Ventura Barney Kessel 1960s-'70s / One Flashy Jazzbox

Here is a wonderful example of a Ventura V-1400 Barney Kessel, a faithful copy of the Gibson Barney Kessel jazz guitar, made by Matsumoku for the C. Bruno and Son musical instrument distributors.  It is in Excellent condition and dates from somewhere between the late-1960s and mid-1970s.  This was Matsomoku’s top end jazz box and is a very well crafted instrument.  The pickups present as humbuckers but are actually single coils.  They have a clean, warm tone, ideal for jazz lines, but more than up to the task of playing rock and roll. 

From what we can see, everything about this guitar is stock (we did replace the switch tip) and in great shape. It came into the shop in good working order, but in need of a set-up. We cleaned the electronics, fitted the bridge properly to the top, leveled and crowned the frets, lubricated the tuners, lowered the action and set the intonation. The guitar, as you’ll see in the photos, is very clean, with only a few minor blemishes, but does have some normal loss of gold plating to the pickup covers, trapeze tailpiece and tuners.

Here are the important Specs:

Scale: 24 3/4”

Top, Back and Sides: Laminate Maple

Neck: 3 Piece Maple

Fretboard: Rosewood

Adjustable Bridge

Trapeze Tailpiece

Closed Back Tuners

Pickups: Stock Single Coils inside a humbucker sized casing

Independent Volume and Tone Controls

3 Position Pickup Selector Switch

Lower Bout:  16 3/4”

Upper Bout:  12 1/4”

Body Depth: 2 3/4”

Nut Width:  1 9/16”

String Spacing at Bridge: 2”

Action at 12th Fret: Low E 5/64”, High E 1/16”

This eye-catching electric will sound great through a nice tube amp, smooth and clean for jazz, or a edgier with a hint of overdrive.  The Ventura Barney Kessel model has been played by Jim James of My Morning Jacket, John Britt Daniel of Spoon and Elliot Easton of The Cars.

It comes in an Ess & Ess case on which four of the five latches are working.  The one that doesn’t (and frankly, seems beyond repair) is the lock.  The case is considerably more worn than the guitar, and while old, is probably not original.

Be sure to check out the photos closely and zoom in for detail; we’ve tried to capture this sweet guitar from every angle.

This Ventura Barney Kessel is sold AS IS and is not returnable unless it arrives in a condition other than as described or photographed, here.

Price: $995.00 plus $145 shipping (Lower 48 USA, only)