Gibson’s endorsement with jazz guitarist Howard Roberts began in the mid 1960s with the introduction of the Epiphone Howard Roberts – a unique 16” cutaway model with a Florentine cut-away, oval soundhole, and carved top. A short-lived model, the original Howard Roberts was discontinued in 1969 along with all other USA-made Epiphone models. Subsequent Gibson-branded Howard Roberts models were built through the 1970s and 1980s, including the first version of the Fusion, which was introduced in 1979. The Howard Roberts Fusion III was the final Howard Roberts iteration and was introduced in 1991, just a year prior to Roberts’ passing in the summer of ’92. Despite the death of its namesake, the Howard Roberts Fusion III remained in production until 2010.

The Howard Roberts Fusion III is a thinline 16” semi-hollow model with a Florentine cutaway, unique balsawood center block, and a 6-finger tailpiece that’s been swapped out for a Bigsby on this particular example.

Gloss black lacquer finish, gold hardware, 490R and 498T pickups and standard wiring, sealed tuners with keystone buttons; pearl logo, crown and fingerboard dots.

The guitar features a low C neck carve with a 1-11/16” nutwidth, .784” depth at the 1st fret, and 24.75” scale. The pickup DC values are 7.8 (n) and 13.8 (B), and the guitar weighs in at 8.1 lbs.

We’ve just set up the guitar with flatwound 12s and a slinky action of 4-5 64ths. We’ve reversed a few wiring mods back to factory spec, which included replacing the capacitors and flipping the magnet on one of the pickups. The Bigsby tailpiece is a replacement, but the balance of the guitar is factory original, including the frets which show little wear. The guitar’s body finish shows average wear in the form of light scratches throughout, with higher concentrations around the control knobs and on the back.

A great sounding Jazz box with a comfortably light weight and excellent playability.

With original hardshell case