NGD Gibson Elvis Costello Century of Progress

[jedzep]

Good info.  TY

[egoidealmusic]

Love Elvis Costello.  I feel like every picture I've seen of him playing acoustic in the past 10 years has been a J-45, though this guitar is pretty sweet looking.

[E-minor7]

1 hour ago, egoidealmusic said:

Love Elvis Costello.  I feel like every picture I've seen of him playing acoustic in the past 10 years has been a J-45, though this guitar is pretty sweet looking.

He has been using an old J-160E a lot. . 

Here he is with an exceptionally dark either vintage guitar or a Legend ~  J-45

[Sgt. Pepper]

Just now, E-minor7 said:

He has been using an old J-160E a lot. . 

Here he is with an exceptionally dark either vintage guitar or a Legend ~  J-45

I think they could have sprayed a bit more black on there, but not much.

[tpbiii]

Here are a couple of my old ones.: 1934 HG-Century conversion and 1939 L-Century.  In true intense traditional music, maple flat tops have a reputation of not cutting well in a intense acoustic string bands.  They are great solo players and they sound like they should cut -- but they don't.  Here is my favorite story about an old L-Century.  John Arnold -- the famous  luthier -- said he had one he traded to Norman Blake that was extraordinary.  He ask Norman if we wanted to try it, and Norman said he did not play furniture -- which was sort of my experience.  However  Norman played it, traded for it, and now won't let it go.  He has recorded and performed with it.

In 2005, I made a couple of trips to Norman home to trade guitars and I got to play it -- it was unexpectedly wonderful.  Go figure -- another outlier Gibson.

Let's pick,

-Tom

[E-minor7]

2 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

I think they could have sprayed a bit more black on there, but not much.

Just DON'T comment my things !

[Sgt. Pepper]

38 minutes ago, E-minor7 said:

Just DON'T comment my things !

Ok forum Czar. Um I’ll comment on anything I want. 

[JuanCarlosVejar]

20 hours ago, Gibby20 said:

Hi everybody,

i want to share my Elvis Costello Century of Progress from 2008.

does anyone have a full specs list? I can’t find it on the internet.

Mark

I own a lefty Costello Century .

Spec list is as follow 

 

Body Style : L 00 Small Body

Top Species : Adirondack Spruce

Back and Sides : Hard Rock Eastern Maple

Neck : Honduras Mahogany 

Scale : 24 3/4

Profile : 1936 V Neck

Fingerboard : Madagascar Rosewood

Nut Width: 1.77

Bridge : Madagascar Rosewood 

Tuners :Custom Made Waverlys 

 

 

JC

[zombywoof]

While I am still in that not having the slightest twinge of longing when it comes to guitars, what would make or break this instrument for me is the string spacing at the bridge whether it has the more period correct 2 3/8" or the standard Bozeman 2 3/16".  

While an MOTS overlay obviously drove the price tag up because of the extra materials and labor, it was not necessarily indicative of a high dollar guitar like the Gibson.  You would see it on the headstock of say a Kay Kraft-made Oahu which in the early-1930s cost a princely $100 (which was about double what the Gibson would set you back)  but also on an all- birch Oscar Schmit Stella which cost less than $10.  In fact, the nicest looking MOTS board I have ever seen was one with a smoky rose tint which adorned a Stella while I still own a bottom of the food chain Sears Supertone mandolin which has that feature. 

Edited January 8, 2023 by zombywoof

[Gibby20]

9 hours ago, JuanCarlosVejar said:

I own a lefty Costello Century .

Spec list is as follow 

 

Body Style : L 00 Small Body

Top Species : Adirondack Spruce

Back and Sides : Hard Rock Eastern Maple

Neck : Honduras Mahogany 

Scale : 24 3/4

Profile : 1936 V Neck

Fingerboard : Madagascar Rosewood

Nut Width: 1.77

Bridge : Madagascar Rosewood 

Tuners :Custom Made Waverlys 

 

 

JC

Thanks, could you please post some pictures of your guitar?

[JuanCarlosVejar]

1 hour ago, Gibby20 said:

Thanks, could you please post some pictures of your guitar?

the only one I have on hand was while I was  cleaning/restringing.

It came with the custom black Costello case and certificate .The signed label is also inside the case

JC

[Gibby20]

👍🏻 nice 

[Dave F]

15 hours ago, E-minor7 said:

He has been using an old J-160E a lot. . 

Here he is with an exceptionally dark either vintage guitar or a Legend ~  J-45

The Legend I had (on the left) did not have that dark of a burst. Burst looks more like the vintage one I had (on the right)

 

 

[E-minor7]

18 minutes ago, Dave F said:

The Legend I had (on the left) did not have that dark of a burst. Burst looks more like the vintage one I had (on the right)

O yes I see ^  that picture is a remarkably precise reply.

But as we know, the burst-ghost sometimes moves in mysterrrious ways. . 

[Dave F]

33 minutes ago, E-minor7 said:

O yes I see ^  that picture is a remarkably precise reply.

But as we know, the burst-ghost sometimes moves in mysterrrious ways. . 

very true

[JuanCarlosVejar]

If you are interested to know:

The century of progress  was never Elvis’ main acoustic for shows , his main one is a Gibson  L00 legend  or sometimes he uses a black 1930’s L 00 with a fire stripe guard .

But in the YouTube video Gibson used to have on their channel he said it was an important guitar for several albums , the main one being Blood and Chocolate .His 1936 original was damaged in a flood but put back together by Gibson and that’s how the signature came about .

Here are a few clips where you can see him playing the original :

 

JC

Edited January 9, 2023 by JuanCarlosVejar

[JuanCarlosVejar]

In this one he plays the reissue .

 

I love mine and it gets better every year that I play it .

The original he said was purchased from George Gruhn in Nashville .

JC

[tpbiii]

Here are some period guitars for comparison. 43, 43, 42, 43, 46, 44, 53 l-r

.

Best,

-Tom

[tpbiii]

On 1/8/2023 at 1:22 PM, Dave F said:

The Legend I had (on the left) did not have that dark of a burst. Burst looks more like the vintage one I had (on the right)

 

 

The one on the right is early.  The one Elvis is hold is later.  The way you can tell is by looking at where the tuners are compared to the head stock decal.  Early means (approx) up to 43 -- late means after that.  Original pick guards will also have the black finish on part of the guard.

Let' pick,

-Tom

[Sgt. Pepper]

1 hour ago, tpbiii said:

Here are some period guitars for comparison. 43, 43, 42, 43, 46, 44, 53 l-r

.

Best,

-Tom

I thought Japan had all the vintage guitars, but apparently you do.

[Remmuts]

That’s a beautiful guitar, love the burst!

[tpbiii]

2 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

I thought Japan had all the vintage guitars, but apparently you do.

Well my late wife and I collected them because we loved their history and sound, but it was also a retirement investment for more than 30 years -- otherwise there was no way we could have afforded them.  They were indeed a good -- but not great -- investment.  We always bought guitars that were different from one another -- never two of the same model.  If you did not know the detailed history of the models, you well might not know where the dividing line was.

We were competing with the Japanese -- they would pay good wholesale prices at the shows, and the bought everything.  They were generally more interested in electrics however.

40s Gibson are a bit of a step down from the Golden Era guitars -- mostly in the 1930s. 

l-r  26, 39, 38, 36, 37, 36, 35, 35, 34, 31, 35

Let's pick,

-Tom

[E-minor7]

First time I saw Elvis Costello was in the Royal Albert Hall during the summer of 1989.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                He was solo and mostly played the Fender Jazzmaster, but also switched to this OM-28, which suited him good. 

 The actual concert ~ 

Last time I saw him was 15 years ago at an outdoor gig not far from here and there he primarily played the old J-160E. 

They too seem to fit like hand'n'glove ~ 
 

 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I saw him on the Delivery Man Tour, open for Dylan a  year later on acoustics, and in November 2019 right before the world shut down. 2 times were in 1200 seat venues.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Sgt. Pepper