The 465/S is a 1952 model. The year and luthier's name are written in pencil inside the guitar top on the bass bout. I could not however determine the name, but it is present. I purchased the guitar specifically for the tailpiece for use on the late sixties 470 in the picture. The 465 was pretty ragged with broken tuning machines and paint that was actually a frosted colour finish. You really couldn't see the wood finish. The neck was also badly lifted. I swapped out the tailpiece and added it to the 470 and was pretty pleased with that. I was planning on scrapping the rest of the guitar but decided to use the neck as practice to learn disassembly techniques. The neck came off quite easily to my surprise. I brought the body along to my summer home and decided to spend some vacation time stripping the paint off. The paint was so old and discoloured, I felt it would remove quite easily and it certainly did. To my surprise was the herringbone binding and magnificent wood used in this model. At this point I couldn't resist and decided this guitar needed to be restored. Eventually I found another tailpiece for the 470 and completely re-did the 465. The scratchplate had two holes in it from previous use so I decided to add a pick-up and electronics and you can see the result. The nice thing is that all of the electronics are attached to the scratchplate and do not interfere with the guitar body. A simple scratchplate replacement will render this instrument back to stock condition. I consider this guitar one of my prize pieces.
The Club 60 also has an interesting background. I
purchased the piece from an individual in Liverpool England who had owned it
since 1961-62. It originally belonged to a guitarist in the Mersey group
"The Hillsiders". The guitar was also used in a show at the Cavern
Club when the owner sat in for the lead guitar player of Billy J. Kramer and the
Dakotas. The piece is vintage and in excellent condition. The two stars in the
scratchplate are inlaid silver professionally installed by the original owner to
lend a unique "look" to the guitar. They certainly make the guitar
quite identifiable.