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1986 W.G. Barker 17
Price and Status: For pricing and hold status of this instrument, please check here. If this instrument does not appear on the Instruments page it has been sold. To be notified of examples of this or any other model in the future, please email your specific requests to [email protected].
SN#: 8386, signed by the maker. Body size at lower bout: 17" Scale length: 24 7/8" Nut width: 1 11/16" Body depth: 3" Neck depth: .78/.84, 1st/10th frets
Materials: Bookmatched, hand graduated solid spruce top; solid AAAA quilted maple back; solid curly maple sides and neck; solid ebony fingerboard; 5 ply body binding; ebony headplate.
Hardware: Original gold hardware includes vintage DeArmond Model 1100 floating single coil pickup, with volume control and 1/8" pickguard jack; pearl inlaid tailpiece with Macassar ebony crossbar; M-6 Schaller tuners with ebony keys; compensated adjustable ebony bridge with bone insert; contoured ebony pickguard; adjustable truss rod with ebony cover.
Notes: We've been waiting awhile for one of these fabled guitars to show up here at archtop.com. It only took about 30 years.
If you wanted a custom built archtop guitar from the 60's to the 80's, the Rolodex was pretty thin. If Jimmy D'Aquisto on Long Island, or Bob Benedetto in Florida were both busy, you were pretty much out of luck. Unless of course you lived near the Windy City, which had it's own tradition of fine luthiery, dating to Carl Johnson's Albanus guitars of the '50s and 60's.
Johnson's most celebrated acolyte was W.G. 'Bill' Barker, a WWII airman, touring jazz guitarist, and luthier of exceptional ability. Starting in the early 60's, Barker began building the first of some 120 instruments he meticulously crafted, first in Toledo, Ohio, and finally in his workshop near Peoria, Illinois. By his passing in 1991, Barker had trained a number of estimable successors, including Bill Hollenbeck and Bill Cook, and boasted celebrity players like Martin Taylor, Al Casey, Mary Osborne, Ike Issacs, and even Nancy Sinatra, who reportedly commissioned one of Bill's bespoke creations.
This spectacular guitar is hand graduated of AAAA grade tonewood of eyepopping intensity, with a back of bookmatched quilted maple positively aboil with 3D figuration, and exquisitely flamed curly maple sides and neck. (Indeed, it's reported that John D'Angelico himself once helped Barker make connections for his top-drawer tonewood.) With its full depth 17" Venetian cutaway body, this stunning instrument is fitted with a tap tuned spruce soundboard supported with a single transverse brace, in the style of the fabled Albanus, Stromberg and Levin guitars.
At barely over 6lb, the instrument is lightweight and well balanced, on the lap or the strap, with a warm, supple, voice with excellent balance and articulation: a true bop classic. Signature touches include the offset pearl inlays in the solid ebony fingerboard, and the bone insert in the ebony bridge saddle, to enhance high frequency sparkle. Immaculately maintained, the guitar remains in pristine showroom condition, without playwear, and offers smooth low action over an elegant, slim depth D profile neck with full width 1 11/16" nut, excellent original medium jumbo frets, and a fresh high-precision setup. The DeArmond Model 1100 floating single coil pickup is particularly faithful to the acoustic voice, with excellent detail and extended harmonic fidelity.
If you've wondered why you've never seen one of these elusive beauties, take a number: it's the only Barker we've ever had the pleasure to offer, amid the thousands of classic guitars that have graced this website in over three decades. A superb example of the luthier's craft, this historic guitar is an outstanding player, and a true legend in 20th century luthiery. One only: call now.
Setup: This instrument is strung with medium gauge flatwound strings. The guitar will accommodate lighter or heavier gauge strings, according to preference. String action is set at 4/64" to 6/64" at the 12th fret, with moderate relief for acoustic playing with medium strings.
Case: Period black Guild deluxe plush lined hardshell case.
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