Barney Kessel and his ES-350 and Fallout with Gibson

[voxss]

saw this and does anyone know the story.....That big sunburst Gibson ES-350 with the Charlie Christian pickup.. I see Barney playing that guitar almost exclusively, in every photo and video.. It seemed like his true signature jazz guitar. In later years the Gibson logo on the headstock is blacked-out, something to do with a falling out he had with the company, I believe..

[Greentone]

BK played the ES-350 (a '48 or '49) from the time it came out on the market onward. Very late in his career he played some on an Ibanez prototype for what may subsequently have become a BK model, but didn't. BK meanwhile lent his name to Kay in the 50s on a signature guitar that he never used and to Gibson on a signature guitar that he more or less never used, either.

Something (no public recriminations from either Kessel or Gibson ever hit the press) happened in the 60s, probably around the time that Norlin took over Gibson from CMI, that seems to have soured BK on Gibson Guitars. Around that time, BK obscured the name and headstock inlay on his already heavily modified ES-350. Prior to that time, you could clearly see both "Gibson" and the crown inlay on the headstock of his guitar--even if the fretboard was obviously more like that of an old, 50s ES-335 (albeit 25-1/2") and the pickup was one from his old ES-150. The knobs came from a radio.

Slaman makes a reproduction of this guitar, however without the dot neck:

[TH]

https://www.jazzguitar.be/forum/guita...ys-guitar.html

I guess the question is in the air a lot these days. I wonder what the story is.

David

[Greentone]

Jumping topics a bit...but only a bit (because my question is about a guy who played in the studios with Barney Kessel), I have always wondered how many hit records Glen Campbell cut as a member of the "Wrecking Crew" studio group of musicians while using his notorious Teisco T-60 guitar?


Rare and an early model by Teisco, the T-60 was a Fender/Gibson quality instrument that Campbell recorded and toured with in the 60s. I wonder how many people realize that a lot of the 60s hits feature a Teisco guitar?

[Greentone]

Recognize Tommy Tedesco in front of Campbell?

[entresz]

Barney did wield the Telecaster too;

[voxss]

great replies... thanks....clears that up...

[voxss]

from TruthHertz...thanks for this...Barney, like many of his contemporaries played Gibson guitars, the standard of the day. Though he did play several throughout his life, and he did believe in their workmanship and quality, he didn't get on with the company. They had him playing Gibsons, and even had one model built with his name on it. But it was far from what he wanted or specified and he had a major falling out over their supporting (or not) him as an endorsee.
He felt burned, their business relationship turned poisonous and though his instrument was obviously a Gibson, he refused to lend them any help in promoting the name and made it quite vocally known that he had nothing to do with Gibson aside from the instrument(s) he owned himself.

[Woody Sound]

More than the headstock inlays, I always wondered how the dot-neck happened.

[Greentone]

Me, too. I always thought it was pretty cool.

[vinlander]

Changed fretboard with dot inlays but also the fact there would have been 2 ES 350 with different CC placement:
earlier close to the neck


Later away from the neck

[jazzbow]

great replies... thanks....clears that up...

In a previous discussion we came to the conclusion he had two guitars and at least 3 different pickups (one of which was crudely modded).

Check it out hombre!

Barney Kessells guitar, any other musicians guitars being used

[Woody Sound]

Me, too. I always thought it was pretty cool.

I would really love to read (or hear) an interview with the person who DID the dot-neck switch(es). I'll bet it's quite a story.

[Greentone]

I always thought that the radius on the dot fretboard looked flatter, too.

[Woody Sound]

I always thought that the radius on the dot fretboard looked flatter, too.

+1

[customxke]

20 fret vs. 22 fret.

[helios]

Incidentally, the: "Wrecking Crew" documentary is well worth watching!
See trailer:

[jazzbow]

Incidentally, the: "Wrecking Crew" documentary is well worth watching!
See trailer:

Great documentary.

Check out Muscle Shoals too

[Robertkoa]

Recognize Tommy Tedesco in front of Campbell?

That's cool...
I wonder if one of these Guys played the Guitar part on Twilight Zone Series theme ?
Tedesco was ridiculously good at sight reading right ?

[Danny W.]

Allegedly HR & TT.

Danny W.

[Burrellesque]

[David B]

Burrellesque - Jimmy McGriff's great of course but the video's out of place in a Barney Kessel discussion!

[David B]

My friend Harry Sankey has a '60s L7 that someone in the past has modified in tribute to Barney's guitar - an ebony board and Charlie Christian pickup were added.

[Greentone]

Sankey has a cool guitar.

[Al_F]

Jimmy McGriff video is hip! Looks like Larry Frazier has a BK model plugged into a Marshall stack, really nice tone!