Gibson CF-100E Flat Top Acoustic-Electric Guitar (1956)
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Gibson CF-100E Model Flat Top Acoustic-Electric Guitar (1956), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # V6306-21, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, mahogany body and neck, spruce top; rosewood fingerboard, original brown alligator chipboard case.
Here is a great playing example of a unique and fairly uncommon Gibson flat-top from the 1950s: the CF-100-E. This is a mid-1950s example of this most unusual guitar for its time, when the concept of a cutaway flat-top with a factory pickup was quite a novel idea. Common today, these features were radical when the model was introduced in 1951 making this a guitar very much ahead of its time.
While the instrument is generally similar to the non-cutaway LG-2, it is considerably fancier in appearance and has a rather more upscale feel. The top is triple-bound and the back and fingerboard are single-bound. The headstock carries a pearl Gibson logo and crown inlay and the rosewood fingerboard is inlaid with pearloid trapezoids. The neck is a medium "C" profile with slightly more dress-away on the sides than some '50s Gibsons and very comfortable
Gibson offered this model as a straight acoustic guitar as the CF-100 or with an ingenious added magnetic pickup as the CF-100E, and both were sold in limited numbers throughout the 1950s and so are fairly rare today. Only 132 of the electric model shipped out in 1956, out of a total of 1257 for the entire run. The pickup is Gibson's standard P-90 single coil, mounted under the top with a decorative bezel around the polepieces. The controls are a standard tone and volume mounted along the lower bout on the top. The top itself is solid spruce and X-braced, so the electronics rig does not inhibit the acoustic response to any great degree. The only construction concession to amplification is a small extra forward section added ahead of the small maple bridgeplate to stiffen the top just a bit.
The larger non-cutaway J-160E was launched in 1955 using the same electronics package on a Jumbo body and is much better remembered, mostly due to extensive use by The Beatles in the 1960s. These quickly adopted a ladder-braced multi-ply top, severely limiting the acoustic response compared to this smaller model. Although in some ways a more useful design the CF-100E is comparatively obscure. Today this very attractive, forward-looking guitar makes perfect sense and we can only wonder why the players of the 1950s failed to warm to this excellent instrument. This particular example is very clean overall and one of the nicest we have had.
Overall length is 39 1/2 in. (100.3 cm.), 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is a lovely original guitar that shows only some generally light wear and no visible structural repair. The original lacquer finish has typical moderate checking overall and some generally light dings, dents and scrapes. The back of the neck has a few small feelable dinks but nothing distracting. There are no visible crack repairs and the only alteration we can see is more recent repro "Keystone" buttons on the original Kluson deluxe tuners. This model originally had round buttons but these Les Paul style tips actually dress up the instrument a bit! They could of course be removed and replaced with the correct style repros if desired. All else on the instrument remains original.
This is a fully X-braced guitar with a solid spruce top and the addition of the pickup and electronics do not have a noticeably adverse affect on the acoustic response. The rosewood bridge and maple bridge plate are original, the bridge may have been lowered just a bit forward of the pins. The original saddle has been lowered a bit as well. The original frets and the rosewood fingerboard show some wear in the lower positions but not enough to affect playability; the nut has been replaced. This guitar is an excellent player with the typical CF-100 sound, sweet and nicely rounded, somewhat dry with pronounced mids. This one includes the original brown alligator Gibson chipboard case in functional condition, with the remains of the name "Jerry" on the lid. Overall Excellent - Condition.
Here is a great playing example of a unique and fairly uncommon Gibson flat-top from the 1950s: the CF-100-E. This is a mid-1950s example of this most unusual guitar for its time, when the concept of a cutaway flat-top with a factory pickup was quite a novel idea. Common today, these features were radical when the model was introduced in 1951 making this a guitar very much ahead of its time.
While the instrument is generally similar to the non-cutaway LG-2, it is considerably fancier in appearance and has a rather more upscale feel. The top is triple-bound and the back and fingerboard are single-bound. The headstock carries a pearl Gibson logo and crown inlay and the rosewood fingerboard is inlaid with pearloid trapezoids. The neck is a medium "C" profile with slightly more dress-away on the sides than some '50s Gibsons and very comfortable
Gibson offered this model as a straight acoustic guitar as the CF-100 or with an ingenious added magnetic pickup as the CF-100E, and both were sold in limited numbers throughout the 1950s and so are fairly rare today. Only 132 of the electric model shipped out in 1956, out of a total of 1257 for the entire run. The pickup is Gibson's standard P-90 single coil, mounted under the top with a decorative bezel around the polepieces. The controls are a standard tone and volume mounted along the lower bout on the top. The top itself is solid spruce and X-braced, so the electronics rig does not inhibit the acoustic response to any great degree. The only construction concession to amplification is a small extra forward section added ahead of the small maple bridgeplate to stiffen the top just a bit.
The larger non-cutaway J-160E was launched in 1955 using the same electronics package on a Jumbo body and is much better remembered, mostly due to extensive use by The Beatles in the 1960s. These quickly adopted a ladder-braced multi-ply top, severely limiting the acoustic response compared to this smaller model. Although in some ways a more useful design the CF-100E is comparatively obscure. Today this very attractive, forward-looking guitar makes perfect sense and we can only wonder why the players of the 1950s failed to warm to this excellent instrument. This particular example is very clean overall and one of the nicest we have had.
Overall length is 39 1/2 in. (100.3 cm.), 14 1/4 in. (36.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is a lovely original guitar that shows only some generally light wear and no visible structural repair. The original lacquer finish has typical moderate checking overall and some generally light dings, dents and scrapes. The back of the neck has a few small feelable dinks but nothing distracting. There are no visible crack repairs and the only alteration we can see is more recent repro "Keystone" buttons on the original Kluson deluxe tuners. This model originally had round buttons but these Les Paul style tips actually dress up the instrument a bit! They could of course be removed and replaced with the correct style repros if desired. All else on the instrument remains original.
This is a fully X-braced guitar with a solid spruce top and the addition of the pickup and electronics do not have a noticeably adverse affect on the acoustic response. The rosewood bridge and maple bridge plate are original, the bridge may have been lowered just a bit forward of the pins. The original saddle has been lowered a bit as well. The original frets and the rosewood fingerboard show some wear in the lower positions but not enough to affect playability; the nut has been replaced. This guitar is an excellent player with the typical CF-100 sound, sweet and nicely rounded, somewhat dry with pronounced mids. This one includes the original brown alligator Gibson chipboard case in functional condition, with the remains of the name "Jerry" on the lid. Overall Excellent - Condition.