Gibson Everly Brothers "Jet Black" 1964

Gibson Everly Brothers "Jet Black" 1964

Spruce Top, Maple Back & Sides

Exceedingly Rare model, VG++ Condition

Black finish with dual Tortoise Pickguards, Star Inlays, Adjustable Bridge, Fine playing  with a professional neck reset, Some touchups on the body and guard, Fine sounding guitar! VG++, OHSC.

In the late 1950's The Everly Brothers were playing Gibson J-200's. "By far, the biggest stars of the Gibson roster, Don and Phil Everly had cut their teeth on Gibsons. Their father Ike had been a contemporary of Merle Travis and one of the first to use the thumb-and-finger picking style that came to be known by Travis's name. Don and Phil had played various Gibsons onstage from the beginning of their recording career in 1956. Their endorsement model was a flattop with an oversized bridge (designed by Ike), oversized double-pickguards, and stars on the fingerboard." (Walter Carter. Gibson Guitars 100 Years of an American Icon, p.235).

This super rare 'Jet Black' 16 1/4 inch-wide, 4 1/2 inch deep "Everly Brothers Flattop Guitar" weighs just 4.90 lbs. Laminated maple back and sides. Selected two-piece Spruce top with a multi-bound 4 inch diameter sound-hole. One-piece mahogany neck with a very comfortable nut width of just over 1 11/16 inches, a scale length of 24 3/4 inches and a really nice medium-thick neck profile. Individual Kluson Super 'waffle-back' tuners with tulip-shaped metal buttons. Rosewood fretboard with 20 medium jumbo frets, and inlaid pearl 'five-pointed star' position markers. The top and bottom of the guitar has three-ply binding, the sound-hole rings are in two groups of seven and three, and the fretboard is single-bound. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl 'five-pointed star' inlay. Black plastic truss-rod cover with white binding and with "EVERLY" engraved in white and secured by two screws. Serial number lightly impressed into the back of the headstock. Two elaborately shaped celluloid (tortoiseshell) pickguards which extend to below the bridge. Adjustable bone saddle on rosewood bridge with three pearl dots and the strings anchored through the bridge. The frets and the fretboard are in good condition. Inside the sound-hole is the orange oval Gibson label with the model "Everly Bros" stamped in black and the serial number written in black ink.

Only a relatively small number (488) of the Everly Brothers Model were made during its production run from 1962 to 1971. According to the Gibson records the individual yearly shipping numbers were as follows: 1962 - 2: 1963 - 148: 1964 - 69; 1965 - 41; 1966 - 22; 1967 - 8; 1968 - 48; 1969 - 51; 1970 - 60; and finally in 1971 - 39, making a grand total of 488 guitars.

The model was based on the great J-185 which had begun production in 1951 and finally been deleted from the Gibson line-up in 1959. The J-185 was an amazing jumbo guitar by Gibson. Though they didn't make a ton of them in the 1950s, it was truly a great guitar. The feel, size and sound was very punchy, but not as dry sounding as a J-200. Also the look of the bridge and maple back and sides was very impressive. The mahogany neck seemed to smooth out the maple, making the J-185 a better sounding guitar than the J-200. The  Gibson Everly Brothers upgraded the J-185 to another higher level both sonically and visually, a stunning guitar in every way.