1960s Gibson sunburst minutiae

[ksdaddy]

In the 60s when Epiphones were made alongside Gibsons, one distinguishing feature was that the Epi sunburst were..... how can I say it.... "sparser". They were lighter and closer to the edge. Notice John and Paul's Epis for example, and compare them to a period 330 or 335. Ditto for Texans and Cortez models. I've never read anything about this, as to when or why, it's just an observation on my part.

 

So on ebay there's a B25 with provenance and a typical Epi style sunburst. I'm sure it's not the only one in the world but I thought it was kinda neat to see a B25 with a Cortez style burst.

 

Odd burst

 

and here's a Cortez from the same period. Looks like this one had a J40 bridge put on it for some reason...

 

Cortez

[jefleppard]

that cortez caught my eye. ever played one? what can one expect tonally?

[ksdaddy]

I had a Cortez briefly in 1985. It was maybe a '67 or so..... just a guess. It had the belly-up bridge with ceramic insert and skinnyass neck, so '66 or '67 is an educated guess. It was mint, severely omigod new condition. It sounded tight, constrained, and fought every note I tried to make on it. I liken it to taking a spinster librarian out on a date and having her tense up when I put my arm around her at the movies.... (yeah, you have to crawl inside my head sometimes to get what I'm saying....).

 

Could that have loosened up in time? Maybe. I lost it in a trade towards a LP Std and don't miss it.

 

Those little Gibsons are such a 'luck of the draw' thing! I've played some LG/B models that were downright luscious, and others that sounded like Mexican Martin Cowboy of the Week POS cereal box guitars.

[jefleppard]

thanks. i'm surprised. i would have hoped for a blues king-ish tone. as for girls at the movies, does it depend what movie you take them to? eg, de niro in taxi driver.

[TommyK]

I never noticed that before either. I mean I've seen wide and narrow bursts, but never equated them to 'make' before. Yup, the burst on the Cortez looks like the burst on my Jap built Epi. Kind of gives them a brigher appearance compared to a dark old dreary Gibson.

[TheLiveSoundGuy]

+1. Never noticed it. The Epi, to me looks perfectly normal for the period. But, the Gibby just seems, well, it just seems to be an odd burst. It looks, not normal, at first glance. It's almost to the point of no burst at all when it goes around the leg and arm arches. (guitars waistline)