Barker Archtop
www.VintageArchtop.com
This seems to be the place on the internet for conversations about
Barker guitars so I thought I'd share a few photos taken this morning
of a 1966 example I recently brought back to life. It's a gentle
instrument more suited for Jim Hall than Marty Grosz and it plays
fairly well for an instrument that sat unplayed in a closet for more
than 20 years.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29561657@N04/sets/72157625527485840/detail/
Cheers,
-Thomas
Evanston, IL
Tim
wrote:
Very,Very nice. floating pickup too.
You said you 'brought it back to life"
you rescued it from sitting? or did you have to work on it?
dwabeslim
snafu. It was an 18' Is yours 17' ?
GC
www.VintageArchtop.com
test the pickup because it had an RCA jack, the wood was very dry, it
was pretty dirty, the frets were corroded, etc.
I spent a day cleaning and fine-tuning everything, replacing the RCA
with a 1/8", and then a few days lining up a replacement tuner and
case.
By the way, Bill Cook of Cook Guitars is THA MAN!
I still need to lower a few frets up in the 18-22 range because
there's the slightest hump but plugged in she sings!
Greg (GC) - It's a 17"
-Thomas
Mark Cleary
He was a interesting person and fine player, teacher, and friend to me and
many. I manage to change the strings on my old Barker this morning it was my
fathers guitar made in 1965. Sounds great acoustically and braced different
than his later guitars and play like a dream.
Deacon Mark Cleary
Epiphany Church
"www.VintageArchtop.com" wrote in message
news:8487150f-47d9-483f...@t8g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
Tim
wrote:
Sounds like a good rescue story to me!
invisaman75
wrote:
I thought I saw this guitar on eBay recently or maybe one that is very
similar.
www.VintageArchtop.com
> I thought I saw this guitar on eBay recently or maybe one that is very
> similar.
Yes, it was an eBay find. It didn't hit it's reserve so I contacted
the seller about seeing/buying the guitar.
invisaman75
wrote:
Congrats! I am sure it is a fine guitar. It is definitely an early
Barker because you can still see the Albanus influence in the design.
Tim
Just for curiosity sake the truss rod cover says
S.
J.
M.
Was that someones custom initials?
www.VintageArchtop.com
> Just for curiosity sake the truss rod cover says
>
> S.
> J.
> M.
>
> Was that someones custom initials?
When I took the truss rod off I found those initials on the other
side. No idea who Bill Barker built this for in 1966 and, according
to Billy Cook of Cook Guitars, I probably will never find out because
Bill Barker's records were thrown out after he passed away.
But I sure am curious :)
-Thomas
Tim
www.VintageArchtop.com
And I found what at least two of the initials stand for! :)
-Thomas
Tim
wrote:
> Here's the full story: http://www.vintagearchtop.com/66_barker.htm
>
> And I found what at least two of the initials stand for! :)
>
> -Thomas
Wow, that's cool to find out. You cant ell by the pic's that Mr.
Barker was a perfectionist and very demanding of himself.
That's quite a find you have there!
Mark Cleary
"www.VintageArchtop.com" wrote in message
news:b37c2fcd-14a1-47dc...@s5g2000yqm.googlegroups.com...
Here's the full story: http://www.vintagearchtop.com/66_barker.htm
And I found what at least two of the initials stand for! :)
-Thomas
His brother's name was not Frank it was Jack Barker and Bill and Jack are
not all that mysterious. Many of us here in central Illinois knew him at
various levels. I would say his relationship with Cook and Hollenbeck are
the closest source except neither of them are interested in collectable
aspects. Of of course Hollenbeck has passed and I actually drove Barker
crazy asking him question during my years in the shop. Barker was always I
think a little taken a little back by some of the fame that other makers
received but that could have been his approach. Barker never wanted his
guitars in the hands of anyone who was not a real player. He only thought
collecting guitars was just to have 2 guitars. One to use and a spare in
case the main guitar needed work. In Barkers last 10 years of life he played
the last Albanus Guitar made and that was his main guitar. He always had a
spare guitar of his own on hand since each batch of guitars with only a few
exception's had one he would keep and play for himself not sold ahead of
time. Jack Barker did very little work himself on the guitars and could not
build or do anything real complicated. Cook however could handle any work
and of course Hollenbeck in my opinion, went beyond in everything. Most of
the last 30 Barker guitars had Hollenbeck and Cook doing some part of the
work and in fact they both built there own guitars with the Barker name and
in his shop. I even did a few things repair wise but was not into building
that much or repair then, I was playing.
One thing Barker would get on me about was I had bought a D'angelico and
that was ok but when I bought another he thought I had gone overboard. He
also was fair but never gave his guitars away. you either paid for one or
you did not get a guitar. I can post a picture of the different design
changes if anyone is interested. Barker change the body style of his guitars
in 1968 to move away from the Albanus look and only the 1st 15 or so guitars
have the old look. These were also braced different and sound different
although clearly the Barker sound is evident in both models.
One interesting thing was that when I was married in 1986 both Bill Barker
and BIll Cook played at my wedding. We had a bass and two guitars and to
this day I think it was still the best wedding band I have ever heard. They
played of course for free as a wedding gift but I think I should have at
least paid Bill Cook his is a great player. He went his own way and I ended
up working with Hollenbeck.
dwabeslim
and in fact any and all information you would care to impart
regarding Barker, Albanus, Cook and Hollenbeck .
GC