1932 Gibson Nick Lucas Special
Rare 13-Fret Rosewood • Original Floating-Bridge Configuration • Excellent Condition
Serial No. 88513 • FON 169 • US$69,995
Few vintage Gibson guitars capture a more fascinating moment in the development of the American flat-top than this 1932 Gibson Nick Lucas Special.
A rare transitional configuration, this instrument combines a 13-fret neck, rosewood back and sides, deep-body construction, X-bracing, original floating/adjustable bridge and original trapeze tailpiece — features that place it among the most historically interesting versions of Gibson's celebrated Nick Lucas Special.
Original bridge, frets, nut and saddle • No neck reset • Original lacquer finish
A Rare 13-Fret Nick Lucas
The Nick Lucas Special evolved rapidly during the late 1920s and early 1930s as Gibson experimented with the ideal architecture for its premium flat-top guitars.
The earliest examples were 12-fret instruments. Gibson subsequently developed a short-lived 13-fret configuration, before moving to the 14-fret design that would become standard on later guitars.
The 13-fret models are particularly interesting because they combine several experimental features:
Rosewood back and sides
Deep body
X-braced spruce top
Floating/adjustable bridge
Trapeze tailpiece
13-fret neck
This guitar retains that complete historical configuration.
Specialist documentation of surviving 13-fret Nick Lucas instruments confirms the importance of this combination of features and its place in Gibson's development of the flat-top guitar.
Original Floating Bridge
One of the most important features of this 1932 Gibson Nick Lucas Special is its original floating/adjustable bridge and trapeze tailpiece.
Unlike the conventional fixed pin bridge used on later Gibson flat-tops, the floating bridge is supported by the top while the strings terminate at the tailpiece.
This is an important survivor of Gibson's archtop-influenced approach to flat-top construction.
The guitar has never been converted to a conventional pin bridge, preserving one of the most distinctive features of this transitional Nick Lucas design.
X-Braced Deep-Body Construction
The guitar's deep body and X-braced spruce top are fundamental to both its historical significance and acoustic architecture.
The large body provides substantial internal air volume, while the X-bracing reflects Gibson's developing approach to steel-string flat-top construction.
The combination of:
deep body + X-bracing + floating bridge + rosewood construction
is quite different from the later, more conventional 14-fret Gibson flat-tops.
The internal structure is documented by video of the guitar's body interior, allowing prospective purchasers to examine the original bracing and construction in detail.
Serial No. 88513 • FON 169
The guitar carries serial number 88513 detailed on the original interior label and Factory Order Number 169 stamped on the neck block.
The FON places it within a documented Gibson production group containing other surviving Nick Lucas examples in the same serial-number range.
This provides an additional historical connection between surviving instruments from this particularly interesting period of Gibson production.
How Rare Is the 13-Fret Nick Lucas?
Gibson's surviving factory records do not provide a definitive production total for every Nick Lucas configuration.
Based on surviving instruments and specialist historical research, a research-based estimate is that perhaps 50–100 examples may originally have been produced combining the particularly unusual:
13-fret + rosewood + floating-bridge/trapeze-tailpiece configuration.
The exact number of surviving examples today is unknown.
The estimate should therefore be regarded as an informed historical approximation rather than an official Gibson production figure.
Originality & Condition
For a guitar approaching its centenary, this Nick Lucas retains an exceptional level of originality.
Original components include:
Floating/adjustable bridge
Frets
Nut
Saddle
Trapeze tailpiece
Original lacquer finish
The guitar has also never required a neck reset.
As would be expected of a nearly 100-year-old instrument, there are minor historical internal repairs consistent with its age and musical history:
Two front braces have required re-securing
A small center-seam separation has been stabilized with a cleat
These are conservation repairs rather than modifications to the guitar's original design.
The guitar is accompanied by a period-correct hard case.
Inspection Documentation
The instrument is documented with:
UVA/black-light photography
Internal structural video
Detailed exterior photography
Serial-number and FON references
The UVA photographs provide additional information when assessing the finish, while the internal video gives prospective buyers an unusually clear view of the guitar's body structure and bracing.
Why This Guitar Matters
The significance of this instrument lies in the combination of its features.
It is a:
1932 Gibson Nick Lucas Special
with:
13-fret neck
Rosewood back and sides
Deep body
X-braced spruce top
Original floating/adjustable bridge
Original trapeze tailpiece
Original lacquer
Original frets, nut and saddle
No neck reset
FON 169
Serial 88513
Together, these characteristics preserve a remarkably specific moment in Gibson's history — when the company was moving from its archtop-influenced design tradition toward the modern steel-string flat-top.
A Guitar to Collect — and Play
Despite its historical importance, this is ultimately a musical instrument.
The deep body, X-braced top and floating-bridge architecture give the Nick Lucas a distinctive acoustic character, while the 13-fret neck places it within one of the most unusual configurations Gibson produced.
It is equally compelling as a pre-war Gibson collectible, a piece of American guitar history and a serious playing instrument.
For the collector who values originality, rarity, historical design and musical character, this Nick Lucas offers all four in a single instrument.
