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| 1950 Gibson ES-150 |
| This 17" arch-top is Gibson's successor to the Charlie Christian electric (the original ES-150) of the 30's and 40's. The ES-150 is 17" at the lower bout and full depth. It has one P-90 pickup with volume and tone controls. Although it is only an inch wider than it's sibling, the ES-125, I've always noticed that the tone of the 150 is much warmer and overall more sustain-y. Everything is clean and original on this one except for the name "ROY" on the pickguard spelled with metal, monogram stickers as well as a few tiny indentations where he put tiny rhinestones. This was all done in the 50's, by Roy, from whom I purchased this gem. |
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Below are picks from earlier weeks and months.
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This is a rare and elusive beast. Designed by Paul Bigsby in the mid fifties for Magnatone, this little solidbody has a set-neck and Rickenbacker-esque sloping contours. The bridge adjusts for action and intonation and the truss rod adjusts with ease. The neck is straight as an arrow and this guitar plays perfectly. The single coil pickup is loud and chimey and puts a P-90 pickup to shame. This is quite a machine!
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1972 Harmony H82G Rebel
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| In the 1940's, 50's, and 60's, the worlds largest guitar manufacturers were in Chicago, Illinois. By the 70's competition from overseas was killing these catalog masterpieces. This beauty is a 1972 Harmony "Rebel", and is one of the last of the Chicago-made Harmonys. It is the model H82G, the G being the Avacado Green finish (pictured here in the 1971 C. Bruno catalog). This guitar is in mint condition. It has 2 DeArmond pickups, individual slider volume and tone controls and separate on-off switches for each pickup. These guitars have notoiously straight necks and excellent fretwork, and under that Dairy Queen twist on the headstock is adjustment for the truss rod. This guitar plays and sounds great, and is still cheaper than a reissue. $550.00 w/ case SOLD! |
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1965 Fender Stratocaster
Here is yet another gem from under a Wisconsin bed. This 1965 Strat came from the estate of the original owner. The neck date is March of '65. Pot codes are 16th week of '65. It is all original except for the addition of (added a long time ago) a second string tree. As you can see from the picture it is in excellent condition. Of course, it is light weight and plays and sounds amazing. It arrived with the original hard case. It's a 3 tone sunburst. The headstock is the small, pre-CBS type but with the transition logo. It's nice to know there are still a few of these out there.
-SOLD
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1968 Epiphone Century (N.O.S.)
For those of you who don't know what N.O.S. is, it stands for New Old Stock, and refers to something that has never been sold by the original dealer. It has long since been discontinued, or in this case has become a vintage gem. This one came from a dealer here in the Midwest. Made by Gibson from 1957 til 1970, Kalamazoo Epiphones are every bit as good as their Gibson counterparts, and in some cases better or cooler. Like it's brother, the Gibson ES-125T, the Century is a true hollow arch-top, and has a single P-90 pickup. But unlike the 125 which is tobacco sunburst, this is a rich Cherry finish, and has that distinctive elongated Epiphone headstock and raised E badge(slashed C) on a white pickguard. It has a tiny "2" stamped on the back of the headstock indicating "second" condition, usually because of a blemish, but we couldn't find a mark on it. If you are looking for something to put in the collection, this would be a choice piece as N.O.S. pieces don't come around very often. But if you are looking for a distinctive American classic to play and record, this may be in your budget, also. Either way, it has been many years since we've had something like this come through the store, and it won't be on display. SOLD!
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Here is another little gem from under a Milwaukee bed. This 40's Gibson acoustic is smaller than than the J-45; more like a Martin "00". The top is spruce and the back and sides are mahogany. And unlike the LG-0 and the LG-1 which are ladder braced, this one is "x" braced. Like on many old guitars, the tuner buttons were crumbling. We replaced them with AllParts restoration buttons and added toner to match the age of the guitar. The tone is wonderful and the action is average bluegrass, with plenty of room for adjustment in the saddle. As you can see, the condition is excellent. Come check it out. -SOLD
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1963 Fender Jazzmaster
When we got this in it was completely stripped of finish, body and neck. The neck was refinished in aged nitro lacquer by Dave's Guitar Shop, and the body is a deep Daphne Blue acrylic done at an auto body shop. The pickups, wiring, knobs, bridge and vibrato, tuners, neckplate, etc. are all original. The pickguard is from Allparts (dark tortoise), and the pickup covers are not original. The body is alder and feather light. We have also added an Allparts Buzzstop which is a roller that easily screws onto the tailpiece and pulls the strings at a greater angle over the bridge. This gives the guitar more sustain and prevents the strings from jumping off of the saddles when you strum hard. Included with this jazzmaster is a new Fender 60's reissue hard case. -SOLD
-Wade
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New, Martin Custom Shop
HD-28QM
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At Wade's, we continue to try to find custom Martins that we can order and hang out among the classics, that is truely a one-of-a-kind, yet traditional enough that the price remains reasonable. Last year I called Bob Fehr at Martin's custom shop and pitched him the idea of an HD-28 with mahogany back and sides. He said, "while you're at it, how about quilted mahogany?"Why not?
So it came to be, an HD-28 with quilted mahogany back and sides. And let me tell you, this dreadnought sounds incredible. Since an HD-28 is already scalloped braced, it is always going to be big, bassy, and boomy. It's standard, solid rosewood back and sides make it deep and warm, but making the back and sides mahogany gives it a sonic balance and crisp attack that is quite unique. For Martin's mahogany lovers, you are normally limited to the look of the 18's and a handful of limited editions. Here you get herringbone purfling, vintage style polished pickguard and old style logo, black ebony fingerboard and bridge, and of course, beautifully quilted Honduran mahogany back and sides. The photo inset here has a couple of light reflections, but gives you an idea of the quality of the wood. If you are looking for a dreadnought that is unique, or just want to compare it to it's rosewood brothers, come check out this 2007 Custom HD-28QM. -Wade SOLD! |
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Gibson's Fanciest of Solidbodies: The L5-S
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| This honey is a blonde L-5S from 1978. Unlike it's earlier version from the early 70's which had low impedence pickups, this one has Gibson humbuckers. It also has an ebony fingerboard, all of the L-5 accoutrement (binding, inlays, gold plating), beautifully flamed maple, and is in near mint condition. When I first inspected it, it appears I was probably the first person to ever open the control section, which unlike most Gibson's, is covered by a plate made from the matching flamed maple of the body. This guitar has no wear, and plays and sounds wonderful. It arrived from the original owner in the original hard case. SOLD
-Wade
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1973 Gibson Les Paul Recording
This little beauty is one of about 5,300 of this model made during the 1970's. Designed specifically for Les, himself, as he rejoined with Gibson after an eight year break, the Les Paul Recording incorporated Les' ideals for a studio guitar. These features included low impedance pickups for direct recording, and an onboard transformer that brings the signal up to high impedance for playing through an amp. There is an onboard "Decade", rotary switch which is a passive tone switch similar to the varitone found on other Gibson guitars. There is also a passive treble and bass control and a pickup phase switch.
The body and neck are completely made of Honduran Mahogany. This particular example does have changed tuners, but everything else is original. It plays and sounds quite amazing, and less than the price of a new Les Paul Standard. In this photo it is being escorted by two new National Reso-phonics, a Style 0 Deluxe and an Estralita Deluxe Koa (see below previous picks). SOLD!
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