Gibson L7-C from the 1950's. I believe this was the first guitar to have the "Charlie Christian" type pickup
OK..it's not a guitar ...it's an amp. A very special amp custom built for my friend Craig Foresto by "the Wizard" Jim Hodgkins. It featured a steel/angle iron chasis with a chrome, perforated steel cabinet. Dynaco Transformers ...
Yes .... a 1952 Telecaster that I "rescued" from the hands of Rodney Orth ...with help from Michael Kane.... Rod traded in the guitar and decided to "customize" it... gauging holes in the top with chisels to fit in humbuckers... .cut the bridge ..just RUINED the guitar ... YANKED out the frets ... he eventually gave up on the project and I found the body and some parts in a closet and Rod sold me everything for $100.00 ... no neck unfortunately. Years later, Mike Kane who worked for Rod showed up at my store with the neck and said basically ...."you have the rest ...here's the neck ...gimme one hundred dollars and it's yours" ..and that was that ..I reunited them, stuck in some stock fender pickups... had it for decades eventually selling it in 2019 to a player in Texas.
The "LesPaul-o-casters" ...I built 3 of them. Body of solid maple by Dave Moyer and I did the rest. I lost track of the 3rd one but these 2...I have one and the other I eventually bought it back from the player I built it for and I gave it to my cousin Matt Orlando who uses it for recording and live performances with his band "The Warhawks" check them out
1954/55 Gibson Les Paul Custom... note the 2 different pickups. The neck pickup was a special "Alnico 5" pickup with rectangular shaped magnets / pole pieces ..this guitar originally had a bigsby .. long since removed but the screw holes remained. I had it for 30 years ..eventually selling it in 2019 to a young player from Connecticut.
1965 Telecaster. This was my main axxe when I was on the road in the early seventies wih the Uproar band. I bought it from my former teacher and friend Craig Schollenberger for $200 ... put in some humbuckers and it became a rockin' machine! I still have it ... it's my favorite and most cherished guitar. This instrument spend an untold amount of hours in my hands when the band was touring.
