Vintage Gibson Sonomatic - Steve Cropper & Wes Montgomery's Choice

Vintage E-340L Gibson Sonomatic strings, a rare, unused deadstock item.
Made in the USA, from the Kalamazoo era.

This is the brand favored by Mr. Soul Guitar, Steve Cropper (may he rest in peace). While his memory was hazy in recent interviews, in earlier ones he clearly stated, For the MG's and Stax sessions, I played Gibson Sonomatic strings with a wound G string.
Listening to Green Onions, it might sound like thin strings, but when you actually string them up and plug into an amp, you get that exact tone. It's the thick yet acoustic, deeply resonant, truly soulful tone heard on sessions for Otis and Sam & Dave. You'll discover so much, thinking, So this is how he played!
They're old, so they don't look their best, but they're from an era of high-quality iron and nickel, so they hardly ever break and function perfectly. If you're concerned, we recommend applying finger ease or, like Cropper, rubbing lip balm onto them before stringing.

Other notable users of Sonomatics include Les Paul, Herb Ellis, and Wes Montgomery during his L-5 CES period.
It seems the later Wes switched from flatwounds to these. The octave playing has a slight delay or brake, making it surprisingly easy to play and producing Wes's signature sound.
This would be great for anyone studying his sessions with Jimmy Smith or his CTI era.

*We'll also include a bonus vintage celluloid pick of the same quality as those used by Mr. Cropper. The touch and string response are completely different from modern celluloid. It's a slightly stiff, heavy, tortoise-shell pattern.