This is a beautiful piece with a lot of history, thus the following is provided by the experts, A.R. Duchossoir and Lynn Wheelwright.

According to A.R. Duchossoir, '#479-11 was part of the batch of special white-finished instruments provided by Gibson which he(Roy Smeck) used with his band. According to Gibson ledgers, Roy Smeck only received two special 7-strings models; #479-11 and #479-25 (private collection). Roy Smeck got one 8 string special from Gibson while the rest of his white specials were all 6-strings. The 7-string specials are easily identified by the fact that they have black-painted sdes instead of an all-white body.'

According to A.R. Duchossoir's book in which this piece is found, he writes, 'Factory records show that, between 1936-1937, a further ten EH-150's were custom-finished for the Roy Smeck School of Music. Apparently, seven of them were painted all white, like the Master's instrument...whereas three others (including two 7-strings) were done with black-painted sides and a headstock adorned with the words 'Roy Smeck' instead of the mention 'Roy Smeck Special' that is found on the all-white instruments.'

In order to learn more about this piece, I also asked Lynn Wheelwright for more insight. Because Roy Smeck was not known to have played a 7-string EH, he believes this may not have been Smeck's personal piece, but was supplied to his school in New York by Gibson. Thus, along with many instruments supplied to his school, this was one of two 7-strings that was shipped by Gibson in 1937.

As pictured here, Roy Smeck 7-string EH-150 is featured in A.R. Duchossoir's book, '1935-1967 Gibson Electric Steel Guitars'.