1956 Gibson 350T

[Mikey Likes It]

This guitar belonged to Danny Gatton (see the Austin City Limits show - Sun Medley). He got it when he was 9 years old. He had put a new tortoise pickguard on it sometime between the '92 ACL set and '94 when he left us. Well, the tortoise guard is nitrocellulose and gassed off in the case all these years, corroding the hardware and even "melting" the cover of the front pickup. Landed on my bench for a cleanup.

 

[Mikey Likes It]

 

[SciFlyer]

Wow, that's nuts!

 

[zztomato]

Keep us informed on the progress on this piece of guitar history. Very cool indeed.

 

[Mikey Likes It]

My ipod has 17,000 tracks and I keep it on "shuffle". The moment I laid the guitar on the bench, the ipod launched into a Gatton track. Hairs on my neck stood up.

 

[TwoToneGreen]

That's extraordinary. What a wonderful looking guitar though.

 

[Bob Pollock]

Too bad about the damage. I'd love to see pics of your restoration! RIP Danny.

 

[Mikey Likes It]

It is a very cautious approach, a toothbrush and a dilute vinegar solution did this:

The pointers for the knobs were all green as well, so I cleaned them as well. Note Danny's "fix" for a loose knob:

With regard to the gold hardware, once you have corrosion, the plating is history. Danny's daughter Holly had this appraised by George Gruhn. I am advising her to consult with him if she is considering re-plating any of it.

 

[AdmiralB]

Did Gibson ever use gold-plated fingerslicers? I've never seen any, at least not on vintage instruments.

 

[twoheadedboy]

So cool! Thanks for posting this.

 

[Flogger59]

Wired ABR1. Not original.

 

[Babaji]

...Pick guard off gassing is really destructive...Pick guards turn into Bacon strips, metal parts corrode, frets get pitted, and gold evaporates! If you own a 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's, 70's guitar with a nitrocellulose pick guard, check on them regularly, open the cases, or remove the pick guard and put it where it won't off gas in a closed space. The worst damage that I've seen was on a 1980's Ibanez Joe Pass. The pick guard adjustment screw (as above) was like green velvet! Danny probably put the no-wire ABR-1 on one of his LP's, or just wore it out! Cool guitar!
Bill

 

[Mikey Likes It]

Danny was a tweaker. He tweaked all of his guitars. Any changes to this were done by him. I've not seen plated finger-slicers on a Gibson.

 

[stevieboy]

Wired ABR1. Not original.

Though anything Danny did has to more desireable than the original, for a collector or a. DG fan. With the exception of the gassing guard!

I saw an early Ibanez George Benson that had this type of damage. It looked like a hazardous waste site.

 

[Mikey Likes It]

Cleaned up...

I held a vacuum attachment along the pole pieces whn I brushed the oxide off them - pretty nervous about shorting out one of the pickups.

Frets polished and a new set of flatwounds...

Wear on the bridge pickup cover from Danny's pick:

 

[Mikey Likes It]

 

[buddyboy]

I believe you hear this very guitar on this mind-blowing track. Danny sounds amazing playing it. FF to 4:14, unless you're in an Evan Johns mood

 

[Jim Fisher]

That is very cool!! Many, many years ago I had an '57 ES-350T, first year it had PAF humbuckers and in sunburst. They used to call them the poor man's Byrdland. Sounded great but had a very short 23-1/2" scale and was tough for me to play. I seem to remember paying about $150 for it....

Not mine!

 

[nl128]

Wow very cool

Best of luck with everything

 

[HoboMan]

Amazing cleanup job!