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#60 Josh White

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john bange
Posted 2017-01-12 1:27 AM (#531939)
Subject: #60 Josh White



Joined:
November 2011
Posts: 205

Location: seattle, wa
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ovation-Josh-White-steel-string-classical-R...
anyone see this
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photodork
Posted 2017-01-12 2:00 AM (#531943 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: RE: #60 Josh White



Joined:
March 2014
Posts: 51

Location: Halifax, nova scotia
I believe the original 60's josh advertisement said it could be strung with either steel or nylon strings, but i dont recall there being a specific classical version. They do have a slotted headstocks and classical style tuners and the bridge is a ball end type, so i dont know what makes his different from my 67 josh.
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john bange
Posted 2017-01-12 2:19 AM (#531944 - in reply to #531943)
Subject: RE: #60 Josh White



Joined:
November 2011
Posts: 205

Location: seattle, wa
"classical style" might be a little bit..."off the mark" but, It looks real enough...not too sure about the tuning pegs.
pretty rough condition but you don't see them come up for sale too often.
I wish my country artist had a deep bowl.
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Standingovation
Posted 2017-01-12 6:38 AM (#531947 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6191

Location: Phoenix AZ
This looks all original including the fat rollers.
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Beal
Posted 2017-01-12 7:50 AM (#531950 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127

Location: 6 String Ranch
yes it does, we'll see if my bid holds.
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jay
Posted 2017-01-12 10:58 AM (#531953 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
January 2009
Posts: 1249

Location: Texas
Has to be one of the first...it has been a long time since a double digit serial has shown up. I would assume the majority of the first ones were balladeers?
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tpa
Posted 2017-01-12 1:10 PM (#531955 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White


Joined:
December 2004
Posts: 552

Location: Denmark
Strings seem close to the fretboard edge. But a nice, cool guitar with signs of being appreciated (played).
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photodork
Posted 2017-01-12 2:14 PM (#531957 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
March 2014
Posts: 51

Location: Halifax, nova scotia
Would anyone know how many josh's were made before production stopped?
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Standingovation
Posted 2017-01-12 4:17 PM (#531959 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6191

Location: Phoenix AZ
First ones didn't have floral rosette. They had same rosette as the Classical.
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Beal
Posted 2017-01-17 11:25 AM (#532054 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127

Location: 6 String Ranch
Really? I don't recall that but it might be the case.
The small shaft tuners can take nylon strings but the are pretty prone to breaking on the gbe strings. When it was reintroduced as the folklore they used the classic machine heads, with the fat nylon shafts.
The Josh White was in the lineup from the beginning. Chances are this one is the 60th guitar made aside from the dozen or so prototypes
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Mark in Boise
Posted 2017-01-17 11:54 AM (#532055 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White


Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12750

Location: Boise, Idaho
I hope you're right, Bill, and I guess you'll find out soon and let us know.
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Beal
Posted 2017-01-17 12:16 PM (#532056 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127

Location: 6 String Ranch
Got shipped today an should be here after NAMM.
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Beal
Posted 2017-01-17 12:21 PM (#532057 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127

Location: 6 String Ranch
It looks all original. A question about the bridge is I thought they were rosewood but that one looks like ebony. Maybe we made a few in ebony at the start. we'll see when it gets here.
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jay
Posted 2017-01-17 12:23 PM (#532058 - in reply to #532054)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
January 2009
Posts: 1249

Location: Texas

Congrats Bill for scoring #60. I will be interested as to your impressions, once you get it. It is interesting to me that Ovation may have produced as many of the JW's as they did the Balladeer, at this stage,...because the JW was really a non-traditional slothead, wide neck, 12 fretter...not to mention, using a plastic bowl. 
The 5 point bridge, with just the holes drilled (no ball channel), probably speaks volumes to the infancy stage Ovation was at.

Also, I could not see a defining picture as to whether 3 planks were used. I can't wait for you to let us know about it.

 



Edited by jay 2017-01-17 12:26 PM
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Damon67
Posted 2017-01-17 3:40 PM (#532062 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6992

Location: Jet City
Nice grab
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Beal
Posted 2017-01-17 4:32 PM (#532064 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127

Location: 6 String Ranch
Yeah. It is a real early bridge. Another sign is there is no heel cap.
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Standingovation
Posted 2017-01-18 8:17 AM (#532092 - in reply to #532054)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
June 2002
Posts: 6191

Location: Phoenix AZ
Beal - 2017-01-17 10:25 AM

Really? I don't recall that but it might be the case.


Check the book. Pg 107 photo. Actually not the same zig-zag rosette as the classical. It was the ring of diamonds rosette, same as some of the very early deluxe balladeers.
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Bluebird
Posted 2017-01-18 11:58 AM (#532099 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
May 2002
Posts: 1445

Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Beal, it looks like it may be lacquer finished, hard to say from the pics but that would be a major bonus if it was.
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BCam
Posted 2017-01-18 12:51 PM (#532102 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White


Joined:
October 2014
Posts: 266

Here's a link to a History Detectives episode on Josh White and a custom Guild guitar which the owner thinks is a pre-cursor to a Guild Josh White signature model. In addition to tracking down the history of the custom Guild guitar, the episode addresses Ovation's beating Guild to the punch in launching a Josh White signature model guitar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2dXwZ5beQ0
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Beal
Posted 2017-01-23 6:01 PM (#532233 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127

Location: 6 String Ranch
Nice video. Y'all should watch it.
BUT it was 66, not 67. And it was probably 65 that Charlie approached Charlie Byrd with a guitar. He said "I don't play steel strings. You should go show it to Josh White who is playing across town" So Charlie did. He walked in and said to Josh, here try this. Josh's response was "This guitar has the biggest motherf@#kin balls I've ever heard". But I need a wide neck. (He probably also said 12 frets but i never heard that part)
I have heard about the Guild one and I think it is just as Mark Dronge said, Guild got busy keeping up with the British invasion and it slid by the way side. Ovation didn't have a dog in that race and was just trying to get started so it was acoustics only. When the first catalogue came out there were only 4 models, a standard and deluxe balladeer, the Josh White and a classic. It was single sheets of black and white pictures, maybe there are copies on the tribute web site?
So Josh was an endorser from the get go, before the company even started, and at the unveiling and announcement of the new Ovation company in November 1966, Josh White was there and played.
Now as the video said, he went to England for a while. While there, there was another Josh White model. I had one once, a real dog. I think it was a Premier brand. It had his name on the lable. So he wasn't new to this game. But I guess that one never went anywhere so when he came back he probably had the Guild episode. When that didn't work he had Ovation.
Now the first guitar ever made for him was given to him at our house. He came up from New York to visit and get the guitar. When the nut slot was cut somehow they got it wrong and the intonation was off. He claimed he couldn't play it in tune so he played the guitar he brought with him. I don't really remember what it was but it probably was that Guild. I think I would have remembered a Martin. It sure wasn't that double pick guard Martin he is seen with.
In looking at the Guild in that Video it has a flat fingerboard.
Now this #60.
It is all original. It is a 2 piece top, It has the multiple wood strips of purfling as did the deluxe balladeer. It is lacquer. It is an ebony bridge. It has a flat fingerboard. It has the Leaf rosette. The classic rosette was never used on the JWs, As far as the picture on p 107, a real unique guitar. Not the production keys and I can't recall ever seeing that rosette. I don't think there were many, if any,(hard to remember those small details 50 years later) production models with herringbone purfling, like that picture.
#60 has the original keys, and there were two variations of these, the fat nylon shafts (which were a sleeve fit over the steel shaft) for the nylon and the steel shafts for the JWs. A nice thing about this guitar is that it was well cared for. The top is flat and the rosette has not started to curl at the edges.Lots of small cracks in the fingerboard from drying out. easy to fix and I need to patch the bridge and we are done then.
John Bange, thanks for posting this. It's a really cool guitar
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Beal
Posted 2017-01-23 6:19 PM (#532234 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127

Location: 6 String Ranch
Now the Herringbone purfling. There is another guitar with this. When I was working at the factory in the summer of 68 one of my jobs was to take out the trash. They were clearing out the engineering department and i had to take a bunch of parts and mongrels to the dump. They said make sure you smash them up real good or else they will be coming back to service for repair in a year or two. There were about 20 units. most not completed guitars. My helper and I played baseball with rocks and used the guitars as bats. Smashed them real good.
except one. It actually was complete and played. So I threw it away in my car and gave it to my girlfriend who kept it and still has it.
It is, nylon strung, X braced, herringbone binding, 12 fret neck, classic rosette and bridge, lacquer finish. sn 251. A real one off.
Fast forward 44 years. I see the guitar again. It has 5 strings on it so I restring it. Action is perfect, top is dead flat, neck is perfectly stright, intonation is correct. It is missing the bass side ear. It has NEVER been in a case. Guess we knew how to build them back then.
Where is that guitar? It's hanging on the wall behind me. And for the record, we never broke up, we just took a 44 year vacation.
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Beal
Posted 2017-01-23 6:33 PM (#532235 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
January 2002
Posts: 14127

Location: 6 String Ranch
NOW, anyone out there with an early Josh White? Does it have a flat fretboard?
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Damon67
Posted 2017-01-23 6:41 PM (#532236 - in reply to #532234)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
December 2006
Posts: 6992

Location: Jet City

Beal - 2017-01-23 4:19 PM And for the record, we never broke up, we just took a 44 year vacation.

You talking about the guitar? Or the girl?

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Nancy
Posted 2017-01-23 7:07 PM (#532238 - in reply to #532234)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White



Joined:
December 2014
Posts: 1713

Location: Frozen Tundra of Minnesota
Beal - 2017-01-23 6:19 PM

Where is that guitar? It's hanging on the wall behind me. And for the record, we never broke up, we just took a 44 year vacation.


That is just SO Romantic!!!!! *heavy sigh*
Thank You so much for sharing that story Beal! And Congratulations, on the Guitar AND the Girl!
(I love happy endings like this... guess you should have my signature line! )

Edited by Nancy 2017-01-23 7:09 PM
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Jonmark Stone
Posted 2017-01-23 7:51 PM (#532240 - in reply to #531939)
Subject: Re: #60 Josh White


Joined:
May 2008
Posts: 1553

Location: Indiana
Great stuff Bill. Thanks.
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