The Gibson Chet Atkins SST is a solid body acoustic-electric guitar that combines Gibson's steel-string acoustic and electric guitar technology. Unlike most acoustic-electrics, the SST has no resonating chamber or soundhole. The acoustic sound comes from a bridge mounted transducer manufactured by L.R. Baggs for Gibson with a proprietary active pre-amp.

This hybrid concept introduced by Gibson in the early 90's was truly ahead of it's time and inspired other guitar companies to produce a version of the SST in an attempt to replicate the principle idea. Guitarists and touring musicians were instantly attracted to the SST for it's unique ability to cut through a mix and perform in a live setting at very high levels with zero feedback.

Unfortunately, the Chet Atkins SST is no longer in production and was discontinued by Gibson back in 2006. The guitar had a very short manufacturing life of around a dozen years which impacted the number of  SST's produced in comparison to some of Gibson's other guitar models of the time. Move ahead 30 years, the SST is now parked at the top of the list for guitar collectors and enthusiasts world-wide. This new increase in demand and obvious lack of guitars now currently available has made the ability to locate replacement parts for the SST extremely difficult. 

 

 - Click on any of the guitars below to view individual details of each instrument -

 

 

 

The three triplet guitars below are part of a limited edition rare off-shoot of the SST called the “Celebrity" Series. They are exactly the same in every way except that each guitar has been named after one of Kenny's identical triplet daughters and can be seen on the truss rod cover. Only 200 of these Celebrity edition SST(s) were ever built and it is believed that number is closer to 100 in existence today.

From 1991 until around the middle of 1992, Gibson released a limited edition series of the SST called the Chet Atkins Celebrity. The Celebrity edition would feature a gloss black finish, 5-pointed Mother of Pearl star inlays for position markers with two more on the bridge wings and one on the head stock. The fingerboard is made of unbound ebony, while the neck and body consist of one piece mahogany with a solid spruce top. The Celebrity Series would also be the only SST to boast a distinctive white wrap around pick guard.

 

 - Click on any of the guitars below to view individual details of each instrument -

 

 

The Neumann KMS 140 has been out of production since the mid-1990's. Despite the fact that 35 years has passed since Neumann manufactured a single one of these, the KMS 140 remains the audio engineer's preferred condenser microphone for vocals in a live setting.

The rugged grille design significantly reduces pop and sibilance, and the internal shock mounting brings down the overall handling noise. The KMS 140 also has a roll-off switch to reduce proximity effect. With the attenuation switch activated, the maximum SPL is an impressive 152dB. The KMS series features a tight polar control over the entire frequency range which significantly reduces sensitivity to acoustic feedback.

 

  • Original design and precursor to today's Neumann KMS 104 and 105.
  • The KMS 140 has a cardioid directional characteristic
  • The KMS 150 has a hyper-cardioid directional characteristic
  • Pressure gradient transducer
  • Capsule is acoustically decoupled
  • Extremely insensitive to “pop” noises
  • Natural reproduction of sibilants and “S” sounds
  • Transformer-less circuitry
  • Switchable low frequency roll off and 10dB preattenuation
  • Weight: (approx.) 285 g
  • Diameter: 48 mm  -  Length: 175 mm