How To Check your Les Paul's Finish like Tom Murphy

You may have wanted your Les Paul to look aged with checking at some point in your life but didn't know what to do. You wanted to get those lines in your Les Paul finish like this Les Paul

What you are going to need is skill and a razor blade, a very sharp, fine razor blade. To get this cosmetic effect on your guitar is to make fine lines and loops all through out the finish on the top. Do these lines lightly then go harder and deeper but do not cut in the wood. If you cut into the wood, you failed, and this is irreversible. So you need a steady hand, a fine razor blade, skill, patience, and time.

Good Luck, I hope you all succeed with this

drop me a comment or a question about this post

Vintage and Rare Gibson's: Aged or Near Mint Condition?

Like the SG post you may be wondering about other Gibson's that are vintage and rare.

1958 Gibson Flying V in mint condition

For example that 1958 Flying V up there. That is in mint condition, but what if it was aged? how much would it be? Would it be less? Should i restore it?

1958 Gibson Explorer w/ Bigsby Trem. in mint condition

It's the same situation as the Flying V with this explorer. Well it depends what kind of age there is. If there is minimal wearing down on places where a person's arm is, it's OK. The value of the guitar is still pretty high. If the finish is completely chipped off or close to it a restoration might be in order and lower the value of the guitar.

Original 1952 Gibson Les Paul

Well what about a 1952 Les Paul? What if the finish is really worn, there are nicks every where, the thing looks like a mess. The value of it will still be pretty high. I once read an article about a man who bought a 1952 Les Paul in like 1956 at a pawn shop. It was in OK condition and the guy never picked it up, he left it under his bed for 40 or 50 years. He brought it at a auction for an appraisal and said it was valued to be $20,000-$30,000. The reason why the appraisal was so high was because it was the ORIGINAL finish on and it wasn't restored at all.

1959 Gibson EMS 1235

One of the rarest Gibson's of all time the Gibson EMS 1235. Since this guitar/mandolin has such a limited quantity, it is rare to find this guitar in any way aged except for maybe the white one in the middle of the picture, showing the white finish darkened into a creme.
I hope this informed you just alittle bit more in showing you about gettting mint or aged vintage and rare guitars.

leave a comment or a question

Aged SG's?

Next to Les Paul's, SG's are a prized possession for many people. It's the age that makes some of the vintage the vintage SG's a real go-getter. You might be wondering what would i need a vintage aged SG for? Well I don't run your life, but this post talks about aged, vintage SG's you might come across and want to purchase in your days to come. The SG came out in 1961 as a redesigned Les Paul.

1961 Gibson Les Paul(SG)

But Then again there are many more models of the SG that you might want from the 1960's to the 1980's. it all depends on what you want, what your looking for, and what sound you want. You may find some rare SG like the 3 Single coil pickups

I hope i helped you by giving you an idea of what to do when encountering a few vintage, aged, and rare Gibson SG's

Fender Road Worn and Reliced series guitars: What's So Special About them?

Fender Road Worn Series Telecaster

Fender Relic Series Telecaster

Fender Custom Shop 1963 Relic Series Telecaster

Fender Relic Series Stratocaster

Fender Road Worn Series

You may have seen these before in your local music shop, behind the counter, hung up on the wall, but why? They look beat up and old and not very well taken care of, but there so expensive! Why is that? Well those guitars are a part of a special series from Fender called The Road Worn Series and The Fender Relic Series. What's so special about them? The Fender Road Worn series Strat's and Tele's are simulated to look like they were used on the road in gigs and traveling, hence the name "Road Worn". They are made in Mexico and sound great as well as play great for the price. The Road Worn Series has been around for a few years now, I believe they came out in 2010 and are a great buy.
  Fender's Relic Series is very different from The Road Worn Series. The Relic Series takes newly made guitars made to have vintage original specs 50's and 60's Strat's and Tele's and age them significantly to simulate years or abuse and ware. These guitars are made in America and are pretty pricey. These guitars have simulated years or dirty and grime in the nooks and cranny's of the pickguard and hardware. If you show your friends a relic series guitar, they will think that you just bought a 60 year old guitar that has seen better days.
  I really like the relic series. I think they are great guitars to own if you're looking for the vintage beat up look. I also like the Road Worn series because of the price but if i had to chose I would chose The Relic Series over The Road Worn Series. Why? well here a re my reasons; they are more authentic to aging, they are amazing quality, and it's really like owning a 60 year old guitar thats been beat up. I love The Road Worn Series but i just don't like the look of it. The more newer models are a little more interesting and it looks like you own a 30 year old guitar but I like The Relic Series just a little bit more than The Road Worn Series.



 Comments? Questions? Leave them in the box and I'll  get back to you

Murphy aged Les Paul's or Moore aged Les Paul's?

What are Murphy aged Les Paul's? What are Moore aged Les Paul's? You may be wondering the difference between the two. You might think that they are very similar- almost beinng the same. Yes, they are brand new guitars that have been aged, but what is the difference between the two? Tom Murphy and Gary Moore get paid by Gibson to take their guitars and have them aged for signature model guitars for players like Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Dickey Betts of The Allman Brothers, Robby Krieger of The Doors, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and many more. Lets start with Tom Murphy.
  Tom Murphy has worked on guitars and aged them for quite some time. He's aged numerous guitars by Gibson, mainly their Les Paul's like this one here

Murphy's Ultra Aged Goldtop Les Paul

Why does Gibson pay Tom so much to age their guitars? Tom Murphy's aging techniques are very unique his checking lines in the finish, simulating years of age in the lacquer, and how gentle to heavy he can age. I, personally, really like Tom Murphy's aging style.

2011 Gibson Custom 1959 reissue Les Paul Murphy aged

  Now its time to talk about Gary Moore. Gary Moore worked on guitars such as the Gibson BFG Les Paul and numerous reissues of 1959 Les Paul's and artist signature models of Les Paul's. Gary Moore ages his Les Paul's to look like they have been played frequently on the road from artists.

Moore Aged Gibson Les Paul

Moore aged Gibson Les Paul

They are the best people in Gibson for aging guitars. I like Tom Murphy a little bit more than Gary Moore. Tom Murphy's checking and aging style is more genuine to the aging of the lacquer finish. Don't get me wrong, Gary Moore's style is very nice for a artists signature model but Tom Murphy has more a genuine look to aging even in his signature models.

How to get a VOS (vintage original spec) finish on your guitar (polyurethane finishes only)

Ever want that kind of dull but somewhat glossy finish on your guitar? Is your guitar too glossy and perfect? What you want is the VOS method of aging your guitar.

1960 Gibson Les Paul VOS

 There are five steps to achieve this finish. The supplies you need are:

• 0000 Steel wool
• Planet Waves restore deep cleaning cream polish
• Meguiars step 2 deep crystal polish
• Dunlop 65 cream of carnauba wax
• Polish cloth

 Clean your guitar finish off completely and Here's what you want to do:

• Take your 0000 Steel wool and rub it on your current finish till it looks dull (leave the steel wool dust on finish for next step. DO NOT DUST IT OFF)
• Put the Planet Waves restore on and rub it on with the steel wool dust
• Put the Meguiars 2 step on (it's simple wax on, wax off)
• Then put the Dunlop wax on to remove the swirls from the steel wool
• If swirls are not completely gone start again from the 2nd step up to the 4th step

That will give you the VOS look you've always wanted.

Leave comments and questions.

Good Luck

Aging your Hardware: Telecasters, Stratocasters, Les Pauls and SGs

Aging hardware can be a hassle if you don't really know what you are doing. I'm here to teach you how. When a guitar's hardware ages, the metal pieces loose there shine and luster.

Notice how the tailpeice has almost completely lost its shine on this 1956 Gibson Les Paul TV Special.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why does this happen? Hardware ages because of the wearing down of layers on the hardware.

Aged 1959 Gibson Les Paul

This 1952 Fender Telecaster has suffered from heavy aging and abuse on every bit of it, just notice how the bridge plate, control plate, bridge screws and regular screws have rusted and oxidized.

I'm going to give you a few methods for aging hardware like this, maybe not as bad as the Tele, but more like the two Les Pauls up top. There are  a lot of ways for aging hardware but the TWO best ways to age hardware are with chemicals and a little abuse for nicks and scratches. What needs to be done with chemicals is easy but dangerous, so take the right precautions.

You need two tupper wear( Glad or Rubbermaid containers, one large and the other small. You also need Muriatic acid (a concrete cleaner sold in hardware stores).

 Only pour very little of the acid in the large container, there doesn't need to be much poured, only 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch should be poured in.

Take your bridge plate, tail piece, ABR & Tune O Matic bridges, ashtray bridge covers, tuners, metal knobs, pots, etc.. in the smaller container and place it inside of the large container.

Seal up the large container and wait 20 minutes, *monitor what is going on* (also depends on the material of the hardware. Nickle ages nice and short, while chrome rakes more time to age during the chemical action)

Take out the hardware you placed in and inspect it to check if it's up to YOUR standards

Next take your hardware (except bridge plates, tailpieces, ABR & Tune O Matic bridges) and place them in a bag and seal that bag

Place that bag in a bog and close the box and shake it, SHAKE THE HELL OUT OF IT but don't over do it.

Check to see if your shaking made your hardware up to your standards.

Place hardware back in your guitar

** For added effect use steel wool and rub those spots that you hit the most to make it age even more**

That should be it, the methods you don't want to use for aging is using. Do not use pcb etching agent because that will striptoo much of the plating on your hardware unless you want your hardware to look like that of the Trussart Steelcaster

Good Luck and leave a comment if your have questions and suggestions or to seek further help.