Spontaneous Damage? What Happened to my Vintage Guitar?!

[@viperBSG]

these kind of guitars are where you get to be a good player. nothing to play with just plug and play. great sounding a wonderful story. thank you for sharing.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

And thank you so much for watching.

[@carlomaletti4284]

Grand old lady. Almost as vintage as me. Your slow blues bit at +/- 7 minutes reminds me of Mike Bloomfield

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thank you my friend. Appreciated.

[@mortonwilson795]

Lovely guitar, lovely backstory! Glad it's still working for you! I have a great 1978 Yairi Nylon String that someone managed to put their foot thru back in the '80s but a local NZ luthier managed to patch it up for me - virtually invisible fix. It still records beautifully, incredibly rich harmonics . . . like a Steinway or Bosendorfer with the sustain pedal held down! 😀

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Very nice. It’s been decades and it still amazes me what good luthiers can accomplish. Thanks so much for watching.

[@JCM467]

Thanks for sharing this story with us Leonard. Your touch is still on the top. 🎉

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thank you my friend.

[@JCM467]

@@leonardgriffieblues5845 Will you make a play test on a Gibson Les Paul Standard 60's one day ? 🥰

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

I did exactly that about four months ago: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bnO9g6yioMuYfsksi=KIbx-cix-ADBM7D1

[@JCM467]

@@leonardgriffieblues5845 I'm sorry. Thank you Leonard 🙂

[@darlacurrey-colter3844]

i love your conclusion

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

@@darlacurrey-colter3844 Thank you my friend, and thanks for watching.

[@Old_Geezer]

I think it's aged beautifully......as has your your attitude regarding the 'little things'. Oh, and it also sounds great in your hands.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks so much.

[@johnwalsh3919]

Beautiful guitar Leonard, for what it’s worth I think it looks better without the pick guard, I have an old epiphone arch top acoustic and I took the pickguard off , but I do understand that yours has a sentimental value, keep thinking of it as another part of the guitar’s story, take care ✌️🎸🧷

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thank you so much my friend.

[@paultownsend6043]

That's one sweet sounding guitar.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

It is nice. Thanks so much for watching.

[@LivioC]

Beautiful guitar

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks so much.

[@ew6629]

Great story and it still sounds fantastic!

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks. Yeah, it’s a nice one.

[@JTB--]

Nice One Leonard! Happy 4th 🍻

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

And a happy 4th to you my friend.

[@philnewton2011]

Damn! What a touching story -- and great tone!

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks. I’d use it live if I was playing nothing but old school, traditional blues.

[@nellayema2455]

Beautiful guitar!

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks.

[@guitarzan0515]

That sneaky Allison😱 Those girls can really sneak things up on us when we don’t expect it!! Love that great playing!! Dare I say Jazzy??🤔 Great guitar !!!

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks my man.

[@SONOMA_VALLEY_TOM]

I think the guitar looks better without a pick guard. Your guitar was born the same year as me. Would you like to hear a long story about all the stuff that's gone to crapola with my body?

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Probably similar to mine! Take care my friend.

[@327gasser]

Nice old Zephyr and a great story. I had identical model for twenty some years. For some time it was my only guitar. Eventually I went in a different direction and sold it though. One thing about it I never understood was the tone circuit. It didn’t use a cap as one would expect but had stacked pots and an iron coil resistor. As far as I know it was original. It had a serial number of 602xx Any insight into the tone circuit would be awesome Thanks

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

I believe you’re right, but those pots are long gone. It’s been a couple decades or so but I seem to recall the pots were going bad when the pickup died. At first my Luther replaced the pots with a conventional arrangement and the pickup with a 70s Gibson mini humbucker. It sounded nice but ultimately I wanted it to look original so I had the custom pickup built into the old housing, which I was glad I’d kept. This pickup suits the guitar really well. I told Pete what I was after and he describes it as a cross between a Charlie Christian and a gold foil.

[@327gasser]

it does sound sweet for sure Thanks Leonard.

[@michaelschneider7590]

Poignant story - plays great though!

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Yes, it plays wonderfully. Thanks.

[@furtherdefinitions1]

That NY pickup has a great snap to its tone and yet sounds full

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

It does sound nice, but remember, it's not the original NY pickup, but a custom pickup built into the NY pickup housing. Thanks.

[@PhillipHolt-f9r]

I have a bigsby with whammy bar and tail piece my 339 pro but I never installed because I felt like it may deface my beautiful red guitar.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Well, I’d say, unless you like the look with the Bigsby, and more importantly, need a Bigsby, then you’ve made a wise choice.

[@stevehrrn9445]

Hi. Have a mid 60s Broadway with a similar c/v neck (its old headstock shape so probably sat in the Gibson takeover for a few years) and New York pick ups. Is the replacement p/u a New York copy - sounds really good and deep!!!! Nice plaking.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Yes, Gibson used up all the New York parts before making their own. I’m a little surprised to hear of them in the mid 60s since I thought they’d pretty much exhausted the old stock by about 62, but the history’s pretty murky from back then. Thanks so much for watching.

[@douglasstack3939]

Great sounding guitar ! Does it have a floating bridge ?

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

It does. Thanks so much for watching.

[@standingbadger]

Your comment about relicing of new instruments made me laugh. Beautiful instrument and gorgeous sound.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks so much. Glad you got a chuckle. 😊

[@denembro]

What a great sound. Are you using your Tonemaster?.

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thank you, I am.

[@To.Si.Ma.]

Epiphone did some cool guitars. What do you think about the recent 150th anniversary Zephyr?

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Haven’t gotten that one in my hands. The general consensus seems to be it’s a nice guitar, which I would expect since I own the 150th Sheraton. That said, I’d expect a very different experience to an original.

[@iamanovercomer3253]

Nice wife ❗ Great playing 🎸🎵🎶👍 I don't understand why someone wants to pay extra for a " relic " worn guitar ‼️ I'm buying a new guitar, I want it looking and feeling new and I will make it relic myself ‼️ It's like buying a new car, are you going to buy a brand new car off the lot , with bald tires , dents on it for extra money ⁉️🤣😂

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

That’s pretty much where I am. The fact is, it can be made with a worn in feel without looking beat up, which seems the best of both worlds. Thanks for watching.

[@stewarttomkinson3356]

Wow, that’s really old

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Hey, I resemble that remark! LOL Thanks for watching.

[@stewarttomkinson3356]

@@leonardgriffieblues5845 I’m 66 so I’m old too

[@aminahmed2220]

Absolutely fantastic have a wonderful day also happy independence day to the United states ❤😊

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Thanks so much my friend.

[@stewarttomkinson3356]

Ooooo

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Yaaaa 😊

[@furtherdefinitions1]

The guitar is the same age as me

[@leonardgriffieblues5845]

Hey, I resemble that remark! Thanks for watching.