Joe's Vintage Guitars - Preserving History One Guitar at a Time

Joe's Vintage Guitars Blog

Specific Model Highlights

Deep-dive authentication and spec guides for individual vintage models: year-by-year details, originality checks, and what collectors look for.

A 1964 Gibson Super 400 CES with a sharp Florentine cutaway, two pickups, and a Super 400 tailpiece, in an orange-lined case.
Specific Model Highlights

Vintage Gibson Super 400 Value Guide: 1934 to 1969

What a vintage Super 400 is worth, era by era: documented sold CES comps from $5,780 to $18,500, and asking prices above $36,000 on pre-war Premier acoustics. The Super 400 is Gibson's 18 inch carved archtop, named for its $400 list in 1934. The Super 400 CES followed in 1951. Here is how to date one from the cutaway, pickups, label, and our Kalamazoo shipping totals, plus 2026 dealer value as ranges. Shown on a 1938 Super 400, a 1957 CES, a 1964 Florentine CES, a 1969 acoustic, a Custom Shop thinline, and a 1990s black Super 400.

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The cherry sunburst top of a 1961 Gibson Hummingbird showing the engraved pickguard with a hummingbird, trumpet flowers, and butterfly, and the rectangular rosewood bridge.
Specific Model Highlights

Vintage Gibson Hummingbird Guide: History, Specs, Year by Year Changes, and Value

The Hummingbird was Gibson's first square shoulder dreadnought and the prettiest guitar in the 1960 catalog. Here is the full story: what the first ones were, every spec change that matters through the 1970s, how to date yours from the label and the hardware, and what a vintage one is honestly worth in 2026. Shown on five real Hummingbirds that came through the shop, from a 1961 to a 1979.

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Spruce top of a 1976 Martin 000-45 showing the abalone pearl border around the top edge and soundhole, black pickguard, and ebony belly bridge
Specific Model Highlights

1976 Martin 000-45: Specs, History, Authentication, and Value

The 000-45 is the rarest thing Martin puts a catalog number on. Just 341 were built across the whole span from 1906 to 2005, post-1970 reissues included, and in the 1970s the factory made them one and two at a time. Here is the full spec sheet for a 1976 example, the history of how Style 45 came back after the war, how to tell an original from an upgraded 000-28, and what one is honestly worth today.

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