Gibson Barney Kessel - Gibson, the workingman's guitar
Gibson advert featuring Gibson artist Barney Kessel, playing his signature model, the Barney Kessel Regular
Barney Kessel and Gibson at work for Contemporary records |
Gibson Barney Kessel Custom - Three of a Kind
Advert for three Gibson Artist Acoustics; each being played by the jazz musician that gave it its name. Johnny Smith, Tal Farlow and Barney Kessel
Each of these famous guitarists served as the inspiration for a special Gibson model - designed by him, for his kind of music, for his guitar technique, for his special sound | 
Gibson Barney Kessel Custom - Barney Kessel Guitar
This early sixties advert for the new Barney Kessel guitars shows Barney playing the Barney Kessel Custom. That is the maple-necked version of this guitar. The Barney Kessel Regular has a neck made of mahogany. |
| Jazz strings suitable for this guitar |
The 1960s saw Gibson produce several full-bodied artist archtop models. The Byrdland had been around since 1955, with the Tal Farlow, Barney Kessel, Trini Lopez and Johnny Smith all debuted in 1961. These were all fine jazz guitars,with price tags to match.
The Barney Kessel came in two variations, the mahogany-necked Regular and the maple-necked Custom, both available from 1961 until 1973. The Custom was a deluxe instrument; ornate inlays and gold plating throughout - it launched at a significantly higher price than the Regular, $560 and $395 respetively (1/9/61 Gibson price list)
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The following description is taken from the 1970 Gibson catalogue
BARNEY KESSEL-C - Artist Model
Designed for the musician who requires beauty and ultimate performance. A special magnetic field in the bridge pickup emphasizes the treble frequencies and produces unusual tones throughout the entire range.
FEATURES: Carved spruce top. Carved maple back, slim, fast, low -action neck joins body at 15th fret. Five-piece curly maple neck, adjustable truss rod, rosewood fingerboard with "bow-tie" pearl inlays. Gold-plated adjustable Tune-O-Matic bridge. Twin humbucking pickups. Separate tone and volume control. Three-position toggle switch. Gold-plated metal parts. 17" wide, 21" long, 3" deep; 25 ½ " scale, 20 frets.
BK-C - Custom Model - Cherry Sunburst finish
BK-R - Regular Model - Cherry Sunburst finish - Mahogany neck with pearl inlaid peghead, rosewood fingerboard with rectangular pearl inlays, rosewood bridge, chrome-plated metal parts.
607 - Faultless plush-lined case
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1117 Regular models, and 740 Customs were produced in the twelve years of production, most in the mid 60s. Sales in the early seventies account for a tiny proportion of the total.
The table below compares prices (in October 1966) of the Barney Kessel models with other archtops, and representative thinlines and solid-bodies.
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A Gibson guitar designed by the great jazz guitarist himself, with musical capability to match his tremendous technique, and vital inventive playing. It offers the purest tone over the entire range, with a special magnetic field in the bridge pickup to emphasize the highs
