For 2006, the Memphis plant introduced the Gibson Satin 335, a somewhat stripped down version of the classic design. Most noticeably, the fingerboard was unbound and the finish is satin – sunburst, cherry or translucent black as seen here. Later versions seem to have restored the fingerboard binding. These models were discontinued with the Memphis plant itself in 2019.
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Here is an excellent Epiphone Elitist ES-335 /NA in Natural finish, built during 2006 at the Terada plant in Nagoya, Japan. This is the same plant that builds many pro-line guitars, including Gretsch models, and this guitar illustrates the quality of their work. The Epiphone Elitist ES-335 is based on an early 1960’s Gibson ES-335 with dot position markers, but it is not an exact copy.
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The Hofner Club Bass, also known as the Hofner 500/2 bass, is very similar in design to the iconic 500/1 Beatle Bass, but with a traditional single cutaway ‘Club’ body. Originally built between 1965 and 1970 for Selmer, the Club bass has had a number of prominent appearances on stages; Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads used one for several tours.
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Conceived as ‘The Ultimate Signature Guitar,’ this autographed Gibson ES-335 Dot, conceived in 1991, boasts a striking Alpine White finish adorned with signatures from renowned guitarists. Originally donated by Gibson, this guitar became a centerpiece for a signature collection themed around the ‘Most Important Guitarists of the Last 10 Years,’ as chosen by readers of GUITAR Magazine in 1993.
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A wide range of new Hofner Reissue Violin and Club Basses are in stock at The Twelfth Fret! Seen here are six brand new Hofner reissue 500/1 and 500/2 basses with reliced Varnish and Nitrocellulose Lacquer finishes.
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Here we’re looking at a Gibson L-4CES (CES for Cutaway Electric Spanish) in Natural lacquer finish, dating to January 11 1989 and built at Nashville. This example is in overall very good, clean and original condition with light wear to the back finish and very light fret wear. The gold plating on the pickups shows typical wear to the bass edge, but the bridge, tailpiece and tuner plating has very little wear.
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Built from 1991 to 2003 in Memphis, the Gibson ES-135 P100 was a single Florentine cutaway, semi-hollow thinline with a pair of P100 hum-cancelling pickups. From 1956 to 1958, the ES-135 existed as a renamed ES-130, a full-depth, single-cutaway archtop with one or two P-90 pickups. The ES-130 was introduced in 1954, renamed in 1956 to the ES-135, and discontinued in 1958.
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This is special – a 2012 Gibson Custom L-5 Signature Archtop Electric in Crimson finish, from the Nashville Custom Shop Crimson team. Aside from the truss rod cover reading CUSTOM L-5 in place of an engraved signature, this appears to be or is identical to the Lee Ritenour L-5 model. This guitar, like the Lee Ritenour version, has a feature that’s barely noticeable unless you are playing it. In a break from Gibson traditional production, the fairly large frets extend all the way to the edge of the binding
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Here is a fantastic Martin 00-18 steel string guitar built during 1947, well worn and has recently received all the major work. It plays well and has a wonderful sound. The work done at The Twelfth Fret Repair Shop includes a new bridge, sub plate and saddle, neck reset and re-fret. This Martin 00-18 apparently was first sold at retail by Bergstrom Kellerman Music in Honolulu, Hawaii, at the time one of the largest Martin dealers in the USA.
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Introduced in 1955 and built until 1959, the Gibson ES-225T was one of the first three new Thinline guitars with the Byrdland and the ES-350T. The ES-225T had the lowest price of the three and used the Les Paul trapeze tailpiece. Most models sported a single P-90 pickup in the middle position, though from 1956 to 1959 the ES-225TD – thinline and double pickup – was available.
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For most players, the Fender Vintage Custom 1951 Precision Bass is about as close to an actual original instrument as one can get. This example, dated to early 2019 was refinished, aged and set up by Mike Palermo at Palermo Guitars in mid 2021. It now looks like a well-used 1951 model.
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The Ibanez GB-10 George Benson BS (for Brown Sunburst) is still in production as are other versions of the model, and they are as practical as when introduced. This model features two ‘floating’ mini-humbucking pickups, one attached to the fingerboard tag and the other to the pickguard. Neither contacts the top though the pickguard has a small support post. The Ibanez GB-10 George Benson has been in production since 1977 along with other versions of the model, and they are as practical as when introduced.
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