A Near Mint 1962 Gibson Johnny Smith
The Earliest Example We Have Ever Seen

This near mint Johnny Smith weighs just 6.80 lbs. and has a very comfortable nut width of just over 1 3/4 inches and a scale length of 25 inches. X-braced carved close-grained spruce top with two-piece Birds-Eye Maple back and Tiger-Maple sides. Three-piece flamed maple neck with two mahogany center strips and a wonderful medium profile. Ebony fretboard with 20 jumbo frets and inlaid pearl split-block position markers. The top of the guitar has seven-ply binding, the back of the guitar has five-ply binding, the headstock has five-ply binding, and the fretboard has three-ply binding with two lines on each side. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl five-piece split-diamond inlay. Bell shaped black plastic truss-rod cover bordered in white with two screws. Black-painted headstock rear face with serial number "59060" lightly impressed into the back. Orange label inside the bass f-hole with the style "Johnny Smith" and the serial number "59060" stamped in black. Individual Kluson Sealfast tuners with bell-shaped metal buttons. Single Gibson "Johnny Smith" floating mini-humbucker with non-adjustable polepieces and a very strong output of 7.41k. The patch-cord connector (mounted on the underside of the pickguard) is of the earlier style screw-type mini-microphone type. Tortoiseshell pickguard with five-ply binding. Single volume control mounted on pickguard. Gold plastic bell-shaped control knob with metal top. Adjustable ebony bridge with pre-set compensating saddle and pearl inlays on base and small L-5 style Varitone Johnny Smith tailpiece with ebony insert and plastic nameplate. All hardware gold-plated. This guitar is in near mint (9.25) condition and has never even had an additional strap-pin fitted. There is virtually no wear to the frets or the fretboard. The tortoiseshell pickguard has a very small area of oxidization just by the long straight edge, but is structurally absolutely sound. Housed in a later black hardshell case with brown plush lining (9.00).

This guitar is a 'transition' model with the early style pickup with non-adjustable polepieces. The pickup has a small piece of tortoise plastic inserted between the top of the coil and the pickup cover (up to early 1962) and the patch-cord connector (mounted on the underside of the pickguard) is of the earlier style screw-type mini-microphone type. The potentiometer is of regular size and has the standard gold Gibson 'bell' shaped plastic knob with a metal insert ((up to the end of 1963). The neck is three-piece flamed maple with two mahogany center strips (up to mid 1962).

One of only 73 Johnny Smith [sunburst] guitars produced in 1962 out of a total of 198 guitars shipped between 1961 and 1965.

"Jazz guitarist Johnny Smith endorsed a Guild in the 1950s, then moved to Gibson in 1961. His namesake model in the Gibson line is a fully acoustic guitar with a solid carved top and 'floating' pickups. It has the body size, X-pattern top bracing, and 25-inch scale (none standard Gibson specifications) of Smith's personal D'Angelico guitar. Gibson introduced a single-pickup Johnny Smith in 1961, followed by the double-pickup model in 1963. It remained Gibson's top 'artist' model until Smith's endorsement agreement ended in 1989" (George Gruhn and Walter Carter, Electric Guitars and Basses: A Photographic History, p. 77).

Introduced in 1961 (with one pickup), the Gibson Johnny Smith combined classic body styling with unprecedented technical innovation. The JS debuted the world's first floating humbucking pickup, and resurrected the classic X-braced top, a design used by Gibson in the 1930s. This model also revived the more generous 1 3/4" fingerboard, a favorite of finger-style players, and introduced a 25" scale (similar to that of Smith's D'Angelico guitar), to facilitate stretch voicings without sacrificing response. Finally, the body was an 3 1/8" depth, making it just that much easier to hold. The result is an instrument unique in playability, tonal response, and aesthetics. The visual design of the Johnny Smith is drawn from a number of top-of-the-line models as well. The 17" Venetian cutaway body and deco tailpiece are those of the L-5C, the neck and peghead are from the Super 400, and the opulent 7-ply body binding recalls the classic Epiphone Emperor.