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Vintage Vault

The Accent vibrato, slash soundhole, and distinctive pickguard and control set make for an iconic and distinctive design.

Here’s how a cat named Capri, a German designer, and a whammy-bar inventor fit into the history of a maple-bodied marvel.

Here’s some Rickenbacker history you might enjoy—especially if you’re a fan of the company’s Fireglo works of art. F.C. Hall, the owner of Radio & Television Equipment Co. (Radio-Tel), purchased the Electro String Company from Adolph Rickenbacker in 1953. Hall revamped the business to focus on standard electric guitars rather than the steel guitars the company began producing in the early 1930s, such as the historic “Frying Pan” lap model.

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When Louis Cato received this Univox LP-style as a gift in high school, it needed some major TLC. A few years later, it got some practical upgrades and now makes regular appearances with Cato on The Late Show.

Photo by Scott Kowalchyk

The self-described “utility knife” played drums with John Scofield and Marcus Miller and spent time in the studio with Q-Tip before landing on Stephen Colbert’s show as a multi-instrumentalist member of the house band. Now, he’s taken over as the show’s guitar-wielding bandleader and is making his mark.

It’s a classic old-school-show-biz move: Bring out the band, introduce them one by one, and build up the song to its explosive beginning. It’s fun, dramatic, audiences love it, and that’s how every The Late Show with Stephen Colbert taping starts.

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With its block inlays, neck binding, adjustable bridge, and basic control set, this Ibanez 2662 looks ready to rock.

This Ibanez 2662 is an appealing, two-humbucker copycat design of a Ronnie Wood signature Greco rarity.

If you were to thumb through an Ibanez catalog from 1975, you’d see exactly why this period for the company and other guitar builders in Japan is known as the “lawsuit era.”

The guitars that dot the catalog’s pages look an awful lot like Gibsons, Fenders, and Rickenbackers. And these lookalikes are not mere homages inspired by classic shapes. Ibanez’s offerings represent very specific models within other brands’ then-current lineups. For example, its Les Paul-style guitars represent sunburst Standards, Customs with split-diamond headstock inlays, and even a ’70s oddity—the Les Paul Recording model.

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This refinished and modded 1958 Gibson Les Paul Special exemplifies the plusses of buying a “player’s guitar.”

Sometimes, the easiest route to vintage tone and playability is by finding a guitar that’s had a refinish, or other mods that haven’t disturbed its musical essence. These are called “player’s” or “player-grade” guitars in the vintage market, versus “collector’s guitars,” which are unaltered from their original state. This month’s featured instrument, a 1958 Gibson Les Paul Special, is a player’s guitar—and I’m that player.

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This month’s dynamic duo from Gibson: a ’64 SG TV finished in white and its same-shaded ’68 EB-O bass counterpart.

On this month’s menu, a ’64 SG TV and a ’68 EB-0—prime examples of the company’s classic mahogany slab designs.

The successful sales of the Les Paul model, launched in 1952, convinced Gibson to expand its solidbody line to include a variety of guitars aimed at players from beginner to professional. This led to the introduction of both the low-priced, flat-bodied, single-pickup Les Paul Junior and the high-priced, elaborately appointed Les Paul Custom in July 1954. By 1955, the Les Paul line also included the Les Paul TV (aka TV Yellow) and the Les Paul Special. The Les Paul Special, TV, and Junior became double cutaway by 1958.

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