The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Wow ... just wow.

    DB


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  3. #2

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    Tell us more!

  4. #3

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    Wow, DB! That's a "Bucket List" experience.

  5. #4

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    Talk about a cliff hanger.

  6. #5

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    I want to hear the story of this one! Would this be the guitar on the cover of Full House?

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by DB's Jazz Guitar Blog
    Wow ... just wow.

    DB

    Man, you can't drop Wes' name, play HIS axe (very nicely, by the way) and not give us the back story.
    Details! We need details...Please.

  8. #7

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    That was cool.
    And, I've never seen somebody so HAPPY playing a guitar in my life!
    Great playing and thanks for sharing that.
    Joe D

  9. #8

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    Thanks for sharing this with us, DB. Look forward to hearing the story behind this. The Mystery of Wes Montgomery's Blonde Gibson L-5

  10. #9

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    this?

    The Mystery of Wes Montgomery's Blonde Gibson L-5-maxresdefault-jpg

    cheers

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark M.
    I want to hear the story of this one! Would this be the guitar on the cover of Full House?
    Yes. According to the owner this is the guitar on the cover.

    DB

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gitfiddler
    Man, you can't drop Wes' name, play HIS axe (very nicely, by the way) and not give us the back story.
    Details! We need details...Please.
    Apparently the owner has an article on this particular guitar that he has promised to send me. I'll hope to do a Blog entry later for a full story on the guitar.

    DB

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by neatomic
    this?

    The Mystery of Wes Montgomery's Blonde Gibson L-5-maxresdefault-jpg

    cheers
    Yes, and these two, according to the owner.

    DB

    The Mystery of Wes Montgomery's Blonde Gibson L-5-wes-friends-pic-jpgThe Mystery of Wes Montgomery's Blonde Gibson L-5-71fwt1jj20l-_sx425_-jpg

  14. #13

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    I believe Wes had six L-5's in about a 10 yr span.
    1) 50s sunburst w/Alnico pu's
    2) late 50s sunburst twin humbucker Venetian cutaway
    3) the blonde '60 Venetian cutaway that DB played in clip.
    4) early 60s sunburst florentine cutaway that Benson bought, I believe Metheny owns it now
    5) mid 60s sunburst single pu venetian cutaway w/his name inlaid in pearl next to the guard, was on display in children's museum in Indianapolis
    6) mid 60s sunburst single pu venetian cutaway w/heart inlay next to guard (this is the one that was in a house fire and restored by Gibson, sold through Mandolin Bros.)

    Looking forward to DBs info about the '60 he played, and yes the look on his face is priceless

  15. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    I believe Wes had six L-5's in about a 10 yr span.
    1) 50s sunburst w/Alnico pu's
    2) late 50s sunburst twin humbucker Venetian cutaway
    3) the blonde '60 Venetian cutaway that DB played in clip.
    4) early 60s sunburst florentine cutaway that Benson bought, I believe Metheny owns it now
    5) mid 60s sunburst single pu venetian cutaway w/his name inlaid in pearl next to the guard, was on display in children's museum in Indianapolis
    6) mid 60s sunburst single pu venetian cutaway w/heart inlay next to guard (this is the one that was in a house fire and restored by Gibson, sold through Mandolin Bros.)

    Looking forward to DBs info about the '60 he played, and yes the look on his face is priceless
    I have seen a picture of Wes playing an L-5C with a Dearmond (page 242 of Summerfield's book "The Jazz Guitar" 4th edition). I wonder if Wes owned one of those as well?

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by Stringswinger
    I have seen a picture of Wes playing an L-5C with a Dearmond (page 242 of Summerfield's book "The Jazz Guitar" 4th edition). I wonder if Wes owned one of those as well?
    iirc, that belonged to Ike Isaacs, Wes had dinner at his home when he was on tour.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    iirc, that belonged to Ike Isaacs, Wes had dinner at his home when he was on tour.
    It might have been Cedric West's ,he had one and I did have a pic of him with Wes in Cedric's house
    Ike Isaacs and Cedric were very good friends and I had the good fortune to meet Ike several times.
    A fantastic player and an absolute gentleman ( he taught Martin Taylor originally )

  18. #17

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    Guys, have a look at the pattern of the tortoise pickguard on both the album cover of "Wes and Friends" (left) and the guitar as I photographed it (right) and tell me what you see.

    DB

    The Mystery of Wes Montgomery's Blonde Gibson L-5-wes-l5-jpg

  19. #18

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    Looks like somebody stole Wes' pickguard?

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by TOMMO
    Looks like somebody stole Wes' pickguard?
    that's a good one, I just wanted to post that the pickguard is definitely the same, so we have proof, but you made me uncertain about this...

  21. #20

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    I definitely believe this is the guitar in question, but I am still very interested in the provenance.

  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by DB's Jazz Guitar Blog
    Guys, have a look at the pattern of the tortoise pickguard on both the album cover of "Wes and Friends" (left) and the guitar as I photographed it (right) and tell me what you see.

    DB

    The Mystery of Wes Montgomery's Blonde Gibson L-5-wes-l5-jpg
    Unless photo exposure or color balance is involved, I'm noticing (a) how the guitar's finish aged and darkened over time and (b) the pickguard seems to have out-gassed and corroded the pickup covers a bit. But to me the pick guards look identical.

  23. #22

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    That's definitely the pickguard...I'd bet money that's THE guitar too.

    Dang, that's cool.

  24. #23

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    My photo interpretation leads me to the same conclusion as Lawson and Jeff. BINGO! It's a match.

    Again, what a bucket list experience, DB.

  25. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by Greentone
    My photo interpretation leads me to the same conclusion as Lawson and Jeff. BINGO! It's a match.

    Again, what a bucket list experience, DB.
    Yeah cool huh. But there's a downside to it. I actually went to the owner to check out a 2007 L5 but after playing the 1960 Wes I lost interest. It blew away the 2007 so hard that I only had eyes for the Wes guitar.

    DB

  26. #25

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    I wonder if this guitar would help my problem. I am a pick and fingerstyle player and when I need speed I have to go to the pick. I cannot use my thumb as for downstroke picking because it feels weird and I would need to cut my thumb nail all the way down. I am I the only person with this issue? I am pretty sure that is the case. To solve the problem someone ship me the guitar and I will try it out for a month.

    Seriously DB this is cool and I would liketo hear you play this in your own studio set up. To play a guitar like this is a treat and sure makes for some reflective thoughts about the past. Normally who owned a guitar and celebrity status means zero to me but in this case it is a complete exception. I always get a kick out of the celebrity status guitars as most overblown for sure. In this case a true jazz giant and his guitar, this beats them all. I even got to play Johnny Smith D'angelico New Yorker too, but of course he was alive and well at the time and handed it to me to play. I have a real feeling that Wes was a pretty humble man even though he knew he played well.