jmendoza Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 Much mystery surrounds this guitar. John claim a it was his grandmothers 1910 Gibson F-hole archtop jazz guitar. There are also claims he was cremated with it. On a TV special titled "This Old Guitar" John appears with the Gibson in question and plays a song he wrote called This Old Guitar as a tribute to the instrument. He also says it was "lost" which is a platitude for stolen, and then he" found"it again(recovered) and conveniently omits any details as to how this all happened. Buy he does point out that a large crack in the top was from him being hit over the head with the guitar by someone who did not like Hank Williams songs. All that said, there are some problems with John's , and others stories regarding this Gibson. It appears to be a mid 1930s Gibson L-37, and is a budget model lacking edge binding on the neck, and a small 16 inch body with F-holes in the top. Gibson did not produce archtop guitars with F holes until 1922, when Lloyd Loar developed the L-5. So although this may be an older pre-war Gibson his grandmother gave him, it is most certainly not a 1910 model as Gibson had did not make F-hole archtops until some 12 years later. One plausible explanation would be his grandmothers memory was faded, or John simply got it wrong by mistake. In addition, the Musicians Museum in Tucson Arizona has a Gibson archtop that is identical to the one he played on his "This Old Guitar" video that has an identical crack in the same location and also lacks a headstock logo, just like the one he had in his video, so this means it is his grandma's guitar, or if he was cremated with it, it is one hell of a good counter fit version of his guitar. I suspect the guitar is an L-37 judging by the body size, neck headstock and tail piece, but others here may be able to more accurately identify it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted July 6, 2022 Share Posted July 6, 2022 Many Gibson had a trapeze tailpiece that had a patent date of 1910 stamped on it. I had a 1934 L-7 with one. Maybe that’s where the date came from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry W Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 Just a few facts to clear up: the Gibson guitar in question, is in the Musical Instrument Museum, which is in Scottsdale, Arizona. I had the good fortune to be acquaintanced with John, having worked on his first 356 Porsche, and I asked him about that particular story, and he was somewhat evasive about it. My thoughts are, it's a really good story! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted June 30, 2023 Share Posted June 30, 2023 16 hours ago, Harry W said: Just a few facts to clear up: the Gibson guitar in question, is in the Musical Instrument Museum, which is in Scottsdale, Arizona. I had the good fortune to be acquaintanced with John, having worked on his first 356 Porsche, and I asked him about that particular story, and he was somewhat evasive about it. My thoughts are, it's a really good story! Maybe the guitar was found underneath his grandmas feather bed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted June 30, 2023 Share Posted June 30, 2023 But he does point out that a large crack in the top was from him being hit over the head with the guitar by someone who did not like Hank Williams songs. Where's a camera when you need one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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