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Legendary Guitars

Written by vintage on August 16, 2009 – 8:12 pm -

ShareTop 10 Legendary Guitars By Devin Pratt NO.10 - B.B. KING'S "LUCILLE" One night in the 1950s, B.B. King was playing a dance hall in Twist, Arkansas. In those days it wasn’t uncommon to light a barrel of kerosene to keep the building warm. Unfortunately, that night a fight broke out between some rowdy locals and the barrel of kerosene was knocked over, causing a massive fire. Once safely outside, B.B. realized that he had left his cherished guitar in the dance hall. He quickly ran into the blaze and grabbed his Gibson before the roof collapsed. Later, it was revealed that the men were fighting over a woman named Lucille. From that moment on B.B. christened all of his guitars “Lucille” to remind him never to fight over a woman. NO.9... more


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Posted in Fender, Gibson, Guitar News, Stratocster, Vintage Electric Guitars, Vintage Guitars | 1 Comment »

Les Paul has died at 94

Written by vintage on August 14, 2009 – 1:16 am -

ShareInventor changed course of music with electric guitar, multitrack recording NEW YORK - Les Paul, who invented the solid-body electric guitar later wielded by a legion of rock ’n’ roll greats, died Thursday of complications from pneumonia. He was 94. According to Gibson Guitar, Paul died at White Plains Hospital. His family and friends were by his side. As an inventor, Paul also helped bring about the rise of rock ’n’ roll with multitrack recording, which enables artists to record different instruments at different times, sing harmony with themselves, and then carefully balance the tracks in the finished recording. The use of electric guitar gained popularity in the mid-to-late 1940s, and then exploded with the advent of... more


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Starting your vintage guitar collection

Written by vintage on July 26, 2009 – 9:03 am -

ShareLou Carlozo It may sound like rock-opera fiction, but it happens: Weekend Warrior hits garage sale and buys dusty old Fender guitar for $50 (or, cleans attic and finds the Gibson he bought in high school for $100). He visits a guitar shop in "Antiques Road Show" fashion -- and discovers the "beat-up axe" is a vintage collectible, worth $10,000. Or $20,000. Or $100,000. The vintage guitar market has declined like other investments in this recession. But if you have cash to seed a small collection, why not start a fun hobby that's financially savvy? After all, when your 401K takes a beating, you're broke. When your vintage guitar takes a beating, it may continue to appreciate anyway, just because it looks so cool. Besides, who... more


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Posted in Epiphone, Fender, Fender Bass, Gibson, Gibson, Gretsch, Guild, Ibanez, Martin, Stratocster, Vintage Acoustic Guitars, Vintage Bass Guitars, Vintage Electric Guitars, Vintage Guitars | No Comments »

The Who rock memorabilia show opens today

Written by vintage on July 17, 2009 – 8:23 pm -

ShareSidney & Berne Davis Center displays John Entwistle bass guitar, spider necklace BY CHARLES RUNNELLS • CRUNNELLS@NEWS-PRESS.COM • JULY 17, 2009 Everywhere John Entwistle went, his one-of-a-kind bass guitar and "Boris the Spider" necklace usually went with him. Now The Who bassist has gone where his belongings can't travel — he died of a heart attack in 2002 — and his beloved Buzzard bass and Boris necklace remain behind. They're more than just mere belongings, though. They're artifacts from the golden age of rock 'n' roll. "He changed the face of music," said friend Steve Luongo, who drummed in The John Entwistle Band. Those same artifacts are on display this weekend at Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center — along... more


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Posted in Epiphone, Fender, Gibson, Gretsch, Guild, Guitar Events, Guitar News, Stratocster, Vintage Bass Guitars, Vintage Electric Guitars, Vintage Guitars | 1 Comment »

1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard VOS on iconic guitars list

Written by vintage on July 5, 2009 – 1:50 am -

ShareThe 1959 Les Paul Standard Vintage Original Spec (VOS) has been listed as one of the top five guitars currently available from Gibson Custom. Ted Drozdowski of the Gibson website placed the instrument in the iconic guitars list claiming that the large number of legendary musicians to have played the original model helped make it "the epitome of the solid body guitar for fans and players alike". Among the famous guitarists to have played the instrument over the years are Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Jeff Beck and Duane Allman. Joining the 1959 Les Paul on the list were the BB King Lucille, the SG Standard Reissue VOS, the Mick Jones Les Paul Custom and the Johnny A with Bigsby Tremolo. Mr Drozdowski claimed that the instruments... more


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Posted in Gibson, Vintage Electric Guitars, Vintage Guitars | No Comments »

Lovely axes to grind at Montreal Guitar Show

Written by vintage on June 30, 2009 – 4:41 am -

ShareBy Bernard Perusse, The Gazette June 29, 2009 Rediscovering his inner Hendrix inspired Jazz Festival marketing vice-president Jacques-Andre Dupont to launch musical instrument shows and a blues camp. If Jacques-André Dupont hadn’t had one of those benign midlife crises, it’s entirely possible that a depressed 15-year-old kid wouldn’t be healed by playing the blues this summer. If Dupont hadn’t rediscovered his inner Hendrix, guitar fanatics from all over the world might not have a place in Montreal to gather every year and talk guitar geek. Most important, if a meeting with Montreal International Jazz Fest sponsors hadn’t been cancelled at the last minute, he might never have walked into Steve’s Music Store in Toronto. That... more


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Posted in Epiphone, Fender, Fender Bass, Gibson, Gibson, Gretsch, Guild, Ibanez, Martin, Stratocster, Vintage Acoustic Guitars, Vintage Amplifiers, Vintage Bass Guitars, Vintage Electric Guitars, Vintage Guitars | No Comments »

Identifying Gibson Guitars by Serial Number

Written by vintage on December 29, 2008 – 8:13 pm -

ShareGIBSON SERIALIZATION Identifying Gibson instruments by serial number is tricky at best and downright impossible in some cases. The best methods of identifying them is by using a combination of the serial number, the factory order number and any features that are particular to a specific time that changes may have occurred in instrument design (i.e. logo design change, headstock volutes, etc). There have been 6 different serial number styles used to date on Gibson instruments.  The first serialization started in 1902 and ran until 1947. The serial numbers started with number 100 and go to 99999. All numbers are approximates. In most cases, only the upper end instruments were assigned identification numbers. YEAR LAST # 1903 1150 1904... more


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Vintage Gibson Guitar Identification Explained

Written by vintage on October 19, 2008 – 6:15 am -

ShareBy Lyndon Ogden   Vintage Gibson guitar identification is easy if you know what to look for. Serial numbers are not always the complete answer. Better to look for a combo of serial numbers, factory order numbers and any design features specific to the time. Factory Order Numbers (FON's) were used by Gibson to track batches of instruments in the early days when they made guitars normally in batches of forty. Therefore early Gibson Vintage Guitars may have both a FON and a serial number. The FON will even provide what number in the batch of forty guitars your instrument was. There are three groups of numbers which are used for their accuracy. The numbers are often stamped or written on the back of the instrument and seen through... more


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