Gibson Old Hickory Electric Guitar: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This guitar was made by Gibson in Nashville, Tennessee in 1998. It is an "Old Hickory" (Andrew Jackson) model electric guitar, serial #OH-001. The guitar is made using wood from a 275-year-old tulip poplar tree, which is the largest in the state of Tennessee, and hickory wood from a tree that grew in the garden near Andrew and Rachel Jackson's tomb. This guitar is the first in the series of 200 specially made collector's electric guitars and is the first in the limited edition series of custom-made guitars using wood from trees lost in the April 16, 1998 tornado. Andrew Jackson's portrait is inlaid on the headstock, and his nick name, "Old Hickory," is inlaid on a hickory fretboard. An inlay of The Hermitage mansion appears on the pickguard. Both inlays are made of mother-of-pearl. There is an inlay mother-of-pearl ribbon across the body of the instrument noting key dates in Andrew Jackson's life.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1998
• referenced: Jackson, Andrew
• maker: Gibson Guitar Corp.
• Object Name: guitar
• Measurements: overall: 99 cm x 33 cm x 5 cm; 39 in x 13 in x 1 15/16 in
• place made: United States: Tennessee, Nashville
• ID Number: 2001.0185.01
• serial number: OH-001
• accession number: 2001.0185
• catalog number: 2001.0185.01
• Credit Line: Gift of Gibson Guitar Company
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.