Vintage Guitar Artist Spotlight: Brad Barr and his '51 Gibson J-45

I love watching youtube videos and finding within them little vintage gems that somehow don't get mentioned in the comments.  This video was recorded by KEXP in Seattle at the 2012 Pickathon:

That is Brad Barr of the Barr Brothers playing a beautiful 1951 Gibson J-45.  I think that this is where the J-45 really shines.  The mid-range rumble is just about perfect for the singer-songwriter types.  

The fact that the guitar is a beautiful work of art and has played 62 years of wonderful music is what begs the songwriter to do what he or she does best.  I get that feeling when I play these old Gibsons.  I want to play that guitar just because of what is, how it looks and how it sounds.  I am a better guitar player because the instrument begs me to play it. 

From a GuitarInternational.com interview with Brad:

"I have a J-45 from 1951 that is the sweetest sounding acoustic.  It has a great midrange and a real growl...."

Maybe you have been there before when pen, paper, a bottle of whisky and 3 and a half hours produce nothing but balled up paper in a trash can.  You decide that your done writing tonight because its 1:30 in the morning you aren't really feeling it anyway.  You start playing your favorite chord progressions and licks just because that guitar feels and sounds so good.  After a minute or two you modify that chord progression a mumble a melody without any words.  The next thing you know you are belting out a strong chorus from your couch when you notice the sun peeking through your window.  You've just spent the whole night writing that song but you didn't realize it because it just had to come out.

I don't know if this has been Brad's experience but there is something about a big rumbly Gibson jumbo.  Here are some shots of my current J-45 lineup:

Oops, that J-50 just sneaked in there.  In order they are '46, '43, '54 and '55.  They are all so sweet and have their own special nuances.  They are certainly guitars worthy of staying up all night just to spend time with them.

TVG

Another Nick Lucas.... This one is probably a little later

This Nick Lucas walked into the local shop that I frequent.   My ears perked up when I heard about it even though I knew it was a bit rough.  Since there were only 57 (but about 200 have been found/documented, an estimated 400 total produced thanks to some forum knowledge, thanks TM) documented Nick Lucas Specials produced in any body style, one showing up locally is quite an occurrence.

I told you it was rough, but I could not care any less.  The Gibson Nick Lucas Special is my favorite flat-top guitar ever.  What makes them so special is the combination of appointments, scarcity and body depth.  Of course, I am not the only one who thinks the NL is special.  Here is Bob Dylan with his.

The first Nick Lucas Special is believed to have been produced in 1928 with a list price of $125.  The first models shared the same body dimensions as the L-1 and L-3 (like the previous NLS that I wrote about).  This guitar features the 0 and 00 body width but retains the deeper body much like the L-1.  It also has 14 frets clear of the body instead of 12.  The serial numbers on NLS guitars often date to '28 or '29 even though they were often made much later.  I don't have the FON on this one but I would guess '34, '35 or '36 because of width of the burst and the Maple back and sides.  

Here is a shot of the interior.  I don't think the interior of this guitar has been worked on much because I don't see any ugly reglued braces.  You can pretty easily see the loose back braces.  I would venture to guess that they would just fall out if you nudged them.  The top braces are probably in about the same condition.  The owner is taking no chances on this guitar: he is sending it to Ren Ferguson of Gibson Montana fame.  Ren is not only responsible for turning Gibson's acoustic offerings around at the end of the 80s but is also a top notch guy.  He took the time to talk to me (just a nerdy guitar kid) about how they came up with the idea for using Walnut on the Gibson Jackson Browne Signature model among other things.

I am absolutely thrilled that the owner decided to send this guitar to Ren.  The guitar may even be more valuable just because Ren worked on it (at least it is to me!).  It will probably take him a long time since Ren has been quite busy as of late.  You may have heard that he is working with Fender (Guild).

Here is the back of the Nick.  You can see the gorgeous flame maple peeking through that Cremona Brown sunburst.  It has plenty of nicks and scratches but it really isn't that bad.  I don't think it was even dusted off at the time of this picture.  Looks like whoever played it used one of those nasty capos that took chunks out of the back of the neck.  Pet peeve of mine.

Here is the label on the Nick.  I love seeing the hand written model numbers/names.  The handwriting is usually very elegant which is very rare these days.  I know my handwriting is terrible!  This appears to have been filled out in error though.  The space after "Gibson" should say "GUITAR" and the style should say "Nick Lucas Special."  I thought at first that this was even the wrong label but a friend from a forum informed me that the they used this label on the Maple NLSs.  The original label looked like this:

I'm not sure if they ran out of them or just stopped using them.  That is one interesting thing about Nicks is that they often have strange features.  As my friend says about Gibsons, "If it perfectly matches the description then it is probably fake."  They had a couple of different body shapes, 3 different types of wood for the back/sides and many different style bridges.  These are true custom made guitars.  It is estimated that 300-400 were produced over 11 years in a time where Gibson was slapping guitars together with whatever they had around.

Here is one repair we can clearly see.  The fretboard has been planed about halfway down.  I'm not sure if that was a result of a neck set or a couple of refrets.  I will guess that it is a result of a whole bunch of refrets because the fret wire they used was much softer than what they use now.  I didn't really see any evidence of a neck set either.  Although, I know it will need a neck set now. 

Leave it to Ren,  he will get this sad looking Nick in tip top shape.  I'll do another post when it comes back.  I might be able to include a video!  We will see what the owner will allow.

TVG

1928 Gibson Nick Lucas... from an email

I'm active on a couple of guitar nerd forums and I like to look out for cool guitars.  The Gibson Nick Lucas Special is one of my all-time favorite guitars ever produced.  Here is an email that I got from the grandson of the original owner of this guitar:

My grandfather bought a new Gibson Nick Lucas back in the twenties. He never got around to learning how to play it and it sat in its case until he gave it to my brother in the late Fifties. It sat under his bed until I found it in the early Sixties.

It had been strung up and ignored for decades. The action was redunkulous. I didn't know any better since it was the first guitar I had ever touched. Many sore fingers later I heard about light gauge strings and tuning down. In the meantime it was handled with absolutely no care by an ignorant teenager - me. I dropped a clock radio on it, several times - note the huge gouges. 

Eventually i took it to a guitar shop where they "improved" it by filing down the original bridge to get the action a little better. I took off the open gear tuners and drilled holes for shiny new closed gear Grovers. The tuners were a great improvement, but - now the guitar wouldn't fit in the case unless I took off the D and G pegs!

I got a Dearmond soundhole pickup and played slide for quite awhile. I had a neck reset in the Nineties and have been playing fingerstyle with it tuned down a whole step ever since. 

According to the guys at Gibson, the serial number (in pencil) on the label indicates it was made in 1926 but that doesn't match up with the description on the Gibson Nick Lucas reference page. Mine has the pearl "The Gibson" and the notched diamond inlay at the third fret. It is a 12 fretter so my best guess is late 1928. That makes it 85 years old sometime this year. August 22 is Nick Lucas's birthday. :)

This guitar has been rode hard and put away wet. It is LOUD! It sounds clear and true. Rings for days. Playing up towards the neck produces a wide warm tone and playing down by the bridge gets a crisp sound. This is true of every guitar but is really remarkable on my Nick. The "improvements" and hard wear probably make it a lot less desirable to a collector, but I have no plans of setting it loose in this lifetime.  

Neither of my sons plays guitar but maybe my grandson will someday.   

It is very rare to have a full history on a guitar.  Thank you BmoreTele for sending me this.  A very cool guitar indeed.


TVG 

On buying old, broken guitars before you can hear them

Most of the guitars that I buy are finds- as in they have been in a closet or under the bed for 30 years.  That means that they usually need a fair amount of repair like loose braces, neck sets, lifting bridges, etc.  When they need these kind of structural repairs I can't play them before buying.  I can't always hear how they will sound after being fixed up before I buy them.  It can be a bit of a gamble.  Here are a couple of those gambles.

This was probably the biggest gamble of all.  This is a 1943 Gibson J-45.  This has the fabled "banner" gracing the headstock that was only present during the war years.  I bought it from the grandson of the original owner.  The back braces, tone bars and finger braces were all loose.  The owner could not be convinced of this fact for some reason.  He had strings on it at full tension which caused the action to be very high.  I bought it anyway because I wanted a banner.

This was a GREAT bet.  I figured it would need a neck set but after the braces were glued tight the neck set was perfect.  It has almost factory saddle height.  The tone is warm, dry and very responsive.  You can feel the pluck of each string deep in your chest.  Suffice it to say they were right about the banners.

This 1955 Gibson J-50 was a recent gamble.  It was listed as a '54  and was about an hour and a half from Birmingham.  I could tell from the pictures that while the tuners were there the buttons were not.  I just happened to have bought an old Kay with period Klusons for next to nothing the week before!  When I got the guitar in my hands I could tell that the bridge had been shaved meaning that it probably needed a neck set.  I bought it anyway.

This is a very special guitar and probably the best gamble of all.  I took it straight to my local shop where my friend Keith works.  We put the extra set of Klusons on and strung it up.  As he was winding the strings I could hear that familiar hollow thump typical of the round shoulder Gibsons.  At full tension we immediately knew that this was not just an average 50s Gibson.  It was loud, nuanced, responsive and most of all LOUD.  I'm talking bluegrass loud.  We couldn't hear each other talking over the rumbling E chord.  Then we took it into the acoustic room to compare it to some new guitars.  We soon realized that this was guitar of myth and that it could never leave our circle of pickers.

This is a 60s Silvertone (Harmony Sovereign), I can't remember the Silvertone number designation.  I bought it from a different local shop needing a neck set.  When they got it in the called me because they knew I love the American made solid wood guitars.  They just said it was a Silvertone.  When I walked in I immediately recognized the distinctive bean shape and pinless bridge as a rebranded Sovereign.  I was ecstatic.  They thought I was crazy for buying a hard case for it.

The neck set was easy because the dovetail had already shifted in the joint.  I strung it up and started strummed some cowboy chords and fell head first in love with Sovereigns.  The J-45s sat in their cases for a few days while I became acquainted with it.  It had the rumble of a J-45 but sounded more bluesy- no, boxy.  This was probably a result of the ladder bracing.  Sometimes I just want to strum my favorite chord progression and belt out the lyrics.  This guitar was just about perfect for that.  It had the magic and can be had for less than $500.  Don't be fooled by the price, this is a professional instrument.  I sold it to a big time session player in Nashville.  It is a safe bet to say that you have heard him play.

It is a special feeling to strum an old guitar for the first time.  It is even more exhilarating when you have a bunch of time and money invested in it!  Maybe I have just gotten lucky but I have never had a bust- yet.   If you find one of these for a good deal then don't be afraid.  Take the plunge.

TVG

A Semi-Rarity: The 1966 Epiphone Wilshire (USA!)

Vintage guitars often come with a trade off: the "good ones" got played- hard.  As a result they have lots of character.  I don't mind character- in fact I love it.  I like seeing some scratches in the top of a guitar or the wear marks on the side of the neck from 60 years of first position chords.  Every once in a while however I will come across one that is clean.  This Wilshire, my friends, is CLEAN.

 

In 1957, Gibson bought a financially failing company that had been their long time competitor.  The Epiphone brand was known for very fine instruments like banjos, archtop electrics and acoustic guitars.  The competition was especially fierce in the large body electric archtop market.  Gibson would come out with a big jazz box and a month later Epiphone would come out with a slightly bigger or more fancy one.  Epiphone manufactured out of New York until about 1953 manufacturing moved to Philadelphia (although the labels still said New York!).  The failing company was at odds with its employees and the name was eventually bought along with a bunch of parts by Gibson.

Gibson began manufacturing Epiphone guitars first with leftover parts and continued by introducing their own Epiphone models.  This was a move by Gibson to get more guitars in stores.  Retailers didn't want 10 Gibson SGs but didn't really have a problem buying 5 SGs and 5 Epiphone Wilshires.  The USA Epiphones were made right along sides of the Gibsons in the factory at 225 Parsons Street, Kalamazoo, MI.  These are very high quality instruments!  The quality of the instruments bearing the Epiphone brand didn't drop to the current level until that unfortunate time in the 70s when the new owners of the Gibson brand (Norlin) shipped all production over seas to Japan.

The Epiphone Wilshire was a bit of a rare model until the its reissue this past year (made in China- sadface).  It has always had a small Mahogany body and neck but had two different editions.  The first was introduced in 1959 with a 3+3 headstock and P-90 pickups.  The second version appeared in mid-1962 that had a funky "batwing"style headstock and two mini humbuckers.  Mine is the second version with the silky smooth mini hums.

I absolutely love these guitars.  They have the coolest 60s styling with quality ingredients to boot.  The mini humbuckers are very versatile and can take you from Guns and Roses to Neo-classical jazz in a real hurry.  The neck joins at the very last fret so the player has full advantage of the fretboard.  Unfortunately the "Vibrola" was a source of frustration for most players so the trem arm is usually taken off and lost.

This is my second mid 60s Epiphone Wilshire.  My first one had seen some playing time and the finish showed it.  It was still original (but was missing the trem arm of course).  I eventually sold it but still had my love of Wilshires.  When I saw the ad for this one I couldn't believe it.  The seller was the original owner and the finish looked like it had just rolled off the assembly line.  I asked him when and by whom it was refinished.  He said that it hadn't been refinished.  Well, I have heard that before.  I always take that kind of thing with a grain of salt.

When I showed up to look at the guitar I still couldn't believe it hadn't been refinished.  We met outside of a Waffle House so I couldn't really take the pickguard off to check.  It looked "right" so I went ahead and bought it.  I took the pickguard off but the wires kind of stuck.  I looked closely to see what was going on.  Yes, the wires were stuck in the lacquer.  I carefully peeled them away to find that I was the first one to ever take the PG off.  This was clearly the original finish.  There was even a little bit of router dust in the electronics cavity.  That was a cool moment but I totally regretted it after!  I knew I had to take the pg off to verify the originality of the finish and electronics but I wish that it had still "never been taken off."  Oh well.

There is no checking on this guitar.  NONE.  It looks like it was made recently.  This thing is as real as it gets.  There are a couple of nicks around the guitar (about 3).  That is all. The original owner was not keen on the original set of tuners so he had them changed to mini Schallers.  He also lost the tremolo arm.  Other than that, this is the way it came from Kalamazoo.  One thing that is weird is that the gold Epiphone silk screen logo was done once, painted over, and done again slightly more centered.  Must have been a new guy at the silk screen booth that day.

The seller said he went into the shop in '67 to buy a Gibson SG.  He saw this one up on the wall and bought it instead.  Good call.  I don't think he played it very much because it has hardly any fret wear or wear on the back of the neck.  It is an absolute joy to play I hope you get a chance to play one of these oddities sometime too.

I took this guitar to the Nashville guitar show and another dealer was interested in it.  He took it over to an amplifier and played it for a while.  When he came back he told me that the pickups were wire out of phase!  That was news to me but I wouldn't have noticed it because I stick mainly to the neck pickup.  I took it out this morning and messed around with it and found that he was probably right.  One other thing I found interesting is that the bridge pup is rotated 180 degrees from where it "should" be.  I asked the original owner why he swapped it and he said that he didn't.  That is the way that it came from the factory.

Peter Green's 1959 Gibson Les Paul was made this same way in that his pickups are wired out of phase as well.  Apparently it is more common than originally thought but most people probably didn't notice it.  Maybe they just played on the neck pickup too...

TVG

True Vintage Guitar Dot Com!

..... is coming soon.  At least I bought the domain.  I don't know hardly anything about this whole domain...hosting...programming thing.  I want to make it a hub for people that like vintage instruments. The biggest thing will be a forum just for vintage gear.

Will you join the community when I get the website up?  I know you guys have cool gear that we could discuss.  Of course, pictures are a must.  I'll let you know as soon as I get it going.  I would really love for you to be a part of it.  Yes, you.  Whether or not you have gear or want gear.  You have something to say.  Otherwise you would be sitting on the couch watching a re-run of Wedding Crashers or Christmas Vacation.  No, you are out here looking for information on the stuff that you like.  You are looking to learn.  Forums are a great way to do that.

Here is a quick update on the guitars I have bought/sold lately.

Sold:

Wow, I didn't realize how much was gone until I posted this.  Two guitars come to mind that will really keep me up at night.  That '53 J-45 was "the one I would never sell."  It is the prop that my wife and I used in our engagement pictures.  So sad.  

The second one is the big Kay Jumbo.  I spent a lot of time on the neck set, custom bone nut and saddle.  It came out perfect.  I sold it for way less than I should have and the buyer wasn't even happy with it.  I told him that I was a bit relieved and that I would buy it back immediately, pay for shipping both ways AND give him $20 for his troubles.  He said no.  So then I was out a guitar and the buyer wasn't even happy with it.  I begged him to change his mind and he refused.  So he was both happy any unhappy about it, I guess.  I don't know.

Something that was interesting about these sales is the fact that a couple of the guitars went to some big time players.  Suffice it to say that you have heard them play before.  Or you have lived under a rock for the past 50 years.

Recent purchases:

I wish I had more time to write about these.  Right now, unfortunately I don't.  Sorry that these pictures are less than professional.  Have you gotten anything cool lately?  Share it with me.  Shoot me an email or comment.

TVG

Harmony Bobkat Video Blog

I picked up this Harmony Bobkat a couple of days ago.  I didn't feel like writing tonight but I wanted to get the word out about these so I made a quick video about it.  Check it out, comment, disagree, like it, share it.... participate.

I just wanted to show that while I could be playing much more expensive and technically "better" guitars, instead I am playing this one.  You don't have to pay 3 grand to get a solid vintage guitar.  Price does not translate into quality, playability or tone.  The price of a vintage guitar is only the result of supply and demand.  Most of the time the demand for a guitar and its overall tone/quality go hand in hand but there are always exceptions.  I believe this is one of them.

This girl is tearin' up this Bobkat!  Good stuff!