Eric Clapton’s 1958 korina Gibson Explorer on display is likely the second one he owned, which was acquired in the early ’80s. His more famed Explorer appeared on Slowhand’s 1975 live album, E.C. Was Here, and traveled the world with him on his 1974-’75 tour.
Keith Richards’ ’53 Fender Telecaster
Richards’ ’53 Tele sports a Broadcaster neck. The Rolling Stones’ guitarist played this instruments in the ’80s and ’90s.
Photo courtesy of Frist Art Museum
Brian Setzer’s ’56 Gretsch Silver Jet
The former Stray Cat strutted with this sparkling example of a Gretsch classic for about 20 years, starting in 2000.
Freddie King’s ’63 ES-335
This guitar is among the iconic Gibsons associated with King during his career, which helped define the sound of blues rock. King’s other favorites included a 1954 Les Paul goldtop that was destroyed when it was tipped over by his children at play, and a 1964 ES-345 that he used on his 1971 album, Getting Ready.
1930s Stella Gambler Deluxe
This Oscar Schmidt-built 12-string work of art, circa 1930, came decorated with overlapping playing cards in a nod to America’s preoccupation with gambling.
John Lee Hooker’s ’65 ES-335
The great bluesman employed a wide variety of models during his career, which spanned more than a half-century, ranging from Stella acoustics to the Epiphone Sheraton to this Gibson ES-335.
Gibson Style O
Gibson made these Style O hand-carved archtops from 1908 to 1925. It has a spruce top and maple back and sides.
Celebrity Guitars
This wall of guitars played by famed musicians also includes a 1954 Stratocaster owned by Eldon Shamblin, a member of Bob Wills’ Texas Playboys who helped craft the Western swing sound; Les Paul’s 1975 Recording model, which was a guinea pig for many of his mod experiments; a rare salmon-finish 1963 Strat; and a 1955 Strat played by Ronnie Wood.
Courtesy of Frist Art Museum
Photo 2
I've written my share about the insanely adventurous Kawai-made electrics from the '60s, but even Kawai had scaled it way back by the end of the decade—except for this 4-pickup monster. It's in my favorite guitar color, greenburst, and is a true throwback—a psychedelic leftover that refused to move on. Its design is similar to that of the Italy-made Eko Kadett I wrote about a few months back [“A '60s Solidbody That Would Make Sergio Leone Smile," December 2020], but the Kimberly Deluxe was a little more out there in almost every way.
I'm sure part of the appeal of the Kimberly Deluxe rested in the imaginations of us radio and electronics geeks who salivated over gadgets and widgets with a space-age flair. The guitar's pickups (Photo 2) are a variation of gold-foils that all read in the mid 4k range. But typical of Kawai wiring, it's all in series, meaning that the output increases as you switch on the pickups. For instance, with only the bridge pickup turned on, the output is 4.57k. Add the second pickup and it goes to 9.17k. But bring in the third pickup and it flies to 13.77k! And with the neck pickup engaged, the output is a whopping 18.43k, which is a lot of output for a 1960s Japanese guitar. The KD is a super-aggressive affair, and there was a time I actually owned and used five of them. They sound so interesting with fuzz and gain. Plus, switching on a Deluxes's pickups turns into a master class on how to boost your tone on the fly and scale back your pedalboard at the same time.
Photo 3
Also referred to as a “Bison" model, these instruments went by “Deluxe 4 Pick-up Solid Body Electric Guitar" in the Lafayette catalogs, with a corresponding model number of 24599WX. By the way, the guitar was priced at just $44.95 brand new. An optional case would set you back an extra $8.95. To further the deal, Lafayette also offered complete “guitar outfits" that paired the Kimberly Deluxe with an amp, cable, strap, strings, picks, pitch pipe, and an instruction book with a record—all for $148.75! Yep, those were the days.
Lafayette branded the majority of their guitars Kimberly, but the same model and variations of this guitar were sold elsewhere with different colors and pickup configurations. I've seen them branded as Sekova and Clear Sound as well, but in the end, all the coolest stuff was found in the Lafayette catalogs. Unfortunately, the Kimberly Deluxe ended its run by the mid-1970s, and Lafayette went bankrupt a few years later. Though I was only old enough to catch the tail end of all the Kimberly coolness, let's all give it up today for the last of the original space-age guitars!
Hear this late-'60s/early '70s Kawai Kimberly Deluxe—and some references to Link Wray and surf music—in this demo by Mike Dugan.