Artist Awards with Altered Johnny Smith Headstock

GuildAAPlayer

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Note that there is another Guild Artist Award for sale on eBay. It is advertised as a ". . . NEW OLD STOCK 2000 MODEL GUILD JOHNNY SMITH BOB BENEDETTO AWARD MODEL . . . "

As I understand it from the press releases of the time, the Johnny Smith endorsement happened in about January 2006. Still, the seller manages to find older models with the Johnny Smith name already installed in the headstock inlay without any comment about how it got there.

This is the second listing of an altered Guild AA that I have noticed by that seller. I asked him about it thru an eBay querry a couple months ago during his first re-labeled sale effort and only got back a lot of childish, "wah, wah -- who needs to hear that" type of comments.

http://cgi.ebay.com/GUILD-JOHNNY-SMITH- ... dZViewItem

So, if he really doesn't care, how come he's not also providing Johnny Smith certificates wtih these guitars?

Too bad because these are probably real Benedettos and the Buy It Now price doesn't seem out of line. He could be attracting serious buyers who know what they're looking for, but I'd be amazed if serious buyers aren't put off by that kind of "promotional style."
 

hideglue

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He also states that they were:

"...BUILT AND OVERSEEN BY BOB BENEDETTO IN THE GUILD CUSTOM SHOP IN WESTERLY RHODE ISLAND."

Huh? Custom Shop in Westerly?
 

dklsplace

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The Guild Johnny Smith Award model was introduced in 1956 & made until '60. So there are older ones out there. After that, the model name became Artist Award. If anything happened in the later years, Hans would be able to shed some more light.
 

GuildAAPlayer

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yup, that's my point. there weren't any made from about 1960 until 2006, and here's this guy altering the headstock motif on a 2000 model.

have to wonder how Guild, Johnny Smith, or even Fender feel about that.

???
 

hansmoust

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Guild / Benedetto Johnny Smith Award Models

GuildAAPlayer said:
yup, that's my point. there weren't any made from about 1960 until 2006, and here's this guy altering the headstock motif on a 2000 model.

have to wonder how Guild, Johnny Smith, or even Fender feel about that.

???

Take it easy guys! Don't go too fast!

To the best of my knowledge the new Guild - Johnny Smith deal was made during 2002 and the first Guild/Benedetto Johnny Smith Award models became available shortly after that. I can't really tell what these Guild Johnny Smith guitars in the eBay auction are all about but I would think they are really 2002 and or 2003 models that are sold as 'old stock'.
Of course he's wrong by claiming these guitars were made in Westerly, RI but I would think these are legitimate Guild/Benedetto Guilds that are made in Corona.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore
 

GuildAAPlayer

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hmm, I was thinking the Johnny Smith endorsement deal was from 2006, but here is the text of a Guild press release that can be found at Harmony-central.com. Looks like the announcement was in late August 2004.

"August 26, 2004
Jazz guitar legend Johnny Smith joined Robert Benedetto, one of the world's premiere jazz guitar luthiers, at Guild's manufacturing facility on Monday, August 9th, to personalize a limited edition number of hand-crafted instruments. This collaboration features a total of 18 Guild Johnny Smith Award model guitars that were signed by Smith, and which will be made available to authorized Guild retailers on a first-come, first- served basis.

This historic limited run celebrates the recent return of the name Johnny Smith to this Guild guitar, which was first introduced in 1956, but which featured his name for only four years. Since 1960, the guitar has been known simply as the Guild Artist Award model.

When Guild teamed up with renown guitar builder Robert Benedetto in 1999, one of the goals was to utilize his expertise to refine some of the classic Guild designs, including the Artist Award model. Since that time, Benedetto has been working extensively with Guild's team of master luthiers to help hone their skills and to incorporate his own techniques, resulting in a series of instruments known as the Guild Benedetto Signature line. Robert Benedetto personally signs off on each and every Johnny Smith Award model guitar that is built."

Link here:
http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/20 ... Model.html
 

hansmoust

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GuildAAPlayer said:
hmm, I was thinking the Johnny Smith endorsement deal was from 2006, but here is the text of a Guild press release that can be found at Harmony-central.com. Looks like the announcement was in late August 2004.

"August 26, 2004
Jazz guitar legend Johnny Smith joined Robert Benedetto, one of the world's premiere jazz guitar luthiers, at Guild's manufacturing facility on Monday, August 9th, to personalize a limited edition number of hand-crafted instruments. This collaboration features a total of 18 Guild Johnny Smith Award model guitars that were signed by Smith, and which will be made available to authorized Guild retailers on a first-come, first- served basis.

Hello GuildAAPlayer,

The above refers to an occassion on August 9th, 2004 during which Johnny Smith personally signed some Guild Johnny Smith Award Models at the Corona facility. As far as I know these guitars were not the first batch of Johnny Smith Award Models that had been made. Guild, Bob Benedetto and Johnny Smith teamed up in 2002 and the first Johnny Smith guitars were already in the late-2002 price list and included in the 2003 catalog.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
 

GuildAAPlayer

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Thanks, Hans. You've got me very curious now. The information trail does seem a bit sparce on this Guild-Benedetto-Smith connection. I did find one piece that discusses the collaboration in a 2002 article here:

http://www.ibreathemusic.com/article/83

Also, I saw another online sale ad for a 2000 Guild Johnny Smith Award model. However, that model had the standard "Artist Award Model" headstock inlay but with a gold "Johnny Smith" autograph on the back of the headstock above the tuners; along with a Benedetto & Smith signed certificate of authenticity.

http://elderly.com//vintage/items/45U-1121.htm

So, I guess I've still got some learning to do about this model. I'll try to keep my eyes peeled for info on the following:

(1) Was there a limited JS production run in each, or some, of those years after 2000? (Smith was also endorsing the Heritage JS models for some of those years as I recall.)
(2) What is the significance of the variation in the gold pen Johnny Smith autograph on the back of the headstock, and the "Johnny Smith Award Model" inlay on the front of the headstock?

Thanks again,
George
 

hansmoust

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GuildAAPlayer said:
Also, I saw another online sale ad for a 2000 Guild Johnny Smith Award model. However, that model had the standard "Artist Award Model" headstock inlay but with a gold "Johnny Smith" autograph on the back of the headstock above the tuners; along with a Benedetto & Smith signed certificate of authenticity.

http://elderly.com//vintage/items/45U-1121.htm

Hello George,

To the best of my knowledge that particular Guild Johnny Smith Award Model at Elderly's is not from the year 2000. It's a later model and it might be one of the guitars that were signed during the forementioned occasion at the Corona facility in 2004.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
 

GuildAAPlayer

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hansmoust said:
and by the way, Elderly has changed the date and the item description on their site.

What a coincidence -- same day we were talking about it . . . . did you have a hand in that, Hans? :wink:

I did take a look back at the original auction for the Guild Johnny Smith Award model we've been discussing. That was a no-reserve auction ended on 03 Sep 06 after 12 bids at a selling price of $4,150. The buyer was another dealer with a 99.4% positive feedback rating, and with multiple buys over recent months from the same seller.

Judging by the use of the same photos and writeup, that "sold" guitar is the same one that is listed by the original seller in the auction ending tomorrow.

George
 
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