Gibson Citation

I was given this guitar by a fellow pro jazz guitarist. This is probably one of the best gifts I have ever recieved (and the most expensive, I'll bet). He happened to be repaying me (in part) for a number of guitars I had produced for him to give as auction items. The price on this guitar ranges from $17,000 to $22,000 per unit.

I have only played this unit three or four times in the past three years, but it is easily the best archtop I have ever heard. The face is a beautiful faded cherry, and glistens when you walk past the guitar. The composition of the wood grain is astounding, and the quality of every single part is beyond what most guitar makers are even capable of putting on their instruments.

The only thing I don't like is that it's so precious that I'm afraid to play it because some anti-miracle might happen and I'll destroy it.

The wood is the highest quality Gibson has access to, with a spruce top and maple back and rims. Amazing custom tailpiece made, like the pickups, of 24 karat gold. Maple neck with ebony fingerboard and abalone inlay. Ebony bridge and tailpiece. Gorgeous Schaler tuners laso made of 24k gold. Also, the single volume knob makes the front of this instrument very minimalist hardware-wise, and couples well with the floating pickup (24k gold) by B.J.B. The quality is obviously incomparable to any other factory and most luthier archtops.

The best guitar I own, the second best I've ever played (the first being an original Antonio Jurado owned by Segovia), and definitely my personal favorite to display. I suggest that if you suddenly come into a great deal of money and have already put enough of it away in the bank and in investments and charity, buy this guitar. It is a work of true musical art.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com