There’s a new guitar here — a 1993 Gibson Dove I won at Heritage Auctions. Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to win this one. I put in a bid that would’ve been good enough to resell it if I wanted to, and depending on what the camera lady thinks, I might be forced to.

Buying guitars at Heritage is always a bit of a gamble. Their descriptions aren’t always the best, so unless you do a lot more research you’re taking a chance. This one was listed in fair condition, and it definitely needs some sort of repair — the question was whether it’s extensive or mild. That’s what the unboxing was for: I genuinely didn’t know what I was getting.

The case is interesting by itself. Alligator-pattern covering, green interior, and it might be a TKL made in Canada — I’m still not sure if it’s the original case. The combo lock is broken clean off, not even a latch left. The handle does look Gibson-ish though.

Inside the case I found two tuners — turns out one of the Dove’s tuners was replaced at some point, so now I have to figure out what was wrong with the original. No paperwork came with it, which is a bummer.

As for the guitar: it’s got finish checking in various places, a top crack that was repaired (I knew about that one), and the top is lifting in one spot — but that’s a glue fix I can handle. There’s a small crack in the binding too. The big surprise: it’s an acoustic-electric. Someone had a pickup installed at some point and I had no idea until I opened the case.

The good news: flame maple back, a three-piece neck (something I don’t have on anything else yet), no structural cracks beyond what’s noted, and it’s in playable condition as-is. This is a 33-year-old Bozeman-era Dove — Gibson moved acoustic production to Bozeman, Montana in 1992, so this is from right after the move.

The plan from here: this guitar is getting fixed up on the channel. I’ll be documenting the repairs — the glue work, the tuner situation, the full once-over to make sure there’s nothing structural hiding — and at the end of it all, the verdict: keeper or sell. Stay tuned.

Ted McCarty sketched the Theodore in 1957 and the drawing was lost to time until Gibson made the guitars; Gibson made 318 in total, in red, Natural and black.

Mine is Prototype #1, the first Theodore ever made in Ebony. In the video I put it side by side with the production Natural, still Custom Shop built, and ask: is there actually a difference?

Same design, same P-90 pickups: alder body with the walnut center stripe, chunky mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard, top-wrap bridge, aged knobs and amber switch tip.

The video runs through the story, the specs, how I found Prototype #1, and final thoughts on playability and fretwork.

The short answer: put side by side, they’re essentially the same guitar — they feel exactly the same, the production neck might be slightly thicker, and the only difference I could see is the prototype’s strap-button test hole. It plays great and lightweight, and the fretwork is immaculate.

More gear videos: the Gibson Collector’s Guide (Theodore segment at 7:24)