A HOLLOW-BODY ELECTRIC GUITAR, SUPER 400 CESN

Details

GIBSON INCORPORATED, KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN, CIRCA 1960
A HOLLOW-BODY ELECTRIC GUITAR, SUPER 400 CESN
Bearing the logo Gibson inlaid at the headstock and labelled internally Style S-400 / Gibson GUITAR CESN / Number A 35661 is hereby / GUARANTEED / against faulty workmanship and materials / GIBSON Inc. / KALAMAZOO, MICH / U.S.A. and stamped R6096 4, of a natural finish, together with original hard-shell case
Length of back 21 7/8 in. (55.5 cm.)
GIBSON

Sale Room Notice

Mark Knopfler plans to donate no less than 25% of the total hammer price received, to be split equally between The British Red Cross Society (a charity registered in England and Wales with charity number 220949, Scotland with charity number SC037738, Isle of Man with charity number 0752, and Jersey with charity number 430), Brave Hearts of the North East (a charity registered in England and Wales with charity number 1006247) and the Tusk Trust Limited (a charity registered in England and Wales with charity number 1186533).

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

Gibson shipping records for the Super 400 CESN (natural finish) list a mere seven units leaving the Kalamazoo factory in 1960. The standard specifications for the guitar in 1960 would have had them fitted with two Humbucking pickups. Considering the variant with this instrument, having two P-90 pickups, we can speculate that the guitar was in all probability a custom order.

One of three Super 400s acquired by Mark Knopfler in the mid-1980s from Pete’s Guitar in St. Paul, Minneapolis, this guitar was likely used during recording of the 1990 Notting Hillbillies album Missing...Presumed Having A Good Time at Mark’s home studio from mid-1988 to late 1989. Guitar tech Ron Eve recalls that the guitar was present in the studio from time to time during this period.

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