1966 GIbson Johnny Smith Sunburst

Summary: This vintage Gibson has been gigged for many years as evident by the amount of wear on the back of the neck and various modifications that were made to the guitar, including a pro refret. It is a great player and sounds spectacular but it wears some scars of tape residue over the F-holes and some dings and dents you would expect to see on someones “number one” that played countless gigs at the Jazz and Blues clubs. There was a lot of corrosion on the pickups, pickguard and electronics so they were removed and placed in the case. Our in-house luthier has just given this guitar a full setup and strung it up with 12 gauge Phosphor Bronze strings. It ships in its original case with original hardware.

Body: The Johnny Smith is a single cutaway hollow body with spruce top, flame maple back and sides, w/b/w binding and bound F holes.

Neck: It has a slim 5 piece flame maple neck with bound ebony fingerboard, split block pearl inlays, 25” scale length, 1.75” nut width and large headstock with black stinger on back.

Pickups/Hardware: The original pickups were removed due to corrosion but both pickups were tested with a multimeter and gave a steady reading. The neck pickup is missing 5 of the 6 adjustable pole piece screws. The pickguard was cracked and a few extra holes were drilled into it for extra knobs. The original tailpiece and bridge base are there but the original bridge top has been replaced with barrel-saddled style bridge. It has a replacement bone nut and the original gold plated tuners.

Cosmetics: This guitar was played a lot in its life and was likely someones main gigging instrument by the look of the back of the neck which has a lot of finish worn off. There are minor dings, dents and scratches all over the guitar and finish hazing/deterioration on the body and behind the headstock where the finish has melted a bit. There are dents in the top which line up with where the neck pickup was, holes for the pickups and pickguard, tape residue around the F-holes, a decal “Johnny Gould” stuck on the lower bout of the top and a rectangular patch on the upper bout where a sticker sat for quite some time. This guitar sounds and plays wonderfully and has no major gashes and no cracks breaks or strucural issues to mention.

Playability: Our in-house guitar tech has just inspected, setup and restrung this guitar with a new set of 12s. The neck is straight, the truss rod is fully functioning and the action has been setup low and comfortable. The frets are in good shape with minor grooves or divots from use but it plays beautifully up and down the fingerboard with no dead spots or choking out.

Weight: 6 lbs, 11 oz.

Case: This Gibson ships in a vintage hardshell case and we will ship it professionally packed and fully insured!