L5 Auburn L5 Jazz Moderne
depicts a 1934 Boat Tail Auburn automobile interpreted as a wood and metal marquetry. The back of the L5 Jazz Moderne is also a marquetry inspired by an old photo I found of a pair of elevator doors in a Los Angeles department store. The colorful, radiating fan top is pure vintage deco and is one of my favorite designs that I ever created. The Sophisticated Lady Super 400 pays tribute to Duke Ellington’s song of the same name; the melody of which is the audio equivalent of the visual style of Art Deco: elegant, posh, and fluid. The back of the guitar depicts a fashionable woman descending a hotel staircase with two Borzoi Dogs. She’s, no doubt, on her way to Central Park in her green caped frock and Robin Hood cap; the epitome of a “Sophisticated Lady.” Each of these guitars has a unique stairstepped pick guard and matching truss rod
cover, with its title engraved in the motherof-pearl inlays. The Gibson logo on the pick guard is hand cut from solid gold. The engravings on the gold tail pieces were masterfully executed by Nick Kimmons.” Bruce Kunkel Next, a few words from the, “to remain unnamed” owner of this collection… “All the Super 400 / Super 5 based Art Deco guitars were the inspiration of Gibson’s now-long-retired top master luthier, Bruce Kunkel, whom Gibson allowed to give them his all in these Art Guitars. To the best of my knowledge, Bruce Kunkel only built three of these Super 400 / Super 5 based Art Deco guitars. The first one was the Sophisticated Lady, a Champaign colored Super 400 with the back of the guitar hand-painted with the Lady and her dogs coming down a grand
stairway (though the chandelier in the scene is inlayed abalone, rather than painted). The second Art Deco guitar is the Jazz Moderne, a Super 5 with the alternating sunburst painted on its top and sides, and with a hand inlayed back, and a hand carved and hand painted heel. Bruce’s third Art Deco guitar was painted to look like a 1930’s Auburn boat-tailed car, and that was it. Gibson set a price of $80,000 for each of the Art Deco guitars. Although the Sophisticated Lady and the Jazz Moderne are without question incredible pieces of art, they are even more stunning because they are two of the finest sounding Gibson hollow-body guitars I have EVER heard, regardless of age.” Any questions please Contact Guitar Archeology at info@guitararcheology.com
COLLECTIBLEGUITAR.COM :: JAN/FEB 14 :: 47