Old Black

The instrument was traded for a '58 Gretsch 6120 with Jim Messina, the acting bassist and engineer for Buffalo Springfield (and Young's first solo album in 1969).

According to personal hands-on testimony, acquired during the Crazy Horse gig at the Troubadour on April 22, 1969, (w/ sit-in by Stephen Stills) the guitar sported a Rowe-De Armond M5-A bridge coil, Bigsby B-3 vibrato tailpiece, a (shaved, non-standard) ABR-1 Tune-o-matic bridge, chromed brass pickguard, truss rod cover plate and aluminum cover on the neck P-90 coil, Grover C-102 'Roto-matic tuners, an added 1/8" ebony headstock facia with thin crème binding, pearl inlays of the Gibson logo, the 335 'wheat-stack' and a lustrous black lacquer over-spray on the entire neck and body.

An inlaid maple stripe, extending dead center on the back from the head-stock crown to the end bout, has not passed the test of time well.

The original neck P-90 is still in place with its custom made cover that was broken on one corner in the process of attempting to fold aluminum to the proper shape.

On a radio interview in 1969 he stated he owned an 11-guitar collection, but from then onward, the majority of Young's electric guitar work has been recorded using Old Black (with the exception of the so-called "Ditch Trilogy").