My Vintage Lee Gibbs Concertone Archtop Guitar

I purchased my vintage Lee Gibbs Concertone archtop guitar more than thirty years ago. I still love to play it and my youngest daughter Erika has taken an interest in it, so I wanted to get the binding repaired because it was cracking.

I travel the Chicago metropolitan area for work and end up in Evanston quite often. It can sometimes be a two hour drive to and from Geneva during rush hour. So, I sometimes wait for rush hour to wind down and visit Guitar Works. I have come to know the folks there over the years and decided to trust them with my vintage Lee Gibbs Concertone archtop binding repair.

Terry from Guitar Works in Evanston Illinois, spent over an hour with me detailing the work to be done. Because the binding is wider than normal, Terry had to rip a wide stock piece to get the correct width. I also requested 2 pickguards, one normal and another one so I could install a Kent Armstrong humbucker pickup on it. The binding and pickguard was made from the same cream color material.

Rick Cremer from Cremer Guitarworks in Aurora, Illinois, helped me find the correct pickup and end-pin jack. Rick suggested I go with the thicker Kent Armstrong HJGS-1 Side Mount Jazz pickup. He agreed to let me swap it for the Ultra Thin HJGS3 model if it was too thick. There was plenty of room for the thicker pickup and it sounds fantastic! I put some DR “Pure Blues” nickel electric strings to get a more even sound, and wow!

I promised to followup with with the results, so here are some before and after pics...

My Martin HD-28KM

My HD-28KM Keb Mo is back from Martin Repair!

She is finally back after what seems like forever. Martin did a fantastic job. She is beautiful and her top has a normal belly for a forward shifted scalloped braced top. The best part is she sill sounds fantastic. I was worried that she would lose that sound that I fell so in love with. I have never been so happy. I'm amazed that they could replace a the top on a guitar without leaving any signs of repair.

I used to use custom light strings and because she was buzzing a little after she returned from Martin, my Martin Dealer, Ken Tobias suggested I try mediums before making any adjustments. I have always wanted to try medium strings, but i was afraid because the way that the bridge looked. The medium strings pulled the belly up a little and it has been playing fantastic for the past several months.

When they requested my approval for the new top, I requested that they leave the top natural. I wasn't sure if they would do it because it's a limited edition. It came back without aging toner and I'm so happy. When I saw a D-45K I fell in love with the contrast between the light brown Koa and the natural spruce top. Don't get me wrong, I love the vintage look of aging toner on some guitars, like the 000-28EC. Aging toner gives the 000-28EC a very distinguished look. But, I can't believe how beautiful my HD-28KM looks now!

Here are the after pictures...

Here is a link to the before pictures and why my HD-28KM needed a new top...

Thank You CF Martin and Company, Kevin