Description
The G. E. Smith Vintage Guitar/Amp Collection
If you have ever watched the Saturday Night Live band back some of the greatest names in music, then you probably saw G.E. Smith on guitar. G.E. has been THE rock-steady guitar sound behind SNL, Hall & Oates, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, MoonAlice and many more.
Recently, G.E. had been thinking about selling some of the gear he'd collected during his long career. While looking for an established, knowledgeable and trusted buyer, he ran across our shop and liked what he saw. After checking out the store's bona fides, he decided to touch base with John Majdalani, Cream City Music store co-owner and head vintage buyer.
Fortunately, John and G.E. hit it off immediately, and G.E. asked John to come out east to see, in person, the portion of his collection he was no longer using. When John arrived at G.E.'s, he was invited down to the basement, and they spent the next 8 hours deep-diving through the whole thing: amps then guitars--all the while jibber-jabbering about gear, life, food and rock'n'roll war stories.
The collection turned out to be a total of 60 pieces--roughly 30 guitars and 30 amps...an astonishing wealth of great vintage gear. At the end of the long day, as John was packing everything into the truck, G.E. sat on the tailgate and played a goodbye tune on his old, trustworthy 1960 Black Beauty Les Paul.
Most of the collection is currently at Cream City Music and consists of some of the most extraordinary vintage pieces we have seen in many years. If you're in the area, it's truly worth a visit to the store to see this gear. If you can't make here though, take a look at our website and social media over the next few weeks to see these items as they are posted for sale.
What makes this guitar special: Another rare model from G.E.’s collection, this HG-20 has been converted to Spanish style from its original Hawaiian configuration, and is a blast to play. It has a voice very dissimilar from other guitars, falling somewhere between a small bodied acoustic and a proper resonator. Sounds terrific with a slide, and holds up great to flat-picking too thanks to the dual sound chambers. Of all the pieces in the collection this one shows the most in terms of wear, but it’s all player, with a great vibe, a cool look, and a gorgeous patina. Only made for 5 years, there aren’t a ton of these out there, and with factory order number 205, this is one of the earliest HG-20’s manufactured. As always, a professional setup is included, to ensure optimum playability right out of the case.
Cosmetic condition: Various scratches, dents, dings, nicks, chips, and scuffs are present, with ample finish checking throughout the whole instrument and few areas of finish wear. The back of the body shows 4 or 5 large age-old repaired cracks, which have been finished over, but not cleated. There is also a single crack on the top extending up from the large treble side f-hole. The bridge has been reglued, and shows some lifting on the back, but is stable. Due to the neck angle, the action does heighten as you near the upper register, but plays beautifully in the first position with accommodating action up until about the 8th fret. There is oxidation on much of the hardware, and the pickguard has been reglued. Overall, this one has a classic, honest look to it, with a beautiful patina.
Body: Mahogany back & sides with bound spruce top in dark brown finish with 4 f-holes. Two-ring rosette and white pickguard. Rosewood bridge with ivoroid bridge pins.
Weight: 4 lb, 2.1 oz
Neck: Slim-C neck profile (somewhere between a C & a D, but without pronounced shoulders). Unbound Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard with pearl dot inlays. Black headstock overlay with white silk-screened headstock logo. Open gear strip tuners work great. 1 3/4" nut width, 24 3/4" scale length. Action does trend a bit high, but plays nicely overall.
Case: Original hard shell case included.
