Hi Bill,
Your original 345 must be over 50 years old now. I know that in the early days of you owning it it for damaged and went back to Gibson for repairs, but I'm just wondering what it's had done in terms of mods, repairs etc. Is it pretty well all original and who do you trust to look after it? I guess with it being used for recording and touring it must have had a fairly hard life. Has it had to have repairs around the f-holes?
Thanks,
Roger
Thanks for the reply Bill. I was just interested because the guitar has so much history.
My 345 is still in excellent playable condition, though it has had changes and mods over it's long history, all of which tell a story that parallels my own life. As such, it's not exactly in 'original' condition, but then neither am I! I don't perform live very often these days so I don't take it out on the road, at least very, very rarely. But it's a beautiful instrument and has had a refinish in the '70s along with earlier repairs, all of which add to it's character. With its provenance it is worth a heck of a lot of money but will never be for sale as I'm bequeathing it to my son Elliot Nelson when my time comes to close the curtain on my life.
Thanks :)
I asked the question because a guitar like Bill's 345 and something like Phil Manzanera's Firebird VII have both been used extensively for gigging and recording over the years and I was wondering have extensive the maintenance work needs to be, such as refrets etc. By the way, the guitarist Neil Hubbard has had a 345 as his main guitar for many years.
You may have missed it but if you go to Bills wonderful world of guitars thread, 2nd page
scroll halfway down and he’s posted a recent photo of it with a description of everything he’s had done to it over the years😎
Yes, my mistake. Have corrected my post - thank you :)
Do you mean his original 345 that his father bought him?