. Or, I was in FL, don't remember. On the counter of the small shop, on a stand, was one of these new fangled "relic'd" Nocasters. So I snickered arrogantly because as you all know, I know everything about guitars, and this would be quite a good joke to check out. It was like Leo himself made it and handed it to me, it was so. effing. good. I then understood why people want them. I don't have any, probably wouldn't buy one myself, but man, go play a couple and you'll know. It helps if you've played early 50's Fedners and late 50's Gibsons, it helps to know what you are feeling when you feel it. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Yup. Pip. But hang on a mo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 It was like Leo himself made it and handed it to me, it was so. effing. good.I then understood why people want them....it helps to know what you are feeling when you feel it... In which case I can't help but ask Why didn't you buy it??? For Zardoz' sakes surely you must have realised that you should have grabbed it there and then? Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 In which case I can't help but ask Why didn't you buy it??? For Zardoz' sakes surely you must have realised that you should have grabbed it there and then? Pip. eh. Guitar math is as complex as football math. It takes more than just a great guitar, especially at that time when I had probably 5 or 6 and gigged them all. At that time, a 4 thousand dollars plus Nocaster was useless to me, I'd have spent a few months gig money on one that was too expensive to take out of the house. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 Yes, rct, I get where you are coming from. "Back in the Day" I gigged (very occasionally) for fun, giggles or, oft-times, just beer-money. You, OTOH, gigged 'properly seriously' so that was a very different matter. I dragged my '64 Strat anywhere and everywhere - be it crazy-house or town hall - which offered us (my 'pardner' and I) the time and space and we hadn't a care in the world. You had to consider 'gear safety' and all that jazz. To me picking up a once-in-a-lifetime Nocaster relic would be a cinch (if I had the ready's). I'd bring it up as if it were one of my own. As a Pro. Musician you would doubtless have different priorities. As such I have absolutely no hesitation in manhandling my R0 to the darkest dives in deepest Croydon for an open mic but that's a once-in-a-blue-moon event. I'm sure that your 5 or 6 axes could do more than you needed and that on a day to day basis a 'Nocaster' was less use than a MIM Blacktop. Shame, though. Being the age I am now and given the opportunity now I (if I were You) would buy the Nocaster... Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masliko Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Its not a fake guitar. Just think of it as another finish color or option. You can get a nice gold top, sunburst, or for some more money, relic. There is nothing fake about it. I wouldn't get a relic guitar either but I just don't understand why you're so angry about it! I'm not angry about it,I'm just saying they that are phoney and generally for deluded fools.If your going to hang it on a wall i get it or playing in your bedroom and you want to sit & imagine you did the wear on your fake world tour ,with your fake band-i guess that's ok too.I'm not just going to think of something that is fake(imitation) as real.Aging is done by time,and wear is made by playing for twenty years,not keys a penknife and sandpaper. Could you imagine being asked about your guitar and you say,the aging was done by some dude in a shop! Yes it is fake,the wear and aging is an imitation of the real (therefore its fake).Its not just a finish option,its give the impression that the guitar is old when its not(fake). Its fake and worthless to me and most of the musicians i know. I'll break it down further. A original 1960 LP,that is old, has aged because of time is real and being played for 50 years -real. A original 2000-2015 LP,made to look like the real(by keys and whatever stupid stuff)is not. Its worthless to me,and people like me in that if i owned it,i would strip the fake rubbish of it and repaint it. If i want a relic guitar,I'll save for years and buy a real one or go without,I'm not just to make(or pay tons of cash which is so funny i think) a phony,imitation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 I'm sure I posted about this one before but will do here again. One of the daughters of our bassist reported the following about a former bandmate of her owning an artificially aged Gibson Les Paul. One day he personally happened to cause a ding to the finish. Then he had this single battle scar he did himself repaired. To my senses this is the point where sickness starts finally. Not faked sickness but real sickness. Just my two cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Sutherland Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 I'm not angry about it,I'm just saying they that are phoney and generally for deluded fools.If your going to hang it on a wall i get it or playing in your bedroom and you want to sit & imagine you did the wear on your fake world tour ,with your fake band-i guess that's ok too.I'm not just going to think of something that is fake(imitation) as real.Aging is done by time,and wear is made by playing for twenty years,not keys a penknife and sandpaper. Could you imagine being asked about your guitar and you say,the aging was done by some dude in a shop! Yes it is fake,the wear and aging is an imitation of the real (therefore its fake).Its not just a finish option,its give the impression that the guitar is old when its not(fake). Its fake and worthless to me and most of the musicians i know. I'll break it down further. A original 1960 LP,that is old, has aged because of time is real and being played for 50 years -real. A original 2000-2015 LP,made to look like the real(by keys and whatever stupid stuff)is not. Its worthless to me,and people like me in that if i owned it,i would strip the fake rubbish of it and repaint it. If i want a relic guitar,I'll save for years and buy a real one or go without,I'm not just to make(or pay tons of cash which is so funny i think) a phony,imitation. I kinda have to agree with deeman, you do seem a little perturbed by the whole idea of relicing a guitar. I bought a set of pickups a while back with aged covers for one of my LP's, and decided to put an aged bridge and tailpiece on the guitar to kinda match... does this make my guitar a fake? Now I did nothing to the actual finish of the guitar (with the exception of the bumps and bruises accrued over the past 3 or so years of ownership). But when I decided to put Faber bridges on both of my LP's, I made the conscious decision to purchase an aged one for one, and a shiny 'new' one for the other. And I do not consider either of the guitars to be fake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Gibson, and Tom Murphy, created (on purpose, or by accident) a niche, within their market. They sell a bunch of them, apparently, so...??? Fender does the same thing. If the purchaser likes it, for whatever reason, it's all good! Everybody wins, the purchaser, the seller/dealer, the factory. People keep their jobs, the buyers enjoy their purchase. What's the problem? "I" wouldn't buy a factory "relic'd" guitar, myself, especially at 10 Grand+, unless spending 10 Grand, was like spending 10 dollars? But, if those folks that like that look, and have the copious amounts of expendable cash, to easily afford it. Go For It! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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