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Whooda thought!
Heritage Johhny Smith Archtop Electric Guitar | eBay
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01-19-2021 03:47 PM
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That poor, green JS is begging to be refinished.
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Not a bad price really depending on your preference. In person might be fine wood shows flame.
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Oh my.. it’s like really green..
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It reminds me of the green 6196 in Cadillac Green from Gretsch. I like it. If I had the disposable income, I might do that. Too bad I don't have the shekels.
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Lotta guys are color blind. Or leprechauns.
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I wonder if it was special ordered.
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Great price! IMO, it would look even better with gold hardware. I have no problem with trans-green finishes, especially on beautiful archtops.
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Needs an abalone rose on the guard.?
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That is the thing isn't it .. That green and black combo is a bit meh ..
Originally Posted by Hammertone
Reminds me of something like this
Green and gold is cool
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It isn't easy being green!
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It does start to grow on you, doesn't it?
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I thought before I clicked on the link that it was a blue HJS that evolved into green over the years. This one looks like it started green.
There was a blue HJS that was damaged by someone pulling on the cable while it was plugged in. That pulled a chunk of the rim out. It was repaired but left a scar. Perhaps the listed guitar is the same one with a green refinish. I don't know.
The seller is new to eBay. The only item sold previously was unrelated to musical instruments.
Having said all of that, I do really like the usual HJS guitar. Green is an odd choice for a finish and may not be the original. It was not one that Johnny initially approved of.
If I lived near the seller I'd consider a look.
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I prefer the black hardware, nice and subtle. The gold on green looks garish to me. Originally Posted by Lobomov
That is the thing isn't it .. That green and black combo is a bit meh ..
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Green takes a little while to get used to in a traditional style archtop. Somehow blue and red don't seem as shocking.
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Just checking: did Buck Owens ever have a signature Heritage?
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Mark I take that red one anyday! Originally Posted by Marty Grass
Green takes a little while to get used to in a traditional style archtop. Somehow blue and red don't seem as shocking.
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Over time the red one will become faded red. That is not bad at all. The blue will turn green. I've watched that happen with another archtop. I don't know what a green guitar becomes, yellow green I suppose. Originally Posted by deacon Mark
I know the guy with the red one. He takes very good care of it.
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That Red one is a sweetie.
But you are right about the Blue Guitar. I probably will turn Green. But not THAT green..
My Blue Ovation started out looking like this and then it morphed into the 2nd picture...
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Oh my, do all blue archtops eventually turn green?! Is there a way to prevent that from occurring?
I love my blue-burst 2007 H-575 Custom and do not want this prince to turn into a frog!
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Chinery Blue Guitars have all taken on a greenish appearance for sure. I think some are now green. Would be interesting to know. Nitro finish would change color, but not one done in acrylic lacquer. Bill Barker starting using a thinner acrylic based lacquer in his later guitars. One of my Barker has this from 1979. It is a brown beautiful sunburst. The cool thing is the binding is still completely white and basically the finish is way more stable than nitro. This guitar looks like the day is was buffed out really.
I will also add for those thinking acrylic lacquer is not as good for sound, is completely wrong. Done correct it is as good as Nitro. My Barker is warm and open and more responsive in some sense than my older Barker from 1965 done in nitro. Barker was using a special mix he got that really changed his finishing procedures. That said if I was making a guitar I would use Nitro.
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Kinda reminds me of the old Jolly Green Giant. But in the words of that great philosopher, Kermit the Frog: "Its not easy being green."
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Harder than it looks to do something a little different. The simplest fix for all the heritages pictured would be to swap out the pickguard. Tort makes the most sense. You need some kind of visual contrast here, especially when doing something fancy on spruce.
Caddy green gretsches absolutely and gloriously get this right. Not in love with gold everything, but it works on the country club. Not in love with black everything, but it doesn't exactly not work on the heritage.
And Max's ovation looks a million times better in green.
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Make offer option also.
Originally Posted by deacon Mark
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HT I am "green" with envy!
Originally Posted by Hammertone
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Free shipping too!!!!
Originally Posted by Wildcat
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Roseboro North Carolina
Originally Posted by Marty Grass
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Asked the seller for a photo of the back of the head. Serial number M00102. "M" would be 1996. Great time period.
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A quick refinish and some gold:
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I bought the green beast.
The owner is a long time friend of Vince Lewis, who helped him get this guitar in 2006. If Vince thought it's a good build, then it's a good build.
I once owned the non-cutaway Heritage Golden Eagle in black. That is a stunningly beautiful guitar in person but hard to keep clean looking, for those who sweat those details. I may refinish the Heritage Johnny Smith in black with gold hardware. It will still be a Johnny Smith but not green.
There are a few dings and small scratches plus two strap pins at the neck joint. All of that would disappear. Further, the Johnny Smith doesn't have a fretboard tongue like the L-5. That makes it much easier to get the original finish off. The back of the headstock is black already, so the serial number would stay original.
The wood figuring is okay but not breathtaking AFAICT. If and when the green stripped we can judge whether going natural is a better choice.
The green finish was definitely ordered by the customer that way. Maybe it was after a long morning in a pub on St. Patty's day. Maybe after a few days, green starts to look great.
I recently sold a few instruments. Now it's time for a new adventure.
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Congrats on the purchase ! Can’t wait to see what you do with it. Keep us posted.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Here is a pic of Vince Lewis playing it. The color doesn't seem as important when it's in the hands of a master.
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Here's Vince playing in a barn near my house a few years ago with a few guys backing him up. They are all playing on the fly.
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It's your guitar now, to do with as you with. If it was my guitar: Originally Posted by Marty Grass
-I'd start by swapping in gold hardware - the existing finish might look great with gold.
-If not, I'd consider refinishing just the top in black, leaving the rims and back green.
Anyway - congrats! If I was in the market, I would have grabbed this one in a heartbeat.Last edited by Hammertone; 01-23-2021 at 06:00 PM.
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Congratulations, Mark. We need another thread on the refin.
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My Green New Deal.
I have previously bought odd colored instruments. After I had them a while they became more interesting and attractive. The black Golden Eagle and blue Super Eagle are examples. The American Eagle is another. The red L-5c is yet another. My ES-345 is the recent one.
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In the lighting of this photograph the green looks great to me. It has grown on me quite a bit along with the black hardware. If it was mine, I would keep as is.
Originally Posted by Marty Grass
Here is a pic of Vince Lewis playing it. The color doesn't seem as important when it's in the hands of a master.
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I just saw my luthier, who has been around the block a lot. I mentioned the green Heritage and that it was an odd color for an archtop. He has seen some in his career and felt the deeper emerald green color is very attractive in person. He added that the archtop Bob Benedetto built for his daughter is that color.
I found some Benedettos, Triggs and a Gibson Byrdland in that finish. They look okay.
Unretouched photos of Johnny himself showing his color preference.
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Here's Michael Greenfield's Montreux in green - one of the first green archtops, I think:
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Mark Campellone has done a few as well. Here's one from 2015:
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2003 Triggs Blue Diamond (I don't think it was ever blue):
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I think Emerald Green is gorgeous.
Last edited by Hammertone; 01-25-2021 at 01:57 AM.
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Color-blind jokes aside, it actually is quite wickedly cool. Very distinctive. Some guitars are just born to be green.
Congrats on the purchase! Play it long and play it well!
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Steve Holst has gotten in on the Green Deal as well.
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Yeah it’s a doggone nice score Marty
Hammer those other guitars are all tasty
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+1 Deep emerald green
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Agree. Originally Posted by Wildcat
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My Prospect is that color, I think it looks great with black hardware...
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