1966 Gibson B-25 00-Size Guitar

This beat-up old Gibson B-25 did a long stint at Attica Prison in New York. It lived there for most of its life and was used in prison bands and was apparently swapped-around from player to player. Although some of its owners did not have the nicest history associated with them, the guitar itself clearly made good use of its time and sounds gorgeous, full, and played-in as a result.

Work included quite a bit -- it needed a neck reset, fret level/dress, lefty-fication, seam repairs, its pickguard reglued, holes patched, and all manner of other minor fixings. I also replaced its original plastic bridge and adjustable saddle with a new, '50s-style-cut, Madagascar rosewood bridge I whipped up for it. Because I wanted it to be on the easier side to swap-back to righty configuration if desired, I used a wider saddle slot and straight/non-compensated saddle. The saddle is wide-enough, however, that one needs only to compensate the top of it to get correct intonation so righty-fication would just need a replacement saddle.

There are all sorts of interesting things going on with the guitar. 5 of the bridge pins are original but 1 of them is a replacement aluminum one that was presumably cut in a machine-shop environment. It has been played so intensely that much of the soundhole is worn-away at the pickguard and there's so much wear around the pickguard (perhaps it was strummed with a metal pick?) that the top has almost been worn-through in several areas.

Post-repairs, it plays spot-on and is healthy and ready to go.