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"Who doesn't love guitars? I've had a love affair with them since I was a kid. They have been my true friends through the best and worst of times. Without ever thinking I was putting a collection together, there seems to be one. I just bought what I liked, what sounded good - what played well. With some I just got lucky. Each has their own voice; their own touch - even the ones that look identical. Each has a story and something beautiful and tender about them. Fragile and tough. Survivors. Each has been played, loved and appreciated. I remember when and why I got each of them and it's more than a little painful to let them go. There are some real killer guitars here. But the time has come. All my proceeds from this sale will go to humanitarian causes around the world. Enjoy." -Richard Gere
Guitar. The most popular, most widely played instrument in human history. I'm told that over two million new guitars are sold every year. Seems to me that there are plenty of old ones around already but some folks like'em new and shiny. I have been consumed by guitars and guitar music since I was a kid. I am still excited by the possibilities in every one I see.
One of the most intriguing things to me about any individual guitar is that if you line up fifty players and let them each take a turn on the same guitar in the same room it's going to sound different under each pair of hands. It's easy to learn the basics, it's portable, you can play both chords and melody simultaneously, they come in a great variety of shapes, sizes and colors and as has been noted by guitar players for at least two hundred and fifty years, chicks dig 'em.
I'd imagine anyone reading this is aware of Richard Gere as an actor. That was all I knew of him until I happened to meet him because our wives knew each other. We got to be friendly at first through a mutual interest in early photography. Then I started asking him about guitars. I knew he played because I had seen him picking a sweet little old Gibson acoustic in some movie and I could see that he was really playing and nice too. So often in a film you'll see an actor pretending to play but you can tell that some pro did the actual music you're hearing. Not Richard, he really plays.
As time went on I saw some of the guitars around his house and I was impressed by his choices. Richard had acquired guitars not as investments or status symbols but because each one spoke to him in that special, exciting way that only guitarists can understand. It's part of our shared culture. American yes, but now spread all over the world. It's that Stones or Dylan show you saw when you were fifteen. That local folksinger in the town where you grew up. Your big sisters' friend who knew every Ramones song.......if I had a guitar like that I could do it too. We all have had that dream. I certainly did.
Richard has decided to let some of these guitars go. Believe me, it was not easy for him to say goodbye. As we went through his collection he would play each one for a few minutes and talk about where and why he had bought it. They each have special meaning. I love looking at old guitars and imagining where they've been, what kind of songs were played on them. What effect they had on people's lives. That's the kind of instruments you'll find here in the Richard Gere collection. Guitars with histories and futures too. -GE Smith
The Golden Age
The story of American guitar design in the 20th Century was about the insatiable desire for guitars that would produce the loudest volume. Popular song, no matter the genre, had moved out of the parlor and into the music halls. With the advent of jazz, "Big Band" and the larger performance venues a guitarist needed to be heard. Before the introduction of an electrically amplified guitar, makers tried to solve this problem in a number of novel ways. Some were short lived like the application of a metal sound box and amplifying aluminum diaphragm incorporated by John Dopyera with National String Instruments and later the Dobro Company. The luthiers at C.F. Martin and Company took a more organic approach. They played with increasing string lengths and adjusting internal bracing patterns and when put together with their large Dreadnought sized guitars they produced the loudest and most balanced-responding flat top guitars ever made. The Dreadnought was so successful that it would surpass all others in production numbers and is still incorporated by the vast majority of makers today.
The Gibson Company's acoustical engineer, Lloyd Loar, took Orville Gibson's original ideas from 1890 and completed the development of the archtop guitar by adding "F"-holes. The results were astounding. The first guitar of this design, named the L-5, would prove itself a superior rhythm instrument when incorporated into the jazz bands of the late 1920 and 30's.
In 1924, Gibson introduced the "Advanced" L-5 to fill the need for greater sound. By enlarging the width to 17 inches, the air volume and vibrating surfaces were increased, resulting in yet a still louder guitar. The pinnacle of archtop design was reached the same year with Gibson's introduction of the Super 400. Measuring a full 18 inches in width, it was the largest, loudest and most expensive guitar on the market. In the world of jazz, Big Band, popular song, and recording, the archtop proved superior. Every manufacturer wishing to capitalize on the growing market for archtops in the 1930's would embrace Gibson's ideas. But none would be as successful in craftsmanship and tonal quality as the custom, boutique guitar builder in New York, John D'Angelico. Working on custom orders for his clients, today D'Angelico's works are among the most coveted and rare vintage American guitars in the collectable market.
GIBSON MANDOLIN-GUITAR COMPANY
AN ARCHTOP GUITAR, STYLE O, KALAMAZOO, MI., 1912
Details
GIBSON MANDOLIN-GUITAR COMPANY
AN ARCHTOP GUITAR, STYLE O, KALAMAZOO, MI., 1912
Labeled Gibson Guitar Style O Gibson Number 11458 Guaranteed against faulty workmanship and materials GIBSON MANDOLIN GUITAR COMPANY Kalamazoo, Mich, U.S.A., length of back: 17 5/8 in. (44.8 cm) with hard case (2)
AN ARCHTOP GUITAR, STYLE O, KALAMAZOO, MI., 1912
Labeled Gibson Guitar Style O Gibson Number 11458 Guaranteed against faulty workmanship and materials GIBSON MANDOLIN GUITAR COMPANY Kalamazoo, Mich, U.S.A., length of back: 17 5/8 in. (44.8 cm) with hard case (2)
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