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NOT a cbg. Don't be confused by this!

Posted by Uncle John on March 20, 2016 at 5:24pm
This 1955 Silvertone Guitar was abandoned at the Shelby County, Iowa dump. It was in unplayble conditon. It was given an amateur neck resest and much body re-gluing. It got a second life as a player and it had the typical 'boxy' tone of inexpensive American made guitars from the 1950s.Silertone was sold by Sears. This one was likely made at the Harmony Gutiar Factory in Chicago, Illinois.The cowboy themed case was bought in the Valentine, Nebraska area with a different guitar in it. I like to think it belonged to a true cowboy. It fits the guitar just right.I converted the Silvertone to a resonator guitar using a brass Lowe cone that had been in a cigar box guitar. The pickup/pick guard is from C.B. Gitty. It plays and sounds great in open tunings both acoustic and plugged in. I like it in open E. The action is just a bit too high for standard tuning, but the nut could still be lowered to improve that.The old open tuners were replaced with enclosed and mismatched tuners.The Sears Silvertone guitar really made its mark in music history as the unofficial "first guitar" of guitar's icons. Chet Atkins, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, among many others, played their first chords on a Sears Silvertone. Sears' guitars have even been immortalized by their mention in songs from artists as diverse as Mary Chapin Carpenter ("Girls With Guitars") and G. Love and Special Sauce ("Blues Music").
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Comments

  • MancaGuitars August 17, 2016 at 5:06pm

    This is the kind of stuff I love

  • Uncle John March 23, 2016 at 6:26am

    Let's see it Jim!   Flame on Steve!

  • Jim Morris March 22, 2016 at 8:15pm

    That's about as cool as it gets Unc! I'll show you my Silvertone find soon.

  • Uncle John March 22, 2016 at 7:38pm

    Ha.   True!

  • AGP # March 22, 2016 at 6:08pm

    "Looks Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr8* 'UJ',

    But!, you would expect something that's about the same age as us, would have to look good !!!! ;-) 

  • Uncle John March 22, 2016 at 4:24pm

    Thanks, Dave and Patrick!

  • Maddog March 22, 2016 at 10:34am

    I'm confused?????........but it's a very good confusion!!!!!

    Well done John!

  • Dave Lynas March 21, 2016 at 10:13pm
    It's wonderful Unc. Thanks for the lift.
  • Uncle John March 21, 2016 at 4:25pm

    Yup.   ;)    Dave, I wrote a whole short story of fiction - making this a cowboy guitar.   Will post it in the blog area.

  • Dave Lynas March 21, 2016 at 3:54pm
    You're pretty G# to me Uncle. If you tighten your bow tie it's like a neck capo. You can go up from G to C or even D if your willing to be blue. That's were the blues came from...
This reply was deleted.