The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Of the many Archtop's I've owned, one that unexpectedly stood out, was the Epiphone Elitist 'Country Gent'. So much so I had two of them!

    I've played a few Gibson versions and they seemed to vary in spec, design and weight. I can't say I prefer them to the Epiphone Elitist's but when this popped up, I had to have it.

    The condition is very good. The headstock is almost flawless. The neck is itself flawless. The back is unmarked and the tuners are in excellent condition. There is a slight mark to the top and to the side but otherwise it's been very well looked after.

    Comes with case candy too!

    What I enjoy about this model, is the spacing between the strings. Your fingers feel like they have space to breath, which makes for a nice change.
    It's also a very handsome guitar and I believe the only semi hollow, L5 style, Gibson made

    1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-1-1-jpeg1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-1-2-jpeg1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-1-3-jpeg1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-1-4-jpeg1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-1-5-jpeg1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-1-6-jpeg1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-1-7-jpeg1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-1-8-jpeg

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-1-9-jpeg

  4. #3

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    I love the 1 3/4" nut width on these.

  5. #4

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    Very nice!

  6. #5

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    Beautiful guitar! Congratulations, and play it in good health!

    I had the Epiphone version of this, sans Bigsby, given to me by a friend in retaliation for giving him an ES-175 for his birthday. As our friend Hammertone observed, the 1 3/4" neck is really nice. Enjoy!

  7. #6

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    All of the ones I ever played were not light. What does it weigh?
    I had a 16" Gibson Chet Atkins Tennessean for while - same neck size:
    Attached Images Attached Images 1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-gib-chet-atkins-tennessean-92-1-jpeg 

  8. #7

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    ^
    That's a goofy looking Venetian cutaway

  9. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    ^
    That's a goofy looking Venetian cutaway
    Yeah, ugly cutaway, ugly pickguard, tacky glued-on "armrest." But, the 1 3/4" nut and big neck were great.

  10. #9

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    AaH! So you bought the CG at Guitar Showrooms! I'd been watching it for a while, I used to have one and like you, love the 1 3/4" neck. Sadly now 17" wide body is too big for me now. I wondered whether the smaller bodied Tennessean might work better for me, but can't get my head around the hideous cutaway. Apparently it was designed by Paul Yandell, based on one cutaway of a three three five.
    How is your guitar design/build project going?

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by bananafist
    AaH! So you bought the CG at Guitar Showrooms! I'd been watching it for a while, I used to have one and like you, love the 1 3/4" neck. Sadly now 17" wide body is too big for me now. I wondered whether the smaller bodied Tennessean might work better for me, but can't get my head around the hideous cutaway. Apparently it was designed by Paul Yandell, based on one cutaway of a three three five.
    How is your guitar design/build project going?
    Hey Bananafist

    Nice to hear from you.

    I am not aware of this CG being at Guitar Showrooms. I bought it of a Welshman who in turn swapped it for some audio gear. The original owner had it for over a decade. That is unless I've misunderstood you?

    The Guitar design/build project is going well. Daunting but fun.

    I've just finished clearing out the workshop and it's finally taking shape. Here's some picks from today!

    1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-1-1-jpeg1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-1-2-jpeg1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-1-3-jpeg1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-1-4-jpeg1989 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gent-1-5-jpeg

  12. #11

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    Gibson Gretch. Cool.

  13. #12

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    My mistake, they had one very similar with the red position markers at the Gtr Showroom which sold just before Christmas.

    Your build area looks great, look forward to seeing some projects in due course.

    As you can see, I'm now exiled to Cornwall, almost no gtr shops, no decent venues and lots of sea shanties in local pubs......

  14. #13

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    Lookin good there, both the guitar AND the workshop.

  15. #14

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    Minty Chet ! Nice

  16. #15

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    hard to take a guitar that doesn't have painted on f holes seriously

    do these have a center block? i do recall that being the defining characteristic of the gibson chet era. and some had weird little cranky tuners (which this appears to have). would love to hear some sounds if such a thing is possible.

    i very very briefly took an unplugged plink on the epiphone elitist version right after the line was axed and thought it was cool, but i didn't really get it yet. i did notice the extra nut width. i'd love to take another crack at one, now that i know what it is and how to appreciate it better, but i'd probably prefer a hollow one, like the g6122-1959. but you could crank up your stack in a stadium with one of these, so that's worth considering as well. i remember a center block being the sticking point and possibly wedge between chet and gretsch. funny how times change.

  17. #16

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    That looks like a guitar I'd like to play.

  18. #17

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    The walnut stain looks perfect on this guitar. I really dig it. Enjoy.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by feet
    hard to take a guitar that doesn't have painted on f holes seriously

    do these have a center block? i do recall that being the defining characteristic of the gibson chet era. and some had weird little cranky tuners (which this appears to have). would love to hear some sounds if such a thing is possible.

    i very very briefly took an unplugged plink on the epiphone elitist version right after the line was axed and thought it was cool, but i didn't really get it yet. i did notice the extra nut width. i'd love to take another crack at one, now that i know what it is and how to appreciate it better, but i'd probably prefer a hollow one, like the g6122-1959. but you could crank up your stack in a stadium with one of these, so that's worth considering as well. i remember a center block being the sticking point and possibly wedge between chet and gretsch. funny how times change.
    I'm very interested in building a fully hollow tribute to this guitar.

    It does have a centre block. It is essentially an ES-335 in the shape of an L5.

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by bananafist
    My mistake, they had one very similar with the red position markers at the Gtr Showroom which sold just before Christmas.

    Your build area looks great, look forward to seeing some projects in due course.

    As you can see, I'm now exiled to Cornwall, almost no gtr shops, no decent venues and lots of sea shanties in local pubs......
    Love Cornwall. Shoot me a PM with your location if you want? Next time I pop down to Looe, which won't be too long, I'll come say Hi.