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~2025 Murphy Lab and Historic Reissue Updates from Mat Koehler

matkoehler

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 12, 2014
Messages
560
I am not a ML guy but one thing that is hard to duplicate is greening on the GTops. That would be cool and perhaps more accurate in many cases.
Agreed, we have "faked" it with green overspray as far back as a decade ago and refined that technique a lot more in recent years, but we're still experimenting with "natural" ways of bringing out the green. Toxic sweat and a lot of playing time is the common denominator on the old ones. We got some decent results with vinegar and salt but it's subtle. Going to keep working on it. We don't get as many requests for this as you may think but it may be a "if we build it they will come" type of offering.

Yes we still use bronze powder for the gold.
 

matkoehler

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 12, 2014
Messages
560
Thanks for joining in @matkoehler, sorry for an misunderstanding, perhaps that's on me getting cross-threaded with the greening of the knobs, too.

I've tried my best to accurately document the drips and drabs coming across from the posted sources I see.... but, I am just a guy watching YouTube, ha.

Thanks for any clarification you offer here... You know, everyone REALLY wants someone to produce a year-by-year change each and every each part: be it screw, knob, pickup surround, details on the ABR-1 shape... all sorted out since you took over, with continuity since 2013. Probably above your paygrade but maybe nobody is really assigned to track the details for publication. But we are willing to take what we can get!

Hope all went well after NAMM -- I am sure it's both energizing and tiring both in the run-up and time on the ground in front of the legions each with their

Take care and thanks!

PS: More lefties! Always gotta throw that out there... :cool:
I thought your recap was fantastic! Just wanted to clarify that one tiny detail. We are working on adding more lefty platforms btw :).
 

Jethro Rocker

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 6, 2022
Messages
377
Agreed, we have "faked" it with green overspray as far back as a decade ago and refined that technique a lot more in recent years, but we're still experimenting with "natural" ways of bringing out the green. Toxic sweat and a lot of playing time is the common denominator on the old ones. We got some decent results with vinegar and salt but it's subtle. Going to keep working on it. We don't get as many requests for this as you may think but it may be a "if we build it they will come" type of offering.

Yes we still use bronze powder for the gold.
I have been speeding up the green kn my old cracked 73 Deluxe with vinegar salt water. But it takes time sadly.
 

K Dub

Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2024
Messages
30
Speaking of Greened Knobs, I just purchased these aged top hat knobs for my Historic Makeovers R9 from a company in Poland called 59Parts. I always thought that the original knobs looked too new for the level of aging of most Murphy Labs and Historic Makeovers.

59Parts1.jpeg
 

Wizard1183

Active member
Joined
May 30, 2024
Messages
108
I have been speeding up the green kn my old cracked 73 Deluxe with vinegar salt water. But it takes time sadly.
Why vinegar and salt water and not just salt water? No need for the acid. It’s the chlorides. Think of it like this: a bronze statue out side being green. It doesn’t rain vinegar. Just water with chlorides in it. You might not taste the salt in it? But it’s in there

Also, if one wanted to mimic sweating on a guitar? You can buy synthetic sweat at like $160 a gallon. That would help age your guitar finish and metal parts faster…
 

Blind Lemon Chicken

Active member
Joined
Sep 16, 2024
Messages
145
Throw Tomatoes at it. Then leave it in it's case with sweaty t shirts and some smelly socks..pack it in bi carb and silica packs then throw it in the freezer then expose it to sunlight but never spray 40 on it . it might ruin your guitar..
 
Last edited:

Jethro Rocker

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 6, 2022
Messages
377
Why vinegar and salt water and not just salt water? No need for the acid. It’s the chlorides. Think of it like this: a bronze statue out side being green. It doesn’t rain vinegar. Just water with chlorides in it. You might not taste the salt in it? But it’s in there

Also, if one wanted to mimic sweating on a guitar? You can buy synthetic sweat at like $160 a gallon. That would help age your guitar finish and metal parts faster…
Ah, OK. Got it. I thought the vinegar might help it oxidize faster than salt water alone. Salt water is easy. Cheers
 

mikeslub

Administrator
Joined
Jul 15, 2001
Messages
15,374
I think the copper iridescent is cool. I actually held Joe Bonamassa’s vintage 1955 in that color. He bought it from Gruhn’s many years ago - I know because I bid on it and he scooped me! A very cool geetar!
 

thin sissy

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 2, 2006
Messages
2,761
I think the copper iridescent is cool. I actually held Joe Bonamassa’s vintage 1955 in that color. He bought it from Gruhn’s many years ago - I know because I bid on it and he scooped me! A very cool geetar!
I loved that guitar from the first time I saw it! How did it play?
 

matkoehler

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 12, 2014
Messages
560
I think the copper iridescent is cool. I actually held Joe Bonamassa’s vintage 1955 in that color. He bought it from Gruhn’s many years ago - I know because I bid on it and he scooped me! A very cool geetar!
I got it wrong when I shared with Joe what color I thought it was when he purchased "the brown thing" way back when...very recently discovered that his is actually Viceroy Brown. An honest mistake as Viceroy Brown was a sunburst color for Tal Farlows, mandolins and banjos in the 1960s -- not a dark opaque metallic color. Interestingly, the knobs on Tal Farlows are a dark brown color just like the knobs of the 1955 NAMM Show model in Viceroy Brown...so perhaps there is a through line. But in certain light Copper Iridescent and Viceroy Brown can look similar as well. In any case...they are both beautiful! And sorry to all for the confusion.
 

thin sissy

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 2, 2006
Messages
2,761
I got it wrong when I shared with Joe what color I thought it was when he purchased "the brown thing" way back when...very recently discovered that his is actually Viceroy Brown. An honest mistake as Viceroy Brown was a sunburst color for Tal Farlows, mandolins and banjos in the 1960s -- not a dark opaque metallic color. Interestingly, the knobs on Tal Farlows are a dark brown color just like the knobs of the 1955 NAMM Show model in Viceroy Brown...so perhaps there is a through line. But in certain light Copper Iridescent and Viceroy Brown can look similar as well. In any case...they are both beautiful! And sorry to all for the confusion.
Viceroy brown is also a very beautiful guitar colour!
 
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