NGD - L.F. Commemorative guitar #133

[Craig]

#133 Commemorative needs some polishing up before photos... as it remained in the case since 9-15-1992 (completion date).

[yowhatsshakin]

Nice score Craig! So the box exists. How about the guitar?

- Jos

[Craig]

Here's the original case:


Once it get's polished up, I will post the rest of the contents inside.

Stay tuned.

[sam]

Oh my

Cue Carly Simon "Anticipation"

[Fumble fingers]

Congrats Craig ..... I hope all the contents are in there ...... I would a had that baby open so fast you would have had to slow-mo the cam to see my hands moving ...lol..... nice box and case though

[Elwood]

Here's the original case:

...mmm...new case smell .

This is like the cartoon before the movie

[Craig]

The story:

I received an email from a good friend who had a friend looking to sell his G&L Leo Fender Commemorative guitar. I said I might be interested and asked for some photos.

Here are the seller's photos:










My friend said the seller had it in his storage since he received it in 1992. He does not play guitar and it had only been play for about a minute by his musician friend, Shuggie Otis
and then went back into the case. We worked out a price and I sent a check to my friend who then picked up the guitar from his friend and held for me until I was able to pick it up.
My wife and I went down to Orange County to visit our daughter, her husband and our grandson last Wednesday and I picked up the guitar from my friend (who lives in Huntington Beach) on Thursday.

The neck and body has a slight haze due to being in the case all that time. I will be cleaning it up in the next day or so, take some better photos and post them here.

I am very happy to have been able to get this historical guitar (to me it's the ultimate all gold hardware G&L).

[Fumble fingers]

Beautiful ..... congrats

[yowhatsshakin]

Nice stuff Craig!

- Jos

[darwinohm]

That is a beauty, what a find Craig. Thanks for sharing! -- Darwin

[FZTNT]

Wow Craig, nice find. That thing is as shiny as they get by the looks of it. Looks like it still has the gold strings on it too. It's the immediate brother or sister of my Comm # 132.
How did you determine the completion date? I was only recently made aware that they made a fair number of these after 1991 and for some reason those are valued at quite a bit less than the true 1991 models.

Good score,

Tom

[Katefan]

Wow - Nice Craig - Congrats on your score!

Plus being christened so to speak by Mr. Otis is too cool!

Cheers,
KF

[Craig]

Wow Craig, nice find. That thing is as shiny as they get by the looks of it. Looks like it still has the gold strings on it too. It's the immediate brother or sister of my Comm # 132.
How did you determine the completion date? I was only recently made aware that they made a fair number of these after 1991 and for some reason those are valued at quite a bit less than the true 1991 models.

Good score,

Tom

Look on the back of the hang tag. There should be a handwritten date.



According to the 15th Edition Blue Book of Guitars, there are three different value pricings:

Australian Lacewood Oct/Nov. 1991
Swamp Ash Cherryburst Mfg. Before Nov. 4, 1991
Swamp Ash Cherryburst 1992-1993

[Craig]

I've finished cleaning up the haze on the neck and body:

[Craig]

Here are some photos of the case:







A question for other Commemorative owners: Does your case look the same?

I think it was built by G&G, but it only has the Made in Canada notation. The latches and metal parts are gold colored. I checked Greg's and Jos' websites for any information on the case,
but did not find any info or photos there. This case does not match any of the cases we have in the Gallery: Album: Instrument Cases, either.

[Katefan]

WOW - What a gorgeous guitar! Cool too re the gold opn the case - nice added touch.
Well done Craig.

Cheers, KF

[yowhatsshakin]

A question for other Commemorative owners: Does your case look the same?

I think it was built by G&G, but it only has the Made in Canada notation. The latches and metal parts are gold colored. I checked Greg's and Jos' websites for any information on the case,
but did not find any info or photos there. This case does not match any of the cases we have in the Gallery: Album: Instrument Cases, either.

Craig,

It might not have been for a Comm, but I also have (at least) one case with that "Made in Canada" tab. It was so striking, I do remember that even while still being at work. I will check out more details when I get home.

- Jos

[sam]

Craig,

Mighty fine gitar ya got there.

[glvourot]

Looks great all cleaned up. A very nice acquisition Craig. Since it sat in the case for so long , make sure you take it out and play it once in a while.

[astutzmann]

congrats Craig, its home to the right person! What a beauty

[yowhatsshakin]

A question for other Commemorative owners: Does your case look the same?

I think it was built by G&G, but it only has the Made in Canada notation. The latches and metal parts are gold colored. I checked Greg's and Jos' websites for any information on the case,
but did not find any info or photos there. This case does not match any of the cases we have in the Gallery: Album: Instrument Cases, either.

Here goes Craig:

Commemorative #29:


Commemorative #152:


So both of mine have these cases too.

Congrats again on getting this beauty!
- Jos

[FZTNT]

Again Craig, that's a real beautiful guitar. Perhaps the finest one out there. My Comm #132 has the same case. Were these just used for Comms? Or, does anyone have a case from that time period that is the same with a different model in it?



Also, why are these necks, on the Comms, considered Bird's Eye Maple? They really are Flame Maple, no?

Here's my Comm neck.......................................................................................................................And here's my Classic III neck.



See what I mean? Even the Lacewoods have this flame neck.

Oh, Craig, I did not get that hang tag with my Comm, Just the COA and tools and the Leo's Legacy book. You got it all. I never thought of replacing the pick guard so you can play it but I might just do that with mine. What did you use to polish that up? It seems like they scratch if you just breath on it.

Congrats again...

Tom

[Fumble fingers]

I'll take flame over Birdseye any day of the week myself but agree on why do they call it that ??"

[yowhatsshakin]

I'll take flame over Birdseye any day of the week myself but agree on why do they call it that ??"

Don't forget quilt as another figure.

- Jos

[Fumble fingers]

my only Birdseye twisted is all I know ... lol

[yowhatsshakin]

my only Birdseye twisted is all I know ... lol

Eric,

Was that a post-2006 (or post compression truss rod) neck?

- Jos

[Fumble fingers]

2000 Comanche ...... twisted real quick once it moved , went from good to fret buzz to un-playable in about 30 minutes total time

[norbertmadi]

Wow, what a lovely guitar!

[Craig]

A question for other Commemorative owners: Does your case look the same?

I think it was built by G&G, but it only has the Made in Canada notation. The latches and metal parts are gold colored. I checked Greg's and Jos' websites for any information on the case,
but did not find any info or photos there. This case does not match any of the cases we have in the Gallery: Album: Instrument Cases, either.

Here goes Craig:

Commemorative #29:


Commemorative #152:


So both of mine have these cases too.

Congrats again on getting this beauty!
- Jos

So, it look's like a special case was used for the Commemorative models.

I will add this case to our Gallery Album of cases, soon.

Thanks, Jos!

[Craig]

Again Craig, that's a real beautiful guitar. Perhaps the finest one out there. My Comm #132 has the same case. Were these just used for Comms? Or, does anyone have a case from that time period that is the same with a different model in it?



Also, why are these necks, on the Comms, considered Bird's Eye Maple? They really are Flame Maple, no?

Here's my Comm neck.......................................................................................................................And here's my Classic III neck.



See what I mean? Even the Lacewoods have this flame neck.

Oh, Craig, I did not get that hang tag with my Comm, Just the COA and tools and the Leo's Legacy book. You got it all. I never thought of replacing the pick guard so you can play it but I might just do that with mine. What did you use to polish that up? It seems like they scratch if you just breath on it.

Congrats again...

Tom

When I first added #133 to the Registry I did not have any photos for reference and used Greg's Commemorative as a reference, which does have
a Birdseye Maple neck. So, yes, yours and mine do have Flame Maple necks. I updated my registry entry to reflect this.

One interesting note in Greg's listing: he says "Pickguard: One ply mirror gold, plastic", so perhaps he removed the gold metal pickguard and replaced it so he could play it. too.

[FZTNT]

Is yours metal? I have not looked that closely at mine, always figured it was plastic with some sort of gold finish, not real gold plating. Now I will have to get it out and look closer, I don't want to take it off really, but I might have to. Now I am curious.

Tom

[Craig]

Is yours metal? I have not looked that closely at mine, always figured it was plastic with some sort of gold finish, not real gold plating. Now I will have to get it out and look closer, I don't want to take it off really, but I might have to. Now I am curious.

Tom

Of course, they all came with metal gold plated pickguards.
The photo of Greg's on his site also has the original gold plated metal pickguard.

[fianoman]

Just an awesome piece Craig. Congrats and the fact that it was christened by Mr. Otis is wonderful too! I have been listening to his album with Al Kooper lately and he recorded that when he was 16. I wouldn't mind having those chops.

[Kit]

Absolutely stunning guitar!

But the case also caught my attention. See, I bought a 1990 SC-3 from a local owner a few years ago. It came with a somewhat beat up case that I have wondered if it was original equipment. Comparing my case with yours I noticed a few things. The inside off both cases have similar setup, down to the tab with "Case made in Canada," except the lettering on mine is gold-colored print. Mine is also dark grey felt inside. The outside has the same three latch setup, and the the latches look similar. Mine has rounded off corners while yours has more squared-off corner. Your bear white stitching only on the ends of the case, whereas mine only has white stitching all the way around the lid.

When I bought the guitar the previous owner had told me that he bought it from someone in Canada. The "Case made in Canada" kind of led me to think the original owner had acquired the case in Canada. But now that I see your pictures I don't know what the real story is.

I still have no clue if the case of my guitar is original or not.

[Craig]

Absolutely stunning guitar!

But the case also caught my attention. See, I bought a 1990 SC-3 from a local owner a few years ago. It came with a somewhat beat up case that I have wondered if it was original equipment. Comparing my case with yours I noticed a few things. The inside off both cases have similar setup, down to the tab with "Case made in Canada," except the lettering on mine is gold-colored print. Mine is also dark grey felt inside. The outside has the same three latch setup, and the the latches look similar. Mine has rounded off corners while yours has more squared-off corner. Your bear white stitching only on the ends of the case, whereas mine only has white stitching all the way around the lid.

When I bought the guitar the previous owner had told me that he bought it from someone in Canada. The "Case made in Canada" kind of led me to think the original owner had acquired the case in Canada. But now that I see your pictures I don't know what the real story is.

I still have no clue if the case of my guitar is original or not.

This might be a good topic to post with photos of your SC-3's case in the G&L Instruments (1980-1991) sub-forum. Perhaps other members might have the same case. I checked our Gallery page on G&L cases and don't find one there which might match yours. Would you might posting it there?

TIA,