Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion III?

tbeltrans · #1 05-29-2022, 05:39 PM

This coming week, I will be looking at a late 90s Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion III semi-hollow body archtop. From what I understand, sometime around the early 90s, Gibson switched from a hard tail to the gold fingers. I have heard mixed comments about restringing with those gold fingers being a hassle.

Anybody here with experience with these guitars care to comment on whether that model is worth a look? I don't hear/read much about these, but since one is available locally (I don't buy guitars mail order), I thought it would be interesting to check it out.

I am getting really comfortable with my Ibanez AF95FM archtop (see the thread about cheap archtops), but when a Gibson comes along, I do take notice.

There is a local shop that stocks Eastman archtops, but unfortunately they seem to have closed for now since COVID came along. The way it is worded on their reverb.com page, it seems they intend to come back at some point. However, as much as folks around here rave about Eastman acoustics, I just can't seem to take to their necks so I am not at all sure how I would like their archtops, nice as they may be.

It may well be that the Ibanez is good enough for me after all, but it is fun to window shop, especially since my wife seems to support my decision if I decide to buy.

What I am finding is that while I have played fingerstyle acoustic for quite some time, I seem to be much more intrigued by chord melody and the opportunities for exploration that jazz guitar affords. I have been working with a number of master classes from the Mike's Master Class and the My Music Master Class sites, and really enjoying that. So for me, an archtop seems to be my main guitar at this point in my life.

Thanks...

Tony

David Eastwood · #2 05-29-2022, 05:43 PM

Don’t forget, Tony - if the Ibanez is looking for a new home, I’m definitely interested

tbeltrans · #3 05-29-2022, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

Don’t forget, Tony - if the Ibanez is looking for a new home, I’m definitely interested

Thanks David. I will keep that in mind.

The Howard Roberts is at Willie's' new store. I bought a bunch of packs of light gauge electric guitar strings from Willie yesterday at their "garage sale" and he told me that you still have to make a reservation to go to the new store. This apparently is due to a combination of COVID careful and shortage of available staff. I will call there on Tuesday. The new store is much closer to me, off 280 and Como on Eustis.

They had a 1970s Ibanez "lawsuit" ES-175 copy that I looked at. It seemed to be typical good quality for the price as Ibanez does so well, but the strings were really close together with a 1 5/8" nut. I can't imagine being able to manage that cleanly, but apparently some folks can.

Tony

The Old Gaffer · #4 05-29-2022, 07:17 PM

I believe that the Howard Roberts Fusion III is a semi-hollow, isn’t it? While this model is a very nice electric guitar but it may disappoint if you are looking for a prototypical hollow bodied archtop.

tbeltrans · #5 05-29-2022, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Old Gaffer

I believe that the Howard Roberts Fusion III is a semi-hollow, isn’t it? While this model is a very nice electric guitar but it may disappoint if you are looking for a prototypical hollow bodied archtop.

Yes, it is. I stated that in the first sentence of my OP: This coming week, I will be looking at a late 90s Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion III semi-hollow body archtop.

I don't know yet if I will like the guitar or not until I play it. I have always been a "try before I buy" type, so I will reserve judgement until I actually play it. I am interested in hearing from others who have experience with these because there may be good reasons to not get it or to get it that I am unaware of.

What I want in an archtop, whether hollow body or semi-hollow, is short scale and smaller body. The Howard Roberts has a 14 7/8" body and a 24.75" scale, so it should be similar in size to my Ibanez.

Tony

The Old Gaffer · #6 05-30-2022, 04:32 PM

I would also suggest ES-135 and ES-137 as nice single-cut semis.

tbeltrans · #7 05-30-2022, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Old Gaffer

I would also suggest ES-135 and ES-137 as nice single-cut semis.

Thanks! I am not familiar with either of those, but will look for info. I am familiar with the ES-335.

Right now, there is a Heritage copy of the ES-335 at one of the local Music Go Rounds. I am not sure why, but the few Heritage guitars I have played, I didn't really take to. They were decent quality, so that wasn't the issue. For some reason, they just don't feel comfortable for me.

Tony

tbeltrans · #8 05-31-2022, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

Don’t forget, Tony - if the Ibanez is looking for a new home, I’m definitely interested

David...I acquired the Gibson Howard Roberts today, so please check your Private Messages here at AGF.

Tony

David Eastwood · #9 06-01-2022, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

David...I acquired the Gibson Howard Roberts today, so please check your Private Messages here at AGF.

Tony

Duly checked, and I’m now the very happy owner of Tony’s ‘old’ Ibanez AF95FM. It’s a gorgeous guitar, and having got it home and plugged it in, I think we’re going to be very happy together

And his new Howard Roberts is an absolute gem - but I’m not going to steal his thunder. I’m sure he’ll comment on it here, if he is so moved.

IMG_2288.jpg IMG_2287.jpg

tbeltrans · #10 06-01-2022, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Eastwood

Duly checked, and I’m now the very happy owner of Tony’s ‘old’ Ibanez AF95FM. It’s a gorgeous guitar, and having got it home and plugged it in, I think we’re going to be very happy together

And his new Howard Roberts is an absolute gem - but I’m not going to steal his thunder. I’m sure he’ll comment on it here, if he is so moved.

Attachment 75552 Attachment 75553

As usual, there must be a song in this...

Congratulations, David.

Edit: After posting the above, I realize that David left commenting on the Gibson Howard Roberts to me. I bought it at Willie's as mentioned earlier in the thread. Like David's Ibanez, this model has a short scale and a small 14 1/2" lower bout. It is a 1998 Fusion III. These are a decent semi-hollow body guitar, relatively light at 7.5 lbs, and reasonably priced on the used market for a quality Gibson. They were discontinued some years ago (2010?) but seem easy to find on the used market. This will be my "jazz" guitar (though certainly versatile enough for other styles too) for a long time to come, as I have no reason to look for anything better without having to spend a lot more money. My intention was for the Ibanez to stay with me a long time too, since it is certainly nice enough. But when the Gibson showed up, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. David let me know when I got it that he would be interested if I ever wanted to sell it since we live in the same area, so win-win!

Tony

Glennwillow · #11 06-03-2022, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

David...I acquired the Gibson Howard Roberts today, so please check your Private Messages here at AGF.

Tony

Well, that's wonderful! Maybe a photo, Tony???

Congratulations!

- Glenn

tbeltrans · #12 06-03-2022, 06:44 PM

Thanks Glenn! This is my guitar directly on Willie's web site. They have not yet taken the entry down, but do show it as out of stock.

Tony

Sage Runner · #13 06-05-2022, 12:44 PM

That’s a Cool Red Gibson Jazzer! Looks nothing like the original Howard Roberts from the 60s. Enjoy!

tbeltrans · #14 06-05-2022, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sage Runner

That’s a Cool Red Gibson Jazzer! Looks nothing like the original Howard Roberts from the 60s. Enjoy!

Thanks! Yes, there were a number of iterations of the Howard Roberts. This is the Fusion III. From what I rad, the first Gibson Fusion weighed 12 pounds. It apparently had a Mahogany or Maple (I don't recall which) center block, while this one has a Balsa wood center block. There were a number of other changes too, such as the gold finger tail piece.

Reading some discussion in various forums via google, there seems to be some confusion as to what the Fusion II really was, since it seems to share similarities with both the Fusion and Fusion III.

As I understand it, the first Howard Roberts model was built by Epiphone rather than Gibson.

For me, this could easily be my only archtop even though it is semi-hollow like the 335 rather than hollow like the 175.

Tony

Sage Runner · #15 06-05-2022, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

Thanks! Yes, there were a number of iterations of the Howard Roberts. This is the Fusion III. From what I rad, the first Gibson Fusion weighed 12 pounds. It apparently had a Mahogany or Maple (I don't recall which) center block, while this one has a Balsa wood center block. There were a number of other changes too, such as the gold finger tail piece.

Reading some discussion in various forums via google, there seems to be some confusion as to what the Fusion II really was, since it seems to share similarities with both the Fusion and Fusion III.

As I understand it, the first Howard Roberts model was built by Epiphone rather than Gibson.

For me, this could easily be my only archtop even though it is semi-hollow like the 335 rather than hollow like the 175.

Tony

. Yes the first version was made by Gibson during the late 1950s-60s branded Epiphone Era after Gibson bought out the original NY EPI company. Original Roberts was full hollow Oval Hole sort of a customized ES-175. Howard Roberts by the way was a Monster Player!!! Roberts though Jazz branched off a bit unlike most Notable Jazz players at the time. His Dirty Guitar’ player LP Album is Awesome. Best! Dennis