The Gibson Nick Lucas Special, a Twelve Fret Acoustic Guitar Beauty.

The Gibson Nick Lucas guitar is truly a special guitar, and in recent years it is making a huge comeback as far as a collector's piece of prized value, and a choice model guitar for flatpickers, and this is especially due to the beautiful guitar playing of Norman Blake. This great Gibson acoustic guitar is a much smaller instrument than a typical Martin or Gibson model dreadnought flat top, and the Nick Lucas model is also different from the norm (pun intended) in that it is a guitar with twelve frets clear of the body, rather than fourteen.

Norman Blake, of course, is not just a guitarist - but a multi instrumentalist who happens to be most associated with the acoustic guitar. Traditional music typically sounds best on great American Vintage Guitars, and Norman typically finds old songs to perform that virtually no one else remembers, and when he finds an old instrument with which to perform them, and make them shine - he brings both the songs and instruments back to life for us all.

The Gibson Nick Lucas model acoustic guitar is a guitar with a slightly arched, spruce top, and mahogany back and sides.  It's a larger guitar than the Martin 000 18 guitar, which would be it's closest Martin model in comparison, but the Martin 000 guitars are 14 frets clear of the body acoustic guitars, and this Gibson model is a twelve frets clear of the body guitar.  The slightly arched top isn't a common or easy thing to achieve, and the nice mother of pearl, or abalone inlay in the neck of the guitar are also things that make this a very nice guitar, and one that will be more expensive than the typical mahogany back and sides, and spruce top instruments on the market.  Now, there's not data available to me, but I have to take the great Norman Blake's opinion here, and that is that the twelve fret model guitars seem to produce "punchier," or more distinct notes; and when you combine that with tonal immediacy that comes with mahogany back and sides, you have to realize that this is going to be a loud guitar, and an excellent instrument for playing both leads and rhythm.  These guitars are always painted black, but I'm positive that this instrument could be ordered from the Gibson factory in sunburst, or natural finish as well; and besides that, there are now so many fine, small production lutheirs in the United States and Canada, that with some patience and money, one could have an exact copy built, or hot rodded up to your specifics, if you're into that sort of thing. 

Both the original Gibson Nick Lucas model acoustic guitars, and the modern reissues are bound to be some fine, heirloom, and collectable model guitars.  These are the types of instruments that one buys for professional work, or simply because you love instruments like this, and can afford them.  Though this guitar is going to be a louder guitar than most Gibson acoustics, it's not something that is going to compare, really, to the volume that can be provided by a Gibson J 200, or Gibson SJ 250 Monarch; however, this guitar is going to be so much smaller compared to those great, and very large models, that it would be much easier to manage for the averaged sized man or woman.  Norman Blake is the man who has brought this model back to the forefront of the acoustic guitar market; and perhaps he should be thanked for that if you ever get to own, and love playing on of these fine instruments, with roots deep in American pop and folk music.

~WTS~