Gibson product of the day

[Searcy]

1940 Gibson ES-300

 

 

 

 

For a few short years in the 1940s, the ES-300 stood as the fanciest electric archtop in Gibson’s stellar lineup. Now it is all but forgotten, a minor player in a major league story. But even minor players often have interesting tales to tell.

 

Gibson’s first electric guitar, the ES-150 of 1936, was essentially an acoustic L-50 set up with a new wire coil and magnetic pickup. So new was the market for amplified instruments that Gibson hedged a bit, as did other manufacturers, waiting to gauge demand. They introduced electronics first on mid and lower-line archtops, rather than the upper-line expensive models, but the instruments caught on with the public and working musicians. When this happened Gibson was ready with upscale models and the ES-250 came to market in 1938. This electric archtop was built on the wider 17″ “Advanced” body, with fancier trim. The ES-250 was short-lived, however, and was discontinued in 1940 with the introduction of the ES-300.

 

The ES-300 followed Gibson convention, matching retail price with names, and sold for $300. It also introduced a new Gibson pickup which can best be described, if rather inelegantly, as a “big honker.” Stretching from the bridge to the fingerboard, this pickup was the first to have adjustable poles and also featured a tortoise plastic cover. While meant to address tonal deficiencies in the ES-150 (Charlie Christian) pickup, the new model was large enough to impede playing and was not well-received among professionals to whom the instrument was marketed. Gibson quickly changed the design, and within months a new pickup of more manageable size appeared. It retained the adjustable poles and was mounted near the bridge at a slight slant, to improve treble response.

 

As the top-line electric Gibson archtop, the ES-300 received all the trimmings. It had the 17″ “Advanced” body width and used the finest spruce for tops, and curly maple for backs, sides, and neck. Construction followed standard Gibson methods, meaning the top and back were hand-carved. The bound neck had double parallelogram inlays while the bound headstock had a pearl script logo. The 300 was the first Gibson instrument to receive the crown peghead, though some variant instruments have a modified split- diamond inlay instead. Pickguards were bound, hardware was nickel-plated, and bridges were rosewood. Top and back were triple-bound, and both sunburst and natural finishes were available.

 

Almost as quickly as production sped up on the new top-banana ES-300 electric archtop, Gibson was forced by the war effort to cease production of all electric instruments. Fallout from the attack on Pearl Harbor meant that by early ’42 the U.S. was fortifying its industrial base to produce goods for war. Gibson contributed, and curtailed production of most instruments. Because the electric instruments used metals vital to the effort, only a few acoustic instruments trickled out of the factory during the war years.

 

After war’s end, Gibson was ready to meet pent-up demand for musical products. Several instruments were redesigned, including the ES-300. The new version now featured a body constructed entirely of laminated maple. At some point during the war years, those working on guitar development noted that carved tops and backs are not necessary for an instrument that derives its sound from a pickup, and much construction time could be saved by using laminated woods pressed to shape. Thus, the ES-300 was given a maple top – often highly figured – when it was reintroduced in 1946.

 

Dimensions and trim were mostly the same as the pre-war version, with three exceptions. The pickup was the newly designed P-90 with adjustable polepieces and was mounted near the neck. Tailpieces on early post-war models were fancy flat-plates with f-hole cutouts. These were likely bought by Gibson from a supplier, since metals were still in short supply after the war. A similar tailpiece is seen on some instruments made by Valco and Kay from the same period. And finally, the ES-300 had a neck constructed of mahogany.

 

Early post-war models were highly transitional. Some examples have P-90 pickups with nonadjustable poles, others with no visible poles at all. Some are constructed with highly figured woods, while other examples are constructed using mahogany for some or all of the body. The modern block “Gibson” logo was phased in during 1947-’48, as was a multi-ply pickguard to replace the bound one. At the same time, they added a Gibson trapeze tailpiece with raised, pointed ends.

 

The reign of the ES-300 ended in ’47, when a new model superseded it in the lineup. The ES-350, a cutaway version of the 300, became the top electric model. Both received dual P-90s in ’48, but sales of the 300 never recovered. By the time the ES-5 became the new electric archtop king in ’49, the writing was on the wall. Few pros were using non-cutaway electrics and the 300 was discontinued in ’52.

 

The ES-300 enjoyed a short but versatile stay at the top of the electric archtop line, introducing several Gibson innovations, like the P-90 pickup and laminated archtop body, and other features like the crown peghead inlay. Today, examples are appreciated for their high level of workmanship and their place in Gibson’s history.

[Searcy]

 

Maestro Rover R0-1

 

In “Little Wing” on 1967’s Axis: Bold as Love, he used the Leslie to sculpt sounds ranging from warbly to spacey to downright rocking. As Jimi succinctly described the result, “It sounds like jelly bread.”

 

The quest to control, contain, bend, and otherwise wildly distort a guitar’s sound had, up to that time, typically been done with electrics. With the rotating speaker, it became physical.

 

In 1965, CBS purchased both Leslie and Fender; the latter took the corporate ownership opportunity and Hendrix’s cue to launch its Vibratone in ’67, which was a Leslie set up for guitar work. Others would soon follow the leader. The hands-down funkiest of them all was Gibson’s entry – the Maestro Rover R0-1. Whereas the Leslie’s rotating speaker was housed in a staid wooden cabinet, the Rover looked every bit its part. In fact, it went beyond. In the days of the Space Race, you could easily mistake it for a UFO that had come to land atop your backline and spread Martian mayhem.

 

 

To launch its spaceship, Maestro cut a demo in 1972. A narrator tries to talk hip as he explains the Rover’s features with all the style of a lab-coated high-school science-film narrator:

“Most everyone is familiar with the way out effects an organist can get with a rotary speaker. Until now, the guitarist and other musicians could only dream of achieving those phasing sounds. But now, thanks to the Maestro Rover, these musicians can attain these effects – and then some! This was accomplished through the magic combination of a specially designed speaker that actually spins, a unique built-in amplifier, and a variable-speed rotary speaker.

 

“Where would you be without Rover?”

 

Cue the dull, flat sound of picked guitar notes and a flat chord.

 

“Or with the Rover!”

 

Cue cool, shimmering chords.

 

 

The workings were Science 101. Everyone remembers the class on the Doppler Effect, invariably explained by your musty old physics teacher by the approach and passing of a train where the frequency of a sound wave changes for an observer relative to its source. The Maestro Rover, then, was Mad Science 101; harness the Doppler Effect in a stationary speaker.

 

The Rover recreated that Doppler Effect with a 6″/35-watt speaker inside a plastic enclosure that spun within the corrugated drum.

 

But where Leslies were just a speaker and thus needed an outboard amp to boost signal, the Rover had a built-in amp! And while Leslies had just two speeds, the Rover was variable from zero to 20 revolutions per second, controlled by knobs for Volume, Speed, Slow, and Fast. As a 1973 Maestro magazine ad proclaimed, “The Rover runs circles around other rotating speakers. You don’t have to settle for just two speeds. You can spin your sound at any speed. You can even pre-set the specific speed you want. Then just floor the footpedal when you want it. And the Rover doesn’t limit the spinning sound just to the organ. Its new ‘rounder’ sound makes almost any instrument sound great… organ, guitar, horns… even vocals. The Rover is louder and clearer because of its own powerful built-in amplifier. And for large concert hall sounds you can connect several Rovers together… and control them with just one pedal.”

 

You could also route higher frequencies through the rotating speaker and lower frequencies to your regular amp. As that demonstrator record explains, “Here’s how the Maestro Rover works. It can be used with or without your regular amp. A switch will enable you to first play the full range through your regular amp, and then to play only the bass through your regular amp and the high frequencies through the Rover.”

 

Maestro also promoted the Rover’s small size and lightweight, selling points in the space race against the Leslie or Vibratone. The Rover measured just 19″ in diameter and stood 9″ high, not including its adjustable stand. And it weighed less than 20 pounds, compared to the shoulder-straining, back-breaking Vibratone.

 

But overall, it was the Rover’s sounds that were the big draw. The demonstrator promised, “The blues or rock musician will appreciate Rover’s spacey and rotary controlled feedback sounds. Without a doubt, Maestro Rover will enter the hall of fame of heavy instrumental sounds!”

 

One musician who appreciated the Rover was David Gilmour. Since the early days of Pink Floyd, Gilmour used a Leslie 147 on “The Narrow Way” from 1969’s Ummagumma. For 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon, it’s variously reported that he used either a Maestro, Leslie 900, a Univox Uni-Vibe pedal – or perhaps all three. He then adopted Yamaha’s RA-200 rotating speaker, combined with his Hiwatt amps, for Animals in 1977 and The Wall in 1979, specifically on the solo in “Comfortably Numb.”

 

During sessions for 1994’s The Division Bell, Gilmour used the Maestro Rover. When the Floyd toured the album, he toted along three sets of custom rotating-speaker cabinets called Doppolas, built from Maestro Rovers by his techs, Phil Taylor and Paul Leader, and using a pair of similar rotating 6″ speakers with concert-worthy 100-watt drivers. Gilmour ran them in tandem with his stationary 4×12 speaker cabs.

 

On songs such as the instrumental “Marooned,” Gilmour’s prolific use of the vibrato, bent notes, and the whirling Rover combine to create an ethereal mood with echoes and waves of sound playing against each other.

 

It’s probably fair to say this was a far cry from what Donald Leslie ever had in mind!

 

 

 

https://www.vintageguitar.com/19478/maestros-rover-r0-1/

[Searcy]

Gibson CS-356 Ultima Quilt Tree of Life Trans Green

 

 

 

Gibson CS-356 Quilt Tree of Life in a beautiful trans green/alpine white finish.

 

The guitar features an alpine white back and sides with a trans green flamed maple neck. The quality of the maple is truly remarkable.

 

Gibson's '57 Classic pickups adorn this piece, and are equipped with gold hardware.

 

 

 

 

[pippy]

 

Amazing craftsmanship and woods, I grant you, but that just looks plain weird......like they mixed up two guitars on the production line.

 

Pip.

[SteveFord]

Gentlemen prefer blondes.

[jdgm]

 

Amazing craftsmanship and woods, I grant you, but that just looks plain weird......like they mixed up two guitars on the production line.

 

Pip.

 

Indeedie-do...yet 'tis a snip my dear Pip (sorry!) as it is now for sale at the price of 2 guitars, ho...ho -

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gibson-CS-356-Ultima-Quilt-Tree-of-Life-Trans-Green-Electric-Guitar-ES-335-355-/172513133091?hash=item282a958223:g:Go0AAOSwJ7RYULsV

[Searcy]

Indeedie-do...yet 'tis a snip my dear Pip (sorry!) as it is now for sale at the price of 2 guitars, ho...ho -

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gibson-CS-356-Ultima-Quilt-Tree-of-Life-Trans-Green-Electric-Guitar-ES-335-355-/172513133091?hash=item282a958223:g:Go0AAOSwJ7RYULsV

 

Two guitars? You mean 10.

[Dub-T-123]

Does that green thing come with a pair of acid washed jeans and an ed hardy shirt?

[Searcy]

1962 Epiphone Professional

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Strange Bird Indeed…

 

Weighs 8.70 lbs. and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Laminated maple 16 1/4 inch wide body, triple-bound on the top, single-bound on the bottom. Medium to thin profile one-piece mahogany neck with a nut width of just under 1 11/16 inches and a bound rosewood fretboard with 22 jumbo frets and inlaid pearl parallelogram position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl logo and pearl cloud inlay. Individual single-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons. One low-impedance mini-humbucking pickup in the neck position with an output of 1.60k. Five-layer symmetrical "Batwing" (black/white/black/white/black) plastic with bevelled edge and silver and black Epiphone "E" logo. Five controls (one volume, one tone, and three other controls - tremolo, frequency and depth) plus five two-way 'tonexpressor' switches. Potentiometers stamped "134 6232" and "134 6244" (Centralab August and November 1962). Black plastic bell-shaped knobs with metal tops. ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge and Epiphone Tremotone Vibrola with rosewood insert with inlaid silver and black Epiphone "E" logo. There is a small amount of fretwear mainly affecting the first seven frets. This guitar is in excellent plus (8.75) condition. Housed in the original Epiphone dark gray hardshell case with blue plush lining (8.75).

 

A strange bird indeed. All amp controls are on the guitar, and it requires the matching amp to be fully functional. It is usable with other amps via the 1/4" jack on the top of the guitar (to utilize the matching amp requires a special cable plugged into the guitar's multi-pin jack). There is one volume and one tone knob and 5 tone switches (giving a lot of tone variations for a one pickup guitar), which work through the 1/4" jack. The other controls on the guitar control the reverb and tremolo on the original matching amp and are as follows: one on/off switch for the reverb and one for the tremolo, one rotary knob for controlling the amount of reverb, one for controlling the amount of tremolo and one for the speed of the tremolo. So essentially the guitar is fully functional without the matching amp, aside from the treble/reverb functions…

[cody78]

That Epi wins the award for the most weird and ugly looking pick/control guard I've ever seen

[pippy]

Indeedie-do...yet 'tis a snip my dear Pip (sorry!) as it is now for sale at the price of 2 guitars, ho...ho...

Green, White & Gold..........

Perhaps Bono would be interested?

 

 

Two guitars? You mean 10.

Yup!

 

Pip.

[pippy]

That Epi wins the award for the most weird and ugly looking pick/control guard I've ever seen

Very Possibly, cody. But others have tried hard in the oneupmanship stakes;

 

Pip.

[Dub-T-123]

That Epi wins the award for the most weird and ugly looking pick/control guard I've ever seen

Jdgm will like the crooked headstock inlay and tuners

 

Sounds like a pretty whacky idea to have the amp controls on the guitar :)

[pippy]

Sounds like a pretty whacky idea to have the amp controls on the guitar :)

OTOH, Dub, it means that if the player wants/needs to adjust something when playing live there's no need to shuffle-off over to the amp to make the adjustment...

Not my cup of tea, though.

 

Pip.

[C-RAM]

Two guitars? You mean 10.

 

More like 20 for me; $500 seems to be my 'sweet spot'...

[Dub-T-123]

OTOH, Dub, it means that if the player wants/needs to adjust something when playing live there's no need to shuffle-off over to the amp to make the adjustment...

Not my cup of tea, though.

 

Pip.

I would imagine it might add a lot of unnecessary hum but who knows unless you have that guitar and amp!

 

Really cool find by Searcy btw. Something we'd probly only have seen here

[LarryUK]

Gibson CS-356 Ultima Quilt Tree of Life Trans Green[/size]

 

 

Why can't they match the tops properly? This is way off. It's not just Gibson.

I see it on lots of makes. It's not impossible to plane an edge.

[cody78]

Very Possibly, cody. But others have tried hard in the oneupmanship stakes;

 

Pip.

 

Wow! What company made those? Is the 'G' for a Greco? If I was to buy such an instrument it would certainly need a few more controls though

[Searcy]

Wow! What company made those? Is the 'G' for a Greco? If I was to buy such an instrument it would certainly need a few more controls though

 

That's a vintage 1976 Godwin Guitar Organ made by Sisme. Considered the absolute premier “Guitorgan,” this 13-knob/19-switch version is the more deluxe of the two manufactured in Italy for Godwin in the mid-1970’s. While those fortunate enough to have heard a working Godwin guitorgan respect it as the most authentic organ-emulating guitar (sounding nearly identical to a Hammond B3), it also offers beautiful sounds completely unique to such an incredibly advanced instrument. Essentially an electronic organ re-arranged and manipulated to fit within a guitar, normal Univox/Musiconics Guitorgan just don't compare. This beyond rare guitar organ is virtually inaccessible, and is rarely offered for sale anywhere.

 

The Godwin guitorgan is capable of functioning as an organ or traditional guitar independent of one another. It features a 5 pin connector output for the control pedal, and a normal ¼” output for the typical guitar output. With Italian-inspired cosmetic appointments, the detail to sonic quality was equally matched by the tuxedo black and silver sparkle faux sound holes. The control panel was designed to be both attractive and intuitive. Typical of Italian artistry, the design of this instrument incorporated both form and function.

[Revolution Six]

My #1

 

 

[cody78]

That's a vintage 1976 Godwin Guitar Organ made by Sisme. Considered the absolute premier “Guitorgan,” this 13-knob/19-switch version is the more deluxe of the two manufactured in Italy for Godwin in the mid-1970’s. While those fortunate enough to have heard a working Godwin guitorgan respect it as the most authentic organ-emulating guitar (sounding nearly identical to a Hammond B3), it also offers beautiful sounds completely unique to such an incredibly advanced instrument. Essentially an electronic organ re-arranged and manipulated to fit within a guitar, normal Univox/Musiconics Guitorgan just don't compare. This beyond rare guitar organ is virtually inaccessible, and is rarely offered for sale anywhere.

 

The Godwin guitorgan is capable of functioning as an organ or traditional guitar independent of one another. It features a 5 pin connector output for the control pedal, and a normal ¼” output for the typical guitar output. With Italian-inspired cosmetic appointments, the detail to sonic quality was equally matched by the tuxedo black and silver sparkle faux sound holes. The control panel was designed to be both attractive and intuitive. Typical of Italian artistry, the design of this instrument incorporated both form and function.

 

Thanks for the info Searcy Going to see if I can find any videos or sound samples as I am now quite intrigued by this instrument.

 

EDIT: This is the only video I could find. Really fascinating. Certainly sounds like a Hammond.

 

[Searcy]

Gibson EB 650

 

Guitar Type Bass

Body Maple

Body Construction Semi-Hollow (Chambered)

Neck Wood Maple

Fingerboard Rosewood

Frets 21

Inlay Pearl - Dot

# of Strings 4

Headstock 2+2

Bridge Adjustable

Bridge Construction Rosewood

Cutaway Single

Soundhole Diamond

Hardware 2x Tone Control, 2x Volume Control, Chrome

Pickups Humbucker

Pickup Configuration H-H

String Instrument Finish Translucent Purple, Translucent Blue, Translucent Black, Translucent Red, Translucent Amber

 

 

 

[Searcy]

 

 

1988 Gibson Flying V 90

Flying V 90 a long scale length of 25 1/2 inches, and a medium neck profile. Solid mahogany body, mahogany neck, and ebony fretboard with 24 medium frets and inlaid pearl split-diamond position markers. Triangular headstock with rounded top and vertical inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo. Individual Grover Roto-Matic tuners with half-moon metal buttons. One volume control on pickguard. All hardware is black chrome. With the original metal Steinberger thigh rest on the treble side of the guitar.

 

"Gibson was aware of the success of long-scale guitars during this period of time and adapted the Flying V to meet these specifications. The V90 was an unusual Flying V and one of the few models (along with the V90 Double and Golden Eagle) designed with the longer 25 1/2" scale length used on the Fender Stratocaster guitars. This longer scale makes the body appear smaller than other Flying V guitars, when in fact it is the neck that is longer. The longer scale accommodates two extra frets (24 total). On the backside, along the top of the bass side wing is a sculpted cut-out. A split-diamond pattern...is inlaid on an ebony fingerboard. The hardware is black chrome. With a bell shaped truss rod cover and vertical Gibson pearl logo inlay. Steinberger balance-bar flips out from the treble side wing bottom"

[SteveFord]

Gibson has sure made a lot of weird guitars over the years, haven't they?

[Searcy]

SG Zoot Suit

 

Species

The body of the Zoot Suit features a brand new body built with multiple birch wood laminate pieces (each one approximately .075” thick), each dyed with a different color then compressed and bonded together to form one solid block of wood. No paint is used. Each body is given two coats of satin nitrocellulose lacquer.

Average Weight

The average weight of a Zoot Suit body is 5.7 lbs, which is slightly heavier than normal but actually creates more balance, a solid feel, and brighter tones that prove compatible with the pickup configuration.

Tonal Characteristics

The solid body yields maximum sustain and enhanced resonance.