1985 Sunburst Anniversary Edition Johnny Smith. Pristine condition. Bought directly from Johnny Smith at his music store in Colorado. Signed and setup by Johnny himself! Johnny routinely sent back guitars that didn’t meet his standards. So this guitar passed the ultimate quality control test: inspection by Johnny Smith himself! Probably the most collectable Johnny Smith ever….

I’m the second owner. This guitar has very little wear. One minor ding in the top and that’s it. Label on the inside reads “Checked and adjusted for Dave Fagre on 7-29-86 [signed] Johnny Smith”

The Johnny Smith model is now sold by Gibson under the name Le Grande. The Le Grande sells for over $10,000, why pay that much when you can get the same guitar for less?

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This guitar represents the final culmination of over 50 years of Favino guitars. Jean-Pierre has taken the lessons of his father to improve the playability, volume, and tone of the Favino guitar. The body is smaller then the original Favino. It is actually nearly identical to a Selmer: 15 3/4″ wide, 4″ deep.  Scale length is 666mm which is slightly shorter then a Selmer (670mm). The back and sides are amazing Brazilian Rosewood, the top is Spruce, and it has a Maple neck. Other innovations include the solid wood tailpiece (ala Benedetto) and a fingerboard extension that goes all the way to up the 24th fret. This guitar also has very cool little position markers which I’ve only seen on one other Favino. There is a piezo pickup mounted under the top, with a jack on the bottom bout.

This guitar is without a doubt both the loudest, and most playable Selmer type guitar I’ve ever come across. Rarely do these two attributes occur in one guitar. The smaller body yields a clear, cutting high end that is incredibly present yet not harsh. The sound is very dry with no sympathetic ringing, strange harmonics, etc. Every note has a very strong, and clear fundamental. And unlike most guitars with a smaller body, this guitar still has some decent low end. So it can still handle rhythm well. The guitar “speaks” very easily….even the lightest pick attack will produce substantial volume.

Overall, I would definitely describes this guitar as the ultimate modern Gypsy jazz lead machine. If you like to play Minor Swing one moment, and then Donna Lee the next, this is the guitar for you. Any of the high speed, modern Gypsy-Bop licks of Bireli, Stochelo, etc. are easily executed on this guitar. It almost plays itself.

The guitar is in excellent condition with no cracks or dings at all. Looks like it has less then 100 hours of playing on it.