Part of a now-discontinued special series, the Hofner Gold Label Berlin Violin Bass is the top of the line for these iconic instruments. The Hofner Gold Label basses were signed by master builder Thomas Stuhlein at the Hofner shop in Hagenau, Bavaria. The sealed – body construction is Maple laminate for the top, sides and back.
Thinline
The Rickenbacker 360 thinline is an iconic instrument originally designed by Roger Rossmeisl in 1958 as a flat-topped, thin hollow body model with top and back binding. Halfway through 1964, the Rickenbacker 360 gained a New Style body to further differentiate the 360 from the 330.
Here we have a very nice Harrison GB Custom with Sapele Pomelle top, built at Douglas Harrison’s shop in Toronto Canada during 2013. Originally the outgrowth of a guitar custom built for the late Gary Benson, a well known Toronto jazz guitarist and educator, the Harrison GB has proven itself popular with an increasing number of players – including Harrison himself at his own gigs!
The Gretsch White Penguin 58 Reissue, officially model G6134, re-creates the 1958 Bigsby-equipped version of the Jet-based Penguin. The White Penguin was created in response to the Gretsch White Falcon, itself created as a showpiece for the 1954 NAMM show and not intended for production.
The Gretsch 57 Duo Jet VS (Vintage Select) with Bigsby sports a Cadillac Green finish and gold plated hardware, reflecting 1957 design choices. Dating to March of 2000, this Gretsch 57 Duo Jet is in great shape with very little actual wear. There is slight oxidization in wear areas of the plating – particularly the arm rest and Bigsby handle, but virtually no fret wear.
Here’s an always-fun guitar – a 1965 Gibson ES-125TDC thinline cutaway archtop electric guitar with a pair of P-90’s and several upgrades! This guitar plays very well, and like the double-cutaway ES-330 or Epiphone Casino, is very light and very versatile.
The Rickenbacker 370/12RM Roger McGuinn Limited Edition is based on the classic model used on a number of influential recordings. This FireGlo example is number 283 of 1,000 built, and the included Certificate of Authenticity signed by Roger McGuinn and dated to September 14, 1998.
This is a very nice condition early Gibson ES-137 Classic model dating to March 22, 2002 at Memphis Tennessee; this model was built from 2002 to 2015. The Gibson ES-137 was launched in 2002 and combines the looks of the ES-175 and the performance practicalities of the ES-335 lineup.
Dating to April 23 2009, this Gibson Memphis ES-335 Custom features beautifully flamed Maple and a factory installed Bigsby B7. I think this is one of the best looking 335’s I’ve seen for some time, and the dual-roller Bigsby is far enough back from the bridge to provide a relatively shallow break angle. This shallow angle really improves the smoothness of both arm movement and return to pitch.
The Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion III, the last iteration of the Howard Roberts models, appeared in 1991 and was built until the model was discontinued around 2010, though it went out of production between 2003 and 2005. The first Fusion models appeared in 1979. Here we’re looking at a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion III dating to June 12 1995 and built at Gibson’s Nashville plant. This example carries a gloss red finish with gold plated parts, and is in very good, condition.
This Ibanez GB10 George Benson model was built during 2005 for Ibanez by FujiGen Gakki at Matsumoto in the Nagano province of Japan. While most of the GB10’s have been built by FujiGen, during the 1980’s some were built by Terada. The Ibanez George Benson GB10 has been in production since 1977 along with other versions of the model, and they are as practical as when introduced.
Designed by Duke Kramer and Chet Atkins in 1976 and launched in 1977, the Gretsch Atkins Super Axe model 7680 was built under Baldwin ownership in DeQueen Arkansas, and available with and without built-in effects. These models went out of production in 1980.
The Collings CL Jazz is a rare thing of beauty, functional art manifesting as a thinline hollowbody carved top jazz guitar. The late Bill Collings’ work is some of the best. His work was very well thought out and executed in every way. Build quality, materials selection, fit, finish, sound and playability are top notch.
The Airline H78 Thinline was built for the Montgomery-Ward company by Harmony from 1965 to 1972, as a re-branded version of the Harmony H78. Indeed, it seems that the only difference is the head plate and logo!
Harmony, purchased by Sears-Roebuck in 1916 and owned by them until 1940, was at one point by volume the largest guitar maker in the USA, which also meant in the world.
Here we have a beautiful Ron Kirn Signature Jag style custom thinline from 2016, featuring a quilted Maple cap on a Eucalyptus back. In 1958, the ‘Offset’ body debuted with the Fender Jazzmaster, which also featured Fender’s first Rosewood fingerboard.
This Gibson ES-335 TD dates to 1966, and was originally purchased at Manny’s Music in New York City, and the Bigsby B7 added in 1969. From 1974 it was used by the Canadian Creative Music Collective and is a part of Canadian music history. When introduced in the spring of 1958, the Gibson ES-335 TD was revolutionary.
Influenced heavily by the Sheraton used by Noel Gallagher in Oasis, the Epiphone Supernova was built from 1997 to 2005, with a signature pickguard and features making it the Noel Gallagher Supernova. It was available in a variety of finishes including the Manchester Blue seen here, and a custom Union Jack graphic.
Here’s a very nicely figured and very good condition Gibson Memphis ESDT-335 in gloss natural finish, dated to Jul 11 2012 at the now-closed Gibson Memphis plant. The Gibson Memphis ESDT-335 is a slight variation on the standard ES-335, with the ‘ES’ standing as always for ‘Electric Spanish’. ‘Spanish’ refers to how the guitar is held and played, with one of the few other primary designations being ‘EH’ for ‘Electric Hawaiian’.
The Kay K5920 Speed Demon hollowbody electric bass was one of the Kay company’s many instruments aimed at beginner to semi-pro players. In the late 1950’s when these basses appeared, advertising campaigns were still focused on convincing upright bass players to switch to electric. Kay guitars and basses were frequently found in the hands of Blues artists.
This is a very nice Godin A6 Ultra in a high-gloss Cognac Burst, built during April 2020 in Quebec and featuring both a humbucker and piezo pickups. The Godin A6 Ultra, like the very versatile and successful Multiac series, draws from the 1981 – 1995 Gibson Chet Atkins CEC (Cutaway Electric Classical) and 1987 – 2006 SST (Solidbody Steel String) designs.
The Fender Thinline Telecaster was introduced in 1969 as a design by Roger Rossmeisl, who had done major work for Rickenbacker. There have been a few versions of this model, and this particular 1998 example seems to me one of the best ever.
The Harmony Comet Semi-Hollowbody in Trans Red represents the very first semi-hollow electric guitar in our lineup of cherished musical instruments, inspired by the original Harmony H72 of the ’60s. This double cutaway guitar has an immaculately carved genuine mahogany top and back for warm, well-rounded and acoustic-like tone. The addition of a center block minimizes feedback, and the long-tenon set neck construction increases sustain.
The Eastman T59 V is a take on one of the most successful and influential of Ted McCarty’s innovations, the thinline, semi-hollow archtop electric guitar. Around 1957, Gibson was looking to update its product line to address a number of issues, one of which was the rise in amplified stage volumes causing feedback. While the engineering team is credited with most of the design, it was apparently president Ted McCarty’s idea to put a solid Maple block through the center of the guitar.
Here’ s a new, old stock 2015 Hofner Gold Label Club Bass in solid red! The Club Bass is also known as the 500/2 – the 500/1 is the iconic violin shaped ‘Beatle Bass’. This is a ‘Gold Label’ model, one of a limited edition in custom colour. These models are built at the primary Hofner plant in Hagenau, Bavaria and are not always easy to find available for sale.
The Gibson ES-350T (or ES-350TD to the early 1960s) is a thin-bodied, single cutaway fully hollow archtop electric built from 1955 to 1963 with a 23.5 inch scale length, and from 1977 to 1993 with a 25.5 inch scale. It started as the full-bodied, single-cutaway, 25.5 inch scale length single P-90 ES-350 Premiere in 1947. The ES-350 models were used by a number of top artists in the 1950s, most notably Chuck Berry. At introduction in 1955, the Gibson ES-350T shared several things with the also-new Byrdland, particularly the 23.5 inch scale length.
The Eastman Romeo SC is a new limited edition thinline and largely hollow archtop electric design by Otto D’Ambrosio at the Eastman Custom Shop in California. Intended as an imagining of what ‘The Telecaster of the Archtop World’ would be, the Romeo started with defining its balance and player’s hand positions. The body is fairly small at 14.75 inches across, and the ‘Single Cut’ design gives plenty of access to the fretboard.
Part of the Conservatory line intended for serious students, the Alhambra 5PCT cutaway classical guitar verges into the area of ‘Crossover’ models, meant to make nylon string tone and responsiveness available to players in non-classical musical contexts. This model is based on the popular Alhambra 5P Conservatory Series Concert Classical guitar. Several factors help define the ‘Crossover’ models. Typically, the body has a cutaway and is thinner, and there’s a recognition that the guitar will be amplified. The thinner body reduced feedback, and the pickup and preamp help restore fullness.
This brand-new Douglas Harrison GB Custom thinline, chambered archtop guitar is just passing through, and we had to show it off.