Check out our 1977 Electra X-510 Howard Roberts-style Archtop in very good-to-excellent condition. Since there is plenty of information about the Electra brand and other so-called “lawsuit era” guitars available on the web I won’t go into too much detail. You are looking at a Japanese-made copy of the original Gibson Howard Roberts signature model, commissioned by Gibson in the early to mid 1970’s and later produced in Japan as part of Gibson’s Epiphone line. This particular guitar was completed in February, 1977, most likely made at the famed Matsumoku factory, which produced Howard Roberts-style guitars under the Tokai, Greco and Ibanez labels (among others). The guitar features a flamed maple front and back, flamed mahogany sides and a 3-piece flamed mahogany neck. The rosewood fretboard is in great shape and is decorated with Gibson-style incised-block inlays. The original sunburst finish has aged to a beautiful Ice Tea’burst color. The guitar has the classic Gibson “open-book” headstock, which makes this a true lawsuit-era instrument (later Electra models have a wave-shaped headstock). The guitar’s most unique feature…its classical-style oval sound hole doesn’t do much for the guitar’s acoustic sound. Once connected to an amp, the combination of a centrally placed sound hole and the full-size floating humbucker is magic. Clearly, Mr. Roberts knew what he was doing when he paired them with the guitar’s two tone controls (treble/lower and mid-range/upper), which allow players to dial in almost any sound they want. This guitar is all original except for the missing pickgard. Its excellent overall & plays like a pro model Gibson & comes in its original hard case.