The One

[tbeltrans]

This week, I went to a local shop that had a used 1995 Gibson Citation archtop. I played it and was absolutely blown away. It is by far, the finest guitar of any type that I have ever played, sound and playability like no other. I had no idea an archtop could be THAT good!

Edit: Please note that my comments regarding comparison to any other guitar are strictly limited to my own experience, which is probably not nearly as wide and varied as others in these forums. Also, while this Gibson Citation is the most expensive archtop I have ever played and purchased, I readily recognize that there is a whole world beyond it out there. I have never played a Monteleone, a Linda Manzer, an original D'Angelico, etc. I have played Gibson Johnny Smith and L5, Campelone, and Ted Megas archtops though. So please take my comments in this post within that context.

I have seen some really expensive acoustic (not archtop) guitars from major makers (Gibson, Martin) that seem to have a ton of bling on an otherwise decent, but not really exceptional instrument to justify the expense. Usually, this would be to commemorate some milestone or artist or event. But, this archtop seems to have exceptional build quality, tone, and playability that seem way beyond anything else I have ever played, even those few archtops I have been able to try from small boutique builders. Whether all Gibson Citations are like this, I have no idea since this is the only one I have seen or played.

It is VERY expensive (to me), more than I would ever consider spending on a guitar, much less a car. My wife was with me and she told me that if I didn't buy it, I would forever regret it. This guitar did sell for more new than I paid for it used, so fortunately, I didn't get hit with that collector thing that drives prices way up.

This archtop is first and foremost, an acoustic guitar with a nice full unamplified tone, not at all mid-rangey. It has a floating pickup that provides that lovely smokey, late night tone that is perfect for solo guitar.

Fortunately, I have my inheritance, am using a part of it for this, and am paying it back to myself as I sell off most all of my other guitars. I never have borrowed money to buy a guitar, and this is no exception except that I am treating it as a loan to myself from myself.

I had planned to "thin the herd" dramatically at some point, and the acquisition of this guitar is certainly incentive to get right on it. I wouldn't have bought this particular guitar except that I had decided a while back to focus on one style of playing instead of flopping around all over the place and making little progress on anything. That decision sure clarified things and put the fun back into playing for me, and a while later this guitar came along.

My intention at this point is to keep my Eastman archtop since I would take that to play out if the situation arises and the Eastman is also a fine guitar with decent acoustic tone (though not in the same league as the Gibson). I would likely never want to take my Gibson out. I also intend to keep one acoustic, my Huss & Dalton 00 short scale 12 fret with the 1 7/8" nut.

When I looked for specs around the internet for the Gibson Citation, what I found said that the nut is 1 11/16". Yet, when I measured it with my digital calipers, it clearly is 1 23/32". I asked about this among local friends who know archtops well and found out that the Citation does in fact have a 1 23/32" nut. That explains why it seems the slightest bit easier to manage for me than a typical 1 11/16" nut would, enough to make this guitar a bit more playable than some other Gibson archtops I have played.. It never ceases to amaze me how such seemingly small differences can be noticeable to the player. The difference here is only 1/32".

I will try to get some pics up soon. The shop I purchased this guitar from has an owner who is an archtop aficionado and he keeps pics of his favorite archtops that occasionally come through. He will readily show these pics to you, just as many people show pics of their kids. The guitar had only one owner and he bought it from this shop new back in 1995. The guitar is dead mint and I had it thoroughly checked over by the guitar tech who does a lot of work with archtops.

To give folks an idea of this guitar until then, here is the only listing I could find on reverb.com:

https://reverb.com/item/58127516-201...ntique-natural

Mine differs from the one in the picture because it is a tobacco sunburst finish. I don't like sunburst on an acoustic, but prefer it on an archtop. The back on mine is quilted maple with a nice grain that looks like pillows. The sides are maple, and the top is a very tight grained spruce. Also, the 1995 models have a wood bridge instead of the metal one. I prefer the tone from wood bridges on an archtop. The wood bridge seems to result in a warmer tone. Also, the price on this reverb guitar seems really high for some reason, about $20k more than I paid, though I got an appraisal for insurance purposes and it is more than I paid for the guitar.

There isn't a mark on this guitar anywhere that I can find. I suspect it spent most of its life in the case, and the guitar tech couldn't find any problems with it of any kind. Usually, the first thing she does is cut the nut slots a bit, but this guitar is perfectly set up already.

Fortunately, my guitar came with the original case and "case candy", especially seeing what a case for this guitar sells for on reverb:

https://reverb.com/item/33229909-gib...her-gold-plush

So now I am settled in for the long haul.

Tony

[pawlowski6132]

Congrats. Did you pay $35k???????

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by pawlowski6132

Congrats. Did you pay $35k???????

Thanks! No, I paid about $16k. It was appraised for insurance purposes at $20k, which I will use next week to get it insured through one of the instrument insurers. I don't know why that Citation on reverb is so high, but then I don't know much about the market in general. Maybe Europe is that much more expensive? That was the only example of a Gibson Citation that I could find.

There was another guy over in the jazz guitar forum that just purchased a 1995 Citation and apparently he paid pretty much what I paid. A knowledgeable pro musician friend told me that I got it at a good price. I believe that I read somewhere that these cost $22,500 new, but I may be wrong about that.

Tony

[Silly Moustache]

Hi Tony, thanks for sharing this. A significant purchase and one. which I hope will give you great joy for many years.
I think we deserve some pics and maybe a video of you playing your new guitar when you can.

With so many of us (including me) concerned about the fit, finish and tone of modern Gibsons, I'm delighted to read of good news, but somehow I doubt that this model is off a cookie cutter production line.

I know more about Gibson mandolins than I do about modern gibson archtops but I suspect yours might have been built by one man, or a small team as is/were the more recent mandolins produced, many of whom go on to build in their own names.

I wish you great happiness with your new acquisition ... but ...PICTURES !!!

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

Hi Tony, thanks for sharing this. A significant purchase and one. which I hope will give you great joy for many years.
I think we deserve some pics and maybe a video of you playing your new guitar when you can.

With so many of us (including me) concerned about the fit, finish and tone of modern Gibsons, I'm delighted to read of good news, but somehow I doubt that this model is off a cookie cutter production line.

I know more about Gibson mandolins than I do about modern gibson archtops but I suspect yours might have been built by one man, or a small team as is/were the more recent mandolins produced, many of whom go on to build in their own names.

I wish you great happiness with your new acquisition ... but ...PICTURES !!!

Thanks Silly! I have read consistently and been directly told by local knowledgeable folks, that these guitars were only built by two people, and separated from the rest of Gibson's building operations. They were made for only a couple of years on two or three separate occasions (1969-early 1970s, 1995-late 1990s, and then around 2016). Apparently, these were custom and special order, so there aren't many floating around. These guys did the hand building thing in which the tops are carefully tuned, which would account for the acoustic sound.

As I mentioned earlier, instead of pouring on the bling to account for the cost, these had extra quality built in as well as using Gibson's best woods. To me, this isn't a flashy guitar, bu does exude an elegance. When you pick it up to play, you can immediately sense the quality of these guitars.

Though I don't know that I could do justice to this guitar in a recording, I will take some pictures. I think my cell phone can do OK with that if I give it a go today instead of waiting for the shop to email me the pictures.

I am putting 5 of my guitars on consignment with the shop and as part of the deal, they are not charging me to do a string change and set up on all of those instruments. So I expect it will be a few days before they can get around to sending me the pics of this guitar.

With regard to recording, I decided some time ago that in order to do a creditable job of recording, I would need to spend some serious time learning how to do that properly, so I sold off the stuff I had purchased for recording and decided to focus on playing instead.

Tony

[tbeltrans]

Here are (hopefully, since this is the first time I have tried this) a few pics of my Gibson Citation:


Tony

[Fishermike]

Wowza! That's just gorgeous! Congrats on that - it's a lifer, for sure.

[Mr. Paul]

That's quite an "oh my" guitar. Wow.

[Glennwillow]

Holy Cow Tony!

What a gorgeous guitar! Good for you! 100% Awesome!!!

- Glenn

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by Fishermike

Wowza! That's just gorgeous! Congrats on that - it's a lifer, for sure.

Thanks Mike. I can't imagine why somebody would sell one of these, but am glad that person did.

Tony

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by Mr. Paul

That's quite an "oh my" guitar. Wow.

Thanks Mr. Paul. It was interesting that, at the shop where I bought it, everybody was really taken with this guitar's beauty, while I was really taken with the acoustic sound and the extreme playability. Once I got it home, that was when I began to appreciate its looks. My wife comments on it every time she sees it.

Tony

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Holy Cow Tony!

What a gorgeous guitar! Good for you! 100% Awesome!!!

- Glenn

Thanks Glenn. It is a real treat to have a guitar such as this just sitting in my living room ready to grab at any moment. Having a guitar of such quality that it gives back what you put into it is an honor.

Tony

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

Thanks Glenn. It is a real treat to have a guitar such as this just sitting in my living room ready to grab at any moment. Having a guitar of such quality that it gives back what you put into it is an honor.

Tony

Yes, that guitar is a total class act! Good for you, Tony!

- Glenn

[jimmy bookout]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

Thanks Silly! I have read consistently and been directly told by local knowledgeable folks, that these guitars were only built by two people, and separated from the rest of Gibson's building operations. They were made for only a couple of years on two or three separate occasions (1969-early 1970s, 1995-late 1990s, and then around 2016). Apparently, these were custom and special order, so there aren't many floating around. These guys did the hand building thing in which the tops are carefully tuned, which would account for the acoustic sound.

As I mentioned earlier, instead of pouring on the bling to account for the cost, these had extra quality built in as well as using Gibson's best woods. To me, this isn't a flashy guitar, bu does exude an elegance. When you pick it up to play, you can immediately sense the quality of these guitars.

Though I don't know that I could do justice to this guitar in a recording, I will take some pictures. I think my cell phone can do OK with that if I give it a go today instead of waiting for the shop to email me the pictures.

I am putting 5 of my guitars on consignment with the shop and as part of the deal, they are not charging me to do a string change and set up on all of those instruments. So I expect it will be a few days before they can get around to sending me the pics of this guitar.

With regard to recording, I decided some time ago that in order to do a creditable job of recording, I would need to spend some serious time learning how to do that properly, so I sold off the stuff I had purchased for recording and decided to focus on playing instead.

Tony

I believe Jim Hutchins would have built your guitar. Jim's been gone for a while now (he passed in 2010), he retired from Gibson in 2008.
Hopefully some Gibson expert can confirm this...

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by jimmy bookout

I believe Jim Hutchins would have built your guitar. Jim's been gone for a while now (he passed in 2010), he retired from Gibson in 2008.
Hopefully some Gibson expert can confirm this...

Thanks Jimmy! Now that would really be interesting to know the name of the person who built my guitar. Knowing those kinds of details of the guitar's history only deepens the connection. I do know that I am the second owner of it.

Tony