Guitar
Maker
Gibson, Inc.
Maker
Gibson
Date1940
Place MadeKalamazoo, Michigan, United States, North America
ModelRay Whitley custom
Serial No.923-F (factory order number)
SignedInlaid onto headstock, inlaid in mother-of-pearl: (script) Gibson / [flower pot] / CU (text obscured by tuning peg) STOM BUILT / (script) for / RAY WHITLEYMarkingsStamped into end of block, inside guitar body: 923-F / 1 (penciled in red)
DescriptionThis Gibson flat-top guitar was custom-built for Ray Whitley, the cowboy movie star and writer of Gene Autry's theme song, Back in the Saddle Again. Whitley was involved with Gibson’s Super Jumbo 200 guitar from its inception, having worked with Gibson during the production of several prototypes.
Dimensions(all measurements per Gruhn Guitars)
body length: 18 15/16 in
lower bout: 13 9/16 in
depth at endpin: 4 1/4 in
nut width: 1 1/4 in
scale length: 26 in
ProvenanceIn 1940, Whitley received from Gibson this special, custom-made guitar that resembled the SJ-200, but on a smaller scale. He called this instrument his "Party Guitar," and it appeared with him on the 1940 RKO comedy short, Bar Buckaroos. In 1944, Whitley sold it to Glenn Strange, best known as Sam the Bartender on the TV series, Gunsmoke. Purchased from Gruhn Guitars, Nashville, Tennessee, 1996.
Published ReferencesFeatured on cover and described on pp.4-5 of Gruhn Guitar flyer, December 1995
André P. Larson, "Legends of the American West . . . Museum Acquires Cowboy Singer Ray Whitley's Party Guitar," America's Shrine to Music Museum Newsletter 25, No. 5 (November 1998), pp. 1-2.
“Ray Whitley’s 1940 Gibson ‘Party Guitar’,” Vintage Guitar Magazine, Vol. 9, No. 8 (May 1995).
Credit LineArne B. and Jeanne F. Larson Fund, 1996
Object number05991
On View
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