AN ACOUSTIC GUITAR

Details

BRYNN A. HISCOX, ARMITAGE, 1984
AN ACOUSTIC GUITAR
Labeled Brynn A. Hiscox / Luthier / Armitage, England and inscribed BH February 1984, inlaid Hiscox at the headstock, with later custom case by Hiscox, bearing a label inscribed HISCOX ACOUSTIC s/n 1076; accompanied by two letters and a handwritten note from luthier Brynn Hiscox to David Gilmour, the letters dated January 1983 and 7th October 1984, the note undated but circa 1985, together with a collection of promotional material for Hiscox guitars and cases
Body length 20 ¼ in. (51.4 cm.)

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Lot Essay

This guitar was custom-made for David Gilmour by Brynn Hiscox in 1984. The work of Brynn Hiscox is based on early lute construction. Rather than constructing a guitar body with bent sides and a flat back, the Hiscox guitar body has a back of separate bent staves of wood that are joined over a bowl-shaped mould. This technique is found in both traditional lute making, Neapolitan mandolin construction and the Arabic oud. Hiscox recalled first being contacted by David Gilmour in 1983 when the guitar was commissioned. The instrument was designed around Gilmour’s specifications and modeled partially on an Ovation acoustic that he was performing on at the time. The guitar is numbered 54 in Hiscox’s record books and was delivered to Gilmour on 9th March 1984.
The accompanying letter from Brynn Hiscox, dated 7th October 1984, details Hiscox's progress in designing a suitably strong hardshell case to protect his hand-built acoustic guitars: In the end I had to demolish an Ovation case in order to find out how they did it. Having done that, I have produced the first composite structure case. Now an industry staple, one of the first commercially produced Hiscox Cases was delivered to David Gilmour in 1985 to safely house his Hiscox guitar.

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