The Gibson J-50 ADJ Slope Shoulder Dreadnought models were produced in tandem with the better known J-45, with the difference being the J-50’s natural vs the J-45’s sunburst top. This sometimes meant that the J-50’s used visually higher grades of Spruce, but the two guitars are otherwise identical.
Guitar
Built in Montreal, the Paquet Esperanto 18 Archtop guitar is a full size model with hand carved top and back, large soundholes in the upper bouts and a Kent Armstrong pickup. This example was built during 2018 at Paquet’s shop in a suburb of Montreal. It is in very good condition, with one small finish chip to the back of the neck.
Here is a Fender ‘Blackie’ Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster which was built during 2008 and is in great original condition. This model, introduced in 2004 and built by a team (as distinct from one master builder) features an Alder body and soft-V 22-fret, 9.5 inch radius Maple neck, with a Custom Shop logo and Clapton signature above ‘Blackie’ on the back of the head.
Designed in collaboration with Mike Dowling, the National Mike Dowling Signature El Trovador is a single cone guitar patterned after the famous National El Trovador between 1932 and 1933. The National Mike Dowling El Trovador guitar features a large, 4 inch deep body built from mahogany laminate with a wooden soundwell for the resonator.
The Guild CE-100 – the Capri – was a very successful model for the company, produced from 1956 to 1984, in one and two pickup versions. A fully hollow, laminate body, single Florentine cutaway archtop model rather like the ES-175, the 1956 Guild CE-100 first had a single Franz single coil pickup in the neck position.
While the majority of the guitars we see are based on historically established designs, models like the Huss and Dalton FS break newer ground in adapting to modern player requirements. Here we’re looking at a Huss and Dalton FS, cutaway for upper register access, with Spruce top, Indian Rosewood back and sides, Mahogany neck with bound Ebony fingerboard, and Ebony bridge.