The Les Paul, the ES-335, the Flying V, the Explorer, the Firebird, the SG, and more, were guitars that were developed during Theodore “Ted” McCarty’s tenure as the president of Gibson.
What made Ted a legend was not the number of iconic guitars he had helped developed. Not because he helped boosted Gibson’s production from 5,000 guitars a year to over 100,000 and consequently increased the staff count from 150 to over 1,200 in a matter of 18 years.
What made him a legend was, he did not play a single chord on a guitar. That’s right. The man never played the guitar and yet, he knew guitars.
The aforementioned guitars were some of the most recognizable guitars made possible with Ted but they were those that made it and became ‘famous’. Ted had a treasure trove of other designs that did not make it to productions.
Among them was a new solid-body instrument concept drafted by the man on March 18, 1957. 65 years later, on March 18, 2022, this concept has become a real guitar, aptly called Theodore as a homage to the legendary President of the company. The Theodore Electric Guitar also marks the first-ever Gibson Archive Collection release.
Theodore features an alder body, scimitar headstock, double Florentine cutaways, P-90 pickups, and a walnut center strip, and is offered in three colors: Natural, Cherry, and Ebony.
Each Theodore will come as a deluxe package that includes a Historic-style brown hardshell exterior and pink interior guitar case, along with a leather strap, a print of Ted McCarty’s original signed drawing of the guitar, a 1957-style catalog print, and a Certificate of Authenticity booklet.
As a nod to the date March 18 – the day the guitar was drafted and released 65 years later, only 318 of the US$4,999 units are available.
All images courtesy of Gibson.
