PHOTOS COURTESY OF GIBSON GUITARS
FOR SEVERAL DECADES, Tom Murphy has hand-aged Gibson Custom Shop guitars as an independent contractor, and has long been acknowledged as the leader in that field. Now Gibson has embraced Murphy’s talents by creating a flagship collection in the form of the Murphy Lab, a department designed, trained and headed by the man himself. As the Gibson exec who pulled the “Let’s do it!” lever on the Murphy Lab, brand president Cesar Gueikian sees it as a crucial part of returning the company to what players are really seeking in a Gibson guitar.