Murphy Lab Artist Series: Graham Whitford

In this episode of the Murphy Lab Artist Series, guitarist Graham Whitford from Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown talks about old guitars as he tries out some of the new Gibson Custom Shop Murphy Lab-aged guitars and shares his thoughts about them with viewers. Graham also tells us about the Les Paul his dad, Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford, bought him for Christmas when he was 17. He talks about how it was unfamiliar at first and how it felt different than other guitars. Then one day, he decided to take it to rehearsal, and it just “clicked” - from that moment on, he says, he was going to play Gibsons. “It was like soulmates… and I feel like it changed the way I played.” He also talks about hearing his dad talk about Tom Murphy when he was younger and notes that “there’s not a single Tom Murphy guitar that I’ve ever felt that was a dog.” As Graham is looking over a Murphy Lab-aged Les Paul Junior Double Cut, he notes, “That’s like the best aging I’ve ever seen - that’s crazy.” He also comments about the feel and resonance of the instrument, saying, “This feels perfect. I mean, truly. I had a ’59, and this feels better than that did - I’m not going to lie.” Shortly after that, he adds, “It feels like an old one… It just feels like an old Les Paul Junior.” Finally, Graham leaves us with this thought: “I think we all love the old stuff cuz it was so right on the money, you know? An old guitar’s an old guitar, but I feel like these will be the ones that like, ten, fifteen years from now, people are like, those were the ones to get.” For more information about Graham Whitford, be sure to check out the Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown website at http://www.tylerbryantandtheshakedown.com. For more information about the Gibson Custom Shop Murphy Lab, visit https://hello.gibson.com/murphy-lab/.