/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
In February 2009 we looked at a
Univox Eagle P-Bass, and here we see its 6-string counterpart, the
Univox Eagle Strat which is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a starting price of $499. A product of Japan's now legendary
Matusmoko factory this late 1970s walnut-bodied beauty is a close relation of the
Aria Pro II Dragon Strat which we have also looked before.
If you're on the lookout for a Strat but at the same time want something a little bit different from the norm, you could do a lot worse than to buy one of these, but be aware that they don't come up for auction too often. Having had played a friend's Dragon Strat years ago I can personally atest to the fact that they feel and sound great.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
1:02 PM |
Labels:
cool guitars,
Japanese guitar,
Stratocaster,
Univox,
vintage guitars
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
This 1960s Italian-made
PANaramic guitar looks as if it may be a re-branded Eko - especially with the third cutaway on the lower bout. However according to that fantastic resource on vintage Italian guitars,
Fetish Guitars, it is actually a re-badged
Crucianelli Triple-Cutaway. The
PANaramic brand were distributed in the United States by by PANcordion Inc., NYC.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
10:06 AM |
Labels:
cool guitars,
Crucianelli,
Italian guitars,
Panaramic,
vintage guitars
/
(Almost) everyday I search the Internet about guitars, to learn more about them, to feed this blog, or to see what I will buy (or more likely not buy) to improve my guitar work (and my GAS). I look for special guitars, often vintage ones because we are living in strange times, when most guitar makers and lovers are stuck in the 1950s and consider that the first models built are for ever the best ones, then to find the innovation and creativity we lack nowadays, one has to go to the 1960s and 1970s (I know, I know I said this already but we have new readers all the time!)...
So I look for special innovative guitars in term of sound, technology and design, but also for classics to have a better understanding of the history of electric lutherie, but what I see the most on the web are guitars like this
Jackson Soloist the so-called superstrat aimed at metal shredding! And when I have to select a guitar to post here, I always overlook an endless stream of
ESP,
PRS and other
Jacksons to find the
Teisco or
Eko gem, the one-off built in a garage by an obscure genius or the tripping East-german bizarro that we'll enjoy together. Once in a while I try to show a superstrat to keep connected to the whole guitar universe but I don't have much to say about it like today (did you notice the tigerish finish? about as scary as a stuffed kitten - exactly what you need to play hair metal).
I know that metal is the most spread style of pop music, but there is something twisted in the guitar business, because of all the kids who buy a superstrat in the hope of becoming the next Kirk Hammett, only 1% will actually learn more or less how to play - since shredding is highly technical and difficult, and 1% of these 1% will do something good out of it. If they would play good old garage rock, they would enjoy themselves much more, reach a better result in a few months, and play much cooler guitars, wouldn't they?
2:11 AM |
Labels:
Jackson,
Rant,
superstrat,
wacky finishes
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
With a Buy It Now price of $10,000,000 could this
unassuming Japanese vaguely Les Paul-styled no-name electric be the most expensive guitar ever on eBay?
I don't believe for one moment that the seller thinks this guitar is worth anything remotely approaching this outlandish figure. He says:
Silly price don't know what is the market value , so you have two options - Buy it now and beat the highest record of the most expensive guitars in the world for 2011 making this no name brand the most expensive one or just make an offer and I will consider.
So, it's all just a cunning ruse to draw attention to the auction. Whether it'll pay off and he'll get a good price remains to be seen.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
3:00 PM |
Labels:
Japanese guitar,
optimistic sellers,
What's that guitar?
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Presenting the Regvlvs contrabass solid, via Colin Griffiths of Vancouver:
Made in Brazil in the 60s by Claudio Cesar Dias Baptista (CCDB), one of the founders of Os Mutantes, a legendary psychedelic band who then went through prog rock (ie YES) which eventually defined a new genre called Tropicalia.
CCDB was a self-taught luthier and electronics whiz who built the instruments for the band. Now a writer and mystic.
Read
more here.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
2:38 AM |
Labels:
bass,
cool guitars,
Luthiers,
one-offs,
vintage guitars,
Weird guitars
/
Cannot find any exciting guitars around lately, and had a little tech geek phase these last days, so I decided to go for vintage pedals, and was happy to find this
Marshall Supa Fuzz.
There are some people out there who have the same kind of love and dedication to effect pedals that you have for guitars (I suppose so if you read this blog!) People who know everything about every pedals, upgrade them with mod kits and can debate for ever about why the one that makes Grrrkkkkrssfzzzz is better than the one that makes Grzzzzrrfffffrzzz, etc...
Anyway, the Supa Fuzz is one of the first effect pedals ever released (this one is not from 1967 as it is listed on eBay though, this design came up only in 1969) and I don't have much more anecdotes (I could tell that Pete Townsend used one in 1968 but quickly shifted to a Fuzz Face, then an Univox, but this just tells that the Supa Fuzz was probably not the best fuzzbox of the time!)
BertramGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
4:28 PM |
Labels:
effects,
fuzz,
Marshall
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Regular readers of
Guitarz will no doubt be familiar with my
DiMarzio Cellophane Strat which I have posted about several times. Frank from Denmark has
another one (pictured above) - indeed he's currently offering it for sale. He describes it as being pink rather than red, so I'm not sure if the finish is quite the same as mine or if we are interpreting the same colour differently. (Mine can appear red, pink or orange depending on the lighting conditions). His also differs in being routed from the rear for the controls, having a different pickup and control layout and a 22-fret neck as opposed to my guitar's 21-fret neck.
It's nice to see another one of these turn up. They are quality guitars and seem to be quite a rarity. I have owned seven Stratocasters over the years, and my Red Beauty has been my favourite one - and the one I would keep now if I had to have a Strat cull from my collection.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
2:49 AM |
Labels:
cool guitars,
DiMarzio,
Japanese guitar,
Stratocaster
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
This so-called
Vintage Atlas guitar is a bit of an oddity (see also
here). It appears to be a generic 1960s semi but looks to be in such remarkably good condition that it could almost be new. The seller on eBay tells us that:
The label inside the F hole has an Atlas emblem and model number AC-2, a penciled serial number, and Atlas Musical instrument 319 West John Street, Hicksville, Long Island, NY. I have seen this label on acoustics, but on nothing of this quality.
Well, I may be wrong, and am quite happy to be corrected on this, but to me the guitar absolutely screams "JAPANESE". Atlas Musical Instruments would be the store that sold these guitars - it may even have been a brand name applied to such imported guitars.
Nevertheless, it's a very nice time capsule instrument, and so good to see it in such perfect condition.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
2:52 AM |
Labels:
Atlas Musical Instruments,
Japanese guitar,
semi-hollow body,
vintage guitars,
What's that guitar?
/
We showed a series of Firebirds here last spring, and I noted then that there's been very few variations in the model over its six decades of existence - I rule out the non reversed body, that was just a temporary erring by Gibson in a bad phase, as is the current Firebird X - that leaves the number of pickups, the tremolo, the finish and that's it.
So finding a
Firebird to show here is mostly about colour, and to me this sweet pop Kerry green finish is enough to redefine the guitar! That's the instrument I would play if I would join an all-girl Japanese neo-psychedelic J-pop band in Yves Saint-Laurent's Mondrian mini dresses (I know that it is quite unlikely but life is full of surprises...) Makes me feel like eating a raspberry-pistachio ice cream (though it's snowing here).
BertramGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
4:21 AM |
Labels:
cool guitars,
Firebird,
Gibson,
vintage guitars
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Further evidence that you can't always believe what you read on eBay. The seller of this gloriously Art Deco-looking
Airline archtop obviously hasn't done his/her homework when listing this guitar on eBay, claiming it is from the 1940s. Although now revived by Eastwood Guitars, originally Airline was a brandname of the Valco Manufacturing Company for guitars sold through Montgomery Ward mail order between 1958-1968.
By the way, although this guitar looks fine in the above images, photos on the eBay listing showing the rear of the guitar tell a sadder story. The neck/body join needs some serious repair work.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
12:22 PM |
Labels:
Airline,
archtop,
cool guitars,
optimistic sellers,
VALCO,
vintage guitars
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
I have a great fondness for the Mel-O-Bar, as regular readers may know. The listing has some great information and hints at some of the flexibility of this multi-string format. Here's what the seller has to say...
This 1980s Melobar X-10 Explorer, a true Vintage Classic. Melobar guitars were made for lap steel and Dobro players to be able to play standing up. Melobars were made by Walt Smith who collaborated with many outstanding innovators in the guitar world from the Dopyera Brothers to Ned Steinberger and Semi Mosley. The design is basically the same on all models -- the neck is tilted as to be slightly less than perpendicular to the player. It hangs from a strap. There were very few of these instruments made and a number of them are used by "A-List" players in contemporary country bands (Tim McGraw and Toby Keith), David Lindley has several, also Rusty Young of Poco and Cindy Cashdollar to name a few. You can use your favorite tuning on these. It is totally up to you. For pedal steelers the 10 string models enable you to tune the first six strings to standard "E" tuning (E,B,E,G#,B,E). The remaining four are tuned to "A" (A,E,A,C#, A) which allows for suspensions and secondary chords to be produced without pedals.
The last few lines of the ad are quite telling.
This Bad Boy is in Excellent Condition - Minor wear and tear. - Guaranteed to Shred in the Right Hands!
"Shred in the Right Hands!" Hmmmm, I would love to hear what could be done with this by a young, free thinking (that bit is very important) metallurgist, Jazzologist or shredderista. I think it needs someone like that just because of the high degree of skill and dedication required to really master it, the potential for the execution of the most esoteric and/or microtonal scales and the potential for the wildest solos combined with jaw dropping visuals. Not to mention instant and total admiration from the rest of the musical community. The Hendrix of steel guitar!
Probably the instrument's biggest drawback is its history as the backbone of country music. You barely have to look at a lap steel for it to start wailing out those whiny Nasville yeehah! tones and "Crystal Chandelier" melodies. Musicians like David Lindley have done a lot to popularise it to a non-country audience but for the world at large the association with "that sound" is so strong, it will take a complete change of way-of-thinking about it to shake off that baggage.
I bought my own Mel-O-Bar on eBay a few weeks ago (still awaiting delivery but I'm patient). I have a Peavey Powerslide and am awaiting the imminent delivery of an old (40s/50s) National New Yorker lap steel - also care of eBay. The slide guitar bug has bitten hard.
I've just invested in a pile of lap steel books and an instructional dvd from the wonderfully named Cindy Cashdollar, which I'd recommend to anyone thinking of taking up any kind of steel guitar. I'm not a country music fan (the only albums I have are Merle Haggard, The Dixie Chicks and The Indigo Girls) but one thing I found out very early on is, the lap steel requires a lot of practice and a fair bit of discipline. And, understanding a few basic techniques, exercises, tunings and scale structures makes such a difference.
This is not a dig at country music, by the way, before all you rednecks start giving me grief, y'all. Just out loud thinking that maybe there is a another tonal voice to be heard from these instruments. Gavin pointed me in the direction of Captain Beefheart circa "Ice cream for crow" (one of my favourite Beefheart tracks) and although the (Mel-O-Bar) has a prominent contribution, it doesn't sound like a regular steel guitar.
Anyone know of players in other genres doing innovative stuff, metal, jazz?
David in Barcelona
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
3:55 AM |
Labels:
Explorer,
Melobar,
Steel guitar
/
I didn't post here for ages (if you want to know why, please check
my own blog) so instead of one cool guitar, I propose you a whole bunch, and more, that you can discover on French e-museum
Dusty Guitars. The guy who gathered these jewels has a good and personal taste, never falling for easy or glitter, and I extracted a few ones: from left to right, a 1967
Kent 820 'Lady', a 1972
Gibson SG200 (we showed
one a few months ago, this one is in a much better state and had some pickup upgrade), an extremely cool 1959
Burns bass prototype and a bizarrely finished archtop acoustic
Alosa (a 1950s German brand, this model I never saw before). To see more, click on the link and enjoy!
2:52 PM |
Labels:
Guitar website,
vintage guitars
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Guitarz reader and guitar enthusiast Jim Hevesy tells us about his Hembry doubleneck:
The double neck was built by Scott Hembry in Washington state. I live in Maryland near Washington DC and I found Scott through another guy on E-bay. I sent Scott what I was looking for and he built it for me. When I would play at church, I never knew what other players I might have so I wanted a 4x6. I was on a Telecaster kick so I wanted to see if he could incorporate a ‘fat’ Tele and a Fender P. I used to have a 1968 Plymouth Barracuda muscle car when I was growing up and I always like the plumb crazy color they had. After talking with Scott we decided on "flip/flop" paint that changes from green to purple depending on the light. He also painted a racing stripe on it for me changing the original "Hemi" to "Hevy" which is what most people call me. I sold a bunch of old stuff I had on e-bay and had this made. It is the fattest Tele I have ever heard (add all that wood and metal and what do you expect?) and plays like a dream. Here are some pics of it. One cool one you will see is the back with a reflection of a giant pine tree from the pacific northwest where it was built.
Thanks for sharing this with us, Jim.
We've previously looked at another Hembry doubleneck, this one a
double fretted/fretless Jazz Bass style. For more Hembry guitars see
www.hembryguitars.com.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
9:00 AM |
Labels:
bass,
custom,
doubleneck,
Hembry,
one-offs,
Precision Bass,
Telecaster,
Your Guitars
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Here's a reminder that C.F. Martin & Co were not all about flat-top acoustic guitars. This vintage
Martin F50 archtop dates back to 1962; this example has been modified by its previous owner having a Kent Armstong Jazz humbucker and replacement machine heads and bridge.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
3:06 AM |
Labels:
archtop,
Jazz guitar,
Martin Guitars,
vintage guitars
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
'Here is Clarence White's 1968 Fender Telecaster with original string pitch bender prototype as purchased from him in the early 1970s. An incredible piece of the early history of Clarence White and the invention that later became the "Parsons White String Pull", and then more commonly known as the "b-bender".'
We've looked at B-Benders before here on
Guitarz, but this one would appear to be the one that started it all. Note the external mechanism and the false back. This is a fantastic museum piece and an important part of guitar history!
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
6:08 AM |
Labels:
B-bender,
Fender,
prototypes,
Telecaster,
vintage guitars
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Rather than re-invent the wheel, let me just unashamedly copy some text from the eBay listing for this guitar:
This is an original B.C. Rich Stealth [...] one of the very few USA handcrafted Stealths that were produced at the BC Rich Custom Shop in Los Angeles California from '83-'84. Only 174 originals built and the black fixed bridge models are the rarest. Designed by the great rock guitarist Rick Derringer and made even more famous by Chuck Schuldiner of "Death" who adored his Stealths.
Originally Rick took his design to Gibson. As usual, Gibson set about a way they could make it cheaper and ruin the mojo. Gibson wanted to make it a set neck guitar and not a neck thru. Rick then took it to Bernie Rico and the rest is Rock n' Roll history. The Stealth is probably the nicest of all the B.C. Rich Guitars. It balances the best and has a very comfortable feel sitting or standing.
SPECS: Mahogany neck-thru and body with a beautiful Brazilian rosewood fretboard. DiMarzio Dual Sound humbuckers. 4 toggle switches - Dual-sound neck and bridge switch, phase switch and kill switch, Quadmatic bridge. 24 fret, 24 5/8 scale, Dunlop strap locks and Schaller tuners that really keep this axe in tune. This guitar plays extremely well and sounds absolutely beautiful whether you play blues, rock or death metal. Strike a chord and your hands will feel how alive this axe is with beautiful resonance.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
6:02 AM |
Labels:
80s guitars,
BC Rich,
pointy guitar,
vintage guitars
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
This
Framus Camping guitar from 1968 is an acoustic guitar that could only ever have come out of Europe. Its style is quite distinctly different from anything from the American market which more often than not conformed to the law of C.F. Martin. Likewise, Japanese and other Far Eastern-made acoustic guitars were inspired by the American way of doing things.
European makers, however, were happy doing their own thing. This Framus is a perfect example, being a flat-top guitar but with the floating bridge and trapeze tailpiece you'd notmally expect to find on an archtop, and with a parlour-like 12-fret neck on a wider, more rounded body.
This, of course, is all topped off by the simple artwork depicting a scene of tents pitched along a lakeside with mountains in the background. It's very North European, very German! It's a charming little guitar, and one which the seller describes as having a sweet action and an effortless playability.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
6:24 AM |
Labels:
acoustic,
Framus,
German guitars,
vintage guitars
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
We've looked at Electra guitars before; other than a few minor cosmetic differences, this 1980s'
Electra Phoenix X189 RD bears an uncanny resemblance to the Westone Spectrum. Matsumoko-made, methinks!
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
12:14 PM |
Labels:
80s guitars,
Electra,
Japanese guitar
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
This nameless
Chinese-made baritone guitar is a very cheeky knock-off of the
Rick Turner Model 1 guitar as used by Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham.
From the photos on the eBay listing it appears to be a competently-made instrument, if a little rough in some of the finishing touches, but there's no way this is going to be anything remotely like the quality of a genuine Rick Turner guitar, but then you wouldn't be paying for that level of quality either. For example, it doesn't appear that the pickup is able to rotate, and is merely sitting on a circular plate screwed to the top of the body.
Nevertheless, the Model 1 design does lend itself quite nicely to this 28" scale baritone layout. It has echoes of the Hofner violin bass - no doubt helped by the trapeze-type tailpiece being used here.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
3:10 AM |
Labels:
baritone guitar,
made in China
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
The name
Marshall should need no introduction to anyone interested in guitars or rock music in general. The amplifiers produced by this now legendary British company are almost omnipotent on stages around the world and have been used by just about everybody.
The name is so well known but it's unusual to see it actually on a guitar - and an acoustic guitar at that! This particular
Marshall Bluesbreaker acoustic guitar is currently being offered for sale on eBay, although unfortunately has sustained some damage to its rear. These were distributed by Rose Morris (I'd guess in the 1970s) and were - the seller claims - actually made in Italy by Eko. The eagle-eyed will notice that this Marshall Bluesbreaker is nearly identical to the
Eko Ranger other than having a different shaped headstock and - of course - the Marshall name applied to it.
However, I'm wondering if perhaps they were made by Fratelli Fuselli (Fuselli Brothers) who produced the
E-ROS Dakota fashioned after the Eko Ranger design? I'd say there was more of a resemblance.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
1:01 PM |
Labels:
acoustic,
Eko,
folk instruments,
Italian guitars,
Marshall,
vintage guitars
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
This is a
Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster/Telecaster hybrid masterbuilt by
Yuriy Shishkov, and is one of only 10 guitars of this design. This stunning example, finished in emerald green on body, neck and fingerboard, is currently being offered for sale on eBay in the UK with a Buy It Now price of £3,200.
A
similar example, with not quite such a stunning finish, is also being offered for sale with slightly less hefty Buy It Now price of £2,600.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
7:45 AM |
Labels:
custom,
Fender,
one-offs,
Stratocaster,
Telecaster
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Tomahawk Custom Guitars create replacement bodies and necks for Telecaster-style guitars, and also produce a few designs of 21st Century evolved Teles such as the above pictured guitar which was assembled and finished by Graham from the UK. (Graham, if you're looking in - I hope you don't mind us using this photo of your guitar - I think it looks great!)
I think this is a fantastic idea, allowing you to build your own more distinctive and individual looking guitar but using readily available components.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
5:45 AM |
Labels:
cool guitars,
replacement bodies and necks,
Telecaster
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Here's one you don't see very often: a rare
12-string variant of the Gibson ES335. This example is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a starting price of £5,499. The ES335 was first introduced in 1958 as the first commercially produced semi-hollowbody electric guitar having a solid centre section to the body beneath the strings and pickups.
The 12-string version of the 335 is rarely seen but has been used by artists such as Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys and Julian Cope.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
2:18 PM |
Labels:
12-string,
Gibson,
semi-hollow body,
vintage guitars
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Further to my recent blog post about the
Vox Custom 25 guitar, here - by way of further illustration - is the
Custom 24 model with a more Gibson-esque scale-length of 24" and other appointments such as separate bridge (not quite a Tune-o-matic) and tailpiece, coil tap switches, etc. Like the Custom 25, it is of through-neck design although in more subtle darker timbers.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
9:16 AM |
Labels:
80s guitars,
Japanese guitar,
vintage guitars,
Vox
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
L.A.'s Dengue Fever - described by MOJO as playing "Cambodian party pop from the pre-Khmer Rouge swinging '60s" - are inviting readers to bestow a name upon the unique instrument pictured here. The strange amalgam of Fender Jazzmaster and Chapei Dong Veng (a traditional Cambodian two-stringed guitar) was created by friend of the band Mel Bergman and it now needs a name.
The reader who submits the best name will take home signed vinyl copies of DF's Escape and Venus albums, while a runner-up will win all four of the band's LPs on CD. The band will choose the winners.
Enter here(Thanks to Mark Bannister for bringing this to my attention).
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
1:15 PM |
Labels:
doubleneck,
Jaguar/Jazzmaster,
one-offs,
Weird guitars
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Mercurio Guitars were made from 2003-2006 in Chanhassen Minnesota USA, and have a particularly innvovative feature of interchangeable pickup modules. A set of DIP switches on the rear of the guitar allow the pickups to be selected in series, parallel, coil tap, in phase and out of phase modes.
This particular example is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $1,250.
I remember seeing these a few years back and it's a great idea for the session guitarist who wants access to an endless number of pickup combinations without having to cart around a whole arsenal of different guitars.
For most of us though, or at least people like me, as with the Variax modelling guitars it's just too much happening on one guitar.
Incidentally, I've seen similar interchangeable pickups on Gibson "test bed" guitars.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
6:55 AM |
Labels:
Mercurio,
modular guitar,
pickups,
Stratocaster
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
My first ever electric guitar in the 1980s was a then contemporary
Vox Standard 25, the design of which was obviously based on the Stratocaster but with a much more rounded-shaped body. The
Vox Custom 25 - as seen here - was the deluxe version and shared the same body shape as the Standard but was of through-neck construction and had dual DiMarzio humbuckers and a Les Paul like control layout. For myself I really dislike the pickup selector switch on the upper horn - I find it's far too easy to hit accidentally while playing and also aesthetically looks ugly, I always think. (I know, I don't really like it on Les Paul guitars either, and I'm speaking as someone who play a Vintage LP-style guitar these days).
These guitars, along with the Standard and Custom 24 models with a more Gibson-like scale length, are often spoken of today in reverential tone by those in the know. Phrases like "the best guitars ever produced under the Vox name" are often bandied about. This is very possibly true - at least until the latest boutique offerings from Vox. They were built in Japan (I want to say at the now legendary Matsumoko factory but I don't actually have any info to corroborate that - I think I read it somewhere) and were extremely solid, reliable and well-made guitars if a little on the weighty side. My Standard 25 served me well for many years until I fell in love with a paisley Stratocaster, which I did prefer because not only was it prettier but it seemed to be much more resonant and ultimately much more playable.
Nevertheless, these early 80s Voxes are ones to look out for!
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
6:27 AM |
Labels:
80s guitars,
cool guitars,
vintage guitars,
Vox
/
A following to the previous Giannini Craviola post, thanks to Henrique's comment pointing this superb thinline version - the Roberto Frejat signature - I love this one even better!
Also we know now that these guitars are 2000s reissues - so they exist, they are not extraordinarily rare so there's hope to get some one day - but they still have to come from Brazil!
BertramGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
3:32 PM |
Labels:
Brazilian guitars,
cool guitars,
Giannini,
signature guitar,
thinline
/
With
Teisco you have an endless pool of cool vintage guitars to discover!
This one wears like usually no brand and was probably sold as a
Kent or a
Silvertone.
It has all the details we love so much in these 60s guitars, that strangely people who try in vain to innovate lately in the electric guitar field (am I talking about the
Firebird X? No, nobody talks about the
Firebird X) are too dumb to take inspiration from: a twisted design, a unique trem, a strangely shaped control plate with big switches, a sharp scratch-plate on a round horn, vintage single coils, and the typical and superb
Teisco headstock.
And of course the supremely elegant art nouveau sound hole.
EDIT:
the model of this guitar is EP200.Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
2:57 AM |
Labels:
cool guitars,
Japanese guitar,
Teisco,
vintage guitars
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
This
shortscale Japanese bass from the 1970s looks very familiar. Although it bears the
Commodore brandname, it is virtually identical to instruments bearing the
Epiphone and
Dorodo names. Compare this to the
Dorado guitar we looked at in May; a similar looking bass appears in the
1973 Dorado catalog (and on the cover too!).
Such a pity someone has amateurishly "re-finished" this example in black spray paint.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
3:01 PM |
Labels:
bass,
Commodore,
Japanese guitar,
vintage guitars
/
guitarz.blogspot.com:
In the land of the self playing guitar machines, the one armed guitarist is king. I think Tom Waits said that
We've featured art-guitars before (The Destroyer and the Les Paul-playing sparrows spring to mind) but I'd like to bring to your attention another little artistic gem - and to recount a little of my rather relaxed Sunday.
When not following the antics of the Papal entourage in this beautiful and still quite Catholic city (today the Sagrada Familia is officially a bona fide church), I found myself tinkering round with a Gakken SX 150 synthesiser kit - bought a while back but not really explored in any depth. With the kit came a thick, glossy magazine cum instruction brochure.
I hadn't take much notice of the magazine before as it's in Japanese and obviously hard to understand. Actually a lot of it is about nutty japanese artist/musicians so it's all but impossible to understand - probably even to the Japanese.
That may not be totally fair because it does actually look really quite fascinating. "LOOKS" is the operative word in a lot of the instruments featured in the magazine. It wasn't obvious at first but a lot of Gakken's instruments are quite experimental with an emphasis on the "mental".
In the magazine there are unusual instruments played by the likes of musician/artist Maywa Denki, for instance, that combines guitars, electronics, art and comedy (well, I assume it's meant to be funny). I've not heard much of him before (apart from his Otamatone, the musical tadpole) but he seems to be quite "Big In Japan", he he!Back to my day: I spent a jolly morning listening to electronic music, the afore mentioned tinkering, making a rabbit and sausage casserole and after lunch - after the siesta after lunch that is - I spent a pleasant afternoon Youtubing Gakken, Maywa Denki and weird Japanese videos - with a slight diversion to the astounding, and apparently nice lads, Muse.Anyway... this impressive, though for him quite conventional, video is a great example of his inventiveness. It's a bit long and the best bit doesn't kick in till 2 minutes into the video. But it's worth it.
As a viewer with the rather telling nom de plume of Merzbowxnoise says "Everything is possible in Japan!"
I can't see Sir Eric Clapton taking up this contraption just yet.
Rock on! David from Sacred Barcelona
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
8:46 AM |
Labels:
acoustic,
Art,
Japanese guitar
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guitarz.blogspot.com:
Now, this
Conchorde prototype is a turn up for the books! It has a bit a twisted story to it too. According to the "owner", the guitar was stolen from Jim Burns's workshop! He knows it was stolen because Jim Burns told him! So if you're in the market for a hot guitar, you know where to look. I don't know what eBay's policy on selling stolen goods is but I suspect this auction may not run its course. I believe they check for counterfeits (or as we known them - "Lawsuit", copy etc.) so I suppose they'd check for items that had fallen of the back of the proverbial lorry too.
It would appear to be a handmade (by Jim Burns) prototype of the famous and lovely Flyte and probably ought to be in a museum.
In the listings own words:
Burns Conchorde Prototype Bass Guitar
Believed to be the only one ever made (any comments welcome)
prototype of the Flyte Bass
there is a six string Conchorde (looks newer than this bass to me)
but this is the bass version (looks older)
has pre - Burns U.K. lettering etc.
The bass seems older than a 1970s Burns U.K. instrument
It looks more late 60's / early 70's ...
obviously a prototype , obviously handmade
the pickups etc look like a late 60's Burns ( they look hand-wound )
I bought the Conchorde bass in approx 1974 ( used / secondhand )
from a dealer in Northern England.
I spoke to Jim Burns in approx 1975 about the Conchorde ...
(at a trade fair / exhibition in London, Russel Hotel ?)
He was very angry because he said the bass was stolen from his workbench
some years earlier. He was very aggressive to me, he thought I'd stolen it)
I said I had bought it in good faith but he was so angry I had to leave quickly.
I played the bass in a band for many years
It sounded good and was good to play.
I want to sell this Burns to someone who will appreciate it.
any offers considered / any questions are welcome
U.K. delivery F.O.C. (no charge) international at cost.
David in Barcelona - not to be confused with the Costa Del Crime
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
10:21 PM |
Labels:
bass,
Burns,
one-offs,
prototypes,
Stolen
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I knew the
Giannini Craviola acoustic guitars - some have been
presented on this blog already - but wasn't aware so far that at some point
Giannini produced a solid body version of the
Craviola.
Century-old Brazilian guitar company
Giannini made solid bodies between the 70s and the 90s, mostly copies of
Fender and
Gibson, but there are no trace of this one in the catalogues I could check online. Nowadays, they are back to acoustics, including their most famous model, the asymmetric
Craviola that has the lower part of a guitar and the upper part of a lute (on the acoustic version it seems to have a strong influence on the sound - so much that on its
wikipedia article, it's not even labeled as a guitar!)
Of course, on a solid body the tone is not influenced by the design (or is it? this is an endless debate, and I'm on the side of the skeptical) but the result is beautiful, particularly since it's - as far as I can see on these photos - an archtop.
Simple and original, definitely a guitar I would happily add to my collection!
4:54 AM |
Labels:
Brazilian guitars,
cool guitars,
Giannini
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guitarz.blogspot.com:
OK, so it may be an 80s guitar, but this
Egypt Karnac Osirus is a quality UK-made instrument and certainly not one that everyone else is going to be playing.
Quite how this model differs from the
Egypt Karnac Luxor we previously looked at this time last year, I don't know, because they look identical to me. In fact, I suspect this may even be the exact same guitar. Perhaps the seller got the name wrong. Note that there is some confusion in the eBay listing, as we are told that Egypt Guitars were made in Glasgow, Scotland, but the heading says "Made in Ireland". The seller also claim that this is a prototype, serial # A004, and that only five examples of this model were made, and only one in this metallic lilac. If that's all true, it
must be the same guitar.
Anyway, the auction finishes tomorrow night, so if an unusual Scottish-built metallic lilac 80s guitar is your thing, then snap it up!
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
4:52 AM |
Labels:
80s guitars,
British guitars,
cool guitars,
Egypt,
prototypes,
vintage guitars
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guitarz.blogspot.com:
This vinyl-covered Italian beauty is a
Welson bass from 1962. According to
Fetish Guitars, "...the trade name Welson belonged to a Castelfidardo-based accordion making company founded by Orlando Quagliardi in 1921." They may seem somewhat eccentric nowadays, but the pushbutton pickup selection switches and the roller volume and tone controls and typical for Italian guitars of this period.
For more information see:
www.fetishguitars.com/index/welson.htmlG L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
12:08 PM |
Labels:
bass,
Italian guitars,
vintage guitars,
Welson
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guitarz.blogspot.com:
Andrew Keachie writes:
This is a one of a kind, hand carved fretless, short scale bass a friend of mine made for an art college project over 10 years ago. He gave it to me as a birthday gift a couple of years ago. He wasn't a luthier, just a creative genius. He happened to burn the prototype for heat one winter, so it's really the only one of its kind in the world.
This is another one that was posted on the
Guitarz Facebook page. Please feel free to post your own pictures there!
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
8:40 AM |
Labels:
Art,
bass,
fretless,
handmade,
one-offs
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guitarz.blogspot.com:
Here's a "
Scroll Tele" from the always interesting Steve
Wishnevsky. Wow, that's one serious f-hole! But, never mind that, he claims that:
"...By simply removing a little wood around the bridge, the strings are able to vibrate more freely, producing a much more responsive and lively guitar.
You can hear the difference even without the guitar being plugged in. It's like a Thin Line, but with out the random area of feedback you get with a semi hollow body. It really works."
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
3:05 PM |
Labels:
Telecaster,
Wishnevsky
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guitarz.blogspot.com:
Filippo writes:
Hello,
I noticed my Hofner Bat on http://guitarz.blogspot.com/2010/05/hofner-bat-prototype-from-1960.html
I'm restoring it.
Found the right tuners, the bridge, the truss rod cover and all knobs/controls. All Hofner parts (except for the selector and switch) from the 60s, of course.
A friend of mine, a genius, restored the neck & headstock. Completely restored except s/n and some finish wear. Impossible to realize it has been restored. Still not reglued.
Body and pickups still untouched.
The new scratchplate has been made after hours of work to obtain the right sizes. Conclusions drawn by an architect who has been based on some photographs + body signes valutation. A perfect job done with old 4 layers piece.
The amp: the original one is gone and it isn't possible to have it.
I'll buy a small amp (which?????) and in a way or in another way I'll install it with a 4" speaker or a bigger one mounted with an option.
This guitar will be equipped with a modern amp with digital effects without extra holes or other modifications. Of course!
It needs an amp, so why not a modern one? It's inside and will be great for (home and entertainment only) playing!
Best regards,
Filippo
Great to hear from you, Filippo, and I'm so pleased to hear that this fantastic old guitar is being restored. If you want to send us any further photos of the resoration process or the finished guitar, we'd love to see them here on Guitarz.Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
8:15 AM |
Labels:
German guitars,
Hofner,
on-board amps,
one-offs,
prototypes,
vintage guitars,
Weird guitars
/
Another of these crazy German luthiers, like
Basslab,
Auerswald or
Teuffel,
MB was a short lived 80s small guitar company about which I cannot find much information - but that MB stands for Christian Müller and Roland Bauer, and that's it!
They conceived and released a few models based on this astounding design, and the main one was the
Himmelschüssel (that you can translate by '
primrose' but means exactly '
key to heaven'). This guitar is not only rare because it's the first of the only 13 ever built, but for being issued from some designer's fantasy gone wild on the drawing board, and not being ridiculous once built! How many smart ideas in experimental guitar design went wrong? This design was actually made possible by the new technology of carbon fiber that arose in the early 80s - in this case combined with mahogany.
This model was built for a famous German blues guitarist, and I always wonder why do people want new instruments to play old music! Look at all the demos on YouTube for high tech guitars like the
Teuffel, the
XOX or the
Backlund, the players always go for old rock blues riffs and scales! Do Franck Zappa, Robert Fripp or Adrian Belew have no legacy?
12:50 AM |
Labels:
80s guitars,
German guitars,
Luthiers,
Weird guitars
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guitarz.blogspot.com:
Courtesy of
John Beach via our
Facebook page, this is a 1965
Hagstrom Impala, which together with the Corvette/Condor made up Hagstrom's professional series guitars. A total of 1039 Impalas were manufactured in Sweden between 63 and 67. A Corvette/Condor was recently listed for sale on E-bay for $5000.00.
More about vintage Hagstrom guitars
here.
Additional: Just by chance, after I had made the above post, one of these just came up for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now of $1,195. I'll add some more photos to the comments below.Additional #2: Now relisted with a starting price of $899.G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
4:45 AM |
Labels:
Hagstrom,
vintage guitars
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guitarz.blogspot.com:
Of the weird and wonderful guitars we showcase here on
Guitarz, some which I enjoy the most are the often surreal (to us Westerners anyway) instruments associated with Japanese bands. This
left-handed Tele-style guitar from Fernandes is adorned with photos of Rieko Miura and Maki Miyamae from J-Pop group
Coco, who were active from 1989-1994.
I'm guessing this guitar was a souvenir item for sale to fans. I can't imagine it being used by the group in a live situation. I mean, who'd play a guitar with a picture of themself on it? It does beg the question, why are only two of the group featured on the guitar and were the other members represented on a different guitar? Also, as it is left-handed, was there also a right-handed guitar (surely?) and if so, how did the artwork differ or was it merely a mirror image?
Granted, this is an extremely cheesy guitar but one that I find fascinating.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
4:06 AM |
Labels:
90s guitars,
Fernandes,
Japanese guitar,
left-handed,
Telecaster
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guitarz.blogspot.com:
I've been meaning to write about
Crimson Guitars for ever. The guitars are painstakingly handcrafted by Ben Crowe and his trusty assistant Igor, and if you've ever had any interest in the construction procress then I recommend you follow the Crimson Guitars workshop diary on the website or alternatively on
Facebook as Ben seemingly documents every step of the build for each guitar. They also produce their own hardware including tremolos, headless tuning systems, control knobs, bridges, etc, whilst pickups are often by
Wizard, but of course they can be whatever the customer requires.
Past instruments have included those made from exquisite tonewoods with highly controured ergonomic bodies, touch style instruments, carved perspex guitars and basses, and clients include (appropriately enough) King Crimson's Robert Fripp and Charlie Jones, bassist with Robert Plant, Goldfrapp and Siouxsie Sioux.
This particular instrument is a
fanned-fret multi-scale 8-string guitar which is suitable for touch-style playing. Crimson guitars are bespoke instruments built specifically to a customer's requirements, but they do produce the occasional stock instrument. I'm sure Ben won't mind me saying that this guitar, now being offered on eBay, only became available as a stock instrument because the customer changed his mind and decided he didn't like the slanted pickups. Unperterbed, Ben began the whole process again and built a second 8-string fan-fretted instrument for the customer. I have to say, the original that we see here with the slanted pickups looks much much better, but if the customer wants straight-aligned pickups that's what he gets!
If I ever come into money, my dream is to commision a Crimson guitar. I think they are so fantastic, I included two in the "500 Guitars" book.
G L WilsonGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
10:18 AM |
Labels:
8-string,
British guitars,
Crimson Guitars,
fanned frets,
Luthiers,
one-offs
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guitarz.blogspot.com:
Bertram, remember in Crocodile Dundee, when he pulls out a big hunting knife and says "that's not a knife ? THIS is a knife"? Well, I say "That's not a sparkly retro guitar! THIS is a sparkly retro guitar!" In fact this is THE sparkliest retro-est guitar that wasn't made in the golden era of sparkly retro guitars.This is the holy grail of any vintage guitar collector. This is the COOLEST guitar EVER built - EVER and it's on eBay at this very moment!We usually think of Guyatone as a typical 60's brand (well, I do) but a quick Google will show that it's still alive and well and selling very expensive effects pedals. And, back in 1982 it was still making guitars.Hang on, 1982 was the beginning of the era that brought us The SuperStrat, The Parker Fly, The Ibanez PointyThing, The Dean Dime-a-Dozen, The Jackson OMFG! and the original and super-est of SuperStrats - The Charvel. So what was this glittering, glamourous beauty doing being made amidst all those shredder-tastic, testosterone fuelled, dive-bomb-bombastic, cock-rock Phallocasters?This guitar has an OMG! factor that is measured on the Richter scale. It is sparklier than Elton Johns underpants. It should have a 24 hour armed guard. It will melt your face off if you look at it with an impure heart.This guitar anticipated the current nostalgia boom spearheaded by the likes of Eastwood and Italia by nearly 30 years and must have looked as out of place as EVH's logo guitar at Yngwie Johann Malmsteen's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.If you're feeling blue, down in the dumps or just a little moody, get yourself over to eBay right now and scroll through the plethora of wonderful images that barely do justice to the majestic beauty of this oh-so-fine musical instrument and listen very carefully. You will hear, in the distance, the sweet singing of a heavenly choir and a herald of angelic trumpets and you will know you are in the presence of a rare treasure that is a privilege to behold.Have a very nice day.
David in Heavenly Barcelona
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
9:49 PM |
Labels:
80s guitars,
cool guitars,
Guyatone,
wacky finishes
/
Whenever I see an Italia guitar, I have the feeling that Trev Wilkinson who conceived them really did it for his own pleasure, and that it's kind of him to share...
Not a fan of sparkle finish but I have to admit that this lefty
Italia Maranello has the chic of vintage Italian guitars from the 60s (even if this one is actually based of an Hagström model) plus for sure the qualities of modern guitar making (plus the innovative contribution of Mr Wilkinson's hardware...)Or how to be both tinsel and elegant at the same time...
BertramGuitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
8:35 AM |
Labels:
elegant guitars,
faux vintage,
Italia,
left-handed
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guitarz.blogspot.com:
My second post of the morning - just a quickie.
Not going to say much as this Amazon customer review says it all... "I first saw this guitar in a guitar magazine advert and thought it looked very cool. As it was an "Artist Signature" model I assumed it would be expensive and forgot about it. Some months later I happened across it on the Amazon site for $159, free shippng and thought it might be a diamond in the rough and ordered it immediately. Was very happy with it out of the box, very well made and a cool looker too! I confess I like this guitar so much I took it to my luthier and had him dress and polish the frets, set up intonation and put high end strings on it adding $60 to my cost. This is now my favorite guitar among several higher end instruments, very easy to play and sounds great through several different amps. Some might question the wisdom of spending $60 to set up a $159 guitar but even without the tweaking she is a sweet ride."
OK, "sweet rides" aside interesting eh? IT IS NOW ON AMAZON.COM at $84.99 NEW! and eBay for $75.99 NEW! That's €54 or £47 (plus shipping)At the VERY LEAST this could be a nice little base for experimenting. It may even end up being todays Teisco of the future.
David in Chilly Barcelona
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
1:30 AM |
Labels:
bargain,
cheap,
cool guitars,
First Act,
Westerberg
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