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Young John Denver with a Gibson 18 string???


onewilyfool

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There has been a lot of stuff written about that guitar. Even scarier it supposedly has a steel neck. It was (and still is) owned by Randy Sparks of the New Christy Minstrels.

 

Now the question - would I rather tune that guitar or listen to John Denver play it. Hmmm, I guess ya'll better hand me down my tuning fork.

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Funny, this caught my eye on the local CL the other day.

http://annapolis.craigslist.org/msg/4898547215.html

 

Interesting, since that one has a pin bridge rather than a trap tail as on the one John Denver is holding.

 

It struck me in seeing the picture of Denver's guitar that this really was a Gibson, since the body and headstock details are pure late-60's (or early 70's) Gibson This guitar just confirms it.

 

None of the Smith guitars have this body style or apparent construction details.

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Funny, this caught my eye on the local CL the other day.

http://annapolis.craigslist.org/msg/4898547215.html

For a guy who isn't trying to make money off John Denver's name….lol…he mentions him 7 times. Also, that is the longest english sentence I've ever seen…no periods, no caps…lol….One thing that is interesting…..18 tuners, and only 12 bridge pins???

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Interesting, since that one has a pin bridge rather than a trap tail as on the one John Denver is holding.

 

It struck me in seeing the picture of Denver's guitar that this really was a Gibson, since the body and headstock details are pure late-60's (or early 70's) Gibson This guitar just confirms it.

 

None of the Smith guitars have this body style or apparent construction details.

 

Maybe from your post you thought I was insinuating that the OP guitar was a Smith? Not my intent at all; just pointing out another interesting 18. I'd never seen a Gibson before.

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Maybe from your post you thought I was insinuating that the OP guitar was a Smith? Not my intent at all; just pointing out another interesting 18. I'd never seen a Gibson before.

 

 

No, I wasn't suggesting you were saying it was a Smith. It always looked pure Gibson to me. Even the headstock inlay was the same as on my 1968 Gibson 12-string. I figured either Gibson built it, or someone took a Gibson 12 and grafted a new neck in Gibson style onto it.

 

Interesting guitar, but the song you would get most practice playing would be the one called "Tuning".

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  • 6 years later...
6 hours ago, tooaloof said:

I've heard Denver's 18 string guitar is going up for sale. Randy Sparks is still around and is putting it out to auction. I just wondered if anyone else heard it, or if it's just talk

Sad to see this post since Bob (OneWilyfool) passed away a few years ago....he was a good friend, and a GREAT player and singer.

I see his videos on YouTube from time to time and I'm sad each time.   RIP, Bob

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1 hour ago, DanvillRob said:

Sad to see this post since Bob (OneWilyfool) passed away a few years ago....he was a good friend, and a GREAT player and singer.

I see his videos on YouTube from time to time and I'm sad each time.   RIP, Bob

☹️ Agree 100%..  kind of weird how one's presence on these forums outlives our short time on earth.

Edited by kidblast
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On 8/17/2021 at 4:17 PM, kidblast said:

☹️ Agree 100%..  kind of weird how one's presence on these forums outlives our short time on earth.

Wily…what a great guy. So, so many great chats with him over the years, he was here right from the early days of the forum and was always friendly and full of wisdom and insight. Always nice to see his name pop up on these old threads.

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34 minutes ago, Jinder said:

Wily…what a great guy. So, so many great chats with him over the years, he was here right from the early days of the forum and was always friendly and full of wisdom and insight. Always nice to see his name pop up on these old threads.

For those who never knew Bob.... I believe he was a architect.  He lived right across the Bay from me.

He has several videos on YouTube...this is one of my favorites...he just makes it look so easy!

 

 

Edited by DanvillRob
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