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Gibson Johnny Smith
1964 Johnny Smith with 2 p/ups
A wonderful playing and beautifully crafted jazz guitar for the truly discerning player.
Hand-carved spruce top, gold plated hardware and 20-fret ebony fingerboard.
Pickups are the small ‘original’ humbuckers fitted with Alnico V's which give more power and cleaner tones.
Price: £3,999.00
S/N: R351
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Call: +44 787 158 9703
Gibson Johnny Smith Description
The ever-humble Johnny Smith once said of himself that he wasn’t a jazz guitarist, but nothing could be further from the truth as he helped redefine the ‘cool’ school of jazz through his sheer virtuosity on the instrument, combining an almost classical approach to chord-melody playing and his second to none articulation of single line phrases.
Smith has a very important place in guitar history from his legendary small group recording of ‘Moonlight In Vermont’ with Stan Getz in 1952 to his composition ‘Walk Don’t Run’ which later became a pop hit for The Ventures. Arguably the finest instrument to bear his name, (Smith also played a signature Guild and a D’Angelico) the Gibson Johnny Smith is highly sought after and is a worthy match for its namesake, with a number of unique construction features such as the 25 inch scale length and pickguard mounted electronics designed to maintain the integrity of the guitar’s natural resonance, which indeed it does.
For Smith’s signature guitars Gibson used the small ‘original’ humbucking pickup fitted with Alnico V which gives more power and cleaner tones, floating as they do above the hand-carved spruce top. The double pickup version JS-D was available from 1963 and very quickly became the most desired variant of this desirable model.This guitar dates from 1964 and is in good physical condition with some minor oxidisation on the pickup covers and a recent re-fret.
To play it is to invoke the magical sound of the Smith legend. Warm inner tones and bright lines are the trademarks of this guitar. Don’t be afraid to play with some definition either – that spruce top loves to respond to a firm stroke!Please note the jack is mini-sized not 1/4” as it plugs into the pickguard assembly, and a converter or lead from ¼” female to mini jack is needed.
Gibson Johnny Smith Features
- Carved solid spruce top and maple back with single Venetian cutaway, bound f holes and multi-ply bindings to body and neck
- Length 20-1/2” – Width 17” – Depth 3-1/8”
- 25-1/4” Scale length
- Ebony 20 fret board with alternating JS fret markers
- Adjustable ebony bridge with floral inlays
- Architectural tailpiece with Johnny Smith ebony insert
- Split parallelogram logo inlay on headstock
- Kluson Deluxe machine heads with metal buttons
- Two floating Gibson ‘Original’ humbucking pickups with Alnico V magnets
- Two tone and volume controls and rotary pickup selector
- All controls mounted on pickguard
- Gold-plated hardware
- Hard shell case
