A lesser-known brandname was Dwight, with a small quantity of guitars being built for Sonny Shields Music stores - owned by a certain Mr. Charles "Dwight" Shield, hence the brandname. Apparently only 18 such examples exist as manufactured by Valco, although Epiphone were also known to have produced a limited number of guitars with the Dwight brandname.
The above pictured Valco/Dwight guitar circa 1960 is currently listed on eBay; it is in fantastic condition for a vintage guitar of its age, which no doubt is reflected in the Buy It Now price of $2,499.
G L Wilson
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Fascinating! I'd heard of Dwight before, but only in the context of those Epiphones. They must have considered themselves quite high-profile to get these guitar companies to to make custom-branded instruments.
ReplyDeleteWow, so many questions...is it wood? Is it solid or hollow? What does that pickup look like inside? Most teasingly of all, what sort of music was played on it in 1960?
ReplyDeleteI have a Dwight LPJ in my possession which was made by Gibson in 1956 - I have started to link various "Dwight" sources together on my blog at
ReplyDeletehttp://dwightguitars.blogspot.co.uk
What mazed me was that these are still being produced by another Englishman called Clive Brown who I am trying to trace - If any one knows him?