The Axe of America's First Guitar Hero
All Original, All Rosewood Nick Lucas Special

This exceptionally fine, highly important and very rare "All Rosewood" guitar with a slightly arched top and back is 13 1/2 inch wide and weighs just 3.90 lbs. The body is an extra-deep (4 5/8 inches) a distinguishing feature that gives this guitar a really rich tone. Triple-bound Brazilian rosewood top, back and sides. Three-and-a-half inch diameter circular sound-hole with three-ply celluloid purfling strip and white celluloid inside edge. One-piece carved mahogany neck with a wide nut width of just over 1 3/4 inches, a wonderful medium profile and a scale length of 24 1/4 inches. Original bone nut, triple-bound Brazilian rosewood fretboard and nineteen original thin nickel-silver frets (twelve frets clear of the body). Inlaid mother-of-pearl position markers of various shapes: slotted-diamond with concave sides at 3rd fret; slotted trefoil at 5th fret; slotted lozenge at 7th fret; lozenge with two lobes at 9th fret; lozenge with circle at center at 12th fret, and lozenge with two ovals and diamond at center at 15th fret. Black celluloid side dot markers. Triple-ply binding on the top and back of the body. Black-faced headstock with the "The Gibson" script logo inlaid in mother-of-pearl. Original Waverly silver-plated three-in-a-row strip tuners with ornately engraved base and oval ivory buttons. Black plastic bell-shaped truss-rod cover with two screws. Original rectangular rosewood six-pin bridge/tailpiece with ivory saddle and ivory pins. Black celluloid endpin. The label inside the soundhole reads: "NICK LUCAS Gibson SPECIAL / [photograph of Nick Lucas with guitar / No. 87885 (in ink) / Made by / GIBSON, Inc. / KALAMAZOO, MICH. / U.S.A." Rubber stamped in black on the neck block is "9117". This exceptionally rare and very important piece of musical history is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition. The guitar is totally original with no repairs, modifications or re-finishing of any kind. The back of the body is neatly inscribed in gold with a calligraphy pen by Nick Lucas: "To / My Friend / Nick Morro / From your Friend / Nick Lucas". This inscription has been covered with a coat of clear varnish for preservation. Housed in a modern Gibson black four-latch hardshell case with dark blue plush lining (9.50).

The Roaring Twenties. Chicago. 1922. Pathé recording studios: Nick Lucas, a twenty-five year old guitarist from Belleville, NJ who first picked up a guitar when he was eight or nine years old, had begun performing on street corners and in local nightclubs while still in high school, soon toured in vaudeville, moved to New York, and cut his first record as a sideman in 1921, walked in, sat down, and proceeded to record “Picking the Guitar” and “Teasing the Frets.”

They were the first solo guitar instrumentals ever recorded.

If Eddie Lang is the father of jazz guitar, Nick Lucas is its grandfather. He was America’s first guitar hero and paved the way for everyone else that followed. Eddie Van Halen may have no idea that Nick Lucas is his ancestral patron saint.

Those studio dates were not Nick Lucas’s first. He cut test wax cylinder-recordings for Thomas Edison in 1912. His last recording was made in 1980. His total record sales exceeded eighty-four million discs.

Those sales figures include his smash hits, Tiptoe Through the Tulips, Yes, We Have No Bananas, Bye Bye Blackbird, I’m Sitting On Top of the World, Painting the Clouds With Sunshine, and many others.

Yes, in addition to his acclaim as an instrumentalist, he was one of the top singers of his era, known as The Crooning Troubadour.

Then, Hollywood called. He appeared in a few movies and was so impressive that Warner Bros. offered him a seven year contract. Nick was then earning $3000 a week in vaudeville in addition to his record royalties. Lucas turned the offer down. Warner Bros. tapped singer-actor Dick Powell instead.

But guitar lovers know Nick Lucas as the inspiration behind Gibson’s Nick Lucas Special.

"When I was working at the Edgewater Beach Hotel, I was playing a Galliano guitar that I brought from New York.

“Frank Campbell, who was general sales manager for Gibson, was trying to persuade me to get rid of the Galliano. This was in 1924. I said, ‘If you'll build a guitar to my specifications that's not too bulky, I'll throw this guitar away.’ I wanted a wider neck, deeper sides, and a smaller body that would be more presentable on stage. I was very happy with the instrument they made, and I still have it. That guitar was made in 1925. You'd be surprised how this guitar carries!" (Nick Lucas, in L.A. Reader, August 21, 1981 Vol 3 No. 43 "The New-Fangled Guitar Sound of 1922" by Mark Humphrey).

The “Gibson instrument company approached me and wanted me to use their guitar. This was in 1924. I said, ‘Gee, I've got a great instrument now. I'm very happy with it, and it sounds good. However, if you make me a guitar to my specifications, I'll be glad to make the change.’ I had no ties or contract with the Gallianos because I had bought my guitar for $35. So Gibson said, ‘We'll do anything that'd make you satisfied, and if you're not satisfied, fine.’ At that time the guitar was practically obsolete. It was going out and they had to do something."

"The distinction about my guitar was this: The neckboard was a little wider because they used to make them and still make them today - a little bit too narrow. You can't get a true tone out of some of your chords if the strings are so close together. I don't have an exceptionally big hand, but I wanted more room between the E and B strings especially, so when I played a G or C chord all the notes would come out distinct. I wouldn't get any interference from flesh on the fingers. I also said I wanted a little wider body than usual, and I wanted it black and unshiny so the spotlight wouldn't make it glare all around the people in the audience. so they came up with this Nick Lucas model, which was a beauty. I still have the original one, still play it. It's a gem. It's been fixed about 40 times. I wouldn't part with it" (Nick Lucas, Guitar Player magazine, December 1980).

The guitar was developed into a production model a few years later.

“In 1928, Gibson introduced a finer crafted flat top acoustic guitar endorsed by Nick Lucas and called it Gibson Nick Lucas special which had an extra deep body and was superior to the L-1 and L-2.

“Although the Gibson Nick Lucas guitar was probably the finest crafted guitar of its time it wasn't as successful as the L-0 and the L-1 guitars because the Depression was taking its toll.

“At $125, the Nick Lucas guitar was not affordable by many and, because of this, a year later, in 1929, Gibson made a less expensive guitar with similar features called the Gibson L-2.

“At that time the L-0 , L-1, and the L-2 guitars were better sellers but the Gibson Nick Lucas guitar gave Gibson the respect and prestige they deserved. Later on during the early thirties prices were reduced to $85-$90 and sales soared.

‘”Since then they were not only played by Nick Lucas but by many famous guitar players and songwriters such as Bob Dylan” (Music Instrument Reviews, vintageguitars.blogspot.com/2006/01/gibson-nick-lucas.html).

Nick Morro (aka Moro), to whom this guitar is inscribed, was, with partner Frank Yaconelli, Moro and Yaconelli, headlining vaudeville and nightclub guitarists/violinists and singers during the 1920s-1930s, who traveled the Pantages and Orpheum circuits with Nick Lucas, as well as touring Europe and Australia, and, ultimately, appearing - as did Nick Lucas - in many Hollywood movies. The bond between Lucas and Morro (and Yaconelli) was strong: The sons of Italian immigrants, each began as street musicians while still children.