Another '58 Gibson replica guitar thread

Shuie · 07:49 PM

I wont ask you guys to guess this one since its fairly obscure. Honestly, it took me a while to find one of these

Anyone ever heard of a '58 Gibson Futura? How about a '58 Moderne? Im guessing most of you have not. And for good reason. Although they own the patents for the design, there is a lot of speculation that neither guitar was ever built by Gibson.

I have a buddy that swears he knows a guy in Texas that owns a Futura. There have been various claims about original Moderne's from collectors as well as Billy F. Gibbons, but to date, AFAIK, no reported '58 Futura or a '58 Moderne has ever been authenticated or seen in person. The only evidence that either these guitars ever existed even conceptually is in the US patent drawings that Gibson submitted in 1957 before the NAMM show where the now legendary '58 Flying V and Explorer were first seen.

Im a huge fan of the replica '58 Gibson guitars because the real ones are unobtainable. Gibson's shipping records indicate that less that (50) Explorers and less than (100) Flying V's were ever built. If they exist, the Futura and the Moderne are the rarest of the rare '58 Gibson guitars.

In the late '90's a Japanese company named Bacchus deservedly earned a reputation for manufacturing the most accurate copies of the '50s Gibson guitars that can be bought. Its hard to copy something accurately when a template doesn't exist and the real thing has never been authenticated or even seen in person, but Bacchus decided to copy the Futura anyway.

I've owned a lot of the Japanese clones, and the Bacchus guitars I've had were really good. Here are some pics of my latest Japanese '58 Gibson clone, a Bacchus Futura.

...and here's an '80s Gibson reissue of the other 'guitar that never was', the Moderne.

Sonic dB · Sonic dB's Garage

great stuff, how many guitars do you own shuie?

rouxroux · 10-14-2006, 06:34 AM

Shuie, have you ever run across Kenny Gill there in BTR? He could show you some "rare" ones, and he's a pretty well-respected jazzer in my book. As laid-back as my "paisley pickin' buddy" here in SHV. We'll have to get together next time I'm down there.

Shuie · 10-14-2006, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sonic dB
great stuff, how many guitars do you own shuie?

Honestly, not many. I've got a couple of good pieces that I have yet to replace, but almost any guitar I buy gets sold or horse traded quickly whenever I find a better one. Im not old enough to have ever had a chance at any real true vintage pieces and the newer guitars just don't seem to hold my attention for very long.

All that aside, Im a total geek for the '58 odd shaped Gibson Limba guitars. The Yellow reissue Moderne pictured above was never mine, but I figured I should post a pic of one since it deserves being mentioned whenever a Futura is.

Shuie · 10-14-2006, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by rouxroux
Shuie, have you ever run across Kenny Gill there in BTR? He could show you some "rare" ones, and he's a pretty well-respected jazzer in my book. As laid-back as my "paisley pickin' buddy" here in SHV. We'll have to get together next time I'm down there.

Holler at me next time you are in BR. Im on the road with work most of the time, but Im always up to talk guitars or cars. I only know a few people in the music scene here, mostly the guys that hang out in the Komet shop. I don't think I know or have met Kenny.

rouxroux · 10-14-2006, 10:57 AM

Kenny is a great studio player. He owned a guitar shop in BTR up until the '80's, if memory serves me well. He then opened a broadcast/recording tech school, but I've lost touch with him the past few years. I'll be playing down your way before the end of the year, maybe I can look you up while down there.