singlecut 54
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- Oct 16, 2007
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That's probably true, but neither shape is all that distinctive, in my opinion. I mean, it's basically a standard guitar shape that was shrunk so it wouldn't weigh a ton.
There were other electric guitars around at the time, notably the App by O W Appleton, which was slightly larger than the LP with an arched solid maple body with routed rounded edges instead of the binding on the Gibson. It was built in the winter of '41-42, predating the Bigsby, and was 3-1/2" thick at the highest point and 1/2" wider than the Les Paul. The builder claimed to have shown it to Gibson.
Bigsby was a tool and die maker, and the aluminum castings he designed for the Crocker motorcycle (made in Los Angeles 1936-40 or thereabouts) are works of art. A friend had two of them and they put the Indians and H-Ds of the period to shame: the design was integrated in a way that made them stand out.
I think the fancy trim on the Bigsby was Travis' doing -- he was an amateur cartoonist, and no doubt prided himself on the curlicues.
Of course, since it was Merle Travis, the guitar was highly visible in the late '40s - early '50s, and surely everyone was aware of it.
The LP, in contrast, is what you would expect from Gibson: well thought out, with traditional decorative features that had already appeared on Gibsons. And, it was much easier to manufacture than Bigsby's ornate handiwork.
But Fender, for all his quirks, made something more original...but he wasn't much of a graphic designer, so the early guitars and basses look (as some one put it) "like they'd been built in a high school wood shop class." It wasn't until he hired Freddy Tavares that his instruments started looking like they'd been designed by someone with talent for it...and even then, he copied (again, in my opinion) Bigsby's peghead shape for the second-generation Precision and the Strat and subsequent models.
Me, I have four Fender basses (including a reissue of the original rowboat P) but the only electric guitar I own is my LP Deluxe. Second place is 'way back.
Any pictures of the Appleton guitar? I've never seen this one, or heard of it before.