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Only a
handful of ES Artists were made and this one is from '79/80.
As stomp boxes began to outperform the capabilities of the
onboard MOOG electronics on Gibson's Artist models , many ES
ARTISTS have been upgraded or modified.
This
instrument is entirely different - it is the
vision of Ted Gay, a blues guitarist on the US West Coast who wanted to design
his ultimate jazz guitar:
Ted
bought this ES Artist as a fully functioning guitar and sent
it to Dan Torres in California for a complete re-design of
the electrics.
http://torresengineering.com/famguitkit.html.
Dan gave
it his now revered Torres Hot humbuckers, and incorporated a
coil tap, series/parallel, phase reverse and his newly
created "Jazz Switch". This
adds an RF
filter to the output jack and attenuates the output for
mellower tone. I love the idea
of a Jazz Switch and it works. It is
subtle but it is really there. So Ted
finished up with an archtop that was pretty feedback-proof
(no f-holes) with mighty power and all the wiring
options that would give him every jazz colour he needed.
From Herb Ellis to John Schofield all in one guitar!
As a result,
the ES JAZZ MASTER CUSTOM is unique!!
I really love
this guitar and immediately sent it to Martyn Booth for a
fret -dress. As a result it plays
superbly.
The Vintage Sunburst nitro is all original and still
brilliant in colour with a deep lustrous finish all over. Choice woods have been used for this guitar the colour of
the neck and headstock are amazing - it looks almost like
tortoiseshell. The finished has aged yellow on the
binding and the inlays on the headstock are really
stunning. No weather checking or marks at
all. Overall the guitar looks stunning.
Unlike most Gibsons of this age, the gold is
in very good shape and the pickups are like new.
The
electronics are a masterpiece. Feedback is not an issue with
this model - good thing because those pickups are hot
- really hot!
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