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.