Gitarz

Gretsch
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gretsch was founded in 1883 by a German immigrant named Friedrich Gretsch, who intended to manufacture banjos, tambourines, and drums. In 1895, Friedrich Gretsch died at the age of 39, and the already successful company was taken over by his son Fred. who guided it into even greater profitabilty. By 1916, the company into a large 10-story building in Brooklyn, New York and was one of the most prominent American musical instrument makers. Guitar production began in earnest in the late 30s, and were extremely popular in the late '50s and early 60s. After sliding into disfavor and eventual bankruptcy in the 70s and 80s, Gretsch was successfully revived by Fred Gretsch III in 1989. Most modern-era Gretsch guitars are manufactured in the Far East, although US-made "Custom Shop" models are available. In 2003 Gretsch entered into an agreement with Fender Musical Instruments Company, in which Gretsch would continue to own the company, but FMIC would handle most development, distribution and sales. This agreement has proven to be very successful, and many Gretsch fans believe the company is currently experiencing a second golden era.

Danelectro

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Danelectro is a manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories, specializing in guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers and effects units. Danelectro was founded by Nathan Daniel in 1947. Jimi Hendrix is among the many well-known guitarists to have used Danelectro.

Fender Stratocaster

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Fender Stratocaster guitar.
The Fender Stratocaster, also called a Strat, is a type of electric guitar made by Leo Fender and Freddie Tavares in the early 1950s, and are being made still today. The Stratocaster has been used by many famous guitarists, as well as the Gibson Les Paul, the Fender Telecaster and the Gibson SG. The Stratocaster has been copied as well. A guitar may look the same as a Stratocaster, but if it is not produced by Fender or Squier it is called a strat copy.

Fender Stratocaster copies are mostly very cheap and low quality, but some guitar builders make high quality clones of the Stratocaster. Fender makes Stratocasters made in the United States of America, which are largely thought to be the highest quality. However they also make Stratocasters which are made in Japan, but only sell them to the Japanese. Many people view these guitars comparable and even superior to the American made Fenders.

Stratocasters are also made in Korea and sold as special editions. The cheapest Fenders are made in Mexico, but despite their price, these Stratocasters are very good quality guitars compared to the copies which are usually made in China. Squier makes Stratocasters in China and Indonesia.

Fender Strats made in Japan and Korea are sometimes equal to their American Standard cousin. Limited editions like the Pro Tone series and some early (1982-1986) Japanese models fetch prices from $400 - $800 depending on condition. Korean Strats that have the Fender decal are the desireable ones over the Korean models with Squier on the headstock where Fender should be. There are also American Made Squiers that can be of good quality. Korean Pro Tones are the cream of the Korean Crop. Jimi Hendrix played this guitar, it was his guitar of choice.

Fender Telecaster
From Wikipedia
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele (pronounced /ˈtɛli/), is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender. Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music. Introduced for national distribution as the Broadcaster in the autumn of 1949, it was the first guitar of its kind to be produced on a substantial scale. Its commercial production can be traced as far back as March 1950, when the single- and dual-pickup Esquire models were first sold. The Telecaster has been in continuous production in one form or another since its first incarnation, making it the world's oldest solid-body electric guitar.

Origins

The Fender Telecaster was developed by Leo Fender in Fullerton, California in 1949. Prior to its creation, the solid-body electric guitar had been created independently by several craftsman and companies, in the period roughly between 1932–1949, but none of these guitars had made a significant impact on the market. Leo Fender's Telecaster was the design that finally put the solid-body guitar on the map.

Fender had an electronics repair shop called Fender's Radio Service where he first repaired, then designed, amplifiers and electromagnetic pickups for musicians—chiefly players of electric semi-acoustic guitars, electric Hawaiian (lap steel) guitars, and mandolins. Players had been 'wiring up' their instruments in search of greater volume and projection since the late 1920s, and electric semi-acoustics (such as the Gibson ES-150) had long been widely available. Tone had never, until then, been the primary reason for a guitarist to go electric, but in 1943, when Fender and his partner, Doc Kauffman, built a crude wooden guitar as a pickup test rig, local country players started asking to borrow it for gigs. It sounded shiny and sustaining. Fender got curious, and in 1949, when it was long-understood that solid construction offered great advantages in electric instruments, but before any commercial solidbody Spanish guitars had caught on (the small Audiovox company apparently offered a modern, solidbody electric guitar as early as the mid-1930s), he built a better prototype.

That hand-built prototype, an anomalous white guitar, had most of the features of what would become the Telecaster. It was designed in the spirit of the solid-body Hawaiian guitars manufactured by Rickenbacker -- small, simple units made of Bakelite and aluminum with the parts bolted together—but with wooden construction. (Rickenbacker, then spelled 'Rickenbacher,' had also offered a solid Bakelite-bodied electric Spanish guitar in 1935, many details of which seem echoed in Fender's design.)

The initial single pickup production model appeared in 1950, and was called the Esquire. Fewer than fifty guitars were originally produced under that name, and most were replaced under warranty because of early manufacturing problems. In particular, the Esquire necks had no truss rod and many were replaced due to bent necks. Later in 1950, this single-pickup model was discontinued, and a two-pickup model was renamed the Broadcaster. From this point onwards all Fender necks incorporated truss rods. The Gretsch company, itself a manufacturer of hollowbody electric guitars (and now owned by Fender), claimed that "Broadcaster" violated the trademark for its Broadkaster line of drums, and as a newcomer to the industry, Fender decided to bend and changed the name to Telecaster, after the newly popular medium of television. (The guitars manufactured in the interim bore no name, and are now popularly called 'Nocasters.') The Esquire was reintroduced as a one-pickup Telecaster, at a lower price.

In 1951, Fender also released the Precision Bass which was a stablemate to the Telecaster. This was later released as the Fender Telecaster Bass when the P-Bass line was updated to more closely resemble the Stratocaster.

Construction

Leo Fender's simple and modular design was geared to mass production, and made servicing broken guitars easier. Guitars were not constructed individually, as in traditional luthiery. Rather, components were produced quickly and inexpensively in quantity and assembled into a guitar on an assembly line. The bodies were bandsawn and routed from slabs, rather than hand-carved individually, as with other guitars made at the time, such as Gibsons. Fender did not use the traditional glued-in neck, but rather a bolt-on. This not only made production easier, but allowed the neck to be quickly removed and serviced, or replaced entirely. In addition, the classic Telecaster neck was fashioned from a single piece of maple without a separate fingerboard, and the frets were pressed directly into the maple surface—a highly unorthodox approach in its day (guitars traditionally featured rosewood or ebony fingerboards glued onto mahogany necks). The electronics were easily accessed for repair or replacement through a removable control plate, a great advantage over typical construction, in which the electronics could only be accessed through the soundholes in the case of hollow-body instruments, or later by taking off the pickguard after removing the strings (as in Fender's own later design, the Stratocaster).

In its classic form, the guitar is extremely simply constructed, with the neck and fingerboard comprising a single piece of maple, bolted to an ash or alder body inexpensively jigged with flat surfaces on the front and back. The hardware includes two single coil pickups controlled by a three-way selector switch, and one each of volume and tone controls. The pickguard was first Bakelite, soon thereafter it was Celluloid (later plastic), screwed directly onto the body with five (later eight) screws. The bridge has three adjustable saddles, with strings doubled up on each. The guitar quickly gained a following, and soon other, more established guitar companies (such as Gibson, whose Les Paul model was introduced in 1952; and later Gretsch, Rickenbacker, and others) began working on wooden solid-body production models of their own. A large chromed cover, often called the "ashtray", was fitted over the bridge for improved shielding, but this is rarely seen as most players find it impedes their style.

The original switch configuration used from 1950 to 1952 allowed selection of neck pickup with treble tone cut in the first position (for a bassier sound), and neck pickup with normal tone in the second position. The third switch position selected the bridge pickup with neck pickup blended in, depending on the position of the second "tone" knob. The first knob functioned normally as a master volume control. This configuration did not have a true tone control knob.

Typical modern Telecasters (such as the American Standard version) incorporate several details different from the classic form. They typically feature 22 frets (rather than 21) and truss rod adjustment is made at the headstock end, rather than the body end, which had required removal of the neck on the original (the Custom Shop Bajo Sexto Baritone Tele was the only Telecaster featuring a two-octave 24-fret neck). The 3-saddle bridge of the original has been replaced with a 6-saddle version, allowing independent length and height adjustment for each string. The long saddle bridge screws allow a wide range of saddle bridge positions for intonation tuning. The stamped metal bridge plate has been replaced with a plain, flat plate, and the bridge grounding cover (which, while helping with the shielding, impedes players who like to mute strings at the bridge with the side of the palm, and makes it impossible to pick near the saddles to produce the characteristic Telecaster 'twang') has been discontinued for most models. Also different from the original is the wiring: The 3-way toggle switch selects neck pickup only in the first position, neck and bridge pickups together in the second position, and bridge pickup only in the third position. The first knob adjusts the master volume; the second is a master tone control affecting all the pickups.

During the CBS era in the 1970s, the Telecaster body style was changed to a new "notchless" shape, having a less pronounced notch in the crook where the upper bout meets the neck. The notchless body style was discontinued in 1982.

The short-lived Elite Telecaster of 1983 incorporated two specially designed humbucking pickups powered by an active circuitry featuring a TBX guitar expander and a MDX midrange booster with 12dB of gain. Other features included a Freeflyte hardtail bridge and die-cast tuning machines with pearloid buttons. This guitar was among the latest CBS-era Fenders to feature a BiFlex truss-rod system, low-friction EasyGlider string trees and active electronics. After CBS sold Fender to a group of employees led by Bill C. Schultz in 1985, the Elite Telecaster, as well as the other Elite models, has no longer been produced. Fender Japan made its own version of the Elite Telecaster in late 1984, featuring a 22-fret neck with medium-jumbo fretwire and a modern 9.5" radius. Notable Elite Telecaster players include Johnny Hallyday and Dave Davies of The Kinks.

Higher-end models such as the American Deluxe and Plus Series Telecasters usually come with a Stratocaster-like contoured body for playing comfort.

The Telecaster sound
The Telecaster is known for its ability to produce both bright, rich, cutting tone or mellow, warm, bluesy tone depending on the selected pickup, respectively "bridge" pickup or "neck" pickup. The bridge pickup has more windings than the neck pickup hence producing much higher output, which compensates for a lower amplitude of vibration of the strings at bridge position. At the same time, a capacitor is fitted between the slider of the volume control and the output, allowing treble sounds to bleed through while the mid and lower ranges are damped. A slanted bridge pickup enhances the guitar's treble tone. The solid body allows the guitar to deliver a clean amplified version of the strings' tone. This was an improvement on previous electric guitar designs, whose hollow bodies made them prone to unwanted feedback. These design elements allowed musicians to emulate steel guitar sounds, making it particularly useful in country music. Such emulation can be enhanced by use of a B-Bender (B-string bending device invented by Gene Parsons of The Byrds and pioneered by country guitarist Clarence White), enabling a smooth, precise change of pitch for a single string within a chord (White's original Telecaster fitted with the B-Bender device is now in the possession of country guitarist Marty Stuart who uses the guitar as his main onstage instrument). These characteristics makes the Telecaster a versatile guitar, usable for most styles of music from Country, Blues, Rock to Jazz.

Variants
The Telecaster has also been a long-time favorite guitar for hot-rod customizing. Several variants of the guitar appeared throughout the years with a wide assortment of pickup configurations, such as a humbucker in the neck position, three single-coil pickups and even dual humbuckers with special wiring schemes. Fender offered hot-rodded Teles with such pickup configurations, the US Fat and Nashville B-Bender Telecasters around 1998. The Deluxe Blackout Tele was also equipped with 3 single-coil pickups, a "Strat-o-Tele" selector switch and a smaller headstock than a standard Telecaster. The most common variants of the standard two-pickup solid body Telecaster are the semi-hollow Thinline, the twin-humbucker Deluxe and the Custom which replaced the neck single coil-pickup with a humbucking pickup. The Custom and Deluxe were introduced during the CBS period and are offered to this day.

Telecaster Thinline
A semi-hollow thinline version appeared in 1968/69, designed by German guitar maker Roger Rossmeisl. Today two versions of the Thinline are available, the '69 version has two standard Telecaster pickups and a mahogany body, while the '72 version, based on the Fender Telecaster Deluxe, yields two Fender Wide Range pickups and a solid natural swamp ash body

Telecaster Deluxe
This model includes two Fender Wide Range humbucking pickups and was originally produced from 1972 to 1981 and have since then been reissued. The Tele Deluxe sported a large headstock similar to the Stratocaster maple neck and a contoured body, as well as a tremolo bridge option on models manufactured after 1973/74.

Telecaster Custom
The Tele Custom was popularized by Rolling Stones' guitarist and composer Keith Richards since its introduction in the early 1970s, featuring a Fender Wide Range humbucker in the neck position and a single-coil pickup in the bridge. The market generally refers to the guitar as the "1972 Custom", indicating the year this model was originally released.

Telecaster Plus
Designed to restore Fender's reputation after a group of employees led by William C. Schultz took over ownership from CBS in the early 1980s. The pickups used in early models were dual humbucking Red Lace Sensors in the bridge position and a single Blue Lace Sensor in the neck position. Later models (post 1994 or so) used three Gold Lace Sensors or a Red/Silver/Blue set in a Strat-like configuration, as well as low-friction roller nuts, locking synchronized vibrato bridge and tuners and a bound contoured alder body with ash veneers. These instruments were discontinued in 1998 with the advent of the American Deluxe series; there have been no reissues.

Tele Jr.
The Fender Tele Jr. is a variant of the Fender Telecaster electric guitar, produced in a limited run of 100 units by the Fender Custom Shop in the early 1990s. While its body shape and scale length are those of the Telecaster, many of its construction and electronic features, for example its set-in neck are more similar to those of a Gibson Les Paul electric guitar.

J5 Triple Deluxe Telecaster
The Triple Deluxe tele is Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie guitarist John5's signature model. It is similar to the regular Deluxe Tele, but it features three Fender "Enforcer" humbuckers and a chrome pickguard.

Gibson Les Paul

From Wikipedia
The Les Paul model was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late pop star, electronics inventor, and accomplished jazz guitarist Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson Guitar president Ted McCarty brought guitarist Les Paul into the company as a consultant. Les Paul was a respected innovator who had been experimenting with guitar design for years to benefit his own music. In fact, he had hand-built a solid-body prototype called "The Log", a design widely considered the first solid-body Spanish guitar ever built, as opposed to the "Hawaiian", or lap-steel guitar. This guitar is known as "The Log" because the solid core is a pine block whose width and depth are a little more than the width of the fretboard. Although numerous other prototypes and limited-production solid-body models by other makers have since surfaced, it is known that in 1945–1946, Les Paul had approached Gibson with "The Log" prototype, but his solid body design was rejected.

In 1951, this initial rejection became a design collaboration between the Gibson Guitar Corporation and Les Paul. It was agreed that the new Les Paul guitar was to be an expensive, well-made instrument in Gibson's tradition. Although recollections differ regarding who contributed what to the Les Paul design, it was far from a market replica of Fender models. Since the 1930s, Gibson had offered electric hollow-body guitars, such as the ES-150; at minimum, these hollow-body electric models provided a set of basic design cues to the new Gibson solid-body, including a more traditionally curved body shape than offered by competitor Fender, and a glued-in ("set-in") neck, in contrast to Fender's bolt-on neck joint design.

The significance of Les Paul's contributions to his Gibson guitar design remains controversial. The book "50 Years of the Gibson Les Paul" limits Paul's contributions to two: advice on the trapeze tailpiece, and a preference for color (stating that Paul preferred gold as "it looks expensive", and a second choice of black because "it makes your fingers appear to move faster on the box", and "looks classy—like a tuxedo").

Additionally, Gibson's president Ted McCarty states that the Gibson Guitar Corporation merely approached Les Paul for the right to imprint the musician's name on the headstock to increase model sales, and that in 1951, Gibson showed Paul a nearly finished instrument. McCarty also claims that design discussions with Les Paul were limited to the tailpiece and the fitting of a maple cap over the mahogany body for increased density and sustain, which Les Paul had requested reversed. However, according to Gibson Guitar, this reversal would have caused the guitar to become too heavy, and Paul's request was refused. Another switch: the original Goldtop was to be all mahogany and the later Custom was to have the maple cap/mahogany body. Beyond these requests, Les Paul's contributions to the guitar line bearing his name were stated to be cosmetic. For example, ever the showman, Paul had specified that the guitar be offered in a gold finish, not only for flashiness, but to emphasize the high quality of the Les Paul instrument, as well. The later-issue Les Paul models included flame maple (tiger stripe) and "quilted" maple finishes, and once again contrasted the competing Fender line's range of car-like color finishes. Gibson was notably inconsistent with its wood choices, and some goldtops or customs have had their finish stripped to reveal beautifully-figured wood hidden underneath.

Models and variations

The Les Paul guitar line was originally conceived to include two models: the regular model (nicknamed the Goldtop), and the Custom model, which offered upgraded hardware and a more formal black finish. However, advancements in pickup, body, and hardware designs allowed the Les Paul to become a long-term series of electric solid-body guitars that targeted every price-point and market level except for the complete novice guitarist. This beginner guitar market was filled by the Melody Maker model, and although the inexpensive Melody Maker did not bear the Les Paul name, its body consistently followed the design of true Les Pauls throughout each era.

Beyond shaping and body design, there are a number of characteristics that distinguish the Gibson Les Paul line from other electric guitars. For example, in a fashion similar to Gibson's hollow-body instruments, the strings of Les Paul guitars are always mounted on the top of the guitar body, rather than through the guitar body, as seen in competitor Fender's designs. The Gibson also features a variety of colors, such as Wine Red, Ebony, Classic White, Fire Burst, and Alpine White. In addition, the Les Paul models offered a variety of finishes and decorative levels, a diversity of hardware options, and an innovative array of electric pick-up options, some of which significantly impacted the sound of electric music. For instance, in 1957, Gibson introduced the humbucker which revolutionized the sound of the electric guitar, and eliminated the 60-cycle noise which had previously plagued guitars with single coil magnetic pickups.

Goldtop (1952–1958)

The 1952 Les Paul featured two P-90 single coil pickups, and a one-piece, 'trapeze'-style bridge and tailpiece, with strings that were fitted under (instead of over) a steel stop-bar. The weight and the tonal characteristics of the Les Paul were largely due to the mahogany and maple construction: maple is a hard and quite heavy wood, but was restricted to a cap over somewhat lighter mahogany, to keep weight under control. In addition, the early 1952 Les Pauls were never issued serial numbers, did not have bound bodies, and are considered by some as "LP Model prototypes". However, the later 1952 Les Pauls were issued serial numbers and also came with bound bodies. Interestingly, the design scheme of some of these early models varied. For instance, some of the Les Pauls of this issue were fitted with black covered P90 pickups instead of the creme colored plastic covers that are associated with this guitar, even today. Of note, these early models, nicknamed "Goldtops", have begun to gain the interest of collectors, and subsequently, the associated nostalgic value of this instrument is increasing. In fact, re-sale prices of the vintage Les Pauls have begun to compete with already high priced, but more practical (and usable) Les Paul versions issued in later years.

Junior (1954–1960) and TV (1955–1960)

Main article: Gibson Les Paul Junior
In 1954, to widen the solid-body electric market still further, Gibson issued the Gibson Les Paul Junior. Although previously the Melody Maker was marketed toward the novice guitarist, Gibson targeted to the beginner again with a Les Paul Junior design. Over time, this Gibson design has proven well-suited for even professional use.

There were marked differences between the other Les Paul models and the Les Paul Junior. For instance, although the Junior's body outline was clearly reminiscent of the original upmarket Les Paul guitar, the Junior issue was characterized by its flat-top "slab" mahogany body, finished in traditional Gibson Sunburst. The Junior was touted as an inexpensive option for Gibson electric guitar buyers, it had a single P-90 pickup, simple volume and tone controls, and the unbound rosewood fingerboard bore plain dot-shape position markers. However, as a concession to the aspirations of the beginning guitarist buyer, the Junior did feature the stud bridge/tailpiece similar to the second incarnation of the upscale Gold-Top.

Later, in 1955, Gibson launched the Les Paul TV model, which was essentially a Junior with what Gibson called a natural finish. This finish was actually more of a translucent mustard yellow through which the wood grain could be seen, and was not unlike the finish that competitor Fender called butterscotch yellow. The idea behind this TV Yellow was that white guitars would glare too much on early black and white television broadcasts, whereas TV Yellow guitars would not cast a glare.

In 1958, Gibson made a radical design change to their Junior and TV models: with the design change came cosmetic changes to these guitars that would later take on enormous importance. To accommodate player requests for more access to the top frets than the previous designs allowed, Gibson revamped both these electric guitar models with a new double-cutaway body shape. In addition, the Junior's fresh look was enhanced with a new cherry red finish, while the re-shaped TV adopted a new, rather yellow-tinged finish for its new design.

Special (1955–1960)

Main article: Gibson Les Paul Special

Neil Young playing Old Black
The Les Paul Special was released in 1955, featuring two soapbar P-90 single coil pickups, finished in a TV Yellow variation (but not called a TV model).

In 1959, the Special was given the same new double-cutaway body shape[19] that the Junior and the TV received in 1958. However, when the new design was applied to the two-pickup Special, the cavity for the neck pickup overlapped with the neck-to-body joint. This weakened the joint to the point that the neck could break after only moderate handling. The problem was soon resolved when Gibson's designers moved the neck pickup farther down the body, producing a stronger joint and eradicating the breakage problem.

This stabilized version of the Special is currently offered only by Gibson's Custom Shop in the "VOS" series in TV Yellow.

Special-Special, 1964 , two pickups, on a flat maple top, mahogany back, and a skinny flat 60's neck, with dots. Loud with bass overtones. Glenn Frey's sound on, "No Fun Aloud", a 1982 solo album.

Standard (1958–1960, 1968–2008)

In 1958, Gibson changed the top finish on the regular Les Paul model from the gold color used since 1952[20] to the Sunburst finish already being used on Gibson's archtop acoustic and hollow electric guitars such as the J-45 model. This model started to be produced from 58 to 60 and in 61 was modified into what is today known as the Gibson SG. Only 2,000 of these early models were made. These Sunburst-finished guitars were later referred to as Les Paul Standards to differentiate them from the earlier Goldtop.[20] The hardware specification was the same as that of the '57 Goldtop, featuring PAF humbucker pickups with some models carrying the Bigsby vibrato tailpiece along with the tune-o-matic bridge, with some models also carying the Kahler Tremolo System. Today, the Gibson Les Paul Standard has BurstBucker pickups on the Vintage Original Spec models and Burstbucker Pro on the lower end models bearing the 'Standard' name.[21]

1961 Les Paul SG
In 1960, Gibson experienced a decline in electric guitar sales due to their high prices and strong competition from Fender's comparable but much lighter double-cutaway design: The Stratocaster. In response, Gibson modified the Les Paul line. This 1961 issue Les Paul guitar was thinner and much lighter than the earlier models, with two sharply pointed cut-aways and a vibrato system. However, the redesign was done without Les Paul's knowledge. When the musician saw the guitar, he asked Gibson to remove his name from the instrument and parted ways with the company. Although this separation occurred in 1960, Gibson had a surplus stock of "Les Paul" logos and truss rod covers, and so continued to use the Les Paul name until 1963. At that point, the SG guitar's name was finally changed to "SG", which stood simply for Solid Guitar. In addition to the SG line, Gibson continued to issue the less expensive Jrs and Specials (and the Melody Makers) with the newer body style. These were the standard Gibson electric models until the reintroduction of the Les Paul Standard Goldtop and the Les Paul Custom guitars to the market in 1968.

Gibson ES-175

From Wikipedia,
The Gibson ES-175 is an electric guitar manufactured by the Gibson Guitar Corporation, currently still in production. It is a 24 3/4" scale full hollow body guitar with a trapeze tailpiece and Tune-O-Matic bridge. It is one of the most famous jazz guitars in history.

The ES-175 debuted in 1949, as Gibson's mid-level laminate top alternative to the L-5 and as an electric version of the L-4. It was also the first Gibson electric to feature a stylish Florentine cutaway. Its first incarnation had one single-coil pickup (a P-90) in the neck position, and a carved rosewood bridge. In 1953, the ES-175D, a two-pickup model, was introduced. The ES-175 or ES-175D could be ordered in either sunburst finish or in natural finish (for an additional charge).

Beginning in February 1957, ES-175s came equipped with humbuckers. Many new jazz guitarists used these to emulate the sound of Wes Montgomery's "heart" L5, such as Pat Metheny. The ES-175 with humbuckers is prized for its full, rich tone. Some guitarists will try to mimic the rich resonant sound of this rather large hollow body instrument by turning the tone knob all the way down on smaller, or solid body, guitars.

This model guitar is not only used by jazz guitarists. Scotty Moore, the guitarist for Elvis Presley, played an ES-295, essentially a dual P-90-equipped, all gold ES-175. Such rock legends as Steve Howe have taken up the ES-175 due to its high level of craftsmanship and playability. Gibson released the Herb Ellis ES-165 as a signature reissue of his original 1957 ES-175.

The denomination 175 came from the original price tag of the first ES, which was $175.00.

The Epiphone company also produces an ES-175 model, available only in golden and black colours. The Epiphone model has an arched back as well. It is also equipped with two AlNiCo wax-dipped humbuckers.

The Gibson ES-175 features a volume and tone knob for each pickup and classic Kluson tuning heads. The Epiphone ES-175 features a volume and tone knob for each pickup and Grover tuning heads.

Gibson J-45

From Wikipedia,
The Gibson J-45 is an acoustic guitar model manufactured by the Gibson Guitar Corporation. It is part of Gibson's round-shoulder, dreadnought acoustic "jumbo" line, begun in 1934 with the Gibson Jumbo Flattop which was to compete with C.F. Martin & Company's "D" line.

The J-45 is generally regarded as Gibson's most famous and widely used acoustic guitar model. Introduced in 1942 with a list price of $45, it was conceived as a replacement for the earlier J-35 model, which was an inexpensive, Great Depression-era flattop guitar. The J-45 initially only varied slightly from the discontinued J-35. Some of the changes were internal, such as strengthened bracing, while exterior changes included the new teardrop shaped pickguard, and a headstock decal with the Gibson logo replacing the old stark white 'Gibson' silk-screen logo of the thirties, and the slogan "Only a Gibson Is Good Enough." The J-45 also had a more rounded, "baseball bat" style neck, as opposed to the "V" shape of the J-35 neck. Introduced during World War II, the J-45 standardized Gibson's approach to the dreadnought guitar. The J-45 produced by Gibson today is substantially similar to the 1942 model.

Cosmetically, the J-45 was understated, intended as a durable no-frills "workhorse guitar" (its nickname given by the manufacturer). The binding was simple, the soundhole ring was austere, and the neck sported modest dot-shaped mother of pearl fretboard position markers. Gibson typically used the sunburst finish to cover up imperfections in the wood used on instruments, since it made the majority of the top of the guitar black. The J-45 was constructed of solid (as opposed to laminated) spruce wood for the top, while solid mahogany was used for the back and sides. In the intervening years though, the Gibson sunburst has become iconic to the degree that collectors prefer the J-45 to the higher end J-50s of the same era. Apart from a small batch of natural-finish J-45s in produced 1942, the model was offered only in the sunburst finish. The J-45 is known for its warm bass sound and good projection, as well as outstanding playability.

In 1947 Gibson officially introduced the J-50 guitar, essentially a natural-finish J-45, though in 1942 already Gibson shipped a handful of J-50 guitars. One difference between the two is the top, which is triple-bound in the J-50 instead of single-bound; however, Gibson also made some early J-45s with a triple-bound top. As mentioned, the sunburst finish was useful in hiding flaws in the wood. It should be noted that the J-50 wasn't introduced until after World War II. Decent wood supplies were easier to come by, so Gibson didn't need to resort to using imperfect wood on all its instruments. This better quality wood justified the production of the natural-finish J-50, as there were very few flaws which needed to be covered up by a sunburst finish. Gibson did continue to produce the sunburst J-45, however, and it is still an important part of Gibson's production line today.

Gibson ES-150

From Wikipedia
The Gibson Guitar Corporation's ES-150 guitar is generally recognized as the world's first commercially successful Spanish-style electric guitar. The ES stands for Electric Spanish, and it was designated 150 because it cost $150, along with an EH-150 amplifier and a cable.

After its introduction in 1936, it immediately became popular in jazz orchestras of the period. Unlike the usual acoustic guitars utilized in jazz, it was loud enough to take a more prominent position in ensembles.

Jazz guitarist Eddie Durham is usually credited with making the first electric guitar solo in 1938 with the ES-150. The most important player of the ES-150, however, was Charlie Christian. Because of his popularization of the guitar, the instrument's distinctive single-coil pickup is known by his name. His flowing solos and warm sound revolutionized the jazz guitar and, to this day, influence countless players.

Because the instrument was never intended to be played acoustically, there is a notable difference between the ES-150 and other archtop guitars. The inside of the solid spruce top is not carved to follow the contour of the outside, which renders it unsuitable for transforming the strings' energy into sound. This feature minimizes the problematic feedback that plagues amplified guitars that are designed more like acoustic guitars.

After WWII, the ES-150 was re-introduced as a 17" hollowbody with the top, back, and sides constructed of laminated maple . The post-war ES-150 was fitted with a P-90 pickup, replacing the original blade or "Charlie Christian" pickup in the neck position. This model was discontinued in the mid-1950s.

In the late 1960s, Gibson introduced the ES-150DC, which was a significantly different instrument, despite its similar model number. The ES-150DC was a hollowbody electric guitar with a double-cutaway body similar in appearance to the semi-hollow 335 guitars (except for a greater body thickness). It featured two humbuckers, a rosewood fingerboard with small block inlays, and a master volume knob on the lower cutaway. This model, however, was not particularly popular, and it was discontinued by Gibson in the mid-70s.

The ES-150 in its original design, along with the ES-175 and the L5, made up the heart of Gibson's jazz guitar lineup.

Gibson L-5

From Wikipedia,
The Gibson L-5 guitar was first produced in 1922 by Gibson Guitar Corporation, then of Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA under the direction of master luthier Lloyd Loar, and has been in production ever since. It was considered the premier rhythm guitar in the big band era. It was originally offered as an acoustic instrument, with electric models made available in the 1950s.

The L-5 was the first guitar with f-holes. The L-5 was first produced in a 16" body width and in late 1934 became the 17" body, compared with 18" for the larger Super 400.

Wes Montgomery was a major guitarist commonly associated with the L-5. Also, the RCA fifties recordings of Elvis Presley feature the sound of Scotty Moore's L-5. Contemporary guitarists who have played an L-5 include Tuck Andress from the Tuck and Patti duo, Lee Ritenour, Pat Martino and Jan Akkerman. John Mayer uses one on his cd/dvd Where the Light Is during the main concert and extra features. Eric Clapton used an L-5 to record Reptile and he also he used one on his cd/dvd One More Car, One More Rider during the songs Reptile, and Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Early players of the L-5 include Eddie Lang, and Maybelle Carter from The Carter Family, who played her now-famous 1928 model for the majority of her career. Maybelle Carter's L-5 is now kept at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. Django Reinhardt played an L-5 fitted with a DeArmond pickup during a short tour with Duke Ellington during November 1946.

Several different L-5 hollow-body models have appeared over the years, including the L-5 Signature and the L-5 Studio. The L-5CES was an electric version of the L5 introduced in 1951. These originally used P-90 pickups, but used humbucker pickups from 1958 on. In the 1970s, Gibson produced the L-5S, which was effectively a solid-body version of the L-5 archtop. It was used by Paul Simon; and a custom-made single-pickup version was made for Ronnie Wood, who loaned it to Keith Richards for his 1988 tour with the X-Pensive Winos. George Gobel had a special version of the Gibson L-5 archtop guitar built, featuring diminished dimensions of neck scale and body depth, befitting his own small stature; a series of several dozen of this "L-5CT" or "George Gobel" model was produced in the late 1950s and early 1960s.