remember the Everly Brothers' "wake up little Susie"?

[CTyankee]

They played HUGE guitars. What the hell were they?

[unblock]

1. they look like ordinary acoustic guitars to me.

guitars originally needed a full body in order to resonate and project the sound.

once pick-up microphones were added, the need for the big body was reduced, so they started making semi-hollow guitars and guitars with no hollow body at all.

now the type without a hollow body seems standard, except for "unplugged" performances.

[democrank]

2. Gibson?

Those were the days.....

[OneBlueDotBama]

3. Gibson SJ 200

Moustache bridge, super jumbo

[Mister Ed]

5. Or more precisely, I think: the Gibson "Everly Brothers" model.

Which was just a Gibson SJ 200 with large, elaborate, symmetrical pickguards that Phil and Don Everly designed themselves. They traced templates on paper and gave the templates to the folks at the Gibson plant.

[OneBlueDotBama]

6. Later

Those would be J 185's, sort of a cut down model of a SJ-200 with star inlays on the fret board. English transplant Albert Lee has one of the original SJ 200's, which customized with a double pickguard., 1962 and on. They used SJ 200's prior to that and trust me the only gibson with the moustashe bridge is a Gibson SJ 200 or a Epi copy.

Edit, I cheated and went off to the googles...

Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop

The Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop is a signature acoustic guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation

The Everly Brothers recorded many hit songs during the 1950s and the 1960s, such as "Wake Up Little Susie", "Let It Be Me", "Cathy's Clown", "All I Have to Do is Dream", and "Bye Bye Love". Throughout the 1950s, they used Gibson J-200 guitars, some customized with dual pickguards.

In 1962, Gibson collaborated with The Everly Brothers to produce the Everly Brothers Flattop. This flat top guitar featured a thin J-185-style body and an adjustable bridge. The guitar was unusual in that it featured star-shaped inlays on the rosewood fretboard, and it had a large double tortoise grain pickguard, which covered most of the top of the body. As the pickguard covered most of the top of the guitar, it limited the vibration of the top, thus limiting the sound of the guitar. The standard finish on the guitar was black, though a few models were natural or sunburst finish. The Everly Brothers Flattop was discontinued in 1972, but was reissued as the Gibson J-180 in the mid-1980s. wiki

20 Essential Facts About The Gibson J-180

http://www.gibson.com/news-lifestyle/features/en-us/gibson-j-180-0628-2011.aspx

[Wellstone ruled]

7. What a sweet sound.

[OneBlueDotBama]

8. Especially when they age

The wood mellows, the harmonics ring... I have one, love it.

[Wellstone ruled]

10. Bought my one and only at

Pawn Shop in Wisconsin. Had it for almost ten years. Our house was flooded and of course,this was one of the items we missed as it was in the Store room in the Basement. Did not have time to retrieve all those things in it. Water filled the basement in minutes. Many a hour trying my best to master that beautiful Instrument .

[OneBlueDotBama]

12. Sad

Of interest is all the guitars that have been restored after the Nashville flood, some cosmetic damage, but being taken out on the road again.

Worse thing is having one stolen, these days people actually record the serial numbers and take pics, back in the day... serial number?

[Wellstone ruled]

13. Grand Son has Electric Version.

Man,that kid can make that thing sing. He found it in a Pawn Shop had it restrung and tuned at a local Guitar Store in Reno. Running it out of a 600 watt Amp. What a sound. The Kid does a Nasty Bob Dillon complete with the Harmonica.

[OneBlueDotBama]

14. 600 watts

wow, I have an old 50 watt tube amp and never turn it up past 3.... must be keeping the neighbors entertained.

[Wellstone ruled]

17. Custom built Amp

for his Uncle's Days as a DJ.

[Mister Ed]

15. Thank you for those details. I love guitar lore.

It's probably true that those thick plastic pickguards that covered most of the spruce top of the guitar dampened its resonance quite a bit. Still, the most beautifully resonant acoustic guitar that I've ever played was an Everly Brothers model.
It was in a Vintage guitar store, in the late 1970's. This particular guitar was an unusual Everly Brothers model in that it had only one pickguard, not the two symmetrical ones. And when you strummed a chord on that guitar, it sounded like a choir of angels.

[OneBlueDotBama]

16. My pleasure

I'm a huge Gibson fan, especially vintage guitars. One can get into horrid discussions, Ford/Chevy/Mopar, Digital/Vinyl, Mellowed old Sitka spruce warm tone guitars/cheap crap from Indonesia ...lol

[bobbieinok]

4. That song played often in the student union during my freshman week in 1957 at college

[tonyt53]

9. Don't know about those guitars, but those guys were idolized by lots of stars that followed them.

I grew up across the river (Green River in KY) from where their parents started their family. They will forever be from Central City, KY to most people, but they weren't really from there. Don was born close to Drakesboro, which is about 3-4 miles from Paradise (as in the John Prine song). Phil was born in Chicago. In the mid-80's they started having a benefit concert in Central City, That lasted for a few years before Phil's (the younger one) started failing. Many well-known performers also performed there. They wanted to have that honor. None of them were paid either. They did that show together for 7-8 years on Labor Day weekend.

In the mid-90's, Don bought a little motel next to a state park lake (Lake Malone). I actually met him there. I was spending the night before a fishing tournament and he was greeting everybody. We had a nice conversation about Paradise. I grew up on the opposite side of the river in Ohio County. He had a cousin that still lived in the small town I grew up in. Don owned that place 3-4 years before realizing that he wasn't cut out for it.

I know my post isn't about guitars, but this is stuff that you probably will never read anywhere else about them.

[ailsagirl]

19. Interesting stuff!

Lots of musicians really held them in high esteem-- with good reason

Thanks for the history

[Demoiselle]

20. I, too, idolize them. (Heard 'em on the radio yesterday. Very happy.)

[Mr.Bill]

11. Remember it?

I saw them sing it around '63 or so.

[Orrex]

18. Actually, the Everly Brothers were only three feet tall

So the guitars simply look bigger.