The Twelfth Fret ~ Since 1977 ~

Laminate

‼ Gibson ES-175 Single Pickup Archtop Electric Sunburst, 1960

‼ Gibson ES-175 Single Pickup Archtop Electric Sunburst, 1960

Introduced in 1949 and until the introduction of Seth Lover’s humbucker in late 1957, the Gibson ES-175 Single pickup archtop electric sported a single P90 in the neck position. The Gibson ES-175 Single and Double pickup models went on to become a workhorse guitar, used on countless stages, studios and performances. It was discontinued in 2019 after a production run of 70 years.

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Eastman T59 V Thinline Archtop Electric Antique Varnish

Eastman T59 V Thinline Archtop Electric Antique Varnish

The Eastman T59 V is a take on one of the most successful and influential of Ted McCarty’s innovations, the thinline, semi-hollow archtop electric guitar. Around 1957, Gibson was looking to update its product line to address a number of issues, one of which was the rise in amplified stage volumes causing feedback. While the engineering team is credited with most of the design, it was apparently president Ted McCarty’s idea to put a solid Maple block through the center of the guitar.

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Gibson Byrdland Thinline Archtop Electric Natural, 1976

 Gibson Byrdland Thinline Archtop Electric Natural, 1976

The Gibson Byrdland appeared in 1955 as a custom order for Billy Byrd and Hank Garland. These two were top Nashville session guitarists who wanted full archtop tone, but in a more comfortable thinner body and a shorter scale length – 23.5 inches, rather than Gibson’s standard 24.75 inches – to allow easier access to complex chords fingerings. The Byrdland was the first of Gibson’s thinline archtop guitars, with many more to follow. The design was so successful that it was quickly promoted to production status.

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Dobro Style 27 Squareneck Sunburst, 1979

  Dobro Style 27 Squareneck Sunburst, 1979

The Dobro Style 27 Squareneck seen here was built during 1979 at the OMI (Original Musical Instrument) plant in Huntington Beach, before OMI’s sale to Gibson. Dobro had a long and somewhat complex history.   Founded in 1928 by John, Rudy and Ed Dopyera – the Dopyera Brothers, shortened to DoBro – as John split from the recently formed National String Instrument Corporation.

Vintage

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Guild X-500 Archtop Electric Sunburst, 1979

  Guild X-500 Archtop Electric Sunburst, 1979

The Guild X-500 archtop electric was a single-cutaway, fully hollow 17 inch wide archtop electric model built from 1953 to 1995, and again for a year or two until being discontinued in 2015. This example dates to 1979 and comes from the Westerly, Rhode Island plant. The Guild X-500 archtop is intended as an electric model, and Guild followed the proven pattern of using laminate woods for the body to reduce feedback.

Used

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Gibson ES-275 Thinline Archtop Cherry, 2016

 Gibson ES-275 Thinline Archtop Cherry, 2016

Here’s something rare and discontinued from the now-closed Memphis plant, the Gibson ES-275 thin hollow body archtop in classic cherry lacquer. The Gibson ES-275 was new for 2016 and The Twelfth Fret received and sold one of the few in Canada. It’s a fully hollow, laminate maple body with a pair of longitudinal braces and f-holes. The neck is mahogany with rosewood fingerboard.

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THE TWELFTH FRET

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