Description
What makes this guitar special: We had an amazing experience recently that we wanted to share with our friends.
If you have ever watched the SNL band back some the greatest names in music, 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.
He 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 for the store.
Fortunately, John and G.E. hit it off immediately and G.E. asked John to come out east (where he lives) to see in person the portion of his collection he was no longer using. They exchanged some of the collection details via email and agreed to move forward. Within a week or two, John found himself at the wheel of a 26' straight truck motoring eastward to meet G.E. at his place.
When John arrived at G.E.'s , G.E. invited him down into his basement and they spent the next 8 hours deep-diving through the whole thing: amps first, then guitars, all the while jibber-jabbering about gear, life, food and rock'n'roll war stories. To hear tell about it from John, there was a lot about food.
The collection turned out to be a total of 60 pieces: roughly 30 guitars and 30 amps - an astonishing wealth of great vintage gear.
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.
Cosmetic Condition: Fantastic shape for being 121 years old! Actually, when was the last time you saw any instrument that old in this kind of clean condition - a real museum piece indeed! There are various minor nicks, dents & dings; surface scratches & some mild finish wear, but no cracks or breaks. There's some wear on the top of the bridge from the pins being removed & replaced over time, and there is a tiny gap between the back of the bridge & the top of the guitar - barely enough to slide a single piece of paper in there. However, considering it's incredible age, it's quite astonishing how marvelous this rare beauty really looks. In a word - Magnificent!
Neck: Very pronounced V-shape mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard. Original frets are in great shape with no wear. Square headstock with Martin logo pressed into the back of the headstock just below the hanger button. Ivory tuners are in great shape. 1 15/16" nut width; 25" scale length.
Body: Solid Adirondak spruce top finished in rare Dark Orange. Ivory binding & herringbone purfling. Ebony "pyramid" bridge with ivory end pins & bone saddle. Maple bridge plate & date underneath the top reads 1896. Solid Brazilian rosewood back & sides with ivory binding & zig-zag center strip. 13 1/2" lower bout width; 9 1/2" upper bout width; 4 1/4" depth. Guitar weighs 2 lbs 11.2 oz.
Case: Original wooded "coffin case" with brass hardware. The case is also in fabulous condition & still has its original label inside indicating the O-28 model of the guitar.
