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Tom Murphy Aged Acoustics?


Holiday Hoser

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You could give the guitar to a friend of mine for the night, and his name is not Murphy, with his acid skin and fingers that kill my strings in one play and the  - how to put it in words except for me screaming: "STOP!!! Don't play my guitar with that gigantic triangular metal plectrum, please!" Too late, he did!😐

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

Edited by BluesKing777
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16 hours ago, slimt said:

There is the exception.   Ive seen a few acoustics that I owned in the past.  That would pass for Murphy 

TRUTH!

some guys are much harder on their gear.  I don't know where I fall, I'm not OCD, there are battle scars here

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14 hours ago, BluesKing777 said:

 "STOP!!! Don't play my guitar with that gigantic triangular metal plectrum, please!" Too late, he did!😐

 

 

 

My J-45 has a few scars from a friend who simply didn't know any better and didn't mean it. I had to let it go, he was a great guy, but the scars remain...

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23 hours ago, Murph said:

 

My J-45 has a few scars from a friend who simply didn't know any better and didn't mean it. I had to let it go, he was a great guy, but the scars remain...

I think the average guy who isn't familiar with acoustics, has seen tv shows where they are used by props and thrown in the back of a pickup truck, or enjoy videos of performers smashing their acoustics after each concert -  doesn't appreciate how fragile they are.   Was a student in a music class 15 years ago (jazz, community college, a dozen or so 19 yo music majors all with electrics).  The instructor cautioned them to be very carful  to not hit or damage my SJ200.  I thought it a strange comment.  Until 30 minutes later - the guy to my right smacked and dinged my lower bout with his Fender Bender headstock.   I guess if I had stuck the class out, I would have wound up wit a relic'd  acoustic. 

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I was in a music shop, general instrument type with everything...drums, keys, electrics and I headed to the acoustic guitar area.....mid range Gibsons, Martins, Matons, Taylors.

I was just looking for a minute, then is guy turned up and grabbed a guitar and just started hammering as hard as he could, so hard I was surprised he didn’t break all the strings! Yep, hitting it hard. He put it back in the rack and then grabbed another and started hammering that. And rinse and repeat until a nervy little manager scurried over and told him to cease and desist!

Then the guy left, leaving a handful of people staring with our mouths open.....WTF was THAT? The whole guitar display was about to be relic’d!

 

BluesKing777.

 

Edited by BluesKing777
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One opportunity I had I am thankful for decades later - was to work in retail during college.  I came away with the unchanged conclusion that approximately 5% of the population should not be allowed out in public.  Rude, inconsiderate, and worse.    That's why Guitar Center has it so tough.  Well, one reason.    

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9 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said:

One opportunity I had I am thankful for decades later - was to work in retail during college.  I came away with the unchanged conclusion that approximately 5% of the population should not be allowed out in public.  Rude, inconsiderate, and worse. 

 

That was a long time ago.

The percentage has gone up...

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Several years ago I was in the Scottsdale, Az GC, looking for a J200. they had one in the back, and the sales guy got it for me. It had many deep scratches on the top... The sales guy said they loaned it out to some sort of high end, artsy  play house for a "performer" to use as a prop. The actor wailed on the poor guitar for who knows how long, during several performances. Looked like he used a garden shovel for a pick. It sounded wonderful though, and tried to make a deal. They would only move a very little on the price, so I passed. They had it for over a year, but it finally sold to someone. Looking at these new pre-scratched Gibsons, I guess they were marketing that one all wrong, maybe should have said it was "professionally reliced" and asked for more $. 😄

Edited by TomPhx
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On 7/5/2022 at 8:47 AM, fortyearspickn said:

J45fan -    there is a market for 50 year old guitars with honest road wear, for 50 year old guitars that are minty fresh, and for 5 day old guitars that are minty fresh and - as discussed here - for 5 day old guitars that are made to look 50 y/o.   None of the people who buy them are clowns, as someone here suggested.  Saying it doesn't make it so.  Writing it on a guitar forum neither.  I hope you stick around and get a few thousand posts under your belt - then you'll realize some people come here to complain about blue Gibson guitars,  drops of glue inside their Gibson guitar bodies, pick guards covering part of the rosette, pick guards not covering part of the rosette, plastic bridge pins, heavy tuners, too much bling,  etc.  In most of those discussions, someone will eventually resort to words like 'clown', 'pathetic' and worse.  When those discussions are 'political' they are taken down.  Otherwise, they're left up to toughen us all up a bit more.    

It occurred to me - a lot of the performers I see on TV have 'noticeably aged' looking guitars - often J45s  They also have torn jeans, baseball hats on backwards and sing about dogs and pickup trucks they've never owned.  So, I just accept it as part of the performance.  I doubt anyone here, if somehow forced to discard their penchant for outrageous language, would either.  

This

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On 7/5/2022 at 8:47 AM, fortyearspickn said:

J45fan -    there is a market for 50 year old guitars with honest road wear, for 50 year old guitars that are minty fresh, and for 5 day old guitars that are minty fresh and - as discussed here - for 5 day old guitars that are made to look 50 y/o.   None of the people who buy them are clowns, as someone here suggested.  Saying it doesn't make it so.  Writing it on a guitar forum neither.  I hope you stick around and get a few thousand posts under your belt - then you'll realize some people come here to complain about blue Gibson guitars,  drops of glue inside their Gibson guitar bodies, pick guards covering part of the rosette, pick guards not covering part of the rosette, plastic bridge pins, heavy tuners, too much bling,  etc.  In most of those discussions, someone will eventually resort to words like 'clown', 'pathetic' and worse.  When those discussions are 'political' they are taken down.  Otherwise, they're left up to toughen us all up a bit more.    

It occurred to me - a lot of the performers I see on TV have 'noticeably aged' looking guitars - often J45s  They also have torn jeans, baseball hats on backwards and sing about dogs and pickup trucks they've never owned.  So, I just accept it as part of the performance.  I doubt anyone here, if somehow forced to discard their penchant for outrageous language, would either.  

I have asked before but no one answers. How many of you buy a new car, take it home and kick the doors with steel toed boots on. I'll bet none of you. So why do you want that done to your guitar? Yet some, and clowns was a bad choice of words (but I'm ex-military and been called worse in person), will gladly pay extra to have their "New" guitar look fake aged. Pay extra for it, that's what gets me, and not just a few hundred or so. How about a few thousand. Yep, thousand, I typed it right. Steve break out the belt sander we got some new guitars to age. And grab the icepick and bag full of pennies. This one is gonna be special.

I just looked and a Martin D-28 aged is $7999, and a  brand new one is $3199. That is just, I don't have words for it. That someone will pay $4800 more for I guess the honor or owning it. That's money for a whole new other guitar and then some, or two used ones. But its your cash. 

I can't say what Gibson will be charging for it when they start (and you know they will), but if its anywhere near Martin's price you guys better be ready for Gibson the exceed it due to the name Murphy.

Edited by Sgt. Pepper
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11 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

I have asked before but no one answers. How many of you buy a new car, take it home and kick the doors with steel toed boots on. I'll bet none of you. So why do you want that done to your guitar? Yet some, and clowns was a bad choice of words (but I'm ex-military and been called worse in person), will gladly pay extra to have their "New" guitar look fake aged. Pay extra for it, that's what gets me, and not just a few hundred or so. How about a few thousand. Yep, thousand, I typed it right. Steve break out the belt sander we got some new guitars to age. And grab the icepick and bag full of pennies. This one is gonna be special.

I just looked and a Martin D-28 aged is $7999, and a  brand new one is $3199. That is just, I don't have words for it. That someone will pay $4800 more for I guess the honor or owning it. That's money for a whole new other guitar and then some, or two used ones. But its your cash. 

I can't say what Gibson will be charging for it when they start (and you know they will), but if its anywhere near Martin's price you guys better be ready for Gibson the exceed it due to the name Murphy.

The aesthetic considerations of guitars are quite different from automobiles. Prized vintage cars are usually prized because they’ve been kept up to — or restored to — a like-new condition. Vintage guitars are kind of the opposite. While it is nice to find one in pristine condition, most vintage guitars are prized not just for their sound but also their beat-up appearance; it represents age.

If folks want to pay for that look on a new guitar, that’s their business. Pre-War Guitars offers a range of instruments (and you can choose different levels of distress) for a lot less than $7,999.

As I said, I don’t understand why people buy Taylors, but so what if they do? It’s none of my concern. Similarly, if people want to buy a new guitar that has been made to look vintage, it’s really not your concern.

Edited by dhanners623
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There is a word for it that nobody uses......texture.

Vintage guitars can have a pleasing texture. The Aged newbies try to get some of that texture. (Errr, the Aged Martins are Authentic models, while the plain Jane D28 is in the Standard Series with relevant price difference).

BluesKing777.

 

 

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Phew, that is a dangerous question we will stay right away from!

Back to relic’d cars, errmmmm.....

No, I don’t want my BMWs to look aged, even though one is a 1989 and other 2010.......in Martin Guitar Aging terms, the 2010 is probably a Stage 1 and my 89 is probably a Stage 2, even after all these years of parking wayyyyy down the end of the supermarket carpark on my own! And a learner driver hit it there!

My guitars are generally exactly like the day I bought them, good or bad - I don’t fret and fuss like with my cars but they live in Hiscox cases and other good cases.

Can I get a Hiscox for my cars?

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

Edited by BluesKing777
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16 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

I have asked before but no one answers. How many of you buy a new car, take it home and kick the doors with steel toed boots on. I'll bet none of you. So why do you want that done to your guitar? Yet some, and clowns was a bad choice of words (but I'm ex-military and been called worse in person), will gladly pay extra to have their "New" guitar look fake aged. Pay extra for it, that's what gets me, and not just a few hundred or so. How about a few thousand. Yep, thousand, I typed it right. Steve break out the belt sander we got some new guitars to age. And grab the icepick and bag full of pennies. This one is gonna be special.

I just looked and a Martin D-28 aged is $7999, and a  brand new one is $3199. That is just, I don't have words for it. That someone will pay $4800 more for I guess the honor or owning it. That's money for a whole new other guitar and then some, or two used ones. But its your cash. 

I can't say what Gibson will be charging for it when they start (and you know they will), but if its anywhere near Martin's price you guys better be ready for Gibson the exceed it due to the name Murphy.

Your Martin comparison is not correct. The D-28 Authentic series guitars differ about $ 1000 between aged and non-aged . Look at this link with the Custom Authentics the difference between aged and non- aged is exactly $915.   You compared the Authentic vs Standard, totally different guitars. The Authentics are done with HHG, tucked braces, premium wood selection, special finish and they are done at the custom shop.  So please get your facts right before making assumptions. You pay more for the aging because it takes time and skill to do that. Your "belt sander" comment is totally false, you have no idea how this aging process is done. I have been many times to the Fender Custom Shop and I have seen how a Masterbuilder like Dale Wilson, Vincent van Trigt and Chris Fleming are doing the aging. It is an art! But with all art, I guess one has to like or not. 

Next, your car comparison has nothing to do with guitars. I like my jeans to be pre-aged, but not my suits. Some stuff looks cool aged, others not. 

Again, I don't like beat up guitars, but aged feels and looks great to me. If someone has different taste fine and I don't bash him or call him names for doing so. 

To your military comment. I have been in the military as well, but never lost my respect for other people and their opinions 😉

All that said, I also like new (new looking) guitars. Besides my L-1 from 1933,  I own an Original Jumbo and Advanced Jumbo from 2013's limited edition. Both were pristine when I bought them. So I enjoy both aged and non-aged, but favor aging. I am too old to wait for them to feel broken in.

https://www.martinguitar.com/guitars/custom-special-editions/Custom-Shop-D-28-1937.html?cgid=limited-and-special-edition-guitars

Edited by J45fan
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This thread has caused me to think, open up my old mind a bit..  Cars, naturally age fast and 'technology' causes older models (and parts) to become more scarce.  So, Like New/ well cared for ones are  more in demand - to a select market.   Acoustic guitars, pretty much the opposite.  High end ones are prized and cared for.  Parts, tend to never wear out.  So, ones that look like they've got 100,000 miles on the odometer are more prized. Again, by a select market.  Not many of us here it seems.  A 20 year old guitar will, in most cases, be in better shape and have held its' value more than a 20 year old guitar.        I like the fact my 3 Gibsons are relatively old - 10 to 15, but in very good shape.  I don't like the dings -- anymore than I like the wrinkles I see in the mirror.  I now realize that   I have taken better care of my guitars than my face. 

And like BK777,  age has made me wise enough to not touch the  '22 year old girlfriend'   trick question. 

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Since Covid, something has happened to people’s attitudes to older cars.

People, well guys really, use to give me the finger when driving my 89 BMW coupe but then all of a sudden everyone wants to buy it! I had notes to buy left under the wipers, had people approach me at the shopping centre and a guy pulled up cop style window to window at McDonalds Drive Thru of all places and said he wanted to buy it. And then my mechanic said he was interested in buying it.

What is happening?

And guitar prices! Some of my average guitars are going to need armed guards.....

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

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Cool!

I have the guitar version of that rat rod in my back room!

I did get to play for a minute a Martin D28 Authentic Aged at a shop.......it sounded fantastic, played fantastic and the aging was very, very subtle. It looked about the age and wear of my 2006 Martin HD28V. There were no big gouges like some Fender Relics. No belt sander used.

More my preferred guitar size is the new Martin 000-28 Aged Custom Shop Expert Authentics, haven’t played one....but the aging process is also pretty staid.

I would say they are designed for old codgers like me that have bought vintage before and want new instead, but with a few years scraped off the guitar that helps the sound and feel.

 

BluesKing777.

 

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25 minutes ago, BluesKing777 said:

Cool!

I have the guitar version of that rat rod in my back room!

I did get to play for a minute a Martin D28 Authentic Aged at a shop.......it sounded fantastic, played fantastic and the aging was very, very subtle. It looked about the age and wear of my 2006 Martin HD28V. There were no big gouges like some Fender Relics. No belt sander used.

More my preferred guitar size is the new Martin 000-28 Aged Custom Shop Expert Authentics, haven’t played one....but the aging process is also pretty staid.

I would say they are designed for old codgers like me that have bought vintage before and want new instead, but with a few years scraped off the guitar that helps the sound and feel.

 

BluesKing777.

 

The Martin 000-28 Custom Authentic aged are fantastic guitars. I played a few and they felt and sounded great. I bought a D-28  Custom Authentic aged and it is the best D-28 I played to date.

The 000-28 was to close to my old 000-18 Authentic to buy it. The great thing with these Custom Expert Limited Edition Authentics are some changes to the regular Authentic series I missed in them. The adjustable trussrod and I am not a fan of the baked tops what Martin calls VTS. 

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8 hours ago, gearbasher said:

Back to the car analogy. Sure people want mint vintage cars. Then you have people that are into "rat rods". BTW: Not my taste either.

1939-ford-rat-rod-makes-decrepit-look-st

That is what I would call Road Worn. I know people love to get rusty parts and make Rat Rods out of them. To me it just looks like a rusty truck missing some stuff. How do you decide on a price when you  want to sell it? 

Edited by Sgt. Pepper
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