- single cutaway mahogany body, bound arched top, mahogany neck, 22-fret bound ebony fingerboard with pearl feather engraved humptop block inlays, bound V styled white face headstock with vertical Gold Sparkle wings/logo, three-per-side Grover Imperial tuners, adjustable bridge, G logo tubular trapeze tailpiece, raised gold pickguard with penguin/logo, two exposed DeArmond pickups, control layout #1 (four knobs, one switch), gold hardware, available in White finish, mfg. 1955-1964.
Originally released with banjo armrest attached to bass lower bout. This instrument had gold sparkle binding and jeweled control knobs. In 1958, Filter-tron pickups thumbnail fingerboard inlays, a roller bridge, and control layout #2 was introduced. In 1959, horizontal logo/metal nameplate was applied to peghead. In 1963, a double cutaway body was introduced.