NAMM 2026: After some 60 years out of production, hunted down relentlessly on the vintage market, the Silvertone 1446 is back.
In Hubert Sumlin’s hands, this semi-hollow electric was a formidable blues guitar. In Elvis Costello’s it was the sound of power-pop, rock and new-wave. Perhaps most famously, the haunting dream-world twang of Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game came via this electric guitar (heck, his debut album is titled Silvertone).
The 1446 never lacked cool points, even if it did originate out of a catalogue back in the day. Sold through Sears, built from 1961 to ’67, its semi-hollow build and Seth Lover mini-humbuckers made it a bona-fide rock ’n’ roll machine.
“When you pick up this guitar, you immediately understand why the original became such a cult classic” says Rick Taylor, product manager, Silvertone. “We set out to deliver the soul of the 60’s 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.”
The 2026 1446 is a chip off the old block, reverse-engineered to be just like the original. Silvertone is offering it with or without a Bigbsy B70 vibrato. That’s a tough call; who could resist the Bigsby wobble? But then who could look past a Trapeze-style tailpiece on a single-cut semi? There’s not much better than that.
But it would be remiss of Silvertone if it didn’t look to improve upon the original. Sure, those ‘60s originals had all the mojo. They also had all the neck. Players likened it to a 2x4. Silvertone has shaved some of that timber off. It won’t be an Ibanez Wizard neck but it will be a little more welcoming, a quote, unquote “comfortable modern-taper soft-C shape”.
In the right hands, this could even be a jazz guitar. But we’re guessing that most players who pick this up will be playing a sound that comes downstream culturally from the rock ’n’ roll revolution, so its chambered centre block will be doing the Lord’s work here in keeping feedback at a minimum.
To bring the 1446 back to life, Silvertone had to work out what to do with Lover’s original P19 electric guitar pickups. These are a clever design, with three-plus-three pole pieces and a lower-wound design.
If in doubt, call in an expert. The venerable British luthier Trevor Wilkinson was put in charge of the rebuild, emerging from his workshop with the Wilkinson “R Series” mini-humbuckers. Silvertone says these are “era-specific recreations,” wound to match Lover’s originals, with a period-correct Alnico V magnets at the heart of their design.
The scale length on these 1446’s is 24.75”. The fingerboards are rosewood with block inlays and “advanced Semi-Hemispherical frets” and what isn’t mentioned on the product page but is definitely worth mentioning are the open-gear tuners and the cupcake-style control knobs – cream, plastic, cool. Cool is the operative word with these.
The Bigsby-equipped 1446V is offered in Black. The 1446T is offered in Black and Tobacco Sunburst. Multi-ply binding gives them an upscale look, the golden age of catalog guitars.
Release TBC. Price TBC but "shut up and take my money" is the consensus of the reaction online. See Silvertone Guitars for more pics and details.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.