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The Black Guitar
Source: http://www.vintageguitar.com/artists/details.asp?ID=84
Parts of an article published by Vintage Guitar Magazine

The Black Guitar is a truly historic instrument. It was Roberts’ trademark instrument of the ’60s and ’70s, despite the namesake models produced by Epiphone and Gibson. H.R. seemed to prefer this highly-modified and unusually appointed archtop electric during his most active recording and performing years. How many studio dates the Black Guitar graced is a question best answered by archivists; suffice it to say, a great many – and all are important. The instrument is an unmistakable and undeniable voice in the American soundtrack. In the H.R. discography, the Black Guitar can be seen (and heard) on several current CD reissues, including the important two-disc set The Howard Roberts Quartet: Dirty ‘N’ Funky (a compilation of his first two Capitol albums, Color Him Funky and H.R. Is A Dirty Guitar Player on Guitarchives/E.M.I.-Capitol), and the live V.S.O.P. jazz recordings Howard Roberts: The Magic Band, Live At Donte’s and Howard Roberts: The Magic Band II.
The Black Guitar has an extraordinary lineage. It began life as a pre-war Gibson ES-150 (“Charlie Christian” model) of the late ’30s; the first officially marketed electric Spanish guitar. Howard confirmed this fact and in a radio interview of the mid ’60s to promote Color Him Funky, figured its age at about 30 years (his comments and impromptu playing can be heard at www.utstat.utoronto.ca). H.R. acquired the guitar in the ’50s from jazz giant Herb Ellis (VG, August ’96) who remembers buying it when it was new, keeping it as a spare, and finally selling it to Roberts because “...he liked it very much.”

Despite its innate endearing musical qualities, Roberts subsequently made a number of significant structural changes to the ES-150, reflecting his personal tastes and sonic preferences. The most dramatic are the slimming of the body, the creation of a unique double-cutaway shape, the extension and repositioning of the neck, the replacement of the fingerboard, and the addition of different electronics.

Famed luthier James Mapson (who has built guitars for Mundell Lowe, Ron Eschete, Frank Potenza, and others) recently gave the Black Guitar a professional examination. He studied the guitar for several hours, taking measurements and detailed notes regarding the modifications. His comments presented a fascinating look into the inventive mind of Howard Roberts, the guitarist.

The original Gibson ES-150 was 33/8" in depth, had a carved spruce top and maple sides and back with a non-cutaway shape, and a 243/4" scale length on a rosewood fingerboard. Howard had the body reworked into a thinner, more comfortable 23/4" profile. The labor was done by Nick Esposito, master guitar repairman to the stars of the era, and is verified by a rectangular label glued inside the body, which reads “Esposito Guitar Mfg.” The label also bears the red handwritten serial number HE 500 1957, a possible reference to Herb Ellis and the year 1957. The perimeter of the body, back, and sides has layers of binding under the black lacquer.

“It appears to be a piece of white inner binding, a middle layer of snakewood, finally joined to the outer white binding,” said Mapson. “They probably masked it, originally. The back was cut off to make the guitar thinner – this is the most expedient way. Most likely, the builder needed to fill space around the rims, and since it wasn’t going to show, they used binding.”

These suppositions are substantiated by the fact the original ES-150 had a flat back. The Black Guitar has an arched back (possibly a re-worked arched top) of laminated maple. The solid spruce top and slimmed maple sides are from the original ES-150.

The guitar is further distinguished by its uncommon double-cutaway shape with improved access to the upper register. The top bout (bass side) has a distinctive thumb notch and the lower horn has a more standard Venetian cutaway.

“Normally an archtop of this era would have a 14th-fret neck joint, this guitar has a 17th-fret joint. The block at the neck/body junction is modified and has a larger hunk of maple, which is what would be needed to stabilize the deeper cutaway and joint.”

“The new scale length is 251/4", similar to a concert classical guitar,” Mapson added. “The fingerboard is fairly flat with a slight radius, but takes a pretty dramatic dive after the 12th fret. The board is made from a fine-quality piece of ebony and is very well-built. The width at the nut is 111/16" and 23/8" at the 12th fret, which is a little wider than normal. The fret wire is .093" wide, a slightly wider modern style. The frets have been milled down to 33 height.”

The entire guitar received a glossy black nitrocellulose lacquer finish, now soulfully checked. According to Greeninger, Roberts painted the guitar himself. Further cosmetic appointments include single binding on the headstock, fingerboard, body edges, and f-holes. Other replacements include Gibson “speed king” barrel knobs for the tone and volume, a ’50s-style Gibson Brazilian rosewood bridge with compensated saddle, and a multiple-bound tortoise shell pickguard (L-5 type) with a gold-plated fastener. The trapeze tailpiece is most likely the only original ES-150 part.

The ES-150 electronics originally consisted of a single bar pickup (the “Charlie Christian pickup”) with two controls – tone and volume – and an output jack at the tailpiece. H.R. replaced the bar pickup in the early ’60s with a quieter P-90 single-coil unit with a black plastic cover that suits the aesthetic. Roberts modified the pickup cover by enlarging the polepiece holes on the neck side so the coil could be moved closer to the fingerboard, no doubt for sonic reasons.

Roberts played the guitar through a variety of amps, beginning with a Gibson GA-50, but most often favoring his small Benson 300HR model with a single 12" JBL speaker for jazz playing, and a larger Benson with a 15" JBL for other studio dates. According to Ron Benson, the amps were initially conceived as an attempt to improve on the Gibson GA Roberts played and loved in the ’50s.

Today, the guitar has a very woody, live acoustic sound that sings with resplendent harmonics despite the numerous surgeries. The Black Guitar is more than a vintage guitar; it is an historic one-of-a-kind instrument that is part of the American musical legacy of the Twentieth Century.

Source: http://www.vintageguitar.com/artists/details.asp?ID=84

Follow the link for the complete article on Howard Roberts.

Notes from Daniel on the Black Guitar built for Dean Granros;

There are similarities and differences between the Howard Roberts guitar and the guitar I built for Dean Granros.
Similarities would be the 16 inch bodyshape, Charlie Christian style pickup, carved spruce top, laminated arched back and the black finish.
Differences are the scale length, body joint to the neck, and the lack of the upper bass side cutaway.

Back to Dean Granros page