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  #16  
Old 06-05-2022, 08:38 PM
tbeltrans tbeltrans is offline
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Originally Posted by Sage Runner View Post
. 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
Yes, I am familiar with his work too. For folks who have never heard of Howard Roberts, I ask three questions that quickly put him in their spotlight:

1. Have you ever heard the Twilight Zone Theme? That is Howard Roberts on guitar.

2. Have you heard of the Wrecking Crew? Howard Roberts was a major player among those studio musicians.

3. Have you heard of GIT (Guitar Institute), now known as Musician's Institute since it has expanded beyond the guitar? Howard Roberts started that school.

My favorite album of his is Live At Donnatelle's, but also "Howard Roberts Is A Dirty Guitar Player".

From what I read, Howard Roberts didn't have input into the changes for the Fusion III version of the guitar. He was apparently involved in the earlier models. The later changes were apparently done by Gibson on their own.

Thanks for your info. I enjoy reading all of it.

Edit: As I understand it, Howard Roberts also played on some of the Monkees records. That cool run in the tune "Valerie" was his. He also had a column in Guitar Player back when it was still a good magazine.

Tony
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  #17  
Old 06-07-2022, 09:22 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is online now
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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
What a great looking guitar, Tony! Love all the gold hardware!

- Glenn
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  #18  
Old 06-07-2022, 11:24 AM
tbeltrans tbeltrans is offline
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What a great looking guitar, Tony! Love all the gold hardware!

- Glenn
Thanks Glenn. Considering that I seem to have shifted from fingerstyle acoustic to playing chord melody, this has quickly become my go to guitar. It is incredibly comfortable with its short scale and small body.

Also, as has been discussed recently in the forums here, nut width and string spacing are two different things. This guitar takes full advantage of its 1 11/16" nut to provide a comfortable string spacing.

Playing fingerstyle on acoustic, I wanted to fret one string and have adjacent string(s) continue to vibrate freely. For me, a wider string spacing such as can be had with 1 13/16" or 1 7/8" facilitates that comfortably.

Playing chord melody, I am typically using movable chord forms and not playing open strings much at all, so the 1 11/16" neck works fine.

Tony
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  #19  
Old 06-07-2022, 12:14 PM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is online now
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Yes, the 1 11/16" nut width combined with the shorter scale works well for me, too. The most comfortable guitar I have for my fingers is my '78 Gibson ES-335, which is not all that far removed from your Howard Roberts.

I'm also quite comfortable with my Eastman AR910CE, which has a 1 3/4" nut width and a 25" scale length. And I like the semi-acoustic tone of this guitar a little better than the ES-335, which sounds very electric.

Chord melody work is a fun and challenging place to go for guitar study. There are so many wonderful, melodic songs out there with such interesting harmonic structures.

- Glenn
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Old 06-07-2022, 03:14 PM
tbeltrans tbeltrans is offline
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Originally Posted by Glennwillow View Post
Yes, the 1 11/16" nut width combined with the shorter scale works well for me, too. The most comfortable guitar I have for my fingers is my '78 Gibson ES-335, which is not all that far removed from your Howard Roberts.

I'm also quite comfortable with my Eastman AR910CE, which has a 1 3/4" nut width and a 25" scale length. And I like the semi-acoustic tone of this guitar a little better than the ES-335, which sounds very electric.

Chord melody work is a fun and challenging place to go for guitar study. There are so many wonderful, melodic songs out there with such interesting harmonic structures.

- Glenn
I have not played a real Gibson ES-335 in some time, but recently ran across a Heritage 555 (which is essentially a copy of the 335). I found the string spacing too close for comfort on it.

Does Eastman make an archtop with a smaller (14") lower bout? Now that I know that short scale and smaller body work for me, I no longer am pining for the Frank Vignola FV880ce Eastman model. However, if Eastman has an archtop with similar dimensions to my Howard Roberts, I would definitely be interested.

The only non-boutique archtops I know of with similar dimensions are the Peerless Martin Taylor Maestro and the cheaper Virtuoso, and the old Gibson Johnny Smith from the 60s and 70s. There may be others that I am not aware of (but would like to be).

Tony
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  #21  
Old 06-08-2022, 08:19 PM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is online now
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Hi Tony,

Here are the Eastman archtops from their website. In the all solid, carved series, the AR603CED-15 has a 15" lower bout. That is the last one on the bottom of the web page.

I understand that the Peerless archtops are quite nice and very cost-effective.

- Glenn
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  #22  
Old 06-09-2022, 02:29 PM
tbeltrans tbeltrans is offline
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Hi Tony,

Here are the Eastman archtops from their website. In the all solid, carved series, the AR603CED-15 has a 15" lower bout. That is the last one on the bottom of the web page.

I understand that the Peerless archtops are quite nice and very cost-effective.

- Glenn
Thanks Glenn. That AR603CED-15 has a longer 25" scale, but would be worth a look for its 1 3/4" nut, assuming the string spacing takes full advantage.

Yes, the Peerless Conti is a nice instrument. Mine is the first generation which has an all solid body and carved top. It has a large 17" body and a long scale, so I find the Howard Roberts more comfortable to play, though the Conti plays quite a bit farther up the fretboard with its extra frets. The Conti has a thin body like a 335, so I can manage it. I doubt I would ever sell this instrument. Conti himself picked it out for me and it definitely is a nice instrument. I was playing out at the time and had an early 1970s Gibson Johnny Smith. I was concerned that it would get knocked over, given the size of typical bandstands. So I called Conti and told him that I needed a guitar to play out with to replace my Johnny Smith. He sent me this one. Eventually, I sold the Johnny Smith. It had some issues that I didn't want to deal with and the Conti was working well for me.

Tony
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