I wasn’t in the market for a new guitar, but I had the opportunity to sell my 2023 Reverend Roundhouse to a nice, young Tesla engineer on Craigslist. Tesla is headquartered in Austin, a little over an hour from my home in Central Texas. He came here so he could play the guitar in my barn studio and have a nice setup to play through. As is the case with all of my guitars, I’d kept the Roundhouse and its “Tear Drop” case in pristine condition. It was one of only a couple of guitars I’ve acquired that I never really bonded with. It happens. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the guitar, Reverend makes only good ones, but I just couldn’t fall in love with it. He was pleased as punch with the condition of the guitar and its cool features, so much so that he messaged me later with some pics of the guitar in its new surroundings. There’s something gratifying about selling a guitar to someone so utterly thankful and respectful. I suppose that I’m pretty intimate with my guitars and selling one leaves me with a feeling that I’ve just parted with a small piece of myself. Guitars are funny that way! I have a couple of people whom I’ve sold to in the past still message me, on occasion, just to say hi.
The Les Paul Special first came out in 1955 and has been a part of Gibson’s lineup ever since. There are just two color options: a “TV” Yellow and a Vintage Cherry. Mine is the latter. “TV Yellow” was a color that would show up brightly on the black and white TV sets of the era.
After receiving the guitar and taking time for my usual “Unboxing Ceremony”, I played it that evening for a couple of hours and the guitar and I took to one another right away. I played a bit of rock, some country, and my favorite, the blues for the last hour, or so. This thing had solid tones for each genre and is definitely a “do it all” guitar. Super chimey clean tones to plenty of grunt when switching to the bridge P-90. This is a guitar that could be played with no effects, just plugged directly into a good tube amp. But it took to my pedals well and, for awhile, my wife had gone grocery shopping so I took the opportunity to turn up the volume and gain and configure my pedals for my favorite blues-rock tones. What a fun guitar to play!The shop had set it up for me to my specifications and, between the perfect action, killer tones, and that nice, chunky neck, I had a blast playing the guitar!
The link will take you to some truly wonderful photographs of the guitar and a writeup of the buying experience and some additional specifics about the guitar.
When I came across this guitar, I knew a lot less about older model and vintage Gibson acoustic guitars than I do now. Around 2012, I dove headlong into learning everything I could about vintage guitars, with an emphasis on Gibson and Martin acoustics manufactured from 1934 through the 1960’s. The “Golden Era” of guitar building began around 1934 and ended some time in the mid-40’s. This was a period in which guitars were predominantly fashioned still using “pre-war” hand tools and the trees that represented the stocks for guitar tops and bottoms were of a higher quality, old-growth variety considered better because they were of a larger diameter and guitar tops and bottoms could be comprised of one piece. Today. Adirondack red spruce has long been the holy Grail for tops (soundboards) but back during the pre-war period, Adirondack spruce had been the go-to species for guitar tops and hadn’t yet become a rarity. I believe this was simply because of the rule of supply and demand when most manufacturing was done in the Northeast. The Adirondacks would have been a region that was in relatively close proximity to guitar manufacturing. Whatever the case, there is a degree of science that backs the theory behind Adirondack red spruce. It is cross-sectionally stiff and yields more strength per unit of weight than any other softwood. This means that a thinner top with superior vibrational characteristics can be used while still having a high degree of structural integrity. When combined with choice mahogany or rosewood, these materials were found to be among the best for the fabrication of quality guitars. While there are many tonewood species that rival rosewood for the back and sides, Adirondack red spruce is considered the creme de la creme for the soundboard. I have been conducting my own little study in researching the various different species of red spruce (alpine spruce from the Alps in Germany and Italy, Engelman spruce from the Western United States, and Appalachian red spruce, and several others, in trying to see if I can hear the differences that have been put forth by experts in the field. So far, I believe it’s safe to say that these spruces are sonically different but only slightly, and that the real difference comes down to the quality of the individual chosen spruce stock for any particular soundboard over saying, categorically, the “Adi” red spruce is “the best”. I think most experts in the field of acoustic engineering would agree with this.
This guitar has a gorgeous sitka (the most prevalent of the spruces for guitar building) top, very nicely aged to a wonderful amber color, and Indian rosewood back and sides. The main difference between this specific Gibson, and previous versions of the Blueridge of the late 60’s, is that those rosewood backs were of a far less expensive and lesser grade laminated material. The rosewood on this guitar is of high quality and is solid, making for a much better sounding but far more costly guitar to build. When comparing this B-28 to the older version, it is of a much higher build quality and materials selection. Even the nitrocellulose finish is representative of high-end Gibson Custom Shop guitars coming out of the new Bozeman, Montana shop which began production in 1987 (the same year this B-28 was made) when Gibson’s acoustic arm was relocated from Kalamazoo to Montana.
The thing that makes this guitar noteworthy is that it’s not an inexpensive knockoff but a genuine, higher-end Gibson on which there’s virtually no information. While scouring the internet from one end to the other, I was able to find just a few short references, but these were mostly tidbits written on the various guitar forums and nothing of forensic value. It has been said that during the first few years of operations in Bozeman, the chief designer was a renowned master luthier named Ren Ferguson and, for reasons no one seems to know, Ferguson had a certain amount of license with which to experiment. This went on only on a here and there basis for just two or three years. Such experimentation would be very unusual for a company the size of Gibson but it is the only explanation as to the potential beginnings of such a special guitar.
In the seventies and eighties there was no shortage of Gibson and Martin copies in circulation but these guitars were being made by Japanese guitar companies that openly manufactured high-quality guitars using various Gibson and Martin models as the basis for construction, not black market counterfeits. Eventually, the resemblances were altogether too close for comfort and starting to eat into the bottom lines for the American manufacturers, and companies like Gibson and Martin put a legal end to the process under the laws governing copyright infringement. I had one of these “Lawsuit Era” (70’s and 80’s) guitars made by Takamine and the guitar was every bit as good as the Martin it was modeled after. I sold it several years ago for a healthy sum as there is a strong market for these Lawsuit Era “knockoffs”. Interestingly, many session guitarists use these old Takamine’s to record with. It has something to do with EQ and voicing that allows for better pairings with certain vocalists.
Getting back to this guitar, it is essentially a Martin D-28 clone (hence the model name of “Blueridge B-28) with the exception of Gibson-style internal bracing in lieu of Martin’s “Forward shifted X-bracing”. Other than a Gibson headstock, the bracing is the only significant difference between Gibson’s B-28 and Martin’s D-28. I would love to know if Ferguson believed his rendering was superior to Martin’s, and if so, why?
This is totally conjecture on my part, but Ferguson may have built this guitar to go head to head with the D-28, just for his own edification. If, in fact, it is a one-off, it would obviously be quite valuable. But why has Gibson not responded to any of my requests for information? Very unusual, but I suppose any attempt wouldn’t hurt.
I buy, sell, and collect guitars, and have never had any inclination to sell this guitar and have always viewed it as a keeper. It hasn’t been a priority, but my curiosity is finally getting the best of me and I’m considering shipping it to Gruhn’s Guitars in Nashville for an appraisal. Gruhn’s is well known in that department, along with being the best known guitar shop in the nation. Eventually, I’ll come up with an answer to the mystery. From the information I have been able to glean, the production run on the guitar was anywhere from one to twenty five examples but, in viewing that little bit of information combined with finding almost nothing else, I am inclined to believe the guitar is a one of a kind.
The link is to a short writeup I did after acquiring the guitar and an artsy (that was the intent, anyway) photo array. It is truly a beautiful guitar and rings like a bell when played.
I’ve been playing and collecting fine guitars since 2011 and in that time, I’ve come across some truly exemplary pieces of work, some of which I acquired but many of which were out of my league. At under $5K, this Furch is the most beautiful guitar I’ve laid eyes on. Unfortunately, sheer beauty doesn’t necessarily mean better tone, and, while very close in a recent comparison, I purchased a Gallagher BG-50 with an Appalachian spruce top and sinker mahogany back and sides over the Furch. In a way, it wasn’t a fair comparison tone-wise as, at least to my ears, sinker mahogany is the premier back and sides tone-wood, particularly when topped by Adirondack or Appalachian red spruce. I don’t believe there are many guitars that could best this Furch, sonically or aesthetically, so I felt compelled to post it here on my site. Cocobolo is fast becoming a rarity, so I believe the guitar represents a tremendous value in the world of boutique guitars and would be a smart investment. Better known builders would charge twice what this guitar lists for. Check it out for yourself!
I just read a Medium perspective on “argument” and found myself in complete disagreement. I didn’t look into the author but it was obvious to me that there was at least one generation gap at work. I thought I’d write a short essay on my view of term. To agree or disagree with an opinion held by another individual or party isn’t the point. It’s how well you hold up your end of the bargain. Unless the argument is judged by a third party who knows more about the subject than the “combatants”, no clear “winner” can be established.
Harken back to the golden years of debate when high schools and colleges everywhere had debate teams (while “Debating” is still around, it isn’t the slice of Americana that it once was). The idea was to break a controversial subject into just two sides so it could more effectively be debated. During the era of the debate (the 50’s and 60’s), it wasn’t unusual to have your team’s side of the issue handed to you and, while that perspective may not be reflective of your own or that of your team, at least for the purposes of this one debate, that would be your “side” of the equation. The “game”, if you will, was based on your team’s ability to collectively learn the subject from a circumferential perspective and take the side as provided by the moderator and, say, a week later the two sides would line-up opposite from one another and, with questions carefully chosen beforehand by some team of experts, the gloves would come off and the starting bell would be rung. I’m not sure how the answers or even the questions themselves would be derived, but someone needed to come up with them.
Each team would form an opinion to a given question and be prepared to “argue” their point. In this context, “argument” isn’t a dirty word designed to evoke name-calling and belligerence on the part of either team, rather, every attempt was made to keep things straight-laced and aboveboard. An opinion was just that, nothing more or nothing less. I think in practice, a moderator or panel would decide which team presented the best case for their opinion based on logic, reasoning, and direct knowledge of the subject.
The moderator was truly there to function as a moderator and once one question was handled under the influence of a timer, each side would have had their allotted time and the moderator would provide a few seconds for the given team to provide its final analysis before calling time and moving on. If it was deemed that the “answer” was unsatisfactory, the team would lose a point. Demerits were passed out to any responder not acting in the best interest of his or her team or for not showing the venue appropriate respect in the same way judicial courtrooms were kept under control. Points were scored based on the quality and cohesiveness of the answers which formed the given opinion and a point would be given to the team. Each team would have a captain of the team’s choosing. If there was a stalemate over a given question, each captain would attempt to formulate a reply that was good enough for his team to be awarded the point. During the 1950’s and 60’s, debate teams were taken every bit as seriously as the schools’ football, basketball, or baseball teams. Though “debating” is obviously not an athletic endeavor, it was held in the same level of esteem.
I do not know precisely when there came a close to the debate era, but I surmise that it was some time in the early seventies. As the years went by, the term “argument ” began to take on a wholly negative perception. A “fight”, of sorts, and a “no holds barred” approach is typically used because “winning”, in the minds of the “competitors” is the only acceptable outcome. This is where things breakdown and, as such, there can be no clear winner. People invariably confuse belligerence with strategy. Ignorance begets belligerence, and belligerence begets violence. There was at one time a reason for the adage “for the sake of argument” and it was considered poor manners to debase, degrade, or otherwise attempt to disparage one’s opponent in the name of “winning” an argument.
Times have changed so much that I would say that we live in a dangerous world. When “arguing” a point with someone who begins to show indications of beligerence, you would do well by exiting the “conversation” unless you feel strongly enough about your opinion to defend it with your body and, potentially, your life. Look at road rage as an example. Often, words aren’t even exchanged but one or both parties were offended by what one or both of the contenders did while driving. If you feel your blood pressure begin to rise, begin to sweat profusely, and feel what can only be anger welling up within your person, you are being overwhelmed by your primal instinct to fight in lieu of taking flight and finding the next exit off the highway. Civilized thinking has gone out the window and both drivers, along with dozens of innocents, are at risk of major bodily harm unless one of the drivers takes the high road and makes that all-important decision to exit, stage right.
Many people in our society today are just one spark away from becoming a fury of fire and have narcissistic and sociopathic tendencies that make them dangerous to be around. Remember, at its roots a road rage incident on a highway is nothing more than an “argument” that has turned physically dangerous, where the cars themselves become the weapons and the driver’s, the aiming devices. A not-so-obvious solution to this burgeoning problem (which is a symptom of a society gone wrong), is to think-through precisely what you’re going to do in the likely event that this eventually happens to you. In this way, you’re preparing for the worst in the event that the worst ultimately happens.
There are opportunities for societal leadership that come at us every day. Perhaps after reading this short piece on argument and debate, you can choose to view it differently in the same way it was thought of in our not too distant past. In most cases, the only person available to judge how well you held up your end of the stick, is you. If you find yourself name-calling or trying to bully someone into agreeing with you, you’ve already lost. Just how long do you think Albert Einstein would listen to such gibberish before he writes you off as being an inconsequential member of the human race, never to give you a second thought.
A proud new member of my guitar family, I should be receiving this guitar by the end of the week. Over the weekend, I was comparing three top-tier guitars, one an alpine spruce and cocobolo example from Furch Guitars based in Czechoslovakia with a US base of operations in Nashville, and the other, a second Gallagher (based in Murfreesboro , Tennessee), the Josh Rinkel signature model. It was a tight comparison and not an easy lot to choose from. The video/sound clips as done by the Fretted Buffalo in Buffalo, New York, are some of the best in the business and are made for the express purpose of comparing various makes and models of guitar. It was in listening to the three videos that my decision was made. While the Furch Red Pure may be the most beautiful guitar I’ve ever seen, with an almost white alpine spruce top and a gorgeous, highly figured cocobolo back and sides, it didn’t have the horsepower under the hood of the SG-50 Gallagher. And, while the Josh Rinkel Gallagher with its Appalachian Red Spruce top (a close cousin to Adirondack Red Spruce) and exquisite dark tobacco burst finish looked and played beautifully, the sinker mahogany back and sides on the SG-50 pushed it over the top.
Gallagher SG-50 (Credit The Fretted Buffalo)
Furch Red Pure and Gallagher Josh Rinkel (Credit The Fretted Buffalo)
The link provides a more detailed account of the “shootout” between the three guitars and a gallery of gorgeous photographs of the SG-50.
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