“The soul of the ’60s but with the playability and reliability modern musicians expect”: Silvertone revives “one of the most recognizable guitar models in rock history” – favored by Chris Isaak and Elvis Costello – for the first time in decades

NAMM 2026: Silvertone, a brand with its roots in the beginnings of affordable electrified guitar playing, has revived its 1446 semi-hollow electric, one it humbly calls “one of the most recognizable guitar models in rock history.”

Chris Isaak, Elvis Costello, and Chicago blues stalwart Hubert Sumlin are just three high-profile players to have had love affairs with the semi-hollow, and here it returns, for the first time in decades, with “every detail that made the original a legend,” and some choice, modern-minded thoughtfulness.

Built to a 24.75” scale length, the newly sculpted necks are made with mahogany and capped with rosewood fingerboards with “state-of-the-art Semi-Hemispherical frets,” said to offer a smoother-than-ever playability

But, where modern changes have been understandably employed, its electronics pay tribute to the original guitar’s “vintage mojo.”

Its P19 mini humbuckers were designed exclusively for Silvertone by Seth Lover, the man behind some of Gibson’s most famous ’buckers. They featured a three-by-three pole piece design and a lower-wind voice, and that legacy has been carefully reprised with the help of Trev Wilkinson this time around. So, expect clarity, warmth, and “harmonic glide” from these revived instruments.

“Wilkinson’s R Series mini-humbuckers are exacting, era-specific recreations featuring custom tooling, period-correct Alnico V magnets, and carefully matched winding,” says Silvertone Product Manager, Rick Taylor.

“When you pick up this guitar, you immediately understand why the original became such a cult classic,” he adds.

“We set out to deliver the soul of the ’60s 1446, but with the playability and reliability modern musicians expect. Whether you’re chasing that famously haunting Wicked Game intro or carving out a completely new sound, the new 1446 gives you inspiration from the moment you plug in.”

In keeping with the guitar’s heritage, they’re not bank-breakers either. The 1446T models are priced at $799, with the Bigsby-laden 1446V bumping up to $999.

Check out Silvertone Guitars for more.

A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He’s also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.