Here’s a great early piece – a 1944 Gibson J-45, built during the third year of production. Drawing heavily on the design of the just-discontinued J-35, the J-45 mostly differs with stiffer X bracing, tall, thin and scalloped top bracing, a fatter, non-V neck profile, and only being available with a sunburst finish.
MORE →The Hofner 500/1 Cavern Bass is a reproduction of the first 500/1 purchased by Paul McCartney in 1961 and is named after London’s Cavern club, where so many bands played. Some went on to become great, others – not so much. McCartney used his Cavern bass while recording ‘Let it Be’ and ‘Revolution’.
MORE →Here is the very, very cool Gretsch 130th Anniversary Junior – G6118T LTV JR. Gretsch has from time to time made smaller-bodied versions of their guitars, perhaps to balance out the giant Falcon and Country Club models.
But this isn’t a ‘Mini’ guitar – the body is smaller, close to the size of a George Benson model, but it’s full scale so the tension and tone are all there.
MORE →The Gibson Super 400 was the top of the line for many years, and appeared on stages in many genres. It was not only popular with jazz players, but also with country and rock guitarists; Merle Travis of course used a Super 400 CES and Scotty Moore recorded a lot of early Elvis material on his Super 400.
MORE →This is a beautiful and well-preserved piece – a 2000 Marc Beneteau cutaway classical crossover, featuring very nicely figured cocobolo sides and back and a cedar top. It has almost no wear; the finish has sunk into the wood, which is a natural part of aging, and that’s pretty much the only sign that this isn’t a new instrument.
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