The Value of Your Chet Atkins

[2Stepleadguitarist]

I just got my baby back from the luthier yesterday, and was elated so high until I plugged it up at rehearsal and it didn't work. The problem: within a Gibson Chet Atkins SST there are three particularly large flaws.

1. The battery pack WILL become loose and get to the point where it will not apply adequate pressure against the contacts for the electronics to not buzz in and out. (The solution: apply a piece of foam with an adhesive surface within the lid of the cover and your first problem is solved. Better to do it now than be shoving folded paper in there at a gig.)

2. You can see within the panel on the back of the guitar two holes that are about the size of a quarter. One leads a direct path down to the jack and is routed back up across the hollow of the mahogany, and up to the Volume, Bass, and Trem controls. The problem: the guitar's strings go across the bridge and are anchored within the hollow of that compartment.
The most common breaking area of a string on a Chet SST is across the bridge leaving perhaps an inch of string and the eye plugged in the hole. You pull the plug out to change the string and that bit falls down into the hollow and straight down into the jack. This causes a short with tremendous popping and buzzing in the PA due to the extremely active Chet Atkins Pickup. (The solution: Take a piece of foam like the kind used to make eggcrate soundproofing. Stuff it in the hole so that it is snug enough never to move, but not so far that it touches the jack or pertrudes into the hollow.)

3. The same problem as number two. If you take the plug out of the guitar while it is laying on it's back the piece of string that falls into the hollow can go up into the electronic controls and become logged within the cardboard sleeve surrounding the circuit board. (The solution: Same thing as number 2. Use a piece of foam, be certain it is loged very well into the hole.

Now you have a guitar that is flawless.
As far as value goes, Chet Atkins' death caused a jump in price of the SST to as high as new retail cost. Sellers sold them on Ebay, and they went for less than $500. The purchasers turned around, used the same photos, and put the guitars back on Ebay for $700-1000. So be certain that if you are in the market for one of these baby's that there is a photo of the embossed serial number on the back of the head stock that you can use to verify it's purchase from Gibson. You don't want an Epiphone knock-off. Also, check out the SST's that are available from Gibson new.
If you drop $700-1000 on a used guitar, and then have to have the frets dressed, the neck set, and the Bridge and Nut filed down it will cost you at least $250.00 to have it done by a certified Gibson luthier, so why not have a new guitar? That's all I have to say about the Chet Atkins SST.
Fix the three "likely" problems, and you are good to go. It plays good, sounds good, and is ideal for large PA's where your monitor mix alone is blowing 5000+ watts in your face.

[AdamCU81]

Is this the same as the Chet SST?

[2Stepleadguitarist]

I'm Sorry, I meant to put SST when I wrote that. I must have gotten my wires crossed... gotta lot on my mind. I appologize. I did mean the SST's, which I have not seen the hollow of a new one. Gibson may have fixed these problems by now.

[AdamCU81]

I didn't mean any harm. I was just wondering if there's a different model or something. I respect your opinion and don't raelly have one of my own cause I've only played one once.