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1957 - 1963 Gibson EMS-1235 double neck mandolin banjo octave guitars EMS1235 folder

keef

Active member
Joined
Jan 27, 2002
Messages
5,006
They should have made a double cutaway single neck guitar like the white one - great looking shape.

BTW - I see a few ones with the rounded horns. I guess this means the story that an employee messed up a body with the florentine cutaways - which then became rounded - may be a myth.
 

latestarter

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
4,173
They should have made a double cutaway single neck guitar like the white one - great looking shape.
.

Trini Lopez Custom?

1967-gibson-Trini-Lopez-Cus.jpg
 

maxwedge

Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2010
Messages
674
These guitars were being discussed in the "Sunburst" section so after a detailed search I am starting a "catch all" thread to discuss these.

1958_1963_gibson_ems1235_eds1275_vintage_double_neck_guitars.jpg
Looks to me that I have one and you have all the rest!:bigal:hee
Looks like I should buy one from you to even it up a little!:rofl
 

maxwedge

Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2010
Messages
674
How do you like this shit! Sucks big time but whoever did it made a decent wooden cover for it. Thanks for your pic of the pots and it looks like I have 3 originals and one is later (the one I got the '62 date code from isn't original).
ShitHole.jpg
 

maxwedge

Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2010
Messages
674
Still the coolest guitar Gibson ever built. And perhaps best sounding too.
Isn't that that a fact! I wonder why they never made anything similar with a single neck. The spruce top is about 1/2" thick in the center so it is easy to control feedback unlike some of the jazz boxes.
 

maxwedge

Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2010
Messages
674
This is all I have for a serial number on my EMS-1235. If you can decipher it Eric that would be great but George Gruhn didn't know when I showed him. I see 9-0 02 and I'm not sure if this is original or a restamp??

This thing has some finish repairs but I don't know if the whole thing has been refinished.
SerialNumber.jpg
 

apossibleworld

New member
Joined
Oct 16, 2008
Messages
362
This is all I have for a serial number on my EMS-1235. If you can decipher it Eric that would be great but George Gruhn didn't know when I showed him. I see 9-0 02 and I'm not sure if this is original or a restamp??

This thing has some finish repairs but I don't know if the whole thing has been refinished.

sure looks like a 1959 stamp to me. that's the way they did em.
 

apossibleworld

New member
Joined
Oct 16, 2008
Messages
362
Isn't that that a fact! I wonder why they never made anything similar with a single neck. The spruce top is about 1/2" thick in the center so it is easy to control feedback unlike some of the jazz boxes.

I keep waiting til one turns up that somebody sawed in half and made into a single neck version 40 years ago. Maybe there's a Semie Moseley modded one someplace!

I wanted exactly this guitar, the single neck version, so I made one. But instead of a Gibson, I used a 1956 Magnatone Mk IV, that was already missing its pickups, and put in a killer pair of Gibson steel guitar 8 pole PAFs. The Magnatone is very similar in construction, a very early double cutaway with German carve and a thick top, chambered body. Of course it's the Bigsby design, but you can see these companies were all copying each other in ways we have yet to fathom.
 
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