The Gibson Les Paul Jr was introduced in 1954 as a bare bones entry level electric guitar. It featured a slab Mahogany body, Mahogany neck, Brazilian Rosewood fret board and a single P-90 pickup in the bridge position. The Les Paul Jr is known today as a rock and roll workhorse.
This Les Paul Jr's design is so well suited for rock and roll because of the average weight, single pickup, neck profile/width and the fact that it is a real 1950s Les Paul. The lack of a Maple cap on the body makes these a comfortable 7 lbs, give or take a pound depending on the slab of wood. The single pickup in the bridge position is actually one of this model's secret weapons: the lack of a neck pickup allows the strings to ring and sustain free from the pull of another pickup's magnet. The result is a rich, full strum that sustains with harmonic overtones for as long as you want it to. The neck profile is the same as any mid-to-late 1950s Gibson. It's full and comfortable and only slightly more full than a '59. And let's be honest, who wouldn't want something that says Gibson and Les Paul on the headstock and is actually from the 1950s?
The Les Paul Jr went through some changes throughout the 50s and 60s, the two most important being the change to a double cutaway body in late 1958 and the change to the SG body in late 1962. I've heard of only three 1959 single cut Juniors so it is possible to have one. That would be quite a valuable guitar with the '59 neck profile and single cut body, although I prefer the mid 1950s neck profile over a '59. One other change of note is the relocation of the pickup from being right up next to the bridge to a half inch away. They also increased the depth of the bridge posts which fixed the common problem with leaning posts.
Do you have a Les Paul Jr that you are interested in selling? Please contact me: Truevintageguitar.com.
I'll be honest, I'm not an expert on Danelectro. I've owned a Silvertone U-2 in the past but didn't really do much digging on the history, etc. I happened across this Dano Companion and bought it with no strings. The bridge was just rattling around in the case and I even though it was missing a piece. I decided to string it up as is after seeing some pictures online. It played great and the bridge held very well. It was just as intended. The neck was straight and the action was perfect. I fell in love!
The Companion was apparently a fairly rare model. It's very similar to Jimmy Page's Danelectro 3021 with the exception of the natural finish and the bridge. The electronics are the exact same setup with two single coil pickups with stacked/concentric volume and tone knobs for each. The middle position on Danelectro guitars is the tone that everyone is looking for. They wired it so the pickups would run in series instead of parallel. These guitars come alive with lots of output when you're playing in the middle position.
Do you have one of these for sale? Contact me. I'm always on the lookout for this kind of stuff.
The Epiphone Frontier was manufactured by the Gibson company in Kalamazoo, MI from 1958 until 1969. This model was a continuation of the Epiphone made FT-110 which also featured flame Maple back and sides. The Gibson made version introduced the square shoulder design for Gibson in 1958. In 1962, Gibson introduced the Dove which was based off of this guitar but with the bird motif. In 1963, Gibson added the cacti and lariat relief graphic onto the pickguard of the Frontier. Isn't that a sexy guitar?!
The time that I had with my first Frontier was all too short so I was ecstatic when I got this one in. I purchased it with a broken and loose bridge as well as a damaged nut. Gibson had the bad habit of gluing bridges right on top of the finish during this time period. Glue has an easier time of staying put if the joint holds wood to wood instead of wood to finish.
I dropped it off at my luthier's place (Burn's Repair) because I know I can trust him for a professional repair. The bridge had split into two pieces because of the weak spot in line with the bridge pins. Jason glued the bridge back together so that the repair was almost invisible. If you're not looking for the repair then you won't find it. There was one spot next to the saddle that showed signs of a previous attempt at repair. Jason removed the old glue and glued it tight. The nut slots had been cut down too low so Jason decided it was time for a new bone nut. The new nut is gorgeous and perfectly cut and installed.
The resulting guitar is a dream to behold. I don't usually like to refer to guitars in such flowery language but I believe this one deserves it. The Maple back and sides and long scale length perfectly balance out the 60s build. The tone is low and rumbly when it wants to be. The highs are crisp and well pronounced. It has good volume but likely won't overpower a singer/songwriter.
I'm always on the lookout for these guitars. Do you have one for sale? Please contact me.
Gregory Alan Isakov muses over his guitar as he rolls a cigarette. It is the last day of September 2013 and Gregory was kind enough to chat a while about his beat but sweet 1967 Gibson J-50. The weather was nice and it was time for a post sound check smoke. We talk about how his guitar lay dormant in a barn in Colorado for about 40 years, just resting up for its second career.
John: Do you mind if I check it out? It looks like it has seen some miles. Gregory: Please. Yeah it's a '67. John: did you say he brought it to Vietnam? Gregory: Yeah and he brought it back. I used to work on his farm and we had always been really close. One night he said, "Well Gregory, I left you something in the barn." I thought it was weed since he smokes a lot of weed. He took me out to the barn and there was this big buffalo skull and a guitar case. I took the guitar to a friend in New York who got it set up for me.
Gregory's J-50 has had a neck reset, refret and had the adjustable bridge "fixed". The tuning keys are reproduction Kluson keystones. It has the slimmer, late 60s neck and the setup is spot on. It has nice mid to low range with that classic Gibson Americana rumble.
J: ... and you play this guitar pretty much exclusively? G: Well I have another guitar with me, it's a Stella. Actually, I almost bought another guitar last week. J: What was it? G: An ES-125. It was the nicest one I've ever played. Most of the mid range was gone, it was just super warm with a really buttery high end. But the mids were gone. It played so well and it sang really well. J: What year was it? G: '52. It was $1800 which was pretty much all I had. I didn't buy it but I've been thinking about it all day. It's in Austin at Austin Vintage Guitars. It's like my favorite shop.
G: I don't love electrics, but I like electrics with just a little bite to 'em. The ES-125 has my favorite tone that I've found. J: So are you a Gibson guy or do you like all of them? G: No not really, my favorite guitar right now is the Stella. It was $35 and I got it in Buffalo, NY. It was in a big pile of old Stellas. The guy was like "how about $50 with a set up?" I said, "You're just going to WD-40 the tuners, I mean there's no truss rod on the thing." "Oh okay, $35." I really didn't even mind paying $50, he was a nice old guy with a great shop. I had told him I was just looking for a plywood guitar because I don't care to keep it in a case. My Gibson usually stays in the case but the Stella just goes in the van and everyone plays it. That's what I tell people who ask me about playing the guitar, I say just get a piece of junk and don't keep it in the case. You'll play it more often.
G: I won this [hand made] guitar in a songwriting festival a while back and they said it was worth like $15,000. I never play it.
J: Who made it?
G: It was the owner of Santa Cruz. He had made his own company and they only make about 100 guitars a year. I got it in 2009 and have never changed the strings. The thing is still too bright. Still.
J: I guess it's still a little green.
G: [while strumming a few chords] Gibsons have just like a nice dark tone, where the high end isn't in your face.
J: Yeah, they have a good mid range where the Martins have the big booming bass, harsh top end and scooped mids.
G: But the Martins have a good tight string tension which I like.
J: What gauge strings do you normally play?
G: I normally play lights since I play every day but when I record I use mediums.
J: There was a Silvertone that you were playing for a while right?
G: Yeah, a Hollywood. I love that guitar. It used to have an old pickup from the 60s in it, a little single coil.
J: Like a DeArmond?
G: Yeah it was a DeArmond, and it sounded great. I recorded a lot of our last record with it. But most of the record I just made was on this guitar [the Gibson] and the Stella.
The Weatherman
J: I heard that you recorded your last record all analog.
G: Well we did dump it onto Protools at the end but, yeah, we tracked it just in an old studio with a tape machine. It was just something I wanted to try. I don't know if it's the way I record, or if I've even found the way to make records. I feel like, five years old in that realm. It was fun to try since I've never been able to afford it before because that gear is just so expensive. So, we found this studio up in the mountains and did it in a few months. I usually don't go to studios because I don't like them and I don't like the time constraint - because I take forever. I like to find the perfect sound for something even if it's hardly audible. It gets expensive fast.
J: Are there drawbacks to analog recording that you kind of enjoy?
G: Yeah, oh yeah. It was amazing how once you play the song and you go into the control room and listen to it, you know that's the take. In Protools you think this [take] might sound fine in about a month, let's just keep working on it. But [with analog recording] there's none of that. Do we like it, or do we feel it, or does it make us feel something? Some of the stuff we'd spend hours and hours really perfecting and the next day we'd listen to it and not really feel anything. Then I'd play kind of a crappy take and it was the one.
J: What can you think of from The Weatherman that was like that? G: There were a couple songs that ended up that way, like "Second Chances". We made like 13 tracked versions of that song, 13! I could put out a double record of just that song. Different takes, tempos, feels but the one we kept was just really simple and live. Same with "Suitcase Full of Sparks" and "Living Proof" was live. There was this one song I wrote when I was 19 called "Honey It's All Right" and that was sort of like a throwback. I don't why I just thought we'd try it.
J: So "Amsterdam" and "St. Valentine" weren't like that? G: They were too, they were very simple. On our previous record called This Empty Northern Hemisphere we had songs that were 90 tracks but you would never know it. We had like 3 mics on every cello... J: and was "The Stable Song" like that? G: No, that was like probably 16 channels but this record was almost nothing. It hasn't lived long enough for me yet, and I haven't listened to it since we made it so I don't know if it's good. Sometimes [the records] have to live for a while before you can figure it out. I didn't have that kind of opportunity with it because I wrote it so close to when we needed to put something out. I had been working on another record for years before that, that I didn't like.
J: One thing I noticed about your songs, well, another website (indie-music.com) said about "Amsterdam" was that it was a "richly vintage delight." I thought that was a good way to put it. Dreamy, poetic. Do you write spoken word poetry as well? G: I write a lot of prose and stories and stuff. I like short stories, poems, I like this guy Billy Collins a lot. Elizabeth (my wife & photographer): Did you say Billy Collins? G: I love Billy Collins. It's really funny when I talk to my nerdy writer friends and they say he's like the Coldplay of writing. But I think that's why it's so good. E: I teach Billy Collins to my 9th graders. G: He's so good, you know that poem "Aimless Love"? It's the most beautiful love poem I've ever heard. He's talking about a field mouse that he found that was dead, it's on 9 Horses I think. I love that book.
G: [Billy Collins] has a similar approach to writing that I do where I don't want anything in there that isn't important for the piece of music. In Billy Collins's writing, every line in his poem is necessary and there's nothing extra; it's so bare.
J: What's the song on The Weatherman that's like a minute and a half? G: You mean "The Astronaut"? J: That's it, so awesome. Very stripped down and just ends when you wanted it to end. There's no fluff, there's no room for fluff. G: We did have this really long, really ornate introduction to that song with a big string line and it was really dark and cool with a Rhodes and lots of feedback. Then, the last week before the record came out we just cut that part out and started over with just the lyrics.
J: I really love that song. Thanks for taking the time to chat with me about your guitars and the new album. G: No problem.
Gregory lets me check out the aforementioned Stella parlor guitar before I leave the venue of his show for that night. It's got that great lo-fi, dark tone that only a $35 plywood guitar can produce.
Elizabeth and I return after dinner to the venue to hear these guitars in their element. The show shares many similarities with our chat - engaging, personal, relatable. Gregory and the band even unplug from the PA for a couple of songs letting us have a real taste of how this music sounded when they first wrote it - gathered in the kitchen of Gregory's home in Boulder, CO.
Visit Gregory's website for a full tour listing and purchase The Weatherman everywhere good music is sold.
One of the greatest guitars Harmony (Silvertone) ever made was the 1446L commonly referred to as the "Chris Isaak" model. Chris posed with this model for a couple of advertisements and also named an album "Silvertone." What makes this guitar special is a combination of dashing looks, Gibson made and Seth Lover designed mini-humbuckers used only on this model and the Bigby vibrato.
The Gibson made miniature humbuckers really are the big attraction to this guitar. If you want a guitar with these pickups you must buy this model or find some loose pups for sale (good luck!!). Early production 1446 pickups came with the same "Patent Applied For" stickers as the highly sought after "PAF" pickups that came in 1957-1960 Les Pauls. The PAFs in those Les Pauls are worth about $2000 each in good shape. I think the 1446L is very undervalued at $1500 for one in great condition from a big vintage dealer. The rest of the electronics are good, solid American made just like what came in an LP from that time period. It has the same setup as well with two pickups, 2 volume and 2 tone knobs, and a 3 way switch. The whole guitar just seems so solid even though it was manufactured by a budget company.
I'm a big fan of the Bigsby B3 vibrato that came on these guitars. The subtle, wavy, almost dreamy vibrato is a lot of fun to play around with. I naturally lean towards blues licks when I'm playing so I haven't sought after guitars with vibratos. I did seek out these pickups and I'm glad I was introduced to a good solid vibrato as a result.
If there was one drawback to this guitar it would be in the neck construction. It does have a truss rod but doesn't taper in width from the heel to the nut. It seems a little "cheap" at first but I got used to it very quickly and grew to really like it. The nut width is small but I haven't measured it.
Bottom line:
This is a professional grade vintage instrument at a "prosumer" grade price. It has the tone and feel of the early 1960s and the looks certainly don't disappoint. This model shows no sign of declining in popularity and therefore value so it would likely be a good investment as well. However, because of the nut width and neck construction this guitar may not be the answer for the player looking to own just one guitar.
Do you have one of these that you would like to sell? I'm looking for another. Please email me about what you have for sale.
Here's a very cool 1954 Epiphone FT-210 Deluxe Cutaway. This was Epiphone's competition to the Gibson J-200 and was actually 3/8" wider at 17 3/8" at the lower bout. This ladder braced, long scale flat-top featured flame Maple back and sides and beautiful inlays on the neck and headstock. The compensated Rosewood saddle would not have been my choice but is certainly an interesting addition by Epiphone.
Tone
This flat-top derives much of it's construction and aesthetics from Epiphone's line of archtop guitars. The arched back of laminated flame Maple lends a punchy response when plucked and strummed. The large, ladder braced top adds a dark and open timbre with medium volume.
The compensated Rosewood saddle attempts to improve intonation problems with straight saddles. This guitar currently needs a neck reset so I can't remark how much it helps. Theoretically, the compensation is a good idea. The Rosewood, however, doesn't seem to transfer vibrations to the top as well as a traditional bone saddle.
Do you have one of these that you would like to sell? I'm looking for another. Please email me about what you have for sale.
In 1957 Gibson bought a failing manufacturer of musical instruments called Epiphone. This company had been their biggest rival until management issues started affecting it around the late 40s. In 1970 they moved the production of the Epiphone brand overseas and made budget instruments. But, for about 12 years Gibson manufactured guitars in their own factory with Epiphone on the headstock. The product line was just as high of quality or higher than their own brand. The Epiphone Frontier (FT-110) was the same build of the Dove but had a different style motif and headstock shape.
I don't normally look for 60s era Gibson acoustics but I fell for this one really bad. It has flame Maple back and sides, a scale length of 25.4" and of course, a lasso and cacti motif on the pickguard. The most surprising part of this one was of course, the TONE.
This is a big, rumbly strummer through and through. I was always told that the ADJ bridge was a tone killer but this one has a couple of secret weapons. First, the Maple back and sides. It's a harder wood and seems to reflect volume really well. Second, the longer scale length. This takes a little more string tension to get up to pitch resulting in a little more volume. The downside is that it is a bit more tiring on the fingers.
If you are a cowboy chord strumming songwriter then string tension is much less of an issue. What that person needs is a guitar that will make him/her pick it up and strum some chords. After a morning of fruitless writer's block the only thing left is to play your favorite song. A subtle twist of a melody or chord change is all it takes to get those creative juices flowing.
Do you have one of these that you would like to sell? I'm looking for another. Please email me about what you have for sale.
This one is real special. I found myself one day jumping in the guitar hauler (read mini van, so rock and roll) and driving to South Carolina. There was a man selling a 1952 Gibson J-45 and a 1963 Fender Bassman there and we had already agreed on a price.
When I arrived he asked me if I knew who Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps was. I had no idea I had stepped into the house of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Member Bobby Jones. Rolling Stone Magazine bestowed the title of "The first rock and roll band in the world" on the Blue Caps. Bobby was the bass player for the Blue Caps for about 14 months ('58-'59) and toured the world playing rock and roll. Bobby's J-45 was stolen around '56 so Johnny sold him his '52. More on Bobby here
Gibson introduced the J-45 in 1942 sporting a solid Adirondack Spruce top and Honduran Mahogany back and sides. It had a scale length of 24.75", featured scalloped X bracing and the bridge was rectangular. In 1944 they switched to Sitka Spruce for the tops. In 1950 the "belly up" bridge was introduced with a slot saddle. The sides were solid Mahogany until 1952 and in 1953 the saddle changed to the drop in style. In 1955 the fretboard went from 19 frets to 20, the bracing went from tall/thin and scalloped to shorter and straight, and the pickguard became the larger style.
Since this guitar has the belly up bridge and the slotted saddle then it *should* have been made in 1952. The Factory Order Number prefix "Z" confirms this.
The aforementioned '63 Fender Bassman is still at the amp tech's place. I'm not sure if it is taking a long time to get parts or if he is playin' the hell outa that thing! Either way I am excited to get it back. Hopefully that will be soon.
Do you have one of these that you would like to sell? I'm looking for another. Please email me about what you have for sale.
It's here! The True Vintage Giveaway is on. Leave a comment and let me know, "what is your favorite vintage guitar?" It could be one you already have or one you hope to just hold at least once. Or just leave a comment. Be sure to leave some way for me to get in contact with you.
I will be giving this prewar Hohner Marine Band harmonica away for free. I'll ship it right to your door. I've been doing this blog for almost a year now (August 5th is the 1st anniversary). I'm glad that there are some other people out there that care about vintage instruments. I thought it would be nice to give back.
This harp is in new old stock condition. It would make a great collector or player if you are so inclined. It is in the key of G which is my favorite key. For more info on prewar Hohners then check out my previous post: Prewar Hohner Marine Band Harmonicas.
Maybe that wasn't the best way I could have worded that. How about:
1. What guitar have you not been able to get off of your mind?
2. If any guitar could suddenly appear in your hands, what would it be?
Both of those questions should be qualified with "right now."
It may have looked like I was trying to start a twitter fight about brands, models, etc. but that was not my intent. The question stemmed from a discussion I had with a friend over guitars a couple of weeks ago. He recently started working at Gibson 5 star dealer and so began his dream of a Gibson J-200 True Vintage. It was the pinnacle of tone and nothing else would do (paraphrased). This was after he was really digging the weird 1930 Epiphone Model 0 I loaned him to record his debut album (Pete's Debut Album). I had felt the same way about that guitar before as well. There is still a soft spot in my heart for the huge tone that comes from a lightly picked fingerstyle blues on the old Epiphone.
In My Opinion
the best guitar is always the next guitar and I think that Pete would say the same thing. There is nothing like the anticipation of an old guitar coming in the mail. What will it sound like? What weird features will it have that I didn't see in the pictures?
I recently bought a 1954 Epiphone FT-210 Deluxe Cutaway from a fellow in NY. I had only seen pictures of these and could not wait to have it in my hands. I knew that it needed work but I just didn't care. It was the pinnacle of vintage guitars for the three and a half days that UPS had it, at least in my mind. When it arrived I was ecstatic. Among guitar forum geeks (such as myself) this is called an NGD or New Guitar Day.
What did it sound like? Terrible at first, I'll admit. I was so in love with it that I couldn't put it down. After about two days of playing it, it really opened up and the tone was unique. I love it now.
What weird features did it have? It was ladder braced and had a weird compensated rosewood bridge/saddle.
The next guitar?
The Epiphone is still extremely cool only a week later but I've already got my sights set on another. There is an eBay auction ending tomorrow on a Kalamazoo KG-12 with rare Maple back and sides. It is a sickness! The forum term for this sickness is GAS- Guitar Acquisition Syndrome.
By the dawn of the 1950s, the Epiphone company was struggling with problems in both the accounting and labor departments. The company's product line hadn't kept up with the changing trends in guitars such as the new solid body electric (Gibson's Les Paul model?). It had moved the production facilities from New York to Philadelphia in an attempt to avoid a problem with the labor union. By 1957, the company's doom seemed imminent which forced its sale to their biggest competitor, Gibson, for the sum total of only $20,000.
American made Epiphone guitars (both during and before the Gibson buyout) are fantastic instruments. Their relative obscurity and high standard of quality is a recipe for a very inspiring guitar. I recently came across an immediate post-buyout Texan that has me intrigued (1959 Epiphone Texan with strange features). The description states:
"Gibson FON on the neck block indicating 1952 manufacture, starts with a "Z"; solid, un-kerfed linings (no one has ever seen this on any modern Gibson instrument); the word GUITAR rubber-stamped on the inside of the back, between the neck block and the first back brace; black paint on the heel underneath the clear coat, which has been seen many times on various Gibsons in the 1960's."
1952?
The body is easily dated using Gibson's backwards letter prefix used from 1952-1961. They started with Z in '52 and ended with Q in '61. These letters were stamped on the interior neck block and were proceeded by a batch number (usually 4 digits) then a unique rack number (the Xth number in that rack). This guitar received a Z indicating that it was made in 1952.
Easy, right? Not quite. The description also states that this guitar has solid lining (as opposed to kerfed). Lining is what gives the body's joints (top to rims and rims to back) a solid gluing surface. Usually this lining is kerfed, meaning that it has small cuts vertically to make it bend without needed to be soaked in hot water and bent over a hot pipe.
Kerfed Lining
Solid Lining
Gibson phased out solid lining in favor of the kerfed style from 1933-1934. I have never seen any flat-top Gibson guitar that used solid lining after 1934. I would venture to say that Gibson did not build guitars using this kind of lining after 1934. This is my opinion based on my experience so feel free to prove me wrong. Edit: I just acquired one of these guitars. The lining is made of laminated Poplar. The only other place I have seen this is on my 1954 Epiphone FT-210 Deluxe Cutaway. I'm assuming Gibson got leftover strips of lining from Epiphone and used it? Not sure.
(Edit) At least Gibson phased out the use of solid lining made of Mahogany in 1934. After acquiring a buyout period Texan I determined that this "solid lining" wasn't really solid. In fact, it is made of laminated strips of what looks like Poplar. The only other place I have seen this is on my 1954 Epiphone FT-210 Deluxe Cutaway. Perhaps Gibson also acquired strips of unused lining from Epiphone as well as necks?
Gibson "J" body surplus
In the early 50s Gibson was selling some of their jumbo bodies to National. National would manufacture a neck and bolt it on to a Gibson body calling it the National 1155. These are great guitars for the vintage player on a budget but I am told that the necks are a bit difficult to get used to. You'll have to decide that for yourself.
Since National ordered a bunch of J bodies from Gibson, they had more bodies than necks. When a bunch of Epiphone necks showed up at Gibson's doorstep in 1957, the answer was simple. They went downstairs to the parts basement and grabbed a bunch of J sized bodies. That is how I would explain this guitar having a Z (1952) factory order number.
(Edit) .....but I'd be wrong. After acquiring one of these, the tops were definitely made post 1955 judging by the bracing. My next theory would be that Gibson needed finished bodies to sell to National. Since National was bolting on the necks, Gibson needed bodies with uncut neck blocks (instead of cut for a dovetail joint).
When the Epiphone necks showed up in 1958 they were already cut for a dovetail joint. Since the dovetail extension on the neck and the neck block were cut by two different manufacturers they differed to the point that they wouldn't fit right. Gibson would need to use a body with an uncut neck block and cut it to fit the Epiphone neck.
So you have one of these short headstock Texans? Send me some shots of yours. Here is @guitaristo's (Instagram) 1958 Epiphone Texan that has recently been sold. The serial on the blue label was an A-XXX number but he can't remember what was on the neck block. I wonder if it was an earlier FON?
Why do these features even matter?
Although these Texans look like weird J-45s they are certainly not. The main difference in a standard Texan and J-45 is the scale length. Epiphone was using a 25.5" scale length so the necks were manufactured to this spec. Gibson's traditional scale length and that of the J-45 is 24.75". This alone makes for a tone that is probably louder and more piano-like than a J-45. It also doesn't bend strings as well and may wear out your fingers a bit quicker.
This '58 Texan has more than just the scale length to set it apart from a J-45. The body was probably manufactured in '52 which means that it differs from a '57 by the bracing. The pre-'55 J bodies were made with scalloped braces while the post-'55s had straight braces.
(Edit): Wrong again, TVG. While the FON prefix was Y, the tops were definitely made in the late 50s. The bracing is short and straight (unscalloped).
These buyout era features make for an interesting guitar. Mine needs some braces reglued before it is playable again. It was covered in 50 years of sweat and tar until I hit it with some Virtuoso cleaner. Here are some shots of the clean up.
