Richard Beck’s All Time, Desert Island, Top 10 Favorite Guitars
| Richard Beck’s All Time, Desert Island, Top 10 Favorite Guitars |
| # 1 |
My 1959 Gibson flame top sunburst Les Paul. #1923, (can be seen in Dupre’s “burst” book, (he bought it), one of the best original bursts. Great tone, great color… what dreams are made of. And it was mine!
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| # 2 |
My 1954 Gibson gold top. All original, perfectly mint … so clean, it was scary! Got this guitar from the wife of the old man who owned it since ’54. He cacked and she couldn’t wait to get rid of his stuff.
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| # 3 |
My 1957 Gibson gold top with 2 humbuckers - the only year for this model. It was near mint with a tiny scratch on the headstock. Got if from under the bed of an old man who lived in a trailer, right around the corner from the shop.
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| # 4 |
My 1955 Gibson gold top with stop tailpiece-arc bridge combo. You can always tell the difference between a ‘54, and a ’55. The ‘54 will have a single tailpiece bridge set up, and the ‘55 is the first year with independent bridge and tailpiece.
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| # 5 |
My 1956 Gibson L-5 cutaway acoustic natural finish. What an amazing jazz guitar. Huge sound, not a mark on it. Again, purchased from the original owner who musta used it for a season, then lost interest. It went to Germany!
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| # 6 |
My cleanest Strat was a ‘54, of course. 2-tone burst, so early the serial numbers were stamped on the trem-spring Bakelite plastic cover. A cowboys wife sold it to me … told me she got it in the divorce as part of the settlement. What tone!
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| # 7 |
I’ve owned several maple neck Tele’s. The nicest sounding one was the best one, a ’53. Just perfect Tele tone. But the cleanest one was a ‘56 that was just a time machine piece. Had the hang tags, original flatwounds, and that terrible cord they came with.
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| # 8 |
My cleanest bass was a 1956, like what Sting was touring with the past few years. All original, all mint, with the Bassman amp the man had purchased with it. It was so stinkin’ clean, I hung it in my store and offered 10 free sets of strings if you could correctly guess its age. No one believed the bass and amp were ‘56. The old man who sold it said he played it for 2 lessons and then quit. No doubt!
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| # 9 |
You might get the idea I only lust for electrics. I build acoustics from logs, and some of my favorite acoustics are the L-00’s from the 1930’s. I’ve had dozens. One I had was sooooo mint. I swear, the old man used it for an evening, wiped it down and put it under the bed. When he brought it in to my shop and open the cheesy case with the black and red rope strap, the guitar just glowed. It was that mint. I believe Gruhn got that one!
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| # 10 |
One of the rarest instruments I’ve ever collected was an original Mastertone banjo. It wouldn’t really make the list, but I love good banjo music. When I called Gruhn with the Mastertone, he gave me his famous line “I must have that instrument”. Of course, original Mastertone banjos are and have been one of, if not the most desirable and copied banjos on the planet.
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| # 11 |
O.k., so I’m over the limit, but I would be remiss if I didn’t lust in my heart for the little 1959 Les Paul Jr. I just sold. This particular one was not mint, but not far from it. It was original in every respect. The bridge posts weren’t even slightly bent forward, the frets were barely worn, no belt rash, just a lovely guitar. I love their tone, their feel, their sound, their look, and there’s nothing like one that is 40+ years old. And hasn’t ever been broken in. Yeah, definitely in the top 10.
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