Here’s another rarity – a David Wren 8-String cutaway steel string acoustic guitar, built in Toronto during 1989. Now retired, David Wren worked with Jean Larrivee in the mid 1970s and, along with others from the same group like William ‘Grit’ Laskin and Linda Manzer, became one of the premiere Canadian guitar builders. For some years he was a partner at The Twelfth Fret.
Steel String
Here we have a real rarity – a Gibson Nick Lucas Special with 12-fret neck built during 1928; this model was built in a variety of forms from 1927 to 1938. During its first two years of production, the Gibson Nick Lucas Special was built with a 12-fret neck, Spruce top and Mahogany for the sides, back and neck.
The Huss & Dalton T-OO14 is a fantastic mid-size steel string acoustic guitar, based on the classic ‘OO’ body size. This design dates to 1877 as a 12-fret gut string instrument, and evolving into the steel-string, 14-fret model in 1932 as banjo players moved to guitar.
Next is a Dieter Hopf Super Classic model from 1992, with Red Cedar top and spectacular Central or South American Rosewood for the sides and back.
Listed from 1935 to 1941, the Martin R-17 was one of a few arched top, flat back models in the Martin catalog, featuring a Mahogany top, back and sides. Its sibling, the R-18, had a solid, shaped Spruce top with Mahogany elsewhere; Brazilian Rosewood was used for the head plate, bridge, and fingerboard. Early examples of both models used 12 fret necks but soon gained the more popular 14 fret configuration.
Introduced in 1954 and intended as a companion to the then-new Les Paul solidbody, the Gibson J-160E was one of the first mass production electrified steel string guitars. This model was discontinued in 1979, and is occasionally re-issued. One of the greatest contributors to the success of this model was a 1962 model’s appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, in the hands of one John Lennon. That was The Beatles first US performance, and made all their gear quite popular.