7 Of The Best Vintage Acoustic Guitars In The Shop!

Transcription Summary:

Nathaniel Murphy plays several vintage acoustic guitars from The Vault at Chicago Music Exchange. We Start off with a Gibson Everly Brothers Black from 1963. A 1953 SJ200 is admired for its gorgeous looks and "mustache bridge," Nathaniel preferring it for strumming. A 1965 Gibson B25 is highly praised for its comfort, playability, and affordability, with Nathaniel it's the best guitar among the first three discussed. A 3/4 length 1964 B25 is also noted for its comfort and punchy sound. An extremely light Martin 000-18 from 1926 with a wider neck, Nathaniel recommends it for fingerpicking and its surprisingly warm sound. Finally, a rare 1959 D28E is highlighted for its unique, "crazy" chorus-like sound when plugged into a Magnatone Starlite and its overall cool and rare nature. Nathaniel concludes that the Full-sized B25 is their top choice among all the guitars presented.

Full Transcription:
Anyway, you get the idea. Great guitar. I'd love to have this. Like I said, kind of Everly Brothers was always on in my house, and I'd love to have this. Harmonies are great, obviously, that's what they're kind of known for. And then, "Dream," I definitely know that one, you know that one. Wonderful guitar, great way to start off. I would have this, it's the best way I can describe it. I would like this.

So, SJ200 from 1953, a gorgeous looking guitar. I've always wanted an SJ200. I don't have one, but I think we can all agree they do look wonderful. One of the classiest looking acoustic guitars. Great looking guitar and great neck. I do like the little scratches here and there. Mustache bridge, I do actually. Yeah, people either, you know, love it or hate it. I like it. No, that's cool. I like cowboy, it's the look, right? Um, yeah, custom pearl inlay. This, there's some sort of a sticker in there from 1957 as well, which is cool. Mike Longworth got repaired or something, possibly. Yeah, yeah, we'll give it a blast. We'll do some strumming stuff. Really nice just to strum and play. Sounds good. Um, yeah, just a great guitar. Me personally, I'd be strumming all the way on this. But if you get it, play whatever the hell you want. Um, and as you should. You got two big body Gibsons, two big boys. What do you think? I don't know in terms of which I'd have. Ah, that's tough, that's tough, 'cause they both look great. It's literally toss a coin. That's like more classic, like that's, that's rare, that's cool, it's rare. You know, I'll go for, I'll go for the Everly Brother. Yeah, 'cause you don't see them as much. Sound-wise, they're pretty not too dissimilar. Yeah.

Yeah, we got a 1965 Gibson B25. This is a really lovely guitar. I've been playing it a little bit. I've fallen in love with it already. Different vibe. It certainly is big guitars, big guitar. One a little bit more comfy to play. You know, I mean, they're all great, and they're all right. Kind of make you play slightly differently, so we'll give it a little, uh, little. We'll try and do some 60s stuff, let me see. I mean, this is lovely. Oh, there, you get the idea. C7, really nice. It's the 60s guitar. Um, really nice guitar. It is raining gray. It is great. It is. Yeah, I really like this. You know, let's take off the cap. I'll just give it, I love this. You know that one? Never heard that one. "Wet Wet Wet"? Oh, yeah. Is it "Four Winds in the Funeral"? I think it was. Anyway, by the way, that is under two. Can I say that, folks? This is around, it's under two grand. Anyway, this already, I think, is going to be my guitar today. Um, it is just gorgeous. It's really nice to play. Just finger picking, strumming. I mean, this is brilliant. Uh, I want this guitar. Someone buy it before I try to buy it with the money I do not have. This is the best guitar out of the three so far for me, anyway. I love it.

Now, we were just playing the B25, the big B25, and Daniel came in and said, "Hang on, we have got a 3/4 length B25, as you can see. Great little guitar, comfortable to play, I got to say." Yeah, I mean, I probably look enormous over this, and I'm not even that big of a person, but anyway, uh, so this is '64. We'll try and keep it in the 60s, uh, music kind of type of thing. Uh, this is really nice. That's cool. This is cool, isn't it? Great little size. Um, I'm not sure how much. How much is this? I don't know. We don't know just yet. It'll be on the website, anyway. Um, wonderful little guitar. Really nice, very comfortable to play. Nice punchy sound. Now, if I'd really dig in, I mean, it has a nice bright, punchy sound, which I really like as well.

Now, we got an old one here. Um, this is from 1920. Let me double check. '26. A Trip 18 from 1926. So, a beautiful, uh, relic. Um, now, it is extremely light. Um, if you have the opportunity to come into the shop and play it, certainly give it a go. Um, one of the lightest guitars I've ever come across. It's got quite a strong V. Is it V or C? I don't know. Uh, more towards V, but it's comfy though. Like, you might hear me say, think, "Oh, don't fancy that." But it's not bad at all. So, just some simple strumming on it. I mean, it sounds really good. That's really nice. Um, let's see. We're trying to do some old age somewhat. I don't know many songs from the 1920s. We're going to try some old country blues, uh, some Big Bill Broonzy. We'll see, we'll try anyway. You kind of messing it up, but, uh, yeah, it feels great. Great for the kind of finger picking stuff. Surprisingly warm for such a small, light guitar, which is, which is great. You know, I mean, bit of a stretch. I mean, it feels great. Uh, really like this 1925, '26. '26, sorry. Uh, so, I mean, God knows where this has been. I mean, it's really cool. Let me see. Did they have cat paws in that? Probably some form of cat. Probably, right? Um, I mean, it feels great. Kind of messed up a little bit, but I mean, you get the idea. Just feels really nice, you know, to play. It is a, it is a wider neck, uh, so be aware of that, but I would urge you, you know, if you're in the shop, to certainly give it a go. Really nice, really like that.

Very cool guitar here. So, this is a 19... what? Yeah, '59. This is a 1959 D28E. Mm-hm, got it right. Now, similar to Kurt Cobain's one. His was a D18 though, and had one less knob. Uh, now, we are miked up, uh, but we also are plugged into a Magnatone Starlighter mix. Yeah, get a nice little mix going. Um, so, we'll start on, uh, the neck pickup. So, crazy looking guitar, but cool though. It's almost got that chorus-y type. Yeah, 'cause you're hearing it in, in two spots maybe. Yeah, I mean, it sounds great, I've got to say. Oh, yeah, it's quite an interesting sound, isn't it? I like it. It's a bit odd at first, but it's strange. I think it's volume 12. Volume 12, is it? Oh, yeah, yeah. What's the next one? No, I can't remember. Whatever it is, that's right. I can't remember it, folks. Uh, this is cool. You get the idea. I mean, it sounds good. I mean, plus, this is so vastly different from the sound of other like a sound hole pickup. Yeah, I mean, that has a certain kind of quality to it. You can be very dynamic with it, which I like. That's kind of harsh on that pick of D. Yeah, crazy guitar, folks. Um, very cool, very unique. I mean, I'd have this just for the novel of it. I mean, it's a very rare guitar. It's in great condition. It looks cool. It looks crazy, but it looks cool at the same time. You talk into it. Yeah, do you reckon I can? Yeah, for sure. Can you? Well, kind of a little too close to kissing it there, to be honest. But that, that, that, that's kind of a, it's kind of a crazy sound. Anyway, folks, we're way off track here. Uh, we are done. So, some great guitars again. Number one for me is the B25, the regular size one, but they're all lovely