Shawn Mendes can count John Mayer amongst the fans of his songwriting, and he's even gifted electric guitars in the past to the young self-confessed collector. The Canadian has his own signature Fender Musicmaster now but even in a room surrounded by guitars makes a couple of surprising instrument choices here for his Radio 1 Live Lounge cover of Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever.
He starts the low-key performance strumming a nylon-strung classical guitar before the unexpected switch to what looks to be a Silvertone 1449, a '60s 'pawn shop' design that can be bought as a reissue now for around £250.
Mendes's looks to be an original 'amp in case' red silver flake burst version from the early '60s that came shipped with a 5-watt (later 6-watt) tube amp that you could turn on in the case. The model was replaced by the 1457 in 1967 that looks nearly identical, so it could be that. If it's a 1449 it's the rarer of the two.
