Electric Flat-tops
from the ...a time when magnetic pickups ruled the earth. While these days acoustic flat-top guitars with factory installed pickups are ubiquitous, in the development of electric instruments through the 20th century they are a late blooming branch on the fretted instrument family tree. The electric guitar as we know it developed primarily from an arch-top line of descent, while the flat-top remained essentially a purely acoustic instrument until the development of under-saddle Piezo pickup technology in the mid-1960's. We're always interested in early examples of things, and currently have in stock a varied array of vintage flat-top guitars equipped with magnetic pickups; each an interesting and beautiful instrument in its own right. One of the earliest quality amplified flat top guitars was the Gibson CF-100E -we have a very nice example (Stock_#3422) from 1958. The concept of a cutaway flattop with a factory pickup system guitar was radical for the 1950's (although common today) making this guitar rather ahead of its time. That fate would not befall Gibson's next electrified flat top, the iconic J-160E, introduced in 1955. A non-cutaway 16" Jumbo using the same electronics and cosmetic features as the CF-100E this model is far better remembered, mostly due to extensive use by The Beatles in the 1960's. We have a very fine first-year J-160E (Stock_#3610) that is easily the best sounding example we have heard. It would seem that perhaps these Gibson designs did not go unnoticed at Martin, as that company responded to the trend in 1958-9 with their own amplified flat top line. We are offering a very early 00-18E (Stock_#3629), a really nice example of Martin's earliest attempts at an electric guitar from the introductory year of 1959. Another company offering a similar creation was Harmony with their electrified Sovereign flat top. We have a very late example of this down-to earth acoustic/electric (Stock_#2919) from 1973. The most evolved flat top electric of the 1960's would have to be the Burns/Baldwin Virginian...we have a fine specimen (Stock_#3523) available of this rare Burns guitar. Introduced at the beginning of 1965, this was about Jim Burns' final design for the company that bore his name until September that year, |
