Last year, Gibson invited the top Japanese dealers to Nashville to tour the factory, pick tops for their custom orders and have a nice time in general. As part of that tour, Gibson opened up the R+D Research and Development department and "cleaned house" of prototypes used for recent models. We're talking things like the Modern Supreme, Charlie Starr Junior, Firebird Platypus, Victory, Dealer Customs among many others! After selection, these notable guitars were exported to be sold in the Japanese market only. I imported a few back with the help of a friend!

I bought the 3 Charlie Starr Juniors that were available. The first turned out to be the one Charlie played in the demo. The second was the dark walnut one used for the B-roll shots... This particular Dark Walnut? I'm not exactly sure at this time. It is possible it was the one sitting on the stand next to Charlie in the shoot, but the video is too dark to match up any wood grain. It is safe to say by the R+D prototype sticker on the back of the headstock, this is a very early Charlie Starr Jr that was used somewhere for promo or designing purposes. The "Hey Ya'll" was factory-installed.

That said... MY GOODNESS! This is the most beautiful of the 3 prototypes with the chatoyant dancing of the mahogany body and even flame figuring in the neck! This is my favorite of the 3 prototypes and the best Charlie Starr Jr I've come across - even if the rest of its tale is currently unknown!

It does have some wear and tear. It looks like this sat on a non-nitro safe stand at some point and you can see a mild reaction along the edges and some edge wear. There are also some scratches on the back of the neck if you view it in extreme lighting (I provided multiple shots since you don't always see them.) The Y in ya'll has a small tear. There are various minor impressions when viewing in the light

Limited case candy was provided for this one. Please see the photos for what is included. No slide.