The Kessel was built on a Regular and Custom platform, of which this guitar is the former. The Custom has the more elevated aesthetic of "bowtie" fingerboard inlays and a custom musical note motif peghead inlay. Beyond that, the structural elements are virtually identical, including dual humbucking pickups, pickup selector, and individual volume/tone controls for each pickup.

As is often the case with many of these great professional-grade archtop electrics from the early 60s, this Barney Kessel Regular was harvested for its very valuable original parts, including what would've likely been PAF pickups (or early Patent # pickups) pickup rings, wiring harness, and knobs. This one fell victim to it, but efforts were made to restore some of its original tone and vibe.The guitar has a very high quality modern wiring harness installed, tied into a pair of original Gibson Patent # T-Top humbuckers that sound sublime! The pickup covers and rings and knobs are aftermarket, and the tuners are quality vintage style reproductions. The ABR-1 bridge is a replacement, but the pickguard and tailpiece are original.

Structurally speaking, the guitar is in excellent condition, with no evidence of cracks or damage. All body and fingerboard binding is intact. The input jack area - a common weak point on many of the guitars built in this stlye - is also stable.

The guitar is naturally robust and warm with excellent volume and sustain. It's woody and crisp, and the T-Tops pair very well with the guitar's natural acoustic properties. Jazz and Blues tones are a given here, but the guitar has enough focus and definition to work in more of a rock/country/folk context, volume-dependent of course. The slender C neck with the 1 11/16" nut width is a total joy to play as well.

It includes an aftermarket TKL form-fitting hardshell case that's in great shape.