GGJaguar's Guitarium and Ampeteria 2005 Guild Johnny Smith Award

All images and text copyrighted and property of Greg Gagliano.

FACTOIDS AND TRIVIA

In his early career, jazz guitarist Johnny Smith was mainly associated with his D'Angelico archtop. When Guild snagged him as an endorser in the 1950s, the company worked with Johnny to develop a signature model - the Johnny Smith Award (JSA). The JSA was available from 1957-60, though a few trickled out of the factory in 1961. In 1962, Johnny jumped to Gibson and endorsed a signature model, then jumped to Heritage Guitars to endorse their signature model. Johnny's D'Angelico, Gibson and Heritage guitars had X-braced tops which was unusual since most archtops used parallel braced tops. So, when Johnny Smith went full circle and agreed to be a Guild endorser again, the X-braced Benedetto Artist Award model was a perfect springboard for a new JSA model. The Benedetto redesigned JSA, as with the the Benedetto-redesigned Artist Award before it, are completely different guitars from the Artist Award of the 1970 through 1990s. It used German maple (probably Acer pseudoplatanus) for the body and European spruce (almost certainly Picea abies) for the top. The scale length was shortened from 25 5/8" to 25 9/16" on the JSA. The top used Benedetto's specified X-bracing, shallower 3-inch body depth, and thinner top and back. Tom Wheeler interviewed Bob Benedetto in 2002 where Bob noted that the refinements were to upgrade and modernize the AA and included such things as linings and shape of neck heel. Benedetto also mentioned in a 2005 interview in Just Jazz Guitar Magazine that the guitar is "carved and tuned from the finest European cello woods" and the top is "lightly X-braced". The Johnny Smith Award, like the Benedetto Artist Award, was team built in the FMIC Custom Shop in Corona, Californa. The team consisted of Stephen Stern, Paul Waller, Jose Guerrero, and Gonzalo Madrigal among others. Stern, Waller and Mardrigal are now master builders in the FMIC Custom Shop. The Benedetto-designed Johnny Smith Award was available from July 2002 through 2006.