The first appearance of the Epiphone Texan - c.1958

These guitars baffled me for some time with their odd features.  I tried to get my hands on one but I just couldn't find an early example.  This 1958 Texan ended up coming to me.

What makes these so special

is the fact that they are an enduring example of Epiphone and Gibson history.  The body and the neck on the early Texans were made in 2 different factories.  When Epiphone sold to Gibson they shipped all the leftover parts to Philadelphia to Kalamazoo.  Gibson began building guitars out of them using everything they could.  This guitar uses two parts from Philadelphia and the rest from Kalamazoo.

The first part from Philadelphia is the mostly finished neck.  The back of the neck shows off the 5 piece laminate construction and subtle V shape found on 1950s era Epiphones.  It appears that Epiphone used Mahogany-Maple-Mahogany for the main neck structure and glued Walnut wings on the sides of the headstock.  The thrust rod cover is direct from Epiphone as well housing the hex nut on the end of the rod.  These covers must have run out early because many of the Philadelphia necked texans have a plastic cover that was most likely made by Gibson.  It's rare to find these with the shaped brass cover.

The second part that Gibson decided to re-use from Philadelphia is the laminate, unkerfed lining.  I had heard stories of solid lined Texans but I had never seen it up close.  My 1954 Epiphone FT-210 Deluxe Cutaway has the same lining so it must have been in the parts shipment from Epiphone.  

The tone

One major tonal difference in these Texans and a similar year J-45/50 is the fact that these necks are designed for a longer scale length.  A longer scale length means that the strings have to be tighter in order to sound the same note.  A higher string tension generally results in 2 things: a slightly stiffer feel and a bit more volume.  

If you haven't played many late 50s J Gibsons then this difference will be unnoticeable.  Even if you have played a lot of them the feel and tone is very familiar.  The biggest difference in player experience is the smaller nut width and subtle V shaped neck.  I found the neck to be very comfortable but a bit smaller than what I'm used too.

Is a buyout era Epiphone Texan for you?

If you interest in vintage guitars find its roots in history, design and the search for great tone then they definitely deserve a hard look.  I joke with friends about how having an American made Epiphone is the quickest test for people who like guitars.  The majority of players will see the name one the headstock and associate it with the current day market.  That guy will keep on walking and buy him a Taylor.  But every once in a while this guitar will stop someone in their tracks and make him question whether it was made in New York, Philadelphia or Kalamazoo.

1952 Gibson J-45 previously owned by Johnny Meeks and Bobby Jones of His Blue Caps

This one is real special.  I found myself one day jumping in the guitar hauler (read mini van, so rock and roll) and driving to South Carolina.  There was a man selling a 1952 Gibson J-45 and a 1963 Fender Bassman there and we had already agreed on a price.

When I arrived he asked me if I knew who Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps was.  I had no idea I had stepped into the house of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Member Bobby Jones.  Rolling Stone Magazine bestowed the title of "The first rock and roll band in the world" on the Blue Caps.  Bobby was the bass player for the Blue Caps for about 14 months ('58-'59) and toured the world playing rock and roll.  Bobby's J-45 was stolen around '56 so Johnny sold him his '52.  More on Bobby here

Gibson introduced the J-45 in 1942 sporting a solid Adirondack Spruce top and Honduran Mahogany back and sides.  It had a scale length of 24.75", featured scalloped X bracing and the bridge was rectangular.  In 1944 they switched to Sitka Spruce for the tops.  In 1950 the "belly up" bridge was introduced with a slot saddle.  The sides were solid Mahogany until 1952 and in 1953 the saddle changed to the drop in style.  In 1955 the fretboard went from 19 frets to 20, the bracing went from tall/thin and scalloped to shorter and straight, and the pickguard became the larger style.

Since this guitar has the belly up bridge and the slotted saddle then it *should* have been made in 1952.  The Factory Order Number prefix "Z" confirms this.  

The aforementioned '63 Fender Bassman is still at the amp tech's place.  I'm not sure if it is taking a long time to get parts or if he is playin' the hell outa that thing!  Either way I am excited to get it back.  Hopefully that will be soon.

TVG

A Banner Gibson J-45 Cloaked in Rare Flame Maple

The word "rare" gets tossed around a lot on Craigslist and eBay so I contemplated not using it in the title.  In my opinion, this one deserves it.  This is a 1943 Gibson J-45 made from a laminated flame Maple back, solid flame Maple rims and a bear claw Spruce top.  Well, at least one half of the top has some bear claw figure but it's mostly obscured by the sunburst.

Quality wood was difficult to come by during the war, especially Adirondack Spruce planks wide enough for tops.  The Gibson company had slimmed their product line down to just 6 models, only two of which were archtop style that commonly used Maple.  Because of the shortage of quality materials Gibson started using parts of guitars from the basement to piece a guitar together.  This is one of those examples.

The Maple is stained dark in an attempt to make it blend better with the Mahogany backed J-45s.  The neck on this guitar is a 5 piece Maple-Walnut lamination, also intended for use on an archtop guitar.  The bear claw figure on the top is very rare for a Gibson.  Undoubtedly this piece of Adirondack Spruce was originally tossed aside until there were no more unfigured Spruce planks left.  The bear claw figure is mostly covered by the burst but is still easily seen if you look close.  Gibson considered this figure a lower grade than the standard straight-grained Spruce.

This guitar was owned by Gladys Atkins from Porterville, Ca until her death about a decade ago.  It is unknown how it received such a great knock as to cause the headstock to break, or who did the repair.  All I know is that it is a very solid repair but boy, is it ugly!  I haven't decided what I want to do with the front.  I can't bring myself to refinish the entire front and lose the original banner.  I also don't feel confident that the lower half could be finished and blended very well with the top.  I intend to leave it as is for now at least.

The Tone

In short: loud, articulate and very unlike a typical J-45.  The Gibson J-45 model is know in part for its low-end growl and break up.  They aren't muddy like a D-28 can get in the low end.  They have this distinct overdriven low end.  This one substitutes the standard J-45 growl for articulation, note separation and sparkly top end.

This Maple J-45 still retains two tonal aspects common of the Mahogany backed J-45s.  The first is a very balanced mid-range.  It responds well across the figurative EQ curve and would record well.  The other is the Gibson thump, but it is different than the Mahogany thump.  The thump doesn't sound as bass heavy but is still pronounced.  

Gibson used solid rims on J-45s until about 1952.  At this time they started using laminated wood and discontinued using cloth side supports to protect against splitting.  Laminated wood isn't prone to splitting at the grain lines because they layer it with the grain running 90 degrees to the other layers.  I'm partial to solid rims myself, especially when they have nice flamey figure.

Vine?

I am attempting to use the new Vine app to show off the tone of these instruments.  I have neither access to a nice studio or the skills to use one so I think the informality of an iPhone app might be a good way to give a taste of what it sounds like without being terribly unprofessional.  I hope you will look for my account under True Vintage Guitar and take a look at some of the videos I post.

TVG

New Vintage: Gibson's 2013 J-35

The Gibson J-35 was the precursor to the J-45 from 1936 to 1942.  It had a couple of variations in bracing patterns but was cosmetically a 14 fret jumbo, sunburst or natural with a firestripe pickguard.  This combination made for an absolutely gorgeous instrument.  Gibson has reintroduced the instrument for their 2013 line of Gibson Acoustics from Bozeman, MT.

Then (1939)

Now (2013)

The J-35 has was discontinued in 1942 but was reintroduced in this configuration sometime in the 2000s by Gibson through Fullers Guitar in sunburst.  It closer resembled the Gibson Jumbo (1934) because of its small pearl inlaid Gibson logo.  These are very nice guitars but the 2013 production version is a bit different.

Cosmetically the only differences between old and new are the natural finish, Kluson repro tuners, unfortunate banner headstock and the addition of the LR Baggs Element pickup.  I questioned Gibson's decision to put a gold banner logo on the headstock but I think I know what really happened.  These guitars are largely designed in Bozeman, MT however sometimes the Nashville guys sink their claws into the design, hence the banner.  One Nashville guy in particular thought this would be a good idea and had the unfortunate superiority for it to stick.  This is purely hypothetical of course.  Don't get me wrong, I love banner headstocks on wartime period Gibsons however the J-35 was decidedly prewar and never had a banner.  The Bozeman guys almost got away without putting the banner on there as you can see from the NAMM prototype:

But the production version's headstock had this logo:

Why would you do this HJ?

The original J-35 had 4 main bracing patterns: 3 tone bar scalloped, 3 tone bar unscalloped, 2 tone bar scalloped and 2 tone bar unscalloped.  "Scalloping" refers to the careful shaving of mass away from the parts of the brace where extra mass is less needed, such as the very center.  It appears that Gibson scalloped seemingly at will during this time period.  Some say that it depended on whether or not the builder though it was necessary on a certain top.  If they felt the top was too strong and would inhibit tone then they scalloped the braces.  This is just hearsay though, I was not there in 1939.  The 3 tone bar versions are largely seen from '36 to '39 and 2 tone bars until '42.

Gibson's new production version uses a 2 scalloped tone bar style bracing closely resembling what would have been in a '39-'42 J-35.  They call this their "1930s Advanced X Bracing."  This is the same bracing used in the current Advanced Jumbo and the J-45 TV with the only difference being that they use different glue.  The AJ and J-45 TV use hot hide glue to brace the top while Titebond is used to brace the top on the J-35.  Titebond is easier to work with and still provides a great bond.  Hide glue dries very hard and brittle.  This seems to transfer energy better than a Titebond joint.  Guitar nerds such as myself will swear that hide glue sounds better but the difference is marginal at best.  Hide glue is still used on the neck joint of all Gibson acoustics because is it much easier to reset the neck in the future.

I have played two 2013 J-35s and both were phenomenal instruments.  The J-35 was positioned (price wise) to compete with the Taylor range of prices so they can be had for much cheaper than the J-45 standard.  I have heard a lot of people say that they just weren't as good as the 45 standard but I must disagree.  Don't be fooled by the price point.  These guitars were priced and built by two different sections of the company.  The price is basically a marketing trick.  

In my opinion, the J-35 is a "better" guitar and not just because of the price.  The only structural difference between the 45 standard and the 35 is the bracing.  The 30s advanced bracing in my opinion results in a more resonant guitar.  I liked the sound of the 35s better than the 45 standard.  What do you think?  Which model did you like better?  Keep in mind that the J-35s will probably have fresher strings than the 45 standards.

I do not work for Gibson and have no affiliation with anyone in that company.  I don't care if Henry sells guitars or not.  I normally would not consider new guitars because they usually don't do it for me but for some reason this one does!  I was pumped about their reintroduction and I think Gibson did a great job with the exception of the banner.  If finances permit then I may get one!

TVG

1934 Gibson L-00 from Instagram

I like to post pictures of guitars on Instagram and sometimes I will search hash tags for other old guitars.  Today I found this one, a 1934 Gibson L-00.  Neither the guitar or the pictures belong to me (unfortunately!).

This guitar, bearing the batch number 1212 - 31 was manufactured in 1934 according to Spann's Guide to Gibson: 1902-1941.  It features the smaller sunburst typical of the early 30s.  Supposedly the sunburst was small because wood supplies were not very good during the depression.  The black part of the sunburst served to cover up imperfections in the wood.

Structurally, this guitar is very similar to my '33 L-00.  One way that it differs is in the lining used to join the sides to the top and bottom of the guitar.  You can see from the photo above that this guitar has the modern, kerfed lining.  My guitar has the solid, steam bent lining.  See below:

There was a soldier overseas during World War II that wanted to someday be a touring Country Western musician.  He bought this guitar used upon his return from the war.  He followed his dream for a while but soon opted for the life of a family man instead of that of a touring musician.  He still played every once in a while with some other musicians.  He played this guitar until his death.  It was then passed on to his granddaughter where she displays it proudly on her wall.

The tuners have been changed but they look very similar to what would have been on there.  I think that these are the cheaper tuners that Harmony used on their guitars in the 60s.  Everything else on the guitar looks to be original.  I don't see any bad repairs but I don't have any shots of the underside of the top.

What a stunning little Gibson!  After I wrote this I took mine out of its case and played Mississippi John Hurt's version of "Make Me a Pallet on the Floor" and remembered why these are so popular for fingerstyle blues.

TVG

1943 Gibson J-45: All Mahogany, All blues

This banner Gibson J-45 was made in the lowest of low time period during World War II.  It is made from all solid Mahogany and features no steel truss rod but a solid Ebony insert down the neck for stability.  Stock piles were at there lowest point because everything was going to the war effort.  While this guitar may not be as desirable as a Spruce/Hog with truss rod guitar, it is a very cool part of Gibson history.  The neck is straight and the tone is unique and warm.  I love playing this guitar!!

When I saw this guitar and its combination of features and probably original case, I had to have it.  It was a great compliment to my Spruce banner J-45 and just looked so interesting.  I met the seller outside of a Cracker Barrel in Chattanooga and fell in love a first strum.  Something about the color of the burst just grabbed me.  I am currently waiting to get it back from my luthier after some set up work and reglue some loose braces.

As evidenced from the wear around this soundhole, this guitar has been played.  I am still trying to figure out what kind of playing style would make that!  I don't mind it though.  The rest of the guitar is pretty clean when you consider what it has been through.

This guitar did have 2 large cracks down the back of the guitar that were repaired.  They sanded and buffed this area but luckily did not overspray it.  It was tastefully done but I would rather them have just left the finish alone.  It still has the original tuners which is quite rare.  It is ever rarer that they function!

The elephant in the room has got to be the tone of this instrument so pardon my delay.  It still has the lapping thump of a banner guitar.  The highs are more rounded off and pleasant.  Sometimes the highs can be shrill on a Spruce top but not with this one.  There may be a slight decrease in volume from my Spruce banner but that could also be a variance from guitar to guitar.  The lows are warm and comfortable but don't overpower.  The mids are equally warm and present.

I should also mention the girth of this neck.  With a nut width of 1 7/8" it can be quite a handful.  It did take a couple of minutes to get used to even after playing my other banner J-45.  Since this guitar did not receive a truss rod but a big v shaped Ebony inlay down the neck, Gibson made the neck with more girth in an attempt to give the it some stability.  It seems to be working because the neck is dead straight.  This was probably not the case before they did the refret.  There is significant playing wear on the back of the neck so I'm not sure that it was because the neck was warped or because of the fret wear.  Either way it is a joy to play now and I am glad to have it in my collection.  When the maple banner gets back from the luthier I'll have to complete banner J-45 line up.

TVG

1944 Gibson J-45 "Only a Gibson is good enough"

The banner on Gibson's wartime flat-tops appeared around June of 1942 and disappeared sometime in 1946.  It is still a but unclear why but we may know more about the banner after this book comes out: Kalamazoo Gals.  Maybe it had something to do with national pride during the war years since the Martin guitar company was still family owned and the original CF Martin was in fact, a German immigrant.  This is solely speculation though, It may have had nothing to do with Martin.

This guitar was probably made in 1944 but again, that is just a guess.  It bears no visible factory order number and may have never received one which is common for the late war years.  It was constructed of a two piece Spruce top and a solid, one piece flat-sawn Mahogany back.  The one piece back is of note because it is evidence that wood stock piles were low so "lower quality" wood was used.  The Mahogany should have been quarter sawn for appearance and strength however this process wastes more wood than the flat sawing method.  Also of note, the Kalamazoo Gals that built this guitar were told to put "back strips" on the interior of the guitar to help the two joined quarter sawn pieces of Mahogany.  Yet this guitar has a one piece back.

I mention this because the people that built this guitar were probably not men who had worked in the factory for many years.  More than likely they were "Rosie the Riveters" that filled the empty positions of men who had gone to support the war effort.  In John Thomas' book, "Kalamazoo Gals," an argument is made that these guitars were somewhat superior to other Gibsons because of the nature of the women who made them.  These women had been working with their hands all of their lives.  They may not have been making guitars but they were very skilled nonetheless.  Since the book is not out yet I cannot say that this is the exact point or argument made.  I am very excited about the book as you can imagine!

One thing that I have noticed as a pattern of the banner Gibsons is that they have a distinctive percussive "thump" that vibrates throughout the entire instrument when a string is struck.  My experience is limited since I have played only as many banners as you can count on two hands but it is certainly a pattern.  A friend once described the thump of this exact instrument to be akin to a "lapping", as if from the tongue.  I thought that was a great way to describe it since thump would indicate a bit bass heavy, which these guitars are not.  I am worthless when it comes to describing tone with words so just bear with me.

I have three banner J-45s: one spruce and mahogany, one all mahogany and one in the mail that is spruce and flame maple.  The maple banner is still in the mail and should arrive in a couple of days.  I'll be doing two more posts on the other two banners later this month.  Do you have a banner Gibson?  Send some pictures to my email at tvguit at gmail.  I don't want to post the actual email for fear of bots.

TVG

Another Nick Lucas.... This one is probably a little later

This Nick Lucas walked into the local shop that I frequent.   My ears perked up when I heard about it even though I knew it was a bit rough.  Since there were only 57 (but about 200 have been found/documented, an estimated 400 total produced thanks to some forum knowledge, thanks TM) documented Nick Lucas Specials produced in any body style, one showing up locally is quite an occurrence.

I told you it was rough, but I could not care any less.  The Gibson Nick Lucas Special is my favorite flat-top guitar ever.  What makes them so special is the combination of appointments, scarcity and body depth.  Of course, I am not the only one who thinks the NL is special.  Here is Bob Dylan with his.

The first Nick Lucas Special is believed to have been produced in 1928 with a list price of $125.  The first models shared the same body dimensions as the L-1 and L-3 (like the previous NLS that I wrote about).  This guitar features the 0 and 00 body width but retains the deeper body much like the L-1.  It also has 14 frets clear of the body instead of 12.  The serial numbers on NLS guitars often date to '28 or '29 even though they were often made much later.  I don't have the FON on this one but I would guess '34, '35 or '36 because of width of the burst and the Maple back and sides.  

Here is a shot of the interior.  I don't think the interior of this guitar has been worked on much because I don't see any ugly reglued braces.  You can pretty easily see the loose back braces.  I would venture to guess that they would just fall out if you nudged them.  The top braces are probably in about the same condition.  The owner is taking no chances on this guitar: he is sending it to Ren Ferguson of Gibson Montana fame.  Ren is not only responsible for turning Gibson's acoustic offerings around at the end of the 80s but is also a top notch guy.  He took the time to talk to me (just a nerdy guitar kid) about how they came up with the idea for using Walnut on the Gibson Jackson Browne Signature model among other things.

I am absolutely thrilled that the owner decided to send this guitar to Ren.  The guitar may even be more valuable just because Ren worked on it (at least it is to me!).  It will probably take him a long time since Ren has been quite busy as of late.  You may have heard that he is working with Fender (Guild).

Here is the back of the Nick.  You can see the gorgeous flame maple peeking through that Cremona Brown sunburst.  It has plenty of nicks and scratches but it really isn't that bad.  I don't think it was even dusted off at the time of this picture.  Looks like whoever played it used one of those nasty capos that took chunks out of the back of the neck.  Pet peeve of mine.

Here is the label on the Nick.  I love seeing the hand written model numbers/names.  The handwriting is usually very elegant which is very rare these days.  I know my handwriting is terrible!  This appears to have been filled out in error though.  The space after "Gibson" should say "GUITAR" and the style should say "Nick Lucas Special."  I thought at first that this was even the wrong label but a friend from a forum informed me that the they used this label on the Maple NLSs.  The original label looked like this:

I'm not sure if they ran out of them or just stopped using them.  That is one interesting thing about Nicks is that they often have strange features.  As my friend says about Gibsons, "If it perfectly matches the description then it is probably fake."  They had a couple of different body shapes, 3 different types of wood for the back/sides and many different style bridges.  These are true custom made guitars.  It is estimated that 300-400 were produced over 11 years in a time where Gibson was slapping guitars together with whatever they had around.

Here is one repair we can clearly see.  The fretboard has been planed about halfway down.  I'm not sure if that was a result of a neck set or a couple of refrets.  I will guess that it is a result of a whole bunch of refrets because the fret wire they used was much softer than what they use now.  I didn't really see any evidence of a neck set either.  Although, I know it will need a neck set now. 

Leave it to Ren,  he will get this sad looking Nick in tip top shape.  I'll do another post when it comes back.  I might be able to include a video!  We will see what the owner will allow.

TVG