Collin

A closer look at a really cool ‘63 ES-335 that passed through here recently. This one was owned by Tom Bukovac (more than once!) and while Uncle Larry goes through a whole lot of vintage gear, his ear for the good ones is second to none. This one only stuck around here for a few months, I recently traded it on for an equally cool guitar. #ESWednesday #ES335 #VintageGuitar #VintageGibson #1960s

Shoutout to @OrangeAmplifiers for not only sounding great but also having the coolest look and branding. I recently picked up this early plexi panel ‘72 GRO100 head, a Matamp-built predecessor to the OR line. Fantastic sounding head, Orange is famous for its midrange drive but the cleans on these high wattage heads are glorious too. This GRO100 has already found a new home but I had to share it, check out the “pics only” graphics on the panel, along with all the other details, including Orange’s early use of the “Voice of the World” crest. I didn’t have a 4x12 cabinet so it’s perched on top of a pics only ‘73 OR80 combo (more on that later!) and sounded great. Couldn’t crank it because the two speakers wouldn’t handle over 100 watts, but it sounded great. Pictured with a ‘59 ES-345 because it’s #Gibsunday #vintageorangeamplification #vintageguitar #1960s #guitar

Huge thanks to @high.numbers for documenting this amazing restoration of the first Rickenbacker 12-string. This guitar couldn’t have turned out any better and is as a result of the hard work by Collin Whitley, Larry Davis and Harry White. #vintageguitars #rickenbacker #guitarrestoration #guitarrepair #luthier

PART 6 of 6 – This 1964 Rickenbacker Rose Morris 1993 is done! 😎 scroll to check it out in detail. This restoration truly took a village to accomplish, and that theme continued right to the end with the finish work. There are very few people on this planet with the setup and skills to spray era-correct conversion varnish finishes on guitars, and Harry White in the UK is one of those people. After @mattrowlandhall bought this 1993 from me in nearly completed state, he arranged to have Harry respray the guitar and finish the reassembly process. Using many reference photos of original Fireglo Rickenbackers from the mid-64 period, including shade and spray pattern, Harry carefully sprayed the 1993 and added a dab of amber clear to match how the guitar should look today, had nothing ever happened to it. Harry also gave it a very light aging treatment. Before people start sharpening their pitchforks about aged finishes, consider that a shiny perfect finish would have looked strange with 60 years of wear on the toaster pickups, bridge, guard and other hardware. The goal was making the guitar look like a nice intact example, as if nothing ever happened. Rickenbackers age differently than other guitars because of the very hard CV finish, which is a catalyzed acid-based system that ages total unlike lacquer in a Fender or Gibson. There is very rarely checking in a vintage Rickenbacker, sometimes light spider-webs but not deep “checking” like you see with lacquer. Instead, aging a Rick finish means some well-placed wear spots on the finish, minor pinhead dings and a slightly ambered clear, that’s it. Harry nailed it, to say the least. The color and vibe of the guitar looks exactly right. Matt can chime in, but reportedly the guitar plays and sounds great – I can’t wait to get back over to the UK one of these days and check it all out. So that’s it – thanks for hanging in for this six-part series. It was a joy to be part of bringing this historic guitar back from the brink, and kudos to Larry, Harry and Matt for their portions of the project and getting it across the finish line. #VintageGuitars #Rickenbacker #GuitarRestoration #GuitarRepair #Luthier

PART 5 of 6 — 1964 Rickenbacker Rose Morris 1993 restoration. With the body fully rebuilt and the repaired neck reset, the next step was to reassemble everything and check fitting and alignment. This dry build before paint is an important step to make sure that screw holes are not stripped out, and the geometry of the guitar is sorted out properly with the neck reset. After plugging any screw holes that shouldn’t be there, test-fitting the hardware to the headstock and back on the body and cutting a new nut, the project was looking like a guitar again! This guitar was surprisingly complete with most of its parts, but I was able to source rare original parts like a truss rod cover, one set of single-line Kluson tuners and even a Rose Morris export case to complete the package. For reasons I Can’t Explain (pun intended!), this became the project stage where I lost momentum and interest. Why? I was in the home stretch. 🤷🏼‍♂️ But it’s most likely because I obtained a stunning ’64 RM1993 from this same first batch right around this time (2024) from Martin Kelly @Voxcollector and that felt like the end of a 20-year hunt for one of these guitars. I also don’t have a source in the U.S. for doing correct CV finish work on Rickenbackers. CV (or conversion varnish) is a highly toxic two-part catalyzed finish system that originates from the furniture industry and is unique to Rickenbackers in the guitar world. This guitar needed a period correct finish type which would age naturally like an old Rick. In the end, I put it up for sale as-is, and a pal in the UK, @mattrowlandhall was quick to move on it. Matt had been keen on getting an original 1993 for years and had been looking for the right one, so the timing was perfect. And for the second time in its life, this guitar traveled from California to England. Project conclusion and final shots in the next post!! #VintageGuitars #Rickenbacker #GuitarRestoration #GuitarRepair #Luthier

PART 4 of 6 — 1964 Rickenbacker Rose Morris 1993 restoration. After addressing the neck rebuild with Larry, I turned my attention back to the body. This took several months. I disassembled the guitar and stripped off all the old finish, which was some kind of poly sprayed over the original Fireglo. This was done carefully with light heat and a razor blade, which was more effective than chemical stripper and gentler on the thin wood. Somewhere along the line I noticed a knocking sound and realized that an internal brace was loose. Frustratingly, on a Rickenbacker you can’t just reglue the main X-brace, the back of the guitar has to come off. 😫 So that kickstarted the process of removing the back, but doing that cleanly so it could be reglued to the body without any gaps in the binding. The tops on these early Rick 12s is very thin, so the glue had given up in a few of the seam areas, requiring hydration and injecting fresh glue, clamping it up and making sure it stayed closed. The center section of this 3-piece body came loose as well, which happens sometimes but no big deal because it’s getting resprayed anyway. So overall, the body was coming apart everywhere I looked, and I disassembled this guitar as far as humanly possible. Definitely a low point in the project, requiring a constant reminder of the importance of this guitar and keeping a vision for how it could look in the end. After weeks of work, the body came back together nicely, I even reinforced the bracing internally to make sure it would support the top a little better than stock, and not come apart again. Despite all of the crimes against humanity done to this guitar, most of it was isolated to the neck. The body managed to not get routed or other funny business back in the day, so I knew it would clean up and restore nicely. The back glued on well, aided by literally every C-clamp and hand clamp that I owned at the time. The final step was making sure there was a good fit between mortise and tenon, shimming with maple to fill any gaps from the factory and adding a slight angle. Reassembly in the next post… #VintageGuitars #Rickenbacker #GuitarRestoration #GuitarRepair #Luthier

PART 3 of 6 — The first step in this restoration was undoing all of the crimes committed to this guitar, and that started with the neck. Aside from being a 6-string headstock grafted on, it had a huge volute and a backwards pitch angle, very odd. It took me several weeks to decide the best plan of action. It would have been far easier to find a period 330/12 neck (or make one from scratch) but where is the challenge in that? This is a piece of guitar history, it’s owed the best restoration possible and that meant saving what was there. First step was removing the neck from the body, fairly straightforward. Then removing the fretboard and truss rods from the neck. From that point, I had to carefully cut off the replaced headstock along the original long scarf joint. This needed to be cleanly done, to give the replacement headstock something to clamp on to which would be strong but also not highly visible when finished. As much as I wanted to tackle all of this myself, Florida-based Larry Davis of Davis Guitar Works had done a long scarf joint before. Rather than risk not getting it right on the first shot, I sent the neck scrap to Larry, along with extremely detailed notes on the headstock shape, neck shape and other specs — all of which are unique and specific to this first batch of Rose Morris 12-strings. He did a fabulous job matching new maple to the old, and joining the two pieces seamlessly, along with initial shaping the correct headstock to the specs I sent. A real collaborative effort (since Larry generally specializes in full, finished restorations), and it turned out really nice. Another detail that people often overlook is that early Rick 12-strings have tiny oval shaped routes under each tuner shaft in the octave channel. These disappear by 1966. So to make sure it’s right, I carefully routed these reliefs in the octave channel freehand with a Dremel. The end result is really nice. The long scarf joint on this neck is very strong and the laminated pieces line up perfectly. The seams will barely even show after finishing. Body details in the next post… #Rickenbacker #RoseMorris #Restoration #1960s #VintageGuitar

PART 2 of 6 — Before I dive into more of the restoration details on this 1964 Rickenbacker RM1993, here is a quick refresher on the earliest Rick 12-strings. By all evidence, records and expert consensus, there were ten Rickenbacker 12-string guitars produced before the guitar in this restoration thread. However, all of these could be considered artist models, prototypes, sales samples, show demo guitars. They are all pre-production in some form or another. The first time the public had the opportunity to buy a Rickenbacker 12-string guitar, it was in England after the first batch of 25 Rose Morris 1993 models were produced in July 1964 (“DG” serial numbers) and my restoration project was the first serial number in that batch. So, what were the first ten Rickenbacker 12-string models? Here is a quick recap, in order (loosely), photos in the carousel align starting with the second pic: - CG725 – 360/12 made for Suzi Arden in 1963. - CM107 – 360/12 made for George Harrison - CM108 – 620/12 prototype (Mike Campbell) - DB151 – 320/12 made for John Lennon - DC235 – 360/12 made for Gerry Marsden Then there were approximately five 360S/12 prototypes. Basically a standard double bound 360/12 but with F-shaped sound hole: - (unknown serial ) sample for Rose Morris of what became the 1993, subsequently bought by Pete Townshend - (unknown serial) 360S/12 – bought by a young John Hall and used in his teenage band. Now routed for humbuckers & missing parts. - (unknown serial) 360S/12 – Factory demo/promo guitar, used at the 1964 NAMM show, with Australian guitarist Danny De’Lacey - DE524 – 360S/12 with a “paddle” headstock. - DE523 – 360S/12 – owned by David Marks of the Beach Boys. There is potential overlap of at least one of the 360S/12 models, but the total is believed to be five of those, bringing the pre-production 12-string total up to ten guitars. Back to the restoration in the next post…I have left you with a sneak peek! #Rickenbacker #RoseMorris #GuitarHistory #1960s TheBeatles

PART 1 of 6  — A recent poll indicated that plenty of you are interested in seeing some restoration projects I have been working on, so here goes! This is a good one. Several years ago, I found a listing online for a really unusual looking six-string 60s Rickenbacker from a dealer in Belgium @playoldstayyoung that looked great but only had a handful of photos.  It stood out for two reasons: 1) the obvious F-shape sound hole, which often indicates an export Rose Morris model, 2) the fact that it had a double bound body. For those of you in the know, Rose Morris never ordered a double-bound six-string model. The only guitar in their Rickenbacker lineup with a bound body was the 1993 model 12-string — and these are my absolute favorite guitars. From the description and photos provided by the dealer, the guitar had a headstock break repair, but it was hard to see what’s going on. It was completely refinished and obviously had a lot of work done. But I had a hunch… Upon arrival, it was obvious what happened. This was a 1964 Rose Morris model 1993 that suffered a major headstock break many years ago. Some very skilled repairer grafted a new headstock on using a very long scarf joint that tapered from the 9th fret all the way up, and shaped it into a 6-string headstock. Details like the volute and truss rod cavity told the tale that this was not a factory headstock. Holes under the added Accent vibrato also gave clues that the guitar originally had a trapeze tailpiece, which are held on by four screws. But the interesting detail was the serial number…. DG848. This was one of only 25 guitars that made up the first batch of production 12-string Rickenbackers (aka “stubby” models). Thanks to the factory’s great records, it appears that DG848 was the FIRST serial number listed in the first back of 12-string Rickenbackers ever produced! Sure, it’s unlikely that these guitars were produced sequentially. But still…there are no production 12-string Rickenbackers bearing an earlier serial number than this one. The obvious plan was a full restoration, back to its former glory!    #Rickenbacker #RoseMorris #Restoration #1960s #VintageGuitar

**For Sale** listing this one for a friend, it’s a 2020 Gibson Custom Shop ‘63 Firebird V reissue in Cardinal Red. This Firebird originally left Gibson’s factory in a slightly different shade of red, but it subsequently had a complete makeover in vintage style thin nitrocellulose lacquer in the correct shade of Cardinal Red used in the 60s. Very high quality work. This already feels and looks like an older Firebird and has very light finish checking and minor chips/dings that add to the vibe. Outside of the vintage spec finish, it’s all stock and original (and no breaks or anything underarm the finish). Great sounding pair or FB style humbucker pickups and perfect ‘63 size neck profile. Mahogany body with neck-through body construction and rosewood fretboard, all vintage specs. Weighs 8.3 lbs Nut width: 1.69” (1 11/16”) 1st fret thickness: 0.82” 12th fret neck thickness: 0.96” Comes with original case, custom shop COA and hang tag. Asking $5,500 on this one, shipping available worldwide.

This is a hard color to beat on a ‘63 @fender Jazzmaster…body and headstock refinish and aging.

Obligatory #Gibsunday contribution, a trio of ‘59 Lester Polsfuss signature model guitars (well, two from ‘59 and one inspired by that year…). ‘59 LP Custom with factory Bigsby ‘20 Custom Shop R9 Historic Makeovers ‘59 Les Paul TV Model Hope you all are enjoying the weekend (a slightly shortened one for those of us observing daylight savings time today 😵‍💫) #Gibson #VintageGuitars #LesPaul #GibsonLesPaul