Fender has released A Strat is Born, a new short film that takes viewers on a ride through the creation of a Fender Stratocaster guitar. The film showcases the handcraftsmanship that goes into every Fender instrument and presents the manufacturing process that can now be experienced at the Fender Visitor Center and Factory Tour, located next to Fender’s Corona-based facility. The piece is set to a high-energy soundtrack by Wayne Kramer, co-founder of the seminal Detroit rock group MC5 (Motor City 5) and Fender Signature Artist.

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions GB Auctions

Best Match Items Ending First Newly-Listed Items First Price + Shipping: Lowest First Price + Shipping: Highest First

2006 Fender CUSTOM SHOP RELIC 1956 Stratocaster Vintage Blonde COA OHSC CANDY
	$2,569.00 Time Remaining: 9d 23h 48m Buy It Now for only: $2,569.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Fender StratocasterVintage 1979AntiguaAll OriginalNO RESERVE
	$1,525.25 (23 Bids) Time Remaining: 1d 9h 15m Bid now | Add to watch list

Vintage 1970s Fender Stratocaster Chrome Guitar Bridge Tremolo Vibrato Original
	$135.00 Time Remaining: 29d 11h 14m Buy It Now for only: $135.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

VINTAGE 1963 FENDER SELMER EUROPEAN STRATOCASTER GUITAR CASE PRE CBS STRAT NR
	$62.00 (6 Bids) Time Remaining: 2d 4h 36m Bid now | Add to watch list

Vintage Fender 70s 79 1979 Stratocaster Strat Electric Guitar
	$2,399.99 Time Remaining: 10d 21h 54m Buy It Now for only: $2,399.99 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

1979 Fender Stratocaster w Lindy Fralin Pickups Black Serial S909999
	$1,225.00 Time Remaining: 1d 6h 1m Buy It Now for only: $1,500.00 Buy It Now | Bid now | Add to watch list

New Fender CUSTOM SHOP 1957 Stratocaster HEAVY RELIC NO CASTER BLONDE Finish
	$3,269.57 Time Remaining: 21d 9h 6m Buy It Now for only: $3,269.57 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Stratocaster style Vintage Electric Guitar
	$55.00 (1 Bid) Time Remaining: 6h 56m Buy It Now for only: $250.00 Buy It Now | Bid now | Add to watch list

VINTAGE 1969 FENDER STRATOCASTER STRAT ELECTRIC GUITAR
	$5,900.00 Time Remaining: 13d 1h 55m Buy It Now for only: $5,900.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Vintage 79 Fender USA Hard Tail Ash Stratocaster Strat Electric Guitar Body
	$355.00 (8 Bids) Time Remaining: 2d 9h 57m Bid now | Add to watch list

Share

Michael Leonard

Ask a guitarist to name the ultimate Gibson acoustic, and many will reply – it’s the J-200. Elegant and flamboyantly curvaceous even by Gibson’s top-line standards, the J-200 has found fame in the hands of numerous legends: Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Pete Townshend, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jimmy Page, Neil Young and The Edge, to name but a few. Heck, even kids’ TV cowboy Rex Traylor played a J-200.

The J-200 entered production in 1937, and continues to this day as one of the most-desirable guitars in history. The J-200 is known as the “king of the flat-tops” for good reason.

Here are 20 essential facts (and trivia) about a guitar that simply conveys: now, this is a Gibson.
1. In 1938, the guitar was launched as the Super Jumbo, Gibson’s top-of-the-line flat-top guitar. Made at Gibson’s famous factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, it boasted a super-large 16-7/8” flat-top body, with a double-braced red spruce top, rosewood back and sides, and initially only a sunburst finish. Given the weak, post-Depression economy and upcoming wartime austerity, the ornate Super Jumbo was initially produced in very limited, made-to-order quantities.

2. In 1939 it was renamed the Super Jumbo 200. As with Gibson’s model-numbering practices of the era, the “200” referred to its initial retail price of $200. That would be circa $3,100 in 2012. If you had the money, an extra 50 bucks got your name inlaid along the fretboard. Bling!

3. The original Super Jumbo 200 was super rare – records suggest that in the first four years before the U.S’s involvement in World War II, Gibson shipped only 100 SJ-200s.

4. It was 1947 when the tonewoods changed – the back and sides were now being made of maple. Soundwise, many guitar aficionados prefer maple as it allows for clearer separation of the notes. But early models made from rosewood are highly prized by acoustic guitar collectors, purely for their rarity.

5. It was 1955 when the name was simplified again: from hereon, it was mostly called the Gibson J-200. That said, the model name SJ-200 has since been used on special models.

6. What’s that guitar pictured on the album cover of Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline? It’s Dylan’s J-200. Dylan was given the guitar by The Beatles’ George Harrison. Dylan played the guitar live at 1969’s Isle of Wight festival in the U.K.

7. The Beatles’ George Harrison himself was keen a fan of the J-200 – he “upgraded” from the Epiphone acoustics he previously favored to record The Beatles, a.k.a. “The White Album.” “For You Blue,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Long, Long, Long” and “Piggies” all feature Harrison playing one of his Gibson J-200s. Harrison also composed most songs for his solo debut, All Things Must Pass, on a Gibson J-200. Was this the very same guitar given to Dylan, and later given back? Fab Four fanatics, let us know the truth!

8. The Gibson J-200 eventually came with a “mustache” bridge. We just like that. A mustache bridge.

9. A Gibson J-200 was the defining acoustic sound of The Who’s Pete Townshend. He wrote “Pinball Wizard” on his J-200, which starred on most all recordings beginning with The Who’s Tommy album. “I picked it out from about five at Manny’s in New York in 1968,” Townshend told Gibson.com. “ It had a crisp sound and an easy neck. It was only later I found how well the J-200 records when you play it hard. Like the Everly acoustic, it has a rather dead soundboard and that allows you to really dig in when strumming. They are hard to bring to life with piezo pickups because the sound is so distinctive in real air, but the body shape, the necks and the sheer strength of the guitar are all very important to me. They also look utterly beautiful.”

10. Townshend’s favorite J-200 “exploded.” He was working on his solo album Iron Man in 1990 when disaster struck. Townshend told Guitarist magazine: “I don’t have romantic misconceptions about musical instruments – they’re just wood, probably far more useful as pulp than anything else. There are actually a couple of instruments that I would miss, and in fact a weird thing happened to the J-200 that I’ve had for a long time. Half-way through Iron Man it got wet in the studio and exploded. It was almost like the guitar getting back at me – the only guitar I cared about dying on me!” Pete donated the original guitar to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1993. Townshend and Gibson later collaborated on his own signature model.
Pete Townshend still didn’t stop smashing J-200s, though. Watch Townshend on Letterman in 1993. Oh, Pete. Why did you do that?

11. Elvis Presley was a famous J-200 player. In October of 1956, Elvis acquired a new Gibson J-200N guitar, serial number #A22937. Elvis played the guitar for most shows in 1957.

12. Coldplay’s Chris Martin has auctioned his best-known J-200s. At the end of 2009, the U.K. band hosted an “End of Decade Clearout Sale” for members of their “Coldplaying” message boards, comprising instruments, clothes and memorabilia. Martin’s Gibson J-200 KC1, used to record “Til Kingdom Come” was auctioned for £5100; his J-200 M1 used to play another X&Y song, “A Message,” went for £5650. The complete auction raised over $400,000 for Coldplay’s designated U.K. children’s charity, Kids Company.

13. If you want to “go large” on the already flamboyant J-200, you’ll be wanting the Gibson SJ-250 Monarch. It’s amazingly ornate, with gold-plated tuners, detailed inlays, intricate bindings and the very finest AAA tonewoods.

14. If you want to “go smaller” on a J-200, check out Emmylou Harris’s smaller Gibson L-200. Harris played J-200s on all most of her classic albums, including Angel Band where she holds the J-200 given to her by Gram Parsons on the cover photo. The L-200 is just as nice as a J-200, but more manageable for smaller hands.

15. At the end of 2010, early J-200s came sixth on Vintage Guitar magazine’s “Most Valuable” list. Specifically, Vintage Guitar rated a 1938-42 Gibson Super Jumbo/SJ-200s at being worth between $90,000 and $120,000. The early use of rosewood = rarity.

16. The Everly Brothers played customized Gibson J-200s on breakthrough hits “Bye Bye Love” and “Wake Up Little Suzie.” In 1962, Gibson launched the Everly Brothers guitar model, a design blend of the J-200 and J-180.

17. Jimmy Page played a Gibson J-200 on most acoustic Led Zeppelin tracks. Some suggest Page “borrowed” his first J-200 from U.K. session player “Big” Jim Sullivan… in Page’s pre-Zeppelin session days, he was sometimes known as “Little” Jim, so producers knew who was booked. But Page definitely used his Gibson J-200 on Led Zeppelin cuts “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You,” “Your Time is Gonna Come” and “Black Mountain Side.”

18. Edge’s J-200 is his “bedrock” acoustic for U2 albums. The solo on “Love and Peace or Else” from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, is a J-200 stuck through effects and played with slide.
Edge can still “busk” acoustic, though. Another Letterman performance below – even if you hate U2, this is impressive: two 40-something men in chairs + a Gibson J-200 = singing with a cowboy vibe. Bono gets his own lyrics wrong, but Edge keeps a strummin’. Rex Traylor would be proud.

19. Noel Gallagher plays a J-200. But before the royalty checks started rolling in, Gallagher wrote many songs on its more cost-conscious sibling, the Epiphone EJ-200. It was Noel’s EJ-200 used to write and record Oasis’s “Wonderwall.”

20. After all this, much credit must go to pioneer Ray Whitley. The 1930s C&W singer worked with Gibson in 1937 to help develop the SJ-200. Whitley was the first performer to own a Gibson SJ-200 and that very first SJ-200, custom built for Whitley by Gibson, remains on display in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Gibson is currently building a 100-only limited-edition run of SJ-200 Ray Whitley Specials. Completely hand-tooled, these SJ-200s include a diamond dotting the “i” in Gibson’s logo on the headstock and handpicked, precious gems unique to Montana, are set in each bridge pin. It looks utterly beautiful, even for an SJ-200, and is a fitting tribute. Hats off to Ray Whitley... you helped start it.

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions GB Auctions

Best Match Items Ending First Newly-Listed Items First Price + Shipping: Lowest First Price + Shipping: Highest First

1973 Gibson J 200 Artist Acoustic Guitar AWESOME
	$2,999.00 Time Remaining: 8d 2h 18m Buy It Now for only: $2,999.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Gibson SJ 200 Acoustic Guitar J 200VERY NICE
	$1,800.00 (13 Bids) Time Remaining: 2d 8h 18m Buy It Now for only: $2,299.95 Buy It Now | Bid now | Add to watch list

1990 Gibson J 200
	$2,499.00 Time Remaining: 19d 3h 20m Buy It Now for only: $2,499.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Epiphone acoustic j200 by Gibson j 200 acoustic boomy jumbo solid guitar WOW
	$284.50 Time Remaining: 12d 6h 10m Buy It Now for only: $284.50 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

VINTAGE 1958 Gibson J 200 Acoustic Jumbo Guitar Sunburst RARE Model J Player
	$2,225.00 (50 Bids) Time Remaining: 3d 7h 55m Bid now | Add to watch list

ELVIS PRESLEY GIBSON GUITAR J 200 TV SPECIAL ROCK AND ROCK MUSIC POSTCARD PHOTO
	$2.99 Time Remaining: 9d 19h 20m Buy It Now for only: $2.99 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

ca1930s Gibson Tweed Racing Stripe Hard Case J 200 L 7 L 5
	$395.00 Time Remaining: 27d 21h 1m Buy It Now for only: $395.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Gibson USA 1991 J 200 Super Jumbo Acoustic Bozeman SJ 200 J 200 SJ200 J200
	$3,000.00 Time Remaining: 1d 11h 5m Buy It Now for only: $3,500.00 Buy It Now | Bid now | Add to watch list

Share

Even though Adolph Rickenbacker is credited with being one of the co-creators of the first electric guitar in 1931, the company that bore his name would not really come into its own until he sold it in 1953. By then, Fender had already introduced the Telecaster, followed by Gibson with its Les Paul. The Rickenbacker catalog from that year showcased the A-22, using the same "frying pan" design of that original electric from 1931. Rickenbacker had a lot of catching up to do, but thanks to The Beatles, they quickly got there.

The new company began its ascendency with the Combo 600 and Combo 800, a pair of solid-body guitars with a cutaway to the 19th fret on the treble side and 15th fret on the bass side. The guitars were identical except for the pickups—the 600 had a single pickup while the 800 had a double. The earliest 1954 Combos had a square head. Later that year, the head would be given its characteristic asymmetrical Rickenbacker shape. All models had the same handsome blond finish.

A second crop of new electric guitars was introduced in 1956. The Combo 400 was the first Rickenbacker to feature a neck with through-body construction, rather than just being screwed onto the body like a Fender. The 400’s so-called "Tulip" body had symmetrical cutaways and came in green, brown, or black. The Combo 400 from 1957 had an even deeper cutaway on the treble side of the neck. The 400 was replaced in 1958 by the 450, whose body evolved that year from a clone of the Tulip-style 400 to a new design with a so-called cresting-wave shape.

Although the Combo 450 in either body style is eminently collectible, it usually gets overshadowed by another vintage Rickenbacker guitar from 1958, the Capri. Offered in models from the 310 to the 345, this hollow-body electric guitar with a single cat’s-eye sound hole gained lasting fame when John Lennon of The Beatles purchased a natural-finish 325. Lennon refinished his 325 in black (the gold-backed Lucite pickguard remained unimproved) and played it until 1964. In the early 1960s, Rickenbacker produced three more 325s for Lennon, including a one-of-a-kind 12-string.

Paul McCartney and George Harrison also became Rickenbacker acolytes. In 1965, McCartney traded in his Hofner for a left-handed Fireglo, dual-pickup 4001S. Harrison put down his Gretsch Duo-Jet every so often to play his Rickenbacker Combo 425, as well as a 360 12-string, which gave songs like "A Hard Day’s Night" their instantly identifiable ringing Beatles sound.

One musician who liked that sound a lot was Roger McGuinn of The Byrds. Reportedly, he bought a 360-12 after seeing the movie version of the famous Beatles song. Before long, Pete Townsend of The Who, Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, John Fogarty of Creedence Clearwater Revival, John Kay of Steppenwolf, and Paul Kantner of the Jefferson Airplane were all playing Rickenbackers.

For collectors, it is important to note that in the 1960s, Rickenbacker exported a number of its models to a British company called Rose, Morris & Co., Ltd. Serial numbers on these exports have an "S" at their ends, and the tops of some of the guitar bodies have f-holes instead of the cat’s eye. The Rose guitars were also given different model names. For example, Lennon’s 325 was sold in England as the 1996, McCartney’s 4001 was the 1999, and Harrison’s 360-12 was the 1993.

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions GB Auctions

Best Match Items Ending First Newly-Listed Items First Price + Shipping: Lowest First Price + Shipping: Highest First

Vintage Rickenbacker Lap Steel Guitar Body Project Rickenbacher Quick Sale
	$225.00 Time Remaining: 1d 23h 9m Buy It Now for only: $225.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

RARE Vintage c 1937 Rickenbacker Model 59 Lap Steel Guitar Rickenbacher
	$270.00 (13 Bids) Time Remaining: 1d 2m Bid now | Add to watch list

1939 Rickenbacker Rickenbacher lap STEEL guitar w matching AMPLIFIER amp BLACK
	$1,090.00 Time Remaining: 5d 22h 17m Buy It Now for only: $1,090.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

VINTAGE 1965 RICKENBACKER RICKENBACHER RICK RIC 450 ELECTRIC GUITAR
	$1,450.00 Time Remaining: 1d 3h 55m Buy It Now for only: $1,450.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

1946 49 Rickenbacher Rickenbacker Electro Lap Steel
	$152.49 (2 Bids) Time Remaining: 3d 9h 59m Bid now | Add to watch list

Rare Opt Vintage Rickenbacker Lap Steel Guitar Bridge Rickenbacher
	$100.00 Time Remaining: 1d 23h 31m Buy It Now for only: $100.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Rare Opt Vintage Rickenbacker Lap Steel Guitar Stackpole pot Rickenbacher
	$55.00 Time Remaining: 1d 23h 39m Buy It Now for only: $55.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

RARE Vintage c 1938 1930s Rickenbacker Model B 7 Lap Steel Guitar Rickenbacher
	$2,750.00 Time Remaining: 23d 22h 53m Buy It Now for only: $2,750.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

« Previous123Next »

Share

By George Gruhn

.
The Epiphone Emperor has a long, convoluted history. It first appeared in Epiphone’s catalog in late 1935 as a response to Gibson’s Super 400, which was introduced in late 1934.

Epiphone went one better on Gibson’s 18?-wide Super 400 by making the Emperor 18 1/2 wide. This was the top model in the Epiphone line. By 1937, the elaborate trapeze tailpiece was replaced by the classic Epiphone Frequensator, with separate sections for the three bass strings and three treble strings. The original inlay pattern on the fingerboard of the Emperor consisted of three separate pieces of pearl. The abalone wedge in the center of pearl block inlays was introduced in the 1940s.

Although Gibson introduced its Premier model cutaway guitars in ’39, Epiphone did not follow with the cutaway until about 1948, when it designated cutaways as Regent variants. The Zephyr designation in the Epiphone line indicated an electric guitar. The Zephyr Emperor Regent was introduced in 1950 featuring a full-depth 181?2? body, three pickups, and a six-pushbutton switching system for pickup selection. This system proved less than ideal, since it was quite noisy such that when the player switched it would send a loud pop through the amp.

In the ’50s, the Epiphone company encountered financial difficulties. In 1957, the company was sold to Chicago Musical Instrument, owner of Gibson, and production was moved to Gibson’s facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan. New Epiphone models made by Gibson were introduced at the annual trade show in 1958, but few instruments actually shipped until ’59.

The Gibson-made Epiphone Emperor electric was quite a different beast from the earlier New York-made Epiphones. The Gibson-made model still featured an 18 1/2 single-cutaway body, but it was shallow, similar to an ES-335. Those made from 1958 through 1960 used original New York-made Epiphone pickups, but by ’61 the model featured mini-humbucking pickups. The inlay on the peghead featured the vine of the same style used on the New York Epiphones, and the fingerboard inlays with pearl blocks and an abalone-V center wedge are the same style used on the New York-made Emperors. The pickup switching system, however, is quite different.

These guitars feature two volume knobs and two tone knobs, as is typical of a Gibson, whereas early Epiphones had only one volume knob and one tone knob. Rather than the awkward six-pushbutton system, the typical Gibson-made Emperor electric features one three-position toggle such that the wiring is like a Les Paul Custom or SG Custom with three pickups. In that system, the three-position switch gives a normal lead sound and normal rhythm sound, but the middle position gives the middle pickup and bridge-position lead pickup out-of-phase, for a super twangy sound – there is no normal “middle” sound.

This particular guitar is a custom-order instrument featuring a Bigsby and three on/off switches. We’ve never encountered another Gibson-made Epiphone with three such switches, but it gives great versatility of sound. With three on-off switches, a player can get any combination of pickups, and the versatility is vastly greater than what can be achieved with one three-position toggle. But it certainly isn’t perfect, and one could also argue that three volume controls and three tone controls would have been better. Still, as it is, this is an amazingly versatile and fine-sounding guitar, as well as being an extraordinarily rare and high-quality collectible.

The Gibson-made Emperor never sold in large quantities. By 1963, the model was available only on special order, but Gibson continued to make it through ’69. Since 1970 (when Gibson was acquired by Norlin) Epiphone has been an import line. In the ’70s, Epiphone Emperors were altered to use a full-depth 17? body similar in size to a Gibson L-5, and were given two full-size humbucking pickups. These guitars were made in Japan under the Epiphone name for distribution by Gibson. From the ’80s onward, Epiphones have been made in Korea, and the Emperor model of this period, though it features the vine peghead inlay and abalone wedge fingerboard inlay, features a much smaller body size and differs in shape from any of the Gibson models such that it is distinctly different from both the Japanese-made Emperor and the Kalamazoo-made Gibson, as well as the earlier New York-made Epiphone models.

While the original pre-World War II Epiphone Emperor acoustic may be the ultimate expression of the model, this Gibson-made electric Emperor is perhaps the ultimate evolution – and best-sounding version – of the electric Emperor ever made. It looks sharp, plays extremely well, and is one of the most versatile-sounding hollowbody electrics imaginable.

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions GB Auctions

Best Match Items Ending First Newly-Listed Items First Price + Shipping: Lowest First Price + Shipping: Highest First

Gibson Epiphone Emperor II HS 2004 Joe Pass Sunburst Color
	$850.00 Time Remaining: 28d 5h 9m Buy It Now for only: $850.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Epiphone Emperor MS Archtop Electric Guitar with Original Case RARE
	$599.99 Time Remaining: 5d 6h 54m Bid now | Add to watch list

Epiphone Emperor Swingster Hollowbody Electric Guitar Sunrise Orange 86830301582
	$559.20 Time Remaining: 8h 5m Buy It Now for only: $559.20 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Ephiphone Emperor Rare All Gold Achtop Made one year only 1996 Excelent Jazz Box
	$899.00 Time Remaining: 17d 13h 49m Buy It Now for only: $899.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Epiphone Emperor II Joe Pass Tobacco Burst Sunburst w Case MIK
	$475.00 Time Remaining: 26d 10h 59m Buy It Now for only: $475.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II Electric Guitar w Gig Bag
	$499.99 Time Remaining: 9d 5h 1m Buy It Now for only: $499.99 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Beautiful 2000 Lefty Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor Made in Korea NR Left Handed
	$400.00 Time Remaining: 3d 7h 27m Buy It Now for only: $529.00 Buy It Now | Bid now | Add to watch list

Epiphone Emperor Swingster Hollowbody Electric Guitar Practically New
	$649.00 Time Remaining: 28d 11h 40m Buy It Now for only: $649.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

« Previous12345Next »

Share

Richard Gere’s guitar collection is going up for sale. The legendary star of “Pretty Woman”, “Chicago” and “An Officer and A Gentleman”, has 110 vintage guitars that will be sold on October 11, through Christie’s auction house. Gere has accumulated the guitars for a period of not less than 20 years. The collection allegedly includes pieces once owned by renowned talents such the Jamaican reggae star Peter Tosh, blues instrumentalist Albert King and American luthier James D’Aquisto. It also includes instruments from major brand names such as C.F. Martin, Fender, Epiphone, Gibson and Gretsch. For this reason, the collection is considered by the auction house as a prestigious opportunity for fans and collectors alike.

The auction will be held at Christie’s, a reputable auction house based in Washington, DC, and is expected to reel in about $1 million in earnings. Some special pieces, such as the 1958 solid-body Gibson Flying V electric guitar previously owned by Albert King, are expected to attract bids as high as $90,000.

“They have been my true friends through the best and worst of times. I never planned to put together a collection. I just bought ones that I liked, the ones that sounded good and played well,” Richard was quoted saying in a statement.
Gere says he's parting with the instruments to support humanitarian causes around the world

Share

by Michael Leonard

Designed 54 years ago, but still looking like the future, the Flying V is a Gibson icon. Back in 1957, Gibson’s then-President and chief designer, Ted McCarty, undoubtedly had an eye on the ‘50s tailfins of cars by Cadillac and Chrysler when he designed the V, part of Gibson’s 1958-launched Modernistic line alongside the Explorer and super-rare Moderne.
The Flying V has a rich history in music of all genres. You’ll be needing this Flying V 101 to impress your buddies.

1. Ted McCarty’s earliest 1957 prototypes were made of mahogany, and had the ‘V’ sides but a rounded Les Paul-like rear bout. These were simply too heavy, so the cut-out bottom was added to the design and the wood changed to Korina (aka Limba). “One of the design team guys said, ‘that looks like a flying ‘v’,’” recalled McCarty, “and the name just stuck.” Pickup designer Seth Lover once claimed the cut-out was actually his idea and was done so the guitar could be stood-up vertically against a wall with ease.

2. Gibson’s Flying V was first shown in the 1958 Gibson catalogue where it was listed at $247.50, the same price as a Les Paul Standard.

3. On its 1958 commercial debut, Lonnie Mack started using a Flying V immediately. Some claim his famed Bigsby-equipped V was the only such-appointed V to leave the Gibson factory. Not true. Mack had the Bigsby retro-fitted by Cincinnati’s Glenn Hughes Music store. Mack called his V “Seven,” as it was the seventh off the production line.

4. When Gibson's Custom Shop examined "Seven" to create the signature Lonnie Mack Flying V, its humbuckers were found to have extra windings, which added to “Seven”s fat tone.

5. Mack’s Bigsby-equipped V shaped guitar lingua franca. Due to Mack’s extensive usage of his Bigbsy-loaded V on his 1963 album Wham, bridge vibrato systems gradually became knows as whammy bars.

6. Blues legend Albert King was another early adopter. His first V was a Korina ’59 and some King historians claim it was his first electric guitar. In his early career, King was a drummer. King called all of his Vs “Lucy.” His upside-down, left-handed style was unique, using a minor tuning of C?-G?-B-E-G?-C? (but hardly ever using the sixth string). ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons also gave King a custom-made replica V as a 65th birthday present.

7. The craziest fact about King’s original Vs and V copies is that three are now owned by Steven Seagal. The action-movie actor is a major guitar collector and player.

Seagal told Vintage Guitar, “There’s a rumor that Albert lost [his original V] in a craps game in the late ’60s. Whether at the game itself or as a debt he paid later, this guitar went for $2,500. The person who bought it was supposed to hang on to it – he promised never to sell it. So it disappeared for more than 20 years, hidden in Memphis. But I knew who had it, and found him. I’ve kept it quiet for many years; not many have seen it,” said Seagal.

“I think it is the most important blues guitar in the world, period, and it’s the best-sounding V around – a voice from another planet. It has the most amazing tone and it has all of Albert’s energy in it. It’s one of my greatest treasures. I have Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Firebird with the personally-carved names of Stevie, Albert King, and Muddy Waters, but this one is much more important.” Hey “Casey Ryback”, you’re a lucky guy!

8. An original 1959 Korina Flying V like King’s is one of the most valuable production-model guitars ever, ranked at #4 on the 2011 Top 25 published by Vintage Guitar. If you can even find one, be prepared to pay $200,000 to $250,000. (A ’58 Gibson Explorer and ’58 Gibson Les Paul Standard are at #3 and #2 on Vintage Guitar’s list.)

9. Part of the early Vs value is due to sheer rarity. Gibson built just 81 in 1958, and only 17 in 1959.

10. But early Flying Vs were not always so coveted: The Kinks’ Dave Davies got his V for peanuts. “In those days, I used to only carry one guitar around and I had to get a replacement quick. I went into a store and they didn't have anything I liked. I saw this dusty old guitar case and I said 'What have you got in there?' He said 'Oh, that's just some silly old guitar.' He got it out and I bought it for about $60.” Deal!

11. The Scorpions’ Rudolph Schenker is Flying V crazy. He owns over 60 Gibson Vs, including three 1958s, three '67-'69s, two '71 Medallions, three '83 reissues of the '58, four ‘80s models, as well as a few of his own '84 Rudolf Schenker Signatures, a custom double-neck Custom double-neck V and more.

12. Rudolph would have one more, were it not for his younger brother Michael who permanently “borrowed” one of his ’71 Flying V Medallions when he started playing. Michael’s later 1975 Flying V (refinished in black and white) became one of the most iconic guitars of ‘70s and ‘80s heavy metal in UFO and The Michael Schenker Group.

13. Schenker was the inspiration for Metallica’s early twin-V sound. Though James Hetfield’s white “V” was not a Gibson, but a cheap copy. "I got it in 1980, " Hetfield told Guitar World. "It was the second guitar I ever owned, and I probably bought it for $200. I knew it was a copy, but we treated it as a real Gibson. I wanted a white one because of Michael Schenker.”
Kirk Hammett explained: "I bought my black V in 1979, and it's either a '74 or '75. It was my first Gibson, and it was $450. I raised the money for it washing dishes. I played it in Exodus, and then I went on to play it on the first four Metallica albums and the accompanying tours. It was the first guitar I ever put EMG pickups in. I don't take it out on the road anymore... it's really fragile now because of the weather and traveling. It's just been overplayed, basically. and it's been thrown around quite a bit. I remember one time I got really mad during the Kill ‘Em All tour - of course, I was a little inebriated - and I took off the guitar and threw it at the amp. Another time I threw it at my tech because something wasn't working right, and he didn't catch it. Surprisingly, I never snapped the neck."

14. Maybe that’s because Gibson introduced a vollute to strengthen the headstock/neck joint in 1970. The feature first appeared on that year’s Medallion V. Flying Vs are strong, but they are best not thrown across a stage, people!
15. All Flying V's have two humbuckers, with the exception of the VII (two “boomerang” single-coils) and the V90Double (one ‘bucker, one single coil).

16. The VII was an interesting twist. Introduced by Gibson in mid-1979, its sculpted body and neck were crafted from quality five-ply walnut and maple: either w/m/w/m/w (’79-‘80) or m/w/m/w/m (from mid-1980). It had “bling” too, with gold hardware, an ebony fingerboard and a mother-of-pearl inlaid logo. It remains a collectors’ item, despite it not being widely popular at the time.

17. Jimi Hendrix owned at least three Gibson Flying Vs. Two were right-handed – a 1969 tobacco sunburst and a 1967, originally black, that Jimi himself painted to become his so-called “Psychedelic V.” The third was a left-hander, built for Jimi by Gibson in 1969 and first used live in 1970.

Jimi’s “Psychedelic V” remains iconic, but it has had a bizarre journey. In January 1969, Jimi gifted the V to Mick Cox of Eire Apparent, an Irish band who toured with Hendrix. Cox decided to strip the guitar of Jimi’s nail-varnish paintings (doh!) and later sold it to Ken Hensley of U.K. rockers Uriah Heep. It ended up with U.K. session musician Dave Brewis, who restored it to its old glory in 1999. This guitar, along side pictures of Jimi’s “original”, was used by the Gibson Custom Shop to make a run of just 300, the artwork done by artist Bruce Kunkel.

18. In 1981, Gibson introduced a Flying V bass, making just 375. So they are very rare, but this television appearance by U.K. post-punkers Killing Joke appears to see bassist Paul Raven playing a genuine Gibson Flying V bass.

19. At 44” from headstock to end bouts, the Flying V is one of the longest production guitars ever made. Not as long, though, as this V-alike made by Ralph Ciociano from New York store Guitar Shack. Now, that’s a big guitar.

20. In 2007 Gibson created a limited-run Reverse Flying V, with the tips of the wings facing forward and a backwards V headstock, but other aspects of the design –body contours, vintage style pickups - remained faithful to the ’57-designed original. Just 300 were made.

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions GB Auctions

Best Match Items Ending First Newly-Listed Items First Price + Shipping: Lowest First Price + Shipping: Highest First

Share

By The cliché runs that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but trying to “flatter” the greatest of the great is no easy task. Especially when Muddy Waters, arguably the finest of the first generation of electric bluesmen, is the subject.
Muddy’s early hits for Chess Records like “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” “Rollin’ and Tumblin’,” “Louisiana Blues,” “Walkin’ Blues,” “Long Distance Call,” and “Honey Bee,” defined the recorded sound of early electric blues: dirty, gritty, stinging, growling, sweet and supremely emotive. It’s nearly impossible to get to that sound without vintage gear and a touch developed playing an acoustic guitar loud ‘n’ strong enough to cut the din of a Saturday night fish fry on a cotton plantation.

To celebrate the April 4, 1913 birthday of McKinley Morganfield, who was given the nickname Muddy Waters by his grandmother, let’s take a look at some of the basics required to start dialing in his classic, monstrously soulful guitar sound.
Early on Muddy played an acoustic archtop guitar, like a Gibson L-5, with a screw-on D’Armond “Rhythm Chief” pickup, through a small amp, such as a five-watt Gibson GA5 Les Paul Junior Combo. That gear would be close to a carbon copy of the equipment Waters first used in the Chess studios in 1946.

Less than a decade later, however, Waters was famously photographed brandishing a 1952 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top. That historic solid body model set on the rhythm pickup cuts right into the same territory thanks to the superb sound of its P-90 pickups, which were standard issue in the early and mid-1950s. With a small amp like the GA5 and some volume, the result is super-rich harmonic distortion.

Here’s a tip: don’t use a pick; use your fingers. If you don’t finger pick and you’re looking for the early Muddy sound, well, now’s the time to start.

On songs like “Louisiana Blues,” where Muddy played nasty, keening slide, he’d shift the D’Armond pickup up to about 25-percent of the distance between the bridge and neck, up from the bridge. On a solid body, try the middle pickup setting to get into the same zone.

Besides his dark, rolling, Delta-born finger picking single-note style, slide remained an essential and highly influential part of Muddy’s bag throughout his career from his Chess years to the final trio of albums he made with Gibson Firebird legend Johnny Winter: 1977’s Hard Again, ’78’s I’m Ready, and ’81’s King Bee. When it comes to slide, Winter, Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons and Keith Richards are among Muddy’s high-profile disciples, although the two players who play closest to his keening attack were men who stood next to him on stage for years: former Muddy Waters Band members Bob Margolin and Paul Oscher.

“I can’t think of anybody heavier and deeper,” Margolin says. “A lot of his guitar style comes from the fact that he transformed Delta blues from acoustic to electric guitar. He played simpler than a lot of Delta players. He liked a very distorted sound, and he’d dampen it with his hand a little and use the volume control on the guitar. His slide playing in standard turning, or open A or G, was just devastatingly powerful.”

Muddy used a small metal slide on the pinky of his left hand, similar to the pinky slide and signature Johnny Winter slides made by Dunlop. A small slide offers more control including more efficient deployment of effects like hammering and fretting, although those weren’t a big part of Waters’ repertoire.

Unlike his fellow blues great Elmore James, Waters employed single note slide lines almost exclusively. To get that real Delta-via-Chicago sound, you’ll need to try open A (E-A-E-A-C#-E) or open G (D-G-D-G-B-D). Both permit searingly bright lines in the middle and lead pickup positions. A perfect example from Muddy’s songbook is “Honey Bee.” On the many versions of this classic that Muddy recorded live and in the studio, he typically started the tune with bold, deep lines and built solos around screaming notes.
Try this: place your slide on the 10th fret of the high B and D strings in open G and sliding – sharp and fast with some serious pressure on the strings — up to the 12th fret, and when the sound you hear coming from your amp starts to feel right, vibrate the slide over the 12th fret moving your wrist quickly left-and-right. Start with the top string at first, and then build some simple melodies by playing off both the fifth and sixth.

One last factor to consider is slide vibrato that is achieved by shaking a slide back and forth. Muddy’s slide vibrato was insane, both manic and controlled. That added to the excitement of his playing. And Waters, like his earlier Delta influences Son House and Robert Johnson, almost always slid up the neck and moved down only for radical sonic effects. Also, practice hitting notes accurately with a slide. To get deep into the Mud zone, your intonation has to be spot on. Slide is somewhat forgiving in intonation, because its fluidity is similar to that of the human voice. But Muddy was ferociously accurate, and the more accurate you are the more you’ll sound like Muddy Waters — and like a badass.

Share

By Ward Meeker

Collectors, fans and musicians gathered at Bonhams New York yesterday for a sale of 75 guitars and 55 amps from the collection of Eric Clapton. The items were auctioned to benefit The Crossroads Centre in Antigua. With 100 percent of the lots sold, the final auction total more than tripled pre-sale expectations, with proceeds going to the drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre founded by Clapton in 1998.

Bidders from all four corners of the globe battled throughout the 4 ½ hour auction and included clients from the U.S., Asia, Australasia, UK, Europe, and the Caribbean. Notably, a private Russian Eric Clapton fan and collector showed keen interest in the room and Asian participants included those from Japan, Korea and Hong Kong.

“It has been a privilege and an honour working on this exceptional sale and being associated with one of the most iconic living musicians, Eric Clapton,” said Jon Baddeley, Worldwide Head of Collectables at Bonhams. “Arguably the greatest guitarist of all time, Eric Clapton inspires an ever-expanding fan base, many of whom made the journey to Bonhams in New York over the past few days and joined us for this remarkable auction. We were delighted to play our part in raising funds for The Crossroads Centre, a charity with a noble mission and a cause that remains very close to Eric’s heart.”

Guitar highlights included a 1948 Gibson L-5P that sold for $82,960 and a 2005 Zemaitis S22BP 3S that sold for $75,640. The top amp of the sale was a pair of 1997 Fender Twin Amps that sold for $42,700

Share

Collecting Vintage Acoustic Guitars
Acoustic Magazines Vintage Guitar expert, Paul Brett's talks about collecting vintage acoustic guitars. Paul is rated as one of the leading 12 string guitarists in the World.

Share

Founded in Brooklyn in 1883, Gretsch started out making banjos, tambourines, and drums. It didn’t really get into guitars until the 1930s, when the guitar began to overtake the banjo in popularity. Evidence of that shift could be seen in the success of the L-5, Gibson’s fast-selling acoustic archtop, with its trapeze tailpiece and a pickguard that seemed to float above the f-holes carved into the instrument’s body.
Gretsch answered in the mid-1930s with the American Orchestra line of acoustic guitars, which started at $25 each. These guitars had spruce tops, maple backs and sides, and either rosewood or ebony fingerboards. By all accounts, they did little to slow down Gibson.
In 1939, Gretsch came out with a true competitor, the Art Deco-styled Synchromatics. These acoustic archtops included the top-of-the-line 400, which was designed to do battle in the marketplace with Gibson’s 1935 Super 400. The Synchromatics were unique in that they had a stairstep bridge, a harp-shaped tailpiece, an asymmetrical neck, and cat’s-eye sound holes instead of the more traditional-looking f-holes.
Like the American Orchestra guitars, the Synchromatics failed to make a significant dent in Gibson’s dominance, but today, a vintage Gretsch Synchromatic 400 is every bit as collectible as Gibson Super 400, so perhaps the guitar was simply ahead of its time.
The other Gretsch introduction of 1939 was its first line of electric guitars. Called the Electromatics, they were offered in Hawaiian and Spanish models. After World War II, Gretsch came out with three flat top acoustics, model numbers 6007, 6021, and 6042. Instead of cat’s eyes or even f-holes, these big-bottomed guitars had triangular sound holes in their centers.
The 1950s were an outstanding decade for American electric guitars: Gibson debuted the Les Paul in 1952 and Fender launched the Stratocaster in 1954. For Gretsch, the 1950s was the decade when its guitars really started to come into their own. The Duo-Jet, made popular in the 1960s and 1970s by the likes of George Harrison and Jeff Beck, went into production in 1953, and the Electro II was introduced in 1954. That guitar evolved into the Country Club line, which lasted 27 years.
1954 was also the year the Electromatic became the Streamliner (although the Electromatic logo remained on the guitar until 1958) and when the first Chet Atkins hollow-body debuted—within a year, Gretsch was selling Chet Atkins guitars in both solid and hollow-body models, and by 1957 it was rebranded as the Country Gentleman. 1955 saw the introduction of a pair of gorgeous white guitars called the Falcon and its smaller sibling the Penguin. The Penguin was a total bomb with customers, but today it is one of the most collectible vintage Gretsch guitars around.
The other Gretsch trend of the 1950s was to jazz up its Duo Jets. In addition to the original black model, Gretsch added a sparkly silver version, the Western-themed Round-Up (complete with leather-tooled strap and a big G branded into its knotty-pine top), and the Jet Fire Bird, whose bright red top caught the eye of Bo Diddley.
In the 1960s, the continued association of Gretsch with George Harrison and The Beatles kept the company in the limelight. Harrison played a Country Gentleman on the Ed Sullivan show, so it shouldn’t have been too surprising when Chet Atkins repaid the favor by recording an album of Beatles covers. The Monkees, a made-for-TV group, played Gretsch instruments exclusively, albeit under marketing contract. Naturally Gretsch produced a Monkees signature guitar.
Gretsch was sold to Baldwin in 1967—for many Gretsch fans, this sale had the same negative effect as the 1965 sale of Fender to CBS. But Gretsch heir Fred W. Gretsch vowed to one day get the company back, which he did in 1985, coincidentally, the same year CBS let go of Fender.

US Auctions Australian Auctions Austrian Auctions Belgian Auctions Canadian Auctions French Auctions German Auctions Irish Auctions Italian Auctions Dutch Auctions Spanish Auctions Swiss Auctions GB Auctions

Best Match Items Ending First Newly-Listed Items First Price + Shipping: Lowest First Price + Shipping: Highest First

VINTAGE 1972 GRETSCH WHITE FALCON STEREO GUITAR grlc767
	$7,200.00 Time Remaining: 4d 3h 56m Buy It Now for only: $7,200.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

Gretsch Chet Atkins Tennessean Electric Hollow Body Guitar
	$1,025.00 (4 Bids) Time Remaining: 2h 30m Bid now | Add to watch list

CHET ATKINS WIRE BIGSBY ARM BRACKET for Gretsch
	$59.95 Time Remaining: 28d 23h 35m Buy It Now for only: $59.95 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

1977 GRETSCH CHET ATKINS SUPER CHET 7691 WALNUT EXCELLENT W OHSC
	$2,949.99 Time Remaining: 7d 48m Buy It Now for only: $2,949.99 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

1957 Gretsch Silver jet 6129 57 Vintage Clean Rare
	$22,500.00 Time Remaining: 6d 9h 17m Buy It Now for only: $22,500.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

GRETSCH GUILD PREMIER GOLD PLATED DEARMOND GUITAR PICKUP 1950S 60S 117 K
	$161.50 (4 Bids) Time Remaining: 1d 5h 38m Bid now | Add to watch list

1956 Gretsch Chet Atkins 6120 56 Rare vintage CLEAN
	$25,500.00 Time Remaining: 6d 10h 56m Buy It Now for only: $25,500.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

GRETSCH SUPER AXE
	$2,195.00 Time Remaining: 19d 23h 53m Buy It Now for only: $2,195.00 Buy It Now | Add to watch list

« Previous12345...1213Next »

Share