Willies American Guitars

See Through Blonde on ash body, VG++. A nice 70’s vintage set up for a player formerly used by a touring guitarist. The pickups are original yet the grey bottom bridge pickup has been potted to prevent feedback and the original neck pickup was rewound by Eric Daw in 2019. Good job Eric putting a “rewound by” sticker on the bottom. The pots are replaced with 250K Emersons with a .047 MFD Emerson...

Trans Red, carved spruce top hollowbody, excellent condition. Willie’s was a huge dealer of USA made Hamers back in the era before imports diluted the Brand to…meh. Willie used to hang around the original vintage guitar/Hamer guitar early days on Green Bay Road and while working at Sound Post in the Chicago area ordered many custom shop Hamer guitars. Steve our head luthier worked in the Hamer...

The Magna Champ. Just like the smallest Fender amps these have a single 6V6 power tube and 5Y3 rectifier. But with a bigger cabinet, an Alnico Oxford 12” speaker and the soothing pitch shifting vibrato (footswitchable but comes without a footswitch). The tone breaks up nicely and can be living room quiet. Hi and low gain inputs and an extension speaker for more volume. These are lightweight and...

Tobacco Sunburst, an optional finish back in the day. These narrow field mini humbuckers are getting respect. Sitting between a single coil strat and a big humbucker they have more punch and thump than a strat yet less bass than a normal humbucker. It sounds crisp and hum free, less muddy so you can better blend in and be heard on a a multi guitar stage. The standard colors were Cherry Sunburst...

Natural. Imagine the buzz at the 145 year old factory when some young Grateful Dead fan says: “Let’s do a solid body guitar!” Then adds, “more like an Alembic than a Fender.” Spitting up coffee all over the drawing board the foreman asks: “Are you crazy?” No, we’ll do the neck through body and use walnut and maple. We’ll make it classy with a scroll headstock. And it will have both coil...

Natural, 24.75” scale, Adirondack Spruce top, mahogany back and sides, Indian rosewood body binding, ebony fingerboard with diamond inlays, 1 11/16” at the nut, 2 3/16” saddle spacing, scalloped hybrid top bracing, vine logo headstock inlay, pyramid bridge, bone nut and saddle. An awesome sounding short scale Dreadnaught with plenty of volume and note separation. Made with all solid woods in...

This exquisite Martin Custom Shop 000-28 radiates timeless elegance and craftsmanship. Featuring a premium Adirondack Spruce top with herringbone trim, it’s matched by stunning East Indian Rosewood back and sides that deliver both beauty and rich tonal depth. The scalloped Adirondack top bracing enhances resonance and response, while the 24.9” scale length makes for comfortable, lively...

This stunning Custom Shop creation from Martin features an Adirondack Spruce top with elegant herringbone trim, paired with East Indian Rosewood back and sides. It has a 25.4” scale length, forward-shifted Adirondack Spruce top bracing, and an ebony fingerboard with classic diamonds and squares inlays. The 1 3/4” nut width and 2 5/32” string spacing, combined with a modified low oval neck...

Black, rare features from the Bill Schultz era. Bound neck with dot inlays, white knobs and pickup covers, bound rosewood fretboard, 1.5” nut, some scratches on the back but in good shape overall, great sounding and playing 80’s Jazz Bass, weighs in at 11.5 pounds, comes with the original hard case.

Natural with herringbone trim, 12 frets to the body, slotted headstock. VG++. Natural, Sitka Spruce with bookmatched Indian rosewood back and sides. Now aged 20 years. Has a Honduran mahogany neck, ebony fingerboard with 1 13/16” nut, modified V neck profile and 2 5/16” string spacing. The V stands for vintage with 5/16” scalloped braces and forward shifted top braces. The wide nut has room for...

Made with crazy beautiful private stock woods with breathtaking flame. The collaboration of Paul Smith and John Mayer created this sophisticated historically inspired guitar that will fascinate and inspire any Grateful Dead fan. Starting with longer 25.375” scale, specially wound 58/16 pickups plus a Narrowfield JM in the middle. Also has three coil tap mini switches and a JCF preamp and...

Black, kinda rare finish. Built when Fender was turned around and pulled out of the CBS era nosedive. Bill Schultz was a hero to employees and the public. These were what the public wanted and they kinda nailed it. Now 40 years later these have mellowed like a fine wine. Has staggered pickups with vintage tone and aged magnets. Real lacquer necks nicely yellowed. Deep back contours came back...

2x12” combo in factory white, 50 watts, 2xEL34, “Anniversary Series” badging for Marshall’s 20th anniversary in 1982, but this is dated early 1983. Clean and all-original including its Drake mains and output transformers, caps, and incredible-sounding and highly desirable factory Celestion G 12-65 12” loudspeakers. The usual features introduced with Marshall’s 2203/2204 JMP master volume amps of...

Sunburst, early features including the small bridge and pickguard, skinny braces and a tapered headstock. All the goodness of a 40’s Gibson ladder braced guitar. All solid woods aged 73 years after sitting in a lumber yard in the 40’s before going to the Gibson mill room. Has a Sitka Spruce top, old growth Honduran Mahogany back and sides, Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard and bridge. Imagine these...

VOS, Maestro Vibrola. If you’ve ever been to the Minneapolis/Saint Paul airport there is a Prince store dedicated to all things Prince and there’s a video loop playing showing his Purple Majesty playing a very cool-looking white SG Custom. So when this came in we were…wow! Yes please! It’s got a fat neck, stays in tune, and with three Gibson Custombucker Alnico 3 pickups sounds great through any...

This stunning Stratocaster has been refinished in its original Fiesta Red color by Dave Blackshear, who discovered an original piece of tape from the factory under the pickguard noting the color. It’s an exceptional player with a lightweight original alder body at 7.7 pounds and a comfortable, dark Brazilian slab Rosewood fretboard with clay dots. The guitar features two original pickups, with...

White, clean and original rare color combo of white with a golden brown pickguard. Early L plate example. This finish is quite rare. The white has no lacquer clear coat so the guitar never yellowed (called titanium dioxide white by some). These early Duo Sonics have a three way switch. The middle position puts both pickups in hum cancelling mode. Note the Tele knobs and bridge cover that has...

Natural, added Bigsby trem, spruce top, flame maple back and sides, bound rosewood fingerboard with block inlays, dual humbuckers, gold hardware, a few nicks on top and some scratches on back but overall in good shape, a nice Korean-made archtop that won't break the bank. Currently strung with flat wound strings. Comes with the original but kinda beat hard case. $650

Fender’s top-of-the-line tweed Deluxe reissue. 12 watts, handwired, with a 12” Eminence speaker. Beautiful cleans and snarling overdrive when turned up - just ask Neil Young, as he apparently owns 400 vintage tweed Deluxes. The 5E3 circuit is synonymous with dynamic, harmonically-rich tone. One 12AY7 and one 12AX7 in the preamp section, and two 6V6GT power tubes. Comes with a protective cover. We...

Western Shade on an upgraded Adirondack spruce top with herringbone trim. It has a 24 7/8” scale length and is built with Indian rosewood back and sides, complemented by ivoroid body binding. Has an ebony fingerboard with diamonds and squares inlays, and a comfortable 1 11/16” nut width and 2 3/16” string spacing. An upgraded abalone rosette and nickel Waverly tuners complete the instrument’s...

Natural, 12 fret, steel string, 24 3/4” scale. One of only 125 made in 1930. First year of the belly bridge. All solid Koa construction. One of Martin’s first guitars with steel strings as standard in the 1920’s. These lightweight guitar sounds big and balanced for its size. The pre-war wood is thin like a fine violin. The scalloped bracing has been copied over and over by every guitar maker...

1x12” combo, 15 watts, 2x6V6, master volume, early example with brown grille cloth, Clean condition and all-stock including the factory British-made Celestion Vintage 30, a famous speaker that made its debut in this particular Marshall model. Quite an advanced feature set for the mid-1980s, too, with its XLR line out and built-in power attenuator and attendant headphone jack (on a tube amp,...

Natural, Sitka Spruce top, three-piece Indian rosewood back, Indian rosewood sides, bound ebony fingerboard with dot inlays, 1 11/16” nut width, crack free and in very good shape, no cracks, nice low action with plenty of saddle left, plenty of fret life too, It does have some dulling of the finish on the back. This one really sounds huge, with lots of low-end to spare, and is an excellent...

Black Beauty. Very few solid body guitars have the sex appeal that Gibson’s Black Les Paul Customs have. This one has a fresh fret job (you’re welcome) with medium jumbo 6105 frets. This gorgeous 53 year old classic is all original except for the frets, one knob and black switch tip. Has the original Patent Sticker pickups that have that classic 60’s clear articulate tone that so many pickup...

Fireglo, near mint one scratch on the corner of the headstock. Comes with the original manual, Allen wrench all in the original packet as if it was new. It had the original strings on but after 8 years we changed them and gave it a set up. We see no playing wear on the top and back, we doubt it was ever used. That’s a pity because it sounds great. Looks great too with a nice Fireglo finish with...

Natural, with a recent neck reset done so it plays and sounds fantastic. Expect a few small dings and scratches but no abuse or cracks. There is a thumb print sized mark in the finish where your thumb goes in first position. These are scalloped braced (the better to hear you with my dear) and has a 1 11/16” nut width like most guitars from the 50’s-80’s. Has a drop in saddle on an ebony bridge,...

Sunburst, a depression era Gibson made archtop. It’s the same as Gibson’s L-30 model with the smaller 14 3/4” body width and a deep 4 1/4” deep body and 24.5” scale. Solid Spruce top with open F holes, Honduran Mahogany back and sides, a big V neck made of seasoned Mahogany topped with a Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard and bridge. All original including the tailpiece (Kluson made) and pickguard....

Refinished and hardware “updated”. In some ways this is the coolest guitar we’ve had all year. What? How many times do you find an unbroken late ‘50s Les Paul Custom for cheap? Okay, okay, Willie’s, what’s the story? So this has been owned by the same person since it was just a ten year-old used guitar. It was bought as you see it except it had a poor refin. Chrome-covered “patent sticker”...

Taos Turquoise, Built on an alder body and finished in nitrocellulose lacquer with a tasteful light relic treatment, this guitar has that broken-in feel that we all love so much. The anodized gold pickguard adds a distinctive vibe, while the quartersawn maple neck and fretboard ensure enhanced stability and tonal resonance. Key features include narrow tall 6105 frets on a 7.25” radius...

Crafted from a lightweight (6.8 pound) ash body in a striking Three Tone Sunburst finish, this model combines timeless aesthetics with modern playability. Has a nitrocellulose lacquer finish with a tasteful journeyman relic treatment, which brings the look and feel of an original 50’s classic right to your hands. Has a soft V neck profile modeled after the ’57 style, the quartersawn maple neck...