Gibson es175 Charlie Christian @ GuitarNick.com - Free guitar lessons

Materials: Solid 3 piece maple neck; solid rosewood fingerboard; arched slab-cut maple top, sides and back; dual-parallelogram mother of pearl fingerboard inlay and thistle peghead inlay; triple bound top, bound back.

Gibson 'Charlie Christian' 30's style single coil blade pickup; nickel Gibson-stamped Kluson Deluxe tuners, trapeze tailpiece with raised-parallelogram crossbar; compensated rosewood bridge;

Notes: Announced late in 1936, Gibson's groundbreaking ES-150 ("Electric Spanish') model was Gibson's first 6 string guitar to be fitted with a magnetic pickup, and almost instantly became the world's first commercially successful electric guitar. Quickly championed by pioneering jazz guitarist Charlie Christian, the innovative blade type single coil pickup of the 150 became indelibly identified with the artist, who almost single-handedly invented modern solo jazz guitar. With its massive bar magnet and smooth hornlike tone, the "Charlie Christian" pickup captivated an entire generation of formative jazz plectrists, including Barney Kessel, Jimmy Raney and legions of others.

Though produced sporadically by special order for a handful of custom guitars over the years, this legendary pickup was never formally reissued until the advent of this guitar, the ES-175CC. Produced in a single batch in this model year only, this retro model became an instant collector's item for players looking for true prewar tone.