Tom Murphy (luthier)

Tom Murphy (born 1950^[1]) is an American luthier known for his pioneering work in guitar relic'ing and his association with the brand Gibson.^[2]

Biography

A native of Marion, Illinois, Murphy's desire to be a professional musician took him to Houston and Austin, and eventually Nashville, where he found work as a guitarist in touring bands for Sawyer Brown and Marie Osmond. After this, he turned his attention to building guitars.^[1]

In the late '80s and '90s, Murphy helped establish Gibson's Nashville-based Custom Shop, where he worked on improving the authenticity of the brand's reissue guitar models. Murphy eventually left to establish his own vintage guitar restoration company, Preservation Guitars, where he further developed techniques in "ageing" guitars.^[3][4] In 1999, Murphy began collaborating with Gibson, providing the relic'ing for their reissue guitar models in his own shop. His work played a pivotal role in legitimizing the controversial practice of relic'ing guitars,^[5] and his guitars became widely regarded among guitarists as Gibson's highest-end offerings.^[3]

In 2019, Gibson and Murphy founded The Murphy Lab, a division within the Custom Shop in which Murphy and a team of luthiers handle the brand's relic'ing process. Upon the release of the Murphy Lab's first collection of guitars, Guitar World dubbed the offerings the "pinnacle" of guitar ageing and the closest a new guitar can get to a vintage look and feel.^[6] Gibson's brand president stated that naming the lab after Murphy was a tribute to him, for how Murphy's work helped to reestablish Gibson's reputation among players, placing him among pivotal figures in Gibson's history like Ted McCarty and Seth Lover.^[7] In 2023, Gibson released a 1959 Les Paul Standard reissue produced by the Murphy Lab, dubbed by the company Murphy's "magnum opus," with each of its six new finishes named after Murphy.^[8]

References

1. Hoffard, Vince. "Marion native Tom Murphy to lead Gibson lab building custom replica guitars". thesouthern.com. The Southern Illinoisan. Retrieved 22 January 2025.
2. Laing, Rob. "Tom Murphy reveals his guitar relic'ing toolkit: including a bunch of keys". musicradar.com. Music Radar. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
3. Price, Huw. "The Big Review: Are Gibson's Murphy Lab Les Pauls as good as it gets?". guitar.com. Guitar Magazine. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
4. Horsley, Jonathan. "Watch Gibson Custom Shop guru Tom Murphy discuss his career and the craft behind his groundbreaking aged guitars". musicradar.com. Music Radar. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
5. Parker, Matt. ""We determined, 'Boy, with that checked finish, the acoustic guitar – which is a box that vibrates – really rings'": Gibson's Tom Murphy on how Murphy Lab acoustics are taking aged guitars into new sonic territory". guitarworld.com. Guitar World. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
6. Dickson, Jamie. "Tom Murphy on the magic of the Les Paul and the Gibson Custom Shop's meticulous approach to reissues". guitarworld.com. Guitar World. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
7. Hunter, Dave. "Gibson Murphy Lab: the World's Ultimate 'New Vintage' Guitars?". guitarplayer.com. Guitar Player. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
8. Parker, Matt. ""Tom Murphy's magnum opus": Gibson has handed the Murphy Lab man its stockpile of Brazilian rosewood for these ultra-exclusive, $20k Les Paul 'Burst reissues". guitarworld.com. Guitar World. Retrieved 26 December 2024.