Franny Beecher

"Ok folks now here’s something you don’t see every day. Not only is this a pretty clean example of a 1959 Gibson ES-350T in natural finish but it used to belong to Franny Beecher who was one of the original members of Billy Haley’s Comets!! Yep, that’s right this guitar played its part in early Rock-n-Roll history. Only Franny himself knows how many gigs this was played on.

The current owner told me that he bought it directly from Franny about 2-3 years ago and he got to chat with him at great length about the guitar and his career as a Comet. There are many photos of Franny playing a mid 1950’s Gibson Les Paul “Black Beauty” but after a certain length of time Franny had to give the Les Paul back to Gibson. He then purchased this ES-350T. The guitar is essentially stock except it had some fret work done some years ago and because the fretboard was planed a bit the inlays became very thin. One is actually missing. I am going to again lightly plane the board, install new inlays, re-fret, new bone nut and set it up for some rockin’ fun times! One interesting point is that the fretboard is made of ebony and has the 'widows peak' near the neck pickup along with the 5-ply binding. You usually see this type of fretboard on the fancier Byrdland model. The double parallelogram inlays are usually seen on the ES-350 but only up to the 15th fret. This guitar has the inlays up to the 20th fret which is one fret more than a Byrdland. This inlay scheme is usually found on the 1959 ES-345 model. These few anomalies make this guitar even more unique"

"Sad to say that Franny Beecher's Guitar is up for sale. It is a Gibson ES 137 Comes with a Comets set list. PM us if you may be interested on this piece of history. Price is $4,000 US Dollars."

Beecher would play his 1940 Soloist Emperor often with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, before making his television debut with Bill Haley & His Comets playing it. It may be one of only three ever made.

Beecher was loaned multiple black Les Paul Customs by Gibson, particularly in 1956.

billd13 of The Les Paul Forum, who once played on the same bill as Beecher, mentioned that Beecher played Les Paul Customs from 1954 and 1957.

As an aside, I believe you'll find that Danny Cedrone and Frannie Beecher of Bill Haley's Comets used a '54 Custom on all of their recordings up until some time in mid to late '57 when Frannie switched to a '57 Custom, always being played through a Fender Twin. When I met them and played on the same bill in early '58 Frannie was using the '57 but still carried the '54 as a backup and used in in practice. Remembering the sound that guitar had was one of the reasons I decided to get my '54 last year.

Franny Beecher is known to have played a rare black 1959 Gibson ES-345, as depicted in a photograph available on PhotoBucket. The current whereabouts of this guitar remain unknown.

cowboytwang of Telecaster Discussion Page Reissue testified to Beecher's use of the L5 CES. He even posted a picture of "[him] and Franny (and the rest of the Comets)."

I got to do a gig with the Comets a few years ago, and Franny used my old Fender Super, and he sounded great. He was playing a beautiful blonde Gibson L5 CES that he said he bought new in '52.

The L5 is also mentioned on page 100 of Sound and Glory: The Incredible Story of Bill Haley, the Father of Rock 'N' Roll and the Music That Shook the World.

Featured in this auction brochure.

Serial#: A 30402. Francis “Franny” Beecher (September 29, 1921 ñ February 24, 2014), was the lead guitarist for Bill Haley & His Comets from 1954 to 1962, and is best remembered for his innovative guitar solos combining elements of country music and jazz. While with the group he composed the classics “Blue Comet Blues,” “Goofin’ Around,” “Week End,” and “Shaky." He continued to perform with surviving members of the Comets into 2006 when Beecher formally retired. In 2012, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Beecher as a member of the Comets by a special committee, aimed at correcting the previous mistake of not inducting the Comets with Bill Haley. Beecher did not have a large arsenal of instruments to his name, but what he owned he loved and used extensively. This 1959 Gibson Natural ES-350TDN is a very rare but iconic rock and roll guitar, as only 57 ES 350TD guitars were produced with a natural finish rather than the more traditional sunburst. This guitar also features a pair of the highly coveted “PAF” humbucking pickups. Similar to the Gibson Byrdland model, it has a 23 1/2-inch scale length and thinline body. Chuck Berry posed with a nearly identical guitar in a famous “duck walk” portrait taken of him in the late ‘50s. Franny was the original owner and he purchased the guitar after the Les Paul Custom he had been using early on had to be returned to Gibson. The ES-350TN is essentially a stock model with a replaced fretboard due to wear and tear, but this work was done in expert fashion. (Beecher in fact requested the replacement be an ebony fingerboard and that it end in a widowís peak, which inadvertently acted as an upgrade to this already valuable model.) The current owner was a friend of Beecher's later on in life, and the guitar was sold directly to the consigner by Beecher himself.

Condition: VG; some wear on pickguard, gold almost worn off on one of the Humbuckers, nut replaced; original Tune-O-Matic bridge has nylon saddles installed Estimate: $25,000 - $50,000