'57 Gibson Korina Goldtop

by Robert Tayler
(Jacksonville, Florida)

My favorite is my first guitar. It was given to me by my uncle who was told it was a modified mid 70s gold top. He payed $2,500 for it in the late 80s and gave it to me as a gift in the in 1990 ( I was 10) fast forward 15 years, I'm newly married and my father in law is a local famous luthier( Allen Chester) he did all the custom guitar work for the big southern rock bands in the 60s-90s ( Allman bros,skynard, outlaws, Molly hatchet, 38 special etc) he also worked for Gibsons custom shop in the 70s. The first time he saw the guitar he suspected it might be more than what I thought it was. It turned out to be a mint 1957 rare Korina Gold top. According to him there were les than 20 made between 1957-60. It's worth well over 100k but it's priceless to me. I own quite a few guitars and have played 100s if not 1000s and I have yet to find its equal.