Here we have an edition of Gibson’s flagship semi-solid guitar features a gorgeous 1970’s reissue ES -335 Nashville Model. This reissue is issued with walnut stain finish in nitro cellulose paint, Kluson style tuners and Witch Hat” knobs, with rounded “C” neck shape, 57 Classic hum-bucker PAF pickups and ABR -1 bridge with titanium saddles. Plays superbly and has killer looks too. Guitar lives in its case.
Fans of Queen or Brian May will know the famous Guild replicas of the red special. Here is a Signature Pro Model made in 1993, in the rarer green finish. Below a bit about how it all started.
Spring of 1964, Brian May, then a student at Hampton, Middlesex, and his father, an electronics engineer, worked on a project to make an electric guitar. After two years the “Red Special” . This guitar, Brian’s main instrument, would become “Queen’s” sound. In 1994, the USA based Guild Guitar Co. and Brian worked closely together to produce 316 close replicas of the “Red Special”, most of which were red and a very small number were issued in racing green. The guitar had to match the special features of the custom-made original Brian May guitar. Mahogany body, Ebony fingerboard; neck is wider than most electrics (1-13/16 at the nut) aiding string bending and kitted out with 24th frets. The head of the guitar is arrow-shaped and flat in line with the neck. The guild series comprised the early 1984/5 models with a Kahler like trem. The more sought after models were the 1993/4 BHM-01 and 02 series.
Here an unusual active Super Flighter SF-600, through neck series made in Japan by Yamaha from 1978 to 1979, these guitars are related to the earliest superflighters SF-500, 700 and 1000 and are well sought after.
The guitar has a 22-fret laminated through neck and a solid maple/mahogany body. It has two humbucker pickups with independent volume and tone controls, and features an active circuit with coil-tap option like the SF-1000, albeit via a 2 microswitch and has a wide tonal range. Good quality chrome hardware and tuners, versatile and solid, and accurate. Rosewood fret board with mother of pearl dot markers. Guitar currently on tour with Bill McGonagle at SinDogs
Here a rare Yamaha SG-1000N in Blue Burst finish. The SG-1000N is a narrow neck version of the SG-1000, which was issued as the more rocky little brother of the acclaimed Yamaha SG-2000. This guitar is a top quality axe and handles and balances well; the tapered narrow neck, reminiscent of the Gibson 60s models plays superbly easy and coupled with the fact that the guitar has been set up with low action, it plays light and fluid. The guitar is a real beauty with the black and blue fading in. It’s a quality built guitar with a set neck and high grade ebony fret-board with mother of pearl, split wing position markers. The guitar is in very good condition with only minor marks. The weight of guitar is approx. 4 Kgs, which is .3 kg lighter than the SG-1000, the neck is a bit slimmer and tapered with the neck width at nut approx. 4.1 cm.
Here we have an unusual Gibson Les Paul Classic, MIII, Electric Guitar made in USA 1992. A fairly heavy guitar in translucent Cherry Sunburst finish. The guitar is factory kitted out with 2 hum-buckers, and a single coil between. What’s odd about this one, is a 5-way switch like a Stratocaster activating the 3 Pickups in a similar manner. This gives you a wide variety of tone and output. Therefore we have here a gorgeous vintage Gibson Les Paul with a great playability and variety of output. The guitar has a good feel to it, and sound wise it is awesome too. The fret board is rosewood and the guitar plays light and fluid. A great player all round. Lives in its hard case
Here another iconic Fender USA guitar in the collection, a faded/aged Three-tone Tobacco burst Fender Stratocaster electric guitar. Great 1977 vintage guitar and a classy looker too. All electrics work well. Here we have an SRV Model with genuine play wear and patina without all the modern day relicing. You won’t find many like this in such a great nick. Great looker and a killer player, as you would expect from a classic guitar. The finish has beautifully aged to a and the neck has a lovely satin finish, the paint of the neck has aged and worn off in some of the played areas making it a fast player too. So here we have a very collectible rock machine with ounces of mojo and a great vintage feel to it. Lives in a 1980s fender case.
Here a genuine vintage Gibson Ripper Bass. This is a 1970s designed bass along the “Grabber” Bass and Guitar models Marauder and S1, and the Gibson L6s models. This is a large body shape flat body bass guitar, and the result of cooperation between Bill Lawrence and Gibson. It was initially designed in 1973 and first released in 1975. The idea was to make a “multi-sound Bass system” for a low price. The Ripper Bass was issue with the model code name L-9s, linking it with the other L-s models. Like the L6-S guitar models the Ripper and Grabber remained in production for a few years but was phased out gradually, although these Basses remained in the catalogue into1980s and were still being made in the Nashville plant. The L9-s is now considered to be a collector item and one of the underrated Gibson solid bodied guitars of the era. Guitar lives in its plush hard-case.
Here a unusual Gibson L5-s, basically a solid body version of the Gibson L5 semiacoustic Guitar. Flattish body, kinda Les Paulish, slightly arched maple top with ebony. Fairly flat guitar, and apart from the double sided binding and the Ebony fretboard with real abalone, it’s quite similar to the Gibson L6-s, but less flat and contoured. Even the cavity backplate is made out of the wood. Originally designed as jazz/fusion guitar and kitted out with low impedance pick ups, laterally it came with standard humbuckers. This guitar packs a punch and is cool to look at also. Guitar lives in its In it’s Case. The dimensions are similar to the Gibson Les Paul Recording.
The Yamaha SG-1300T is an unusual Yamaha SG guitar, and is along the SG-1300 TS model one of the few tremolo based SG-1300 variations. The SG-1300 T inasmuch as that the hardware is gold and the neck is through body, but without any brass bridge block. The two trem versions of this Yamaha were the SG-1300T and TS. The SG-1300T guitar was built from flatter extra thin maple and mahogany with a mahogany through body neck and issued in either candy apple red or cream white. The fretboard is ebony with mother of pearl split wing style inlays. Typical weight of these models was around the 3.8 kgs. The sound of these vintage gems is outstanding, produced by a straight 1 tone/1vol arrangement with a coil tapping option and a 3-way pick up selector switch. Hardware was gold black plated with a gold rocking magic tremolo bar. The electrics include 2 spinex partially covered humbuckers. Guitar is all original and lives in its original lined hard case.
One of the best bass guitars about, a rare BC Rich Mockingbird ass from 1979, in Koa finish and made in USA. The bass is the usual mockingbird shape with odd angles and a well constructed thru neck. It is an active bass with bass and treble tone and master volume that both drives the passive and active circuit. The active circuit can be by-passed giving a dual split humbucker combination with 3 switches for in/phase/out/phase etc. hence the combinations of tone and volume are endless. The guitar plays extremely well and with its 24-fret it can be played in both bass and guitar fashion. the body is very well balanced and handles very well.
Its a pretty bass with mixture of attractive woods masterfully put together and a joy for the eye as well as the ear. A rare and truly great bass that measures well up against the Alembics and WALs of this world.
Here the holy grail of Yamaha SG guitars, the Yamaha SG-175, the then top of the range Yamaha SG that hit the music scene in 1974. The Yamaha SG-175 initially caught the eye of Carlos Santana who tried and tested the Yamaha SG-175 out. Although he thought it a great guitar, with a bit of weight due to the solid Honduran mahogany, he deemed the SG-175 still too light, and in his opinion lacked the sustain he was looking for. Yamaha Music Co used that and his further input in design and functionality to develop the now famous Yamaha SG-2000, probably the earliest truly famous Yamaha electric guitar. The changes to the SG-175 design meant evolution to a much heavier and contoured solid body electric guitar, the Yamaha SG-2000. For weight and resonance transfer, a solid brass block was added under the bridge and the guitar was made with a laminated thru body neck
Copies of some of the original hybrids of SG-175/2000 can be seen on his Santana’s live renditions of “She’s not there”, “Europa”, “Black magic woman” and more recordings from the album “Moonflower”. The Yamaha SG-175 was produced in only small numbers, as only the best of the best of materials were used and is now a very sought after instrument amongst Yamaha SG aficionados.
It is a high-quality guitar built with a Honduran Mahogany body, bound with ornate abalone binding, the set neck is made from one-piece bound mahogany with ebony fret-board, again with decorative mother of pearl split-wing markers. The headstock is quite plain with triple binding surrounding the wood, there is no decorative floral motif inlay as common with the later SG-2000 and SG-1000, just the Yamaha Logo.
Here a lovely Les Paul DC Standard Honey Flame 2001. A classic of the 1998-2002 DC line up in Gibson Les Paul DC Standard series, Made in USA. Great looking gloss Flame finish on nicely figured maple top, capping off a double-cut Mahogany body. Slim profile set Mahogany neck, topped with a bound 24-fret Rosewood board (Dark brown). Tone supplied by a pair of hum-buckers with 3-way switch and master volume and tone. Gold hardware, including Grover tuners. All original with no mods, breaks, or repairs. Guitar is in good condition with only minor play wear as can be expected of a near 20- year old classic. Guitar lives in plush lined tan coloured hard case.
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My Pile of Guitars & Basses 