Gibson Chet Atkins SST

Mine is a 1993 model with a solid flamed maple top in translucent amber finish (before it was discontinued). It's the only one I have ever seen in that finish. The body and neck are mahogany. The neck has the special "slim taper" design. The fingerboard is ebony, has 24 frets and has star inlays. There is double binding around the top but none on the fingerboard or headstock. The pin bridge is ebony with ebony pins and star inlays. Hardware is gold. Controls are volume, bass, and treble and are located on the rim. Chet Atkins signature on top above fingerboard. Piezo pickup. Comes with Gibson case (pink plush interior, good fit).

It has a very good acoustic sound. I play fingerstyle and do some rhythm work. I don't have an acoustic amp for it though. I use either a VOX AC30, Fender Twin Reverb, or a 15W solid state practice amp, and they all sound fine. It came with bronze strings and I couldn't stand them. They were far too noisy when sliding up or down the neck. I switched to Chet's signature Gibson strings that are "monel wound" and that solved the problem. Now I am using ghs white bronze with alloy 52 and they are also very good.

The only flaw I found on this instrument was a very small chip in the finish next to the bridge - no longer than 1mm. No one will ever know it is there just by casually playing or from watching, but I know it is there and it bothers me every now and again. Everything else was excellent, but I agree with the other post that for $1500+, it should be perfect.

I have concerns about the gold hardware on this guitar. After a year or so, little bumps began appearing on the tuners and the plate that goes over the controls. I polished them with a mild polish and that seemed to work, however I can see that the gold plating is wearing off and eventually will need to be replated or replaced, but that is just cosmetic. Another thing that needs to be mentioned is that when you aren't playing, you must unplug the cable from the guitar. When it is plugged in, the 9-volt battery (located in a compartment under the rear panel) is activated and will quickly run down and have to be replaced. Sound will deteriorate as the battery runs down.

Even after almost four years, I have not had to deal with Gibson regarding this guitar. When I have dealt with Gibson in the past on other matters they have been very receptive and helpful. Gibson has a lifetime limited warranty to the original owner.

I have been playing for over five years now and have a Gibson Les Paul Standard, this SST, a Rickenbacker 381V69, and a Taylor W-15. If I were to lose this guitar somehow, I would probably buy the Chet Atkins CE model instead of repurchasing the SST because I have grown to love the classical sound better than the steel-string and it would suit my fingerstyle playing better. I must say that the translucent finish on the flamed maple top is very stiking and it's a shame Gibson doesn't make it anymore (maybe you can get it done with a special order?). I sure don't think the finishes offered at this time (antique natural, ebony, heritage cherry sunburst) do this guitar justice, but that's just personal preference. The only thing I don't like about it is when someone plays it and forgets to unplug the cable when he's done. When I return to a dead battery and have to open the rear panel and replace it, I get a little annoyed.

I just got this guitar about two weeks ago. Its a 98 model. Made in USA of course. well, you should know all the features by reading other people's submissions.

GREAT SOUND! I used to only play acoustic guitars, and this guitar beats them all (even my $1500 martin!). Even though its built like an electric, its got a very acoustic sound. Its just too good to be true.

When i first got it, i was happy with it. But i noticed that there was a scratch on the back, about a week after i got it. There was finish over the scratch, so that means that it got scratched in the factory, before the finish was put on. Also, just a few days ago, the finish cracked because of the dry climate here in colorado. The warranty doesn't cover that (it hardly covers anything). So i might have to spend a lot of money fixing it.

Its built really well, except for the weak ass finish.

SUCKS! The lifetime warranty doesn't cover anything. if you read the packet that comes with the guitar, it has a huge list of things it doesn't cover.

This is a hybrid guitar, a solid body acoustic/electric, with a flush face, NO SOUND HOLE made in Gibson's Nashville factory. This gives the guitar a unique look. The body is solid, mahoghany, with a cavity for the piezo pickup under the bridge. The instrument has the same projection when unplugged as a Les Paul, thus it must be amped for playing. I purchased the guitar as I was looking for an alternative to playing my Ovation Balladeer with a sound hole pickup also helping in the decision was that Dave Matthews plays this guitar and I'm a big fan of his acoustic technique. The "Chet" (as I call it) has a thin body, like the Les Paul which is extremely comfortable to manage, along with a narrower neck than your standard acoustic. Mine has the Ebony finish, which looks wonderful, but pickups finger marks quickly. The weight is comfortable, maybe five pounds. The back of the Chet in contoured at the top for a nice fit against your chest. Access panel on the back for the piezo pickup and a pop out battery compartment for the active tone boosting circuits. The guitar has three rotary dials for Volume, Treble and Bass Boost (more of those later). The hardware is gold plated and it features standard Gibson tuners. Strings mount via a standard acoustic bridge with pins to anchor the strings. The single cutaway allows access to the upper treble fretboard featuring 24 frets on the top three strings and 21 on the bottom side. The guitar came with a standard Gibson hardshell (pimp pink interior with a silk like cloth that lays over the Chet when the case is closed).

The sound for the Chet is unique to say the least. It has the qualities of a mid to upper scale acoustic (Martin/Taylor), yet retains the electric/piezo bite I love. My acoustic style ranges from Dave Matthews percussive attack to finger picking and this guitar can achieve those sounds with a simple tweeking of the active tone controls and volume. I play the Chet through a Crate CA60 acoustic amp and the two are a match made in heaven ! (check for my review of the Crate next month as I have yet to really run it through its paces) The guitar can achieve a brightness unequaled by any acoustic guitar by using the active treble boost, the same applies to the bass boost. I have noticed that the 6.5" speakers in my Crate CA60 can handle a small amount of the bass boost that the Chet can create, but larger speakers are required to compliment the bottom this guitar can put out. I typically run the volume on full, add a slight amount of treble boost and leave the bass parked in the neutral spot. The three controls have indents at the middle (no boost, no cut) locations. Oh I forgot to say, you can cut frequency response and volume with these roller switches too. I have been able to achieve a delicate natural acoustic sound with the Chet/Crate combo, deep rich bass, hollowed mids, and crisp treble. I also can get just the right bite when pushing the volume up and attacking the bottom strings (EADG). Think Dave Matthew's "Stay", "What Would You Say" or "So Much to Say" The guitar does something no acoustic will and that is sustain. The solid body gives you electric like sustain and the piezo really carries the sound through. Oh, I almost forgot, this guitar will not feedback !
The Chet is not for everyone in terms of sound, it will not be a Martin D-28 or Gibson J200, but it suits me just right that's why I'll give it a 10 rating. The sound is amazing and in part has to do with the power of playing through a good amp.

The guitar arrived from the Gibson Nashville factory the day before I picked it up (I had it ordered for four months). My local shop gave it a once over, not having to adjust the setup, just put on fresh strings. The Chet played perfect right out of the case. The Ebony finish was beautiful, but a trace of glue is evident at the neck/body joint on the front face. This also happened on the white binding, near the cutaway. This should not be the case for a $1000 plus guitar ! The frets are finished very nicely and overall a quality guitar. The neck has star shaped inlays which were done by an excellent craftsperson (or machine ?). The neck/body fit is smooth and rounded. Overall a beautiful guitar, but I'll take away two points for the glue marks, shame, shame Gibson...

I'm too gentle on this guitar as it is still only four weeks old. I do attack the strings with a good bit of force when playing DMB material and it shows no wear. The strap button on the back of the body near the neck joint area concerns me, I'll be changing to strap locks before this guitar sees a gig. I have heard about sound cutout when the 9 volt battery dies, thus I'll carry a fresh spare. I would play this guitar without a backup, no doubt.

N/A, if needed my local shop would serve my needs, they are fantastic at customer service.
Limited lifetime Gibson warranty.

Overall, I love this guitar. It was exactly what I wanted. It is truly unique in terms of looks and sound. Like I said before, it is not for everyone. It is not a Martin or Taylor in terms of pure "acoustic" sound, but it sounds better than most of the acoustic/electric hollow bodies out there today. You have to play this guitar to appreciate the ease of use due to it's thin, solid body. The size makes difficult tunes easier as the depth of the flat top is gone. The only guitar I compared this too was the Epiphone version and there was NO comparison. The Epi sounded dead and very electric compared to the Gibson SST. I understand Parker has a solid body electric out now, but their designs are too strange for my tastes. The best way to evaluate the Chet is too play it through a good acoustic amp (I've tried it through my Fender Champ 12 and the active piezo pushes the Fender into distort mode right away). The Crate CA60 has an "active/passive" switch which elimates this.
Overall, this guitar has driven my musical approach into a new direction. A more stripped down, natural sound, but with the bite that this guitar can give when called upon. If you see the Dave Matthews Band live, you will hear this guitar's real potential. A very cool axe, although not everyone's cup of tea...

This is a 1997 Chet, straight out of the unopened case into my hands, and it is perfect. 21/24 frets (bass/treble) with volume, bass boost/cut and treble boost/cut controls. Bridge transducer pickup (I think it sounds REALLY good) The ebony finish on mine is a hassle to clean, because it seems to attract fingerprints like it is its job, but oh well, it wasn't worth the extra cash for the natural finish model. Solid body acoustic concept is very interesting and I love it.

suits my music style great, and I love to play and listen to the Dave Matthews Band, so having the same guitar as Dave helps a lot. I use it with a Peavey Ecoustic 112 amp, which I like a whole bunch. It will never ever give you feedback, as hard as you might try. Trust me, I've tried. The range on the instrument is very very broad and dynamic, and I am completely satisfied.

Guitar was set up fine, with the exception of a small ding in the finish on the side of the neck near the head. also, it could have used a through cleaning of the excess glue from the frets on the fretboard. still came off no problem though, it was just a pain. there is absolutely no checking, but it falls out of tune very easily, perhaps a stronger set of tuning pegs is in order.

This guitar will go through a war, I would imagine. Everything on it seems well constructed and solid and it looks and feels like an instrument that is ready for warfare on the stage.

Lifetime warrenty, haven't had any problems, except trying to actually get the guitar (it took 4 months)

My SST is a '90. It is the ebony finish one, and it was made in the USA. It has an active Piezo system in it that works very well, especially in a band situation where the acoustic is a leading voice. This thing is built to last and has a wonderful feel to it. I gave it a 10 because it has all the features that you can stick on a guitar like this, then again there aren't very many guitars like this one....

The sound is AWESOME. Lets face it, most of the time acoustic rhythm and leads get buried in a live mix. If you can turn most acoustics up far enough to get them noticed, you end up fighting feedback the whole gig. This thing sounds more acoustic than most real acoustics plugged in, and you will NEVER have to worry about feedback. The sound can get real edgy if you don't watch it though. I have had some people tell me that the acoustic was just too loud and/or punchy. Now THAT'S a first. Another thing is that the pickup will work great right up until it stops working completely. NO WARNING! The guitar will play and sound just like you put a fresh battery in right up until the pickup distorts and stops working. That happens in the space of about 3-4 seconds. Carry an extra battery.

My guitar was used, and it was very well taken care of. It had a couple of problems, (i.e. it was just kind of dirty) but other than that no problems.

This thing will last you a lifetime...... As long as you have a battery to put in it.

Lifetime warranty, never had to deal with Gibson. However, I have been told it is a nightmare to get them to do anything.

I have been playing acoustics on stage for a while now, and this guitar is worth 5 times what I paid for it. If it was stolen or lost or destroyed, I would cry. Then I would buy another one. A great guitar.

This is a solid body electro/acoustic guitar. I will be honest, I bought this guitar for the simple fact that Dave Matthews plays it. I had never seen one in real life before I bought this one. It has increasing frets 21 on the bass side upto 24 on the treble side. It has an active piezo pickup, which is really quiet. As far as controls go, it has volume, bass boost/cut, and treble boost/cut. My only real complaint was that my Pots were dirty, and the guitar would start to give off static or drop in volume a LOT but, I've fixed that with some liquid air. Another small complaint is that I think I need to have locking tunning heads put on, cause if you bend more than a M2, you're going to go out of tune. I like the tone of this guitar. It is the best accoustic I've owned for live work, and it works well for non mic'd studio work. Of course, this guitar, being solid body, is NOT a stand alone acoustic guitar. The scale width is somewhere in between a Seagull and a Nighthawk, you know PERFECT! The case is that classic pimp interior pink that Gibson puts in it's hardshells nowadays...

This guitar is perfect for my music style (miscellaneous). I play this through a homemade acoustic amp (a Yamaha Preamp and two 10" Bose Mid Range's w/ 2 4" Bose Tweeters.). It even sounds good through my Fender Deluxe 112. The guitar is quite, unless the controls are dirty, then it hisses, but blowing on the controls offers a small moment of remedy. Very full, rich sound, covering a WIDE spectrum of sounds. I like it!

Action and setup were perfect from factory. I got this guitar three day's after it was shipped from Gibson to the store where I bought it. I was the only one to ever play it since it had been there, and it was perfect. Everything was fine, except, it picks up finger prints like they're going out of style. It is the ebony finish, so, plan on keeping it clean. Also, on the edges of the fret board (which I can tell is rosewood) I can see brush strokes where the finish was painted on the fret board. This could be seen as a factory defect, but it doesn't effect sound, and I don't mind.

This guitar was made as a sound alternative to playing a real acoustic on stage. It's durable. The finish is thick, the strap buttons are solid, I can depend on it, I would use it on a gig w/o a backup. The only other guitar I would use in it's place is the Parker guitar that's been hanging in a local store for over two years. It's going to the bargin bin soon, and I may pick it up!

I didn't get a waranty card w/ my SST when I bought it. I called my guitar store and told them that I needed that card, and that I was getting noise from my guitar. Within three days, I had my registration card and a schematic of the circuit of the guitar from Gibson... I also know that they will still take their guitars back even if you don't turn in your waranty registration card.

I love the Dave Matthews Band. I play DMB music. This guitar is the perfect studio/live guitar for me. It's not bulky, and it makes me look good when I play. I just love it. Buy one, right now!