Gibson Murphy Lab Custom Shop 1957 SJ-200 – Light Aged

The Marvels of the Murphy Lab

There are 7.764 billion people on this beautiful ball of water and dirt that we call home, and hardly any of them know Gibson guitars better than Tom Murphy. Tom is a legend in the world of guitars, and instruments bearing his name have acquired a deservedly sterling reputation due to their outstanding tone, jaw-dropping looks, and stunning vintage accuracy. But, he wasn't always a rockstar of lutherie. In fact, he worked as a professional touring musician for many years, and during that time he became intimately acquainted with vintage guitars: how they sound, how they feel, and how they look. After deciding to stop touring, Tom got a job as a finish specialist at Gibson and eventually became a project manager in charge of the first reissues of the 1959 Les Paul standard.

For a while, Tom also gained valuable experience working as a luthier to the stars, and his client list included luminaries like Jimmy Page, Dickey Betts, Joe Perry, Billy Gibbons, Eric Clapton, Peter Frampton, and Gary Rossington.

Now, things have come full circle, and our friends at Gibson have handed Tom the keys to a brand-new institution of sonic savagery within the Gibson Custom Shop: the Murphy Lab. Tom and his team of skilled craftspeople have one mission, and one mission only: to create the most ridiculously awesome recreations of vintage Gibson guitars that the world has ever seen. Now, they've expanded their efforts and stepped into the acoustic realm, and the resulting resulting guitars are surely the product of some sort of dark sorcery, because they have bewitched the Wildwood staff with their true-to-life, authentic aged finishes and superior sonic horsepower.

Step Into the Lab

Murphy Lab is aptly named because it is basically the musical equivalent of what happens when you give a mad scientist a laboratory fully stocked with warp drives and flux capacitors. With a plethora of resources behind them, Tom and his team have been able to create guitars that are essentially carbon copies of vintage Gibsons. They look, feel, and sound so close to the originals that it's downright scary.

Of course, the heart of the Murphy Lab is the aging process. Part of what made Tom a legend was his ability to replicate the natural wear and tear found on distressed vintage instruments by hand-aging brand-new instruments. With his practiced eye and skilled hands, Tom artfully mimicked the finish and feel of old guitars, and he has imparted his skills to the talented team at the Murphy Lab.

Though Tom may not age each and every guitar himself, he has done a bang-up job of teaching his team the Way of Murphy, and they do a marvelous job of replicating his masterful work. As a result, each guitar looks like it came out of a time machine and feels like your favorite worn-in pair of blue jeans. Their acoustics offerings are meant to mimic the feel of one of a guitar that was someone's "number one" for many years. In other words, a treasured guitar that got played often but was well-taken-care-of, beloved but not babies. All in all, it feels pretty sweet--sitting down with one for the first time is kind of like saying hello to a best friend you've never met before.

All Hail the King of the Flat-Tops

This particular Murphy Lab model is an SJ-200, and aver since 1937, it has been the king of the flat-tops. A favorite of many musicians across many generations, it has established dominion over every genre from arena rock to old-time country, and its enduring popularity in a wide variety of musical styles is a testament to its timeless design and spectacular sound.

Originally, Gibson designed the SJ-200 for singing cowboys like Ray Whitley that needed to project over a full band. In the thirties, primitive public address systems offered little in the way of sound reinforcement beyond boosting the vocals. So, acoustic guitars had to be big and loud to be heard live! Thus, the king of the flat-tops was born.

Many of the same qualities that made the SJ-200 a favorite of singing cowboys have made it a desirable guitar for recording, live use, and general music-making merriment. Spruce and maple are a delightful pair of tonewoods, and they work wonders together as part of a jumbo body. Spruce is a balanced, bright, clear-sounding tonewood, and maple adds high-end chime and cut. Two woods with such bright timbres could easily sound thin together, but the jumbo body size ensures that the SJ-200 still puts out plenty of warm, rich low-end to balance out the sonic equation. So, you get a supremely articulate acoustic that projects like nobody's business while maintaining excellent balance and rich harmonic response!

Players the world over fell in love with the SJ-200's spectacular tonality. It records like a dream (listen to "Pinball Wizard" by The Who, "Black Mountain Side" by Led Zeppelin, or "Here Comes the Sun" by The Beatles for proof), and its regal sound cuts through a mix like nobody's business while providing a solid foundation for other instruments to build upon. We're proud to showcase such an inspiring instrument for our exceptional customers!