top of page
Julius Bellson Collection

In late 2024, we had the opportunity to purchase a collection of instruments that included instruments originally belonging to Julius Bellson. Julius Bellson may be best known for authoring "The Gibson Story" published in 1973 which includes, as the title suggests, the history of the Gibson Guitar Company. As a longtime employee of Gibson, Bellson had a treasure trove of information that was included in the book. While working at the Gibson factory, Bellson worked in several departments which gave him a wonderful opportunity to collect historical information and learn about all aspects of building and manufacturing Gibson instruments. Primarily a banjo and mandolin player, Mr. Bellson amassed a large collection that includes prototypes and one-of-a-kind custom pieces that were put together according to Mr. Bellson's specifications . Part of the collection was acquired by Bellson's former student and longtime friend, Robert Woody of Omaha, which we have acquired. All of the instruments are in wonderful condition, most likely a combination of being well taken care of and the fact that Julius Bellson could have maintenance and repairs of any type completed at the Gibson Factory!! We hope you enjoy scrolling through this historical collection and please reach out of you are interested in purchasing one of these instruments.
Gibson Hawaiian Lap Steel
Built in the late 1930's or early 1940's, this lap steel resembles Gibson's EH-150 with a slotted headstock similar to the EH-185. This lap steel comes with an original Geib "Racing Stripes" aerocloth case. Both the instrument and the case are in fantastic condition!

Gibson F-4 Mandolin
Lyon & Healy (Washburn) Style 1507


Gibson F-4 - This mandolin was formerly owned by Louis Palermo - not to be confused with Louis Vuitton, Palermo, Italy!!
Gibson A-4 - the serial numbers puts it at 1925-26. The notes that came with the mandolin note that tis was one of Mr. Bellson's favorite mandolins to play
1916 Gibson A-4- Excellent Condition!



Gibson All American Banjo
The Gibson All- American banjo was first produced in the 1930's and discontinued soon after, but a re-issue was released in the 1970's. This particular banjo was the prototype for the re-issue banjo and presented to Julius Bellson upon his retirement. The story is that Gibson did not save the design specs from the original 1930's All-American release, so they borrowed one from a customer to create the 1970's re-issue. However these banjos came to be, I can tell you this one is absolutely gorgeous! They just don't make these types of instruments any longer!



bottom of page
