1977 Barker 17" Arch Top

This is a 1 off wonderful & exceedingly rare example of an original Arch Top Jazz guitar made by the master builder, Mr. William G. Barker in 1977 & from the state of Illinois. Its got an amazing shaped body design in a 17″ form w/slightly larger dimensions then a Johnny Smith, yet w/a shorter 24 3/4″ scale like a Gibson ES-175. It’s in amazingly near mint & mostly unplayed shape w/a stunning 2-tone Dark Sunburst finish all over its carver spruce top & flamey maple back & sides. They say that Bill Barker made this beautiful archtop based around its D’Armond Rhythm Chief pickup as the pickguard even has a 3 inch notch built into it to allow the pickup to slide up or down the neck rod to adjust for subtle differences in tone as desired by the owner. It’s loaded with tons of multiple layered perfect bindings all over. Its ebony fingerboard has lovely pearl inlays & markings up & down the ‘board. It’s got gold Schaller tuners & a wonderful gold tailpiece w/a diamond pearl inlaid rosewood tailpiece. It’s truly near mint in all respects & comes in its original black hard case.

History on Barker from the internet:

Vintage guitar collectors are a nostalgic bunch. We love a back story and will even pay extra for one – especially when it can be authenticated with documents. We love original sales receipts, original hard shell cases, hang tags and brochures from the time of the original sale (aka Case Candy). We love “single owner” guitars with “honest wear” and we love “all original” above all else.

These pickups were designed to be added to acoustic archtop guitars to allow players to “plug in” without having to cut holes into their jazz boxes. Everything from the shallow arch of the Barker’s top to the single traverse bracing (on his early guitars) tells me that this guitar was never meant to “cut through” the brass and woodwinds of an orchestra as the Gibsons, Epiphones, D’Angelicos and Strombergs were built to do. Instead, Mr. Barker chose to build a lighter, more delicate instrument. The pickguard even has a 3 inch notch built into it to allow the pickup to slide up or down the neck rod to adjust for subtle differences in tone as desired by the owner. The neck is 24.75″ scale (short for modern-day builders) which lowers the string tension and again favors the amplified guitar (this scale is shared by Gibson’s highly popular ES-175) rather than the “chunk chunk” rhythm style you might hear played on more traditional acoustic archtops with 25 or 25.5″ scales. William G. Barker built archtop guitars in the 1960s in Toledo, Ohio. I know this because of the label I can see through the f-hole of my recently acquired Barker 17″ archtop. I’ve also learned how to date a Barker from the serial number; my personal guitar is # 1466 which tells me I own the 14th guitar Barker built (of an estimated 120 by the time of his passing) and it was completed in 1966.

Sometime in the early seventies Bill Barker and his brother Jack opened a shop at 6100 S. Adams Street in Bartonville, IL where they built and repaired guitars. Bill would build the majority of his guitars here in Illinois and would pass his knowledge and expertise on to at least two aspiring luthiers who would continue his tradition; Bill Hollenbeck and Billy Cook. Bill Barker originally learned guitar building from Carl Albanus Johnson, a violin maker in Chicago who built 60-70 archtops of his own before passing away in the 1970s. Carl is believed to have learned to build archtop guitars from none other than Elmer Stromberg.With only 110-120 guitars ever made by William G. Barker you will rarely find them for sale – even on eBay. Living in Illinois helps, since many of his guitars remain in the Midwest. In recent years I’ve become reacquainted with Barker guitars and have had the opportunity to play two different examples of his work.

Bill Barker passsed away in 1991, at the young age of 63, just four years after selling his business to Bill Cook, the son of a friend who had apprenticed in his shop for 11 years. Bill built some beautiful guitars and, after taking a break with the birth of his son, has recently begun a batch of 6 new 17″ archtops.