The Gibson Memphis ES330 VOS model is now discontinued, along with the Memphis plant, but is a great re-creation of a late 1950’s ES-330. Introduced in 1959, the ES-330 took visual cues from the new and very successful ES-335, but is uses a fully hollow body without a solid center block. A pair of under-wound P-90s provide great tone. Until about 1963, the ES330 and its cousin the Epiphone Casino set the neck joint at the 16th fret but subsequently the joint was shifted to the 19th fret, allowing easier access to higher frets.
Maple Laminate
Here we’re looking at a Gretsch Chet Atkins 6122 Country Gentleman built during 1963, the same year as Harrison’s. This fine example is in very good condition, and is original except for the addition of a Gibson style, gold plated tune-o-matic bridge in place of the rocking bar bridge. The finish is worn on the neck where it’s been played – the frets are original and have expected wear – but the guitar has been well cared for and the finish is in overall good condition.
Built during the mid 1930s, the Oahu Style 71K Hawaiian square neck guitar expressed the popularity of Hawaiian music and steel guitar. Oahu was perfectly placed as they were also a major music publisher. This Oahu Style 71K Hawaiian square neck was likely built by Kay around 1935, and features a solid Spruce top, X-braced, with laminate Maple for the sides and back. The neck is Mahogany, with Rosewood used for the bridge and the bound fingerboard. The finish is Sunburst, executed in nitrocellulose lacquer, and sports an elaborate gold-coloured, stencil design on the top.
Here’s a rarity – the Gibson ES 150D, a double cutaway, full depth hollow body archtop electric built around 1972 at the Kalamazoo plant during the Norlin years. Drawing inspiration from the venerable ES-150 model – introduced in 1936 with the ‘Charlie Christian’ pickup and built until 1956 – the Gibson ES-150D is unusual. In 1958, the all-new thinline, semi-hollow ES-335 and 345 were introduced and started the final decline of the popular full depth archtop.
This instrument has sold
MORE →Signature models are sometimes unusual, as is the case with the Gibson Herb Ellis Plus – the two pickup version of the Herb Ellis ES-165, built from 1991 to 2013. The late Herb Ellis was one of the more prominent American Jazz guitarists, and his 1943 spot in Glen Gray’s Casa Loma Orchestra (that name is meaningful to those in Toronto, but it seems the band is not related to the Gothic Casa Loma mansion) brought him to the attention of the jazz world.
This instrument has sold
MORE →