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Murphy Lab Acoustic Collection


JuanCarlosVejar

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Acoustic Letter has a video of the series, nearly fell off my chair when they showed a ‘reissue’, their words....of a 33 L-00 in black tuxedo finish, aged.

Scrambled through various online shops for the specs, disappointed to see it is not a full reissue but a Blues King with black tuxedo - 1.725 nut, no bridge space mentioned..but a ‘V neck’ no specs.

Says $6.5K! Surely that gets a full reissue of a 30s L-00? And the stated specs are wrong - otherwise it is a lot for Murph Lab aging!

Back to my (superb) now 8 years old aged by me playing it Waterloo WL-14L tux finish, 1 3/4” nut, 2 3/8” bridge space, chunky V neck!

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

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23 minutes ago, BluesKing777 said:

Acoustic Letter has a video of the series, nearly fell off my chair when they showed a ‘reissue’, their words....of a 33 L-00 in black tuxedo finish, aged.

Scrambled through various online shops for the specs, disappointed to see it is not a full reissue but a Blues King with black tuxedo - 1.725 nut, no bridge space mentioned..but a ‘V neck’ no specs.

Says $6.5K! Surely that gets a full reissue of a 30s L-00? And the stated specs are wrong - otherwise it is a lot for Murph Lab aging!

Back to my (superb) now 8 years old aged by me playing it Waterloo WL-14L tux finish, 1 3/4” nut, 2 3/8” bridge space, chunky V neck!

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

It’s not a 1.72 nut , It’s 1.77 .

Being the owner of a Costello century with 1.77 , I guarantee that’s a huge V neck with plenty of space .My Costello has the most room of all the Gibsons I own .

It’s one of my favorite necks I’ve ever played .

 

JC

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46 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

My neck is wider than your neck.

Yeah, but by  .02" !?   Pffft. 

Went to a show last night -  Floore's Country Store.   Robert Earl Keene Fan Appreciation ...   He came on around 9:30 but had a dozen acts before him starting at 6pm.    I was really surprised  - the majority of  the performers used acoustics with only 3 exceptions:   one used an electric guitar,  one an electric base and one a Standup Acoustic base ! Of the acoustics, most were were Gibsons.   A couple of  'also rans' of course, but I counted a J45, an H'Bird, an SJ200  but the surprise was  THREE Southern Jumbos !   Don't know why the Murphy Lab one is in Rosewood, thought they were traditionally Mahogany.  

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1 hour ago, fortyearspickn said:

Yeah, but by  .02" !?   Pffft. 

Went to a show last night -  Floore's Country Store.   Robert Earl Keene Fan Appreciation ...   He came on around 9:30 but had a dozen acts before him starting at 6pm.    I was really surprised  - the majority of  the performers used acoustics with only 3 exceptions:   one used an electric guitar,  one an electric base and one a Standup Acoustic base ! Of the acoustics, most were were Gibsons.   A couple of  'also rans' of course, but I counted a J45, an H'Bird, an SJ200  but the surprise was  THREE Southern Jumbos !   Don't know why the Murphy Lab one is in Rosewood, thought they were traditionally Mahogany.  

The earliest 1942/1943 Southern Jumbos had rosewood (and sometimes mahogany and rosewood) back and sides. Rosewood is not a super common Gibson tonewood, and some theorize that that Gibson was using up Advanced Jumbo bodies or components , as that model had been discontinued in 1939. The Rosewood Ray Whitley Recording King (also a slope shoulder body) was also discontinued around the same time as the AJ. Even so, Gibson had rosewood lying about. The rosewood Roy Smeck Radio Grande model wasn't discontinued until 1942 (a slope shoulder model, yes, but with a consistent depth at both upper and lower bout, as it was made for lap playing). After that,  perhaps Gibson just used up its remaining Rosewood on the early SJs, and  then transitioned the bodies to mahogany.  After the early rosewood SJs were made and the bodies then became mahogany, rosewood was not used on a slope shoulder body for decades. 

Red 333

Edited by Red 333
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6 hours ago, JuanCarlosVejar said:

It’s not a 1.72 nut , It’s 1.77 .

Being the owner of a Costello century with 1.77 , I guarantee that’s a huge V neck with plenty of space .My Costello has the most room of all the Gibsons I own .

It’s one of my favorite necks I’ve ever played .

 

JC

 

Thanks JC!

Gibson site said 1.77

Looked at the Gibson site, said 1.77.....

 

Music Villa specs sheet said 1.72:

Gibson was a pioneer in the development of small body guitars in the beginning of the 1900s with its "L-Series Small Body" acoustics. These smaller Gibsons deliver a tonality that is best described in Gibson's 1934 catalog as a sound of "perfect balance." The L-00 Original, while achieving all the advantages of an acoustic that is comfortable to play in your home, still produces Gibson's rich full sound. The new L-00 Original features a classic white script Gibson logo, subtle antiquing on the top and back binding, and Golden Age nickel tuners.

  • SN: 22113023
  • Back & Side Wood: Solid Mahogany
  • Body Size: 00
  • Top Wood: Thermally Aged Red Spruce
  • Nut Width: 1.72"
  • Neck Shape: V
  • Bracing Pattern: Traditional Hand Scalloped X Bracing
  • Scale Length: 24.75"
  • Pickup: LR Baggs VTC
  • Tuners: 3 On a Plate, Cream Buttons
  • Case: Hardshell

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

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5 hours ago, BluesKing777 said:

 

Thanks JC!

Gibson site said 1.77

Looked at the Gibson site, said 1.77.....

 

Music Villa specs sheet said 1.72:

Gibson was a pioneer in the development of small body guitars in the beginning of the 1900s with its "L-Series Small Body" acoustics. These smaller Gibsons deliver a tonality that is best described in Gibson's 1934 catalog as a sound of "perfect balance." The L-00 Original, while achieving all the advantages of an acoustic that is comfortable to play in your home, still produces Gibson's rich full sound. The new L-00 Original features a classic white script Gibson logo, subtle antiquing on the top and back binding, and Golden Age nickel tuners.

  • SN: 22113023
  • Back & Side Wood: Solid Mahogany
  • Body Size: 00
  • Top Wood: Thermally Aged Red Spruce
  • Nut Width: 1.72"
  • Neck Shape: V
  • Bracing Pattern: Traditional Hand Scalloped X Bracing
  • Scale Length: 24.75"
  • Pickup: LR Baggs VTC
  • Tuners: 3 On a Plate, Cream Buttons
  • Case: Hardshell

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

They took the wrong blurb , Gibson says :

 

“The L-00 is one of Gibson’s most iconic models. Developed in the early 30s, the L-00 was an industry standard for many years and is still popular with guitarists today. Delivering unparalleled projection not found in comparable small-bodied guitars and a tonality that is best described in Gibson’s 1934 catalog as a sound of “perfect balance,” The 1933 L-00 achieves all the advantages of an acoustic that is comfortable to play in your home while still producing Gibson’s characteristic rich, full sound. The 1933 L-00 features Light Aging by the skilled artisans of the Murphy Lab. The Murphy Lab Light Aged finish treatment, paired with lightly aged hardware, simulates decades of light play wear, giving it the unique character, vibe, and feel of an original example from the Gibson Golden Era”

JC

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10 hours ago, JuanCarlosVejar said:

A video featuring Molly Tuttle has been added :

 

 

 

JC

Wowsers !   Molly Tuttle may not have a  'signature model' w/Gibson - but this video endorsement ad will add more  credibility than one.   Looks like the J45 had 'crazing' in the lacquer on the face.  They sounded like they all had brand spanking new strings.  But - the tone was super-impressive.   Expensive?  Yep.  Prohibitively so?  Yep, for 99% of us.  But - they are shooting for quality here, not quantity.  If I won the lottery (unlikely since I don't play it)  I would buy one of each.  And then hire a 'music teacher' !  

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9 minutes ago, Larsongs said:

As far as the Guitars… is there significant Construction superiority compared to the non Murphy Relic’d regular Series models?

 

Maybe he relic's the bracing too? These just say light aging, and not dragged behind Camero SS for 3 miles on a gravel road. That is how they do heaving relic-ing. And throwing pennies at it.

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1 minute ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Maybe he relic's the bracing too? These just say light aging, and not dragged behind Camero SS for 3 miles on a gravel road. That is how they do heaving relic-ing. And throwing pennies at it.

I know.. But, I can ding, nick & scratch up my Guitars for free.. Without really trying..  And it’s not fake…

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10 minutes ago, Larsongs said:

I know.. But, I can ding, nick & scratch up my Guitars for free.. Without really trying..  And it’s not fake…

Yeah but this guy is a pro, cause he gets paid to do it. Walking around the house bumping into stuff is how the amateur's do it. The same pristine looking model HB is $5199. The model that looks aged is $6699. For a grand total of $1500 worth of whatever a relic-er actually does? So if the a bit beat up  models sound good, the other ones I would think would be the same without the penny treatment. 

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2 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Yeah but this guy is a pro, cause he gets paid to do it. Walking around the house bumping into stuff is how the amateur's do it. The same pristine looking model HB is $5199. The model that looks aged is $6699. For a grand total of $1500 worth of whatever a relic-er actually does? So if the a bit beat up  models sound good, the other ones I would think would be the same without the penny treatment. 

Speculating but my guess is anything coming out murphy lab will be the vintage stuff of this era and hold a lot of value long-long term. we'll start hearing new mythology about how they got the primo source materials etc true or fiction. 

I think they're cool and if you have both a vintage instrument and a barroom gig, it's a good option to not have to take vintage stuff on the road. I dont know why anyone would buy one of these over a vintage acoustic when on a good day you can find one for about the same price

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