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​Luther Perkins' 1953 Esquire & a '59 Burst!

​Luther Perkins' 1953 Esquire & a '59 Burst!
Johnny Cash Guitarist Luther Perkins' 1953 Esquire & John Carter Cash's 1959 Gibson Les Paul Burst!

This 1953 Fender Esquire belonged to Luther Perkins, who was a member of Cash’s first recording bands and played on all of the Man in Black’s foundational recordings for Sun Records—likely with this guitar. Perkins played this instrument during the period when Cash classics from “I Walk the Line” to “Folsom Prison Blues” were cut. John Carter Cash bought this 1959 Gibson Les Paul at Gruhn’s in Nashville. It has a neck that is atypically slim for its vintage and appears as part of the psychedelic guitar interplay on the Songwriter song “Drive On.”


Johnny Cash’s “Lost” Songwriter Album Arrives—30 Years After It Was First Recorded

Photo by Alan Messer

“The Man Comes Around” is a much-played song from the final album Johnny Cash recorded before his death in 2003, American IV: The Man Comes Around. Now, the Man in Black himself has come around again, as the voice and soul of a just-released album he initially cut in 1993, titled Songwriter.


These before (left) and after (right) shots demonstrate only a fraction of the restoration process our columnist carried out.

Photos courtesy of Delgado Guitars

This centuries-old instrument, which belonged to the daughter-in-law of President Andrew Jackson, has witnessed almost 200 years of American history.

We tend to think of “history” as something we read about or learn from our elders, rather than something we live and contribute to. I’ve often wondered if my great-uncle knew he was making history when, as a Mexican immigrant, he built the original Mickey Mouse guitar for Walt Disney in the early 1950s.

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David Gilmour releases a special live version of the "The Piper's Call" from his solo album Luck and Strange.

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The range of clean, dirty, and complex tones available from this high-quality, carefully crafted Dumble modeler make it a formidable studio and performance device.

Fantastic variation in many delicious sounds makes it a bargain. High-quality. Easy to use and customize. Killer studio path to lively, responsive guitar sounds.

Price may be hard for some to swallow if they don’t leverage the whole of its potential.

$399

UAFX Enigmatic ’82 Overdrive Special
uaudio.com

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I’ve never played a realDumble. I’d venture most of us haven’t. But given my experiences with James Santiago’s UAFX modeling pedals, most recently theUAFX Lion, I plugged in the new Dumble-inspired UAFX Enigmatic confident I’d taste at least the essence of that very rare elixir. You could argue there is no definitive Dumble sound. Each was customized to some extent for the customer, and they are renowned nearly as much for dynamic responsiveness and flexibility as their singing, complex, clean-to-dirty palettes.

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Lollar Pickups introduces the Deluxe Foil humbucker, a medium-output pickup with a bright, punchy tone and wide frequency range. Featuring a unique retro design and 4-conductor lead wires for versatile wiring options, the Deluxe Foil is a drop-in replacement for Wide Range Humbuckers.

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