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Bill Haley's Gibson archtops


ksdaddy

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Being both a Bill Haley and a Gibson fan I wish I could learn more about his Gibsons. I've read his bio by his son and there were many old photos in the book. He could be seen playing many different guitars in the early years, some 17" non cutaway Gibsons, a Martin dreadnaught, and there was a pic of (allegedly) his first electric, a fat blonde Premier.

 

Over the years I've always associated the black L-7C and the blonde Super 400 with him, supposedly given to him by Gibson in '55 or '56. I wonder where they are now?

 

I just received a DVD of a show he did in Birmingham UK in late 1979. He was using a blonde Super 400 with floating DeArmond, but I thought sure I saw a glimpse of a white (and possibly blue/purple) rectangular label, which would date it in the 70s sometime. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't, but it sure looked it. I'm not even sure what varieties of Super 400 they would have made then. So one of the many questions is, did he have more than one? Was it a BB King thing where he got a new one every so often just for giggles? (How many Lucilles have there been, for God's sake?)

 

I saw a youtube clip of his Command Performance about thatsame time and I think I remember him playing an Aria or Ibanez or something Japanese.

 

I wish I could find out more info on them. Somewhere near Harlingen, Texas, there's probably a Super 400 in someone's basement spray painted blue.

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At some point he also played an amazing Aria (may have been an Aria Pro II). It is in a museum in Nashville. Haley was a big influence on my urge to play SC hollowbodies. Did he also play an ES 350? Hopefully some Bill Haley geeks chime in, this could be real good.

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