This Bruno Royal Artist, with its matching accents on the pickguard, headstock, toggle, and pickup surrounds, is a much more savory monster than Dr. Frankensteinās
A roadside stop in Massachusetts yielded a mysterious gem that hinted at a recombinant building operation.
This month, Iām proud to say that my wife and I are celebrating 20 years of marriage! Yes, she puts up with all my weirdness, but the gal is just the best, and Iām glad we found each other in this crazy world. Over the years, weāve had a running joke about how, wherever we travel, I have to look up old music haunts or check out local classifieds for treasure.
I bought a guitar on our honeymoon, and our yearly trips to the shore were often spent trying to get a music-store owner to sell me an old hollowbody. (He thought it made a nice decoration.) On our 10-year anniversary, I bought a few guitars up in New England. But this year, we were staying in a beautiful but remote part of northern Pennsylvania, and I couldnāt find anything. There wasnāt even a music store in the whole county! Plenty of dollar stores, though, which are totally not that fun.
On our drive home we had the best chat about all sorts of topics, but eventually I started talking guitars. (Actually, the reason the subject came up was because she wants me to sell some of mine! Ha!) We were discussing remote spots, crazy music locations, and some totally strangecollectors who had music āstores,ā but never sold anything because the prices were nuts.
Once, we were driving through Massachusetts. I donāt remember the name of the town, but I do remember that it had a famous fire station that was depicted in some Norman Rockwell paintings. [It was likely Stockbridge.] As we were driving out of town, we spotted a big āSALEā sign in front of a kinda-sorta country store. The place was an amalgam of buildings, makeshift tents, and semi trailers filled with all sorts of goods and sundries. I remember it was hot as hell, and being inside the trailers felt like being broiled. Yet, I persevered, and went on searching for weird stuff.
the guitar featured a totally warped-looking body that was slightly offset and a tad offbeat.ā
My wife bought a few things, like a fat ballerina mirror which we still have, and some old glass bottles of various colors. I wasnāt finding anything, but I asked one of the locals there about guitars. He eyed me up and mustāve thought I was worthy because he took me to a spot near the back, in an old shed that was probably being held together with paint. Inside, there was a little treasure trove of kooky instruments in all sorts of disrepair. Still, I was smitten with a few pieces, including this columnās subject.
This Decca guitar is the kissinā cousin of that old Bruno our columnist found in Western Massachisetts.
Labeled as a Bruno Royal Artist, the guitar featured a totally warped-looking body that was slightly offset and a tad offbeat. Finished in redburst with lots of brown pearloid, the Bruno had a lot of oddities that left me wondering. The neck and pickups were Kawai-made, circa 1966, but the body and tremolo originated elsewhere. I just assumed it was pieced together, but I still dug the thing, and it came home to live with us for a little while.
In the years that followed, I started to see more guitars just like this Bruno. I also saw some different brand names like Crown, Conqueror, and, pictured here alongside my Bruno, Decca. What was the mystery guitar factory behind the hybrids, piecing together Kawai parts with different bodies? I guess I may never know, but these are the happy little accidents we see in the bizarre world of guitars.
The guitar sounded very good, and the Kawai pickups in that hollowbody were smoky as hell. The body was finely crafted, and felt much more solid than typical fare from the era. The tremolo was also a solid feature, and the darn thing actually returned to tune.
This Bruno did eventually find a new home, and if I donāt sell more guitars, well ā¦ you know.
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Signature BK''s: Two Models for One Man
Gibson first approached Barney in 1960, at the zenith of his popularity. Barneyās name had already appeared on several Kay models, but he was eager to attach his name to an instrument he saw as both more worthy and playable. āI donāt play that Kay ā itās a terrible guitar!ā Mr. Kessel has been quoted as saying, although it is unclear if Barney was much happier with the new Gibson-made Barney Kessel models. While there are plenty of glamour shots of Barney playing both Custom and Regular models, all of his serious concert and combo recording work was done with a 1940s Gibson ES-350, sporting a Charlie Christian pickup. During Barneyās seemingly turbulent years with Gibson, the headstock logo was often seen covered in tape.
While Barney often indicated a lack of interest in his own signature models, Gibson reached greater synchronicity with other artists, particularly Tal Farlow and Johnny Smith. Both Tal and Johnny showed serious interest in their models, and were rarely seen playing without them. It seems odd then that Barney was one of the few artists given two models, despite his seeming dissatisfaction with Gibson. His involvement with the actual design of the instrument has also come into question, with some suggestion that his signature model was a pre-existing design in search of an artist endorsement. This theory would indicate that Gibson was more eager to associate the guitar with a successful artistās name than that artists actual input regarding the guitarās design. Sadly, the ā60s brought with it the slow death of popular jazz. Gibson ā not then seen as a trendsetter ā introduced the Barney Kessel model as the tide was beginning to turn toward solidbody electric guitars and rock music, with these changes helping to push jazz to the rear of the pop music bus. The Barney Kessel artist model was introduced in 1961, and actually stayed on the books for a staggering 13 years. The model had a long but unsteady tenure with Gibson, with shipping numbers during its best year ā 1968 ā totaling only 371 units for both the Regular and Custom models. The model was phased out in 1974 as both Barneyās relationship with Gibson, and the popularity of jazz in general, continued to deteriorate.
From my observation, todayās lack of popularity for the instrument is due, more than anything else, to the double cutaway design. Many of the modelās high end features, such as the Super 400 neck and headstock, tend to get overlooked. Over the last few years the Barney Kessel models have gradually increased in value. Sadly, since the individual parts are still worth more than a complete guitar, one often finds empty BK shells at bargain prices, with the original parts having been reappropriated to guitars deemed to be more worthy. I wonder if the dealers who part out the Barney Kessel guitars have ever listened to his music! Several of the Kessels in my personal collection were purchased as āwood onlyā and restored exactly as they would have come from the factory. We will know that the BK has arrived as a respectable collectorās guitar when the whole is worth more than the parts as has already happened to other previously less desirable guitars, such as the 1959 ES-175.
Pictured are five BK Custom and Regular guitars, spanning 1961-1965. All original, these models boast ten PAF pickups among them. Next moth we will begin looking closely at this namesake artist himself and his contributions to chordal bebop lines.
Jim Bastian
A clinician and jazz educator, Jim Bastian is a 10 year veteran of teaching guitar in higher education. Jim holds two masters degrees and has published 6 jazz studies texts, including the best-selling How to Play Chordal Bebop Lines, for Guitar (available from Jamey Aebersold). He actively performs on both guitar and bass on the East Coast. An avid collector and trader in the vintage market, you can visit Jimās store at premierguitar. (dealer: IslandFunhouse).