Vintage American Showster Inca Silver CHEVY - Super Rare Color & Guitar!

Offered for sale is a very cool & rare, U.S. made, early production American Showster AS-57.

As if these cool guitars were not scarce enough, the Inca Silver paint on this example is unusual for the AS-57. The only other Inca Silver one that I'm aware of, exists in the photograph taken at the American Showster booth during the '86 NAMM show. Most examples were either green, red or black.

This AS-57 is in very fine condition overall, and plays quite nicely as well. Pickups, volume and tone controls all work well. The tail light illuminates when you dive bomb the trem arm, however. Comes in original form-fit case.

The American Showster Chevy tail fin guitar was the brainchild of company originator, Rick (Rich) Excellente in 1984. Due to financial uncertainties, the rights, and likely the patent holdings of his company, were sold to another interest a few years later. 

The Showster guitars were first publicly unveiled at the '86 NAMM show, and generated a decent amount of interest at the time.  By the numbers, these instruments are scarce, especially the earliest examples, built sporadically while under Excellente's ownership of the company. 

Earlier production models are quite different from the later ones. Features such as the blue license plate neck plates, the absence of a Chevy chevron below the bridge, and use of emg humbucking and single coil pickups, were features indicative of the early production models. The unique metal bumper assembly, a term coined "Metal-Loading" by the guitar's originator, is actual chromed metal!  

Among the artists who have purchased and owned Chevy tail fin guitars include, Slash (Guns & Roses), Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Steve Miller, Eddie Van Halen, Peter Frampton, Todd Rundgren, David A. Stewart (The Eurythmics), Dee Snider (Twisted Sister), Robin Crosby (Ratt), Paul Warren (guitarist for Rod Stuart, Joe Cocker, Tina Turner) etc...