We were looking at heart-shaped guitars here on Guitarz last week, and here's another that you may have seen before, the Heartbreaker from girl guitar company Daisy Rock.
This particular example is one of the company's earliest models, the Daisy Rock Powerpuff Girls-edition Heartbreaker and is one of a limited edition of 100. These early Daisy Rocks were actually made by Schecter Guitars, Daisy Rock founder Tish Ciravolo being married to Michael Ciravolo, the President of Schecter Guitar Research, and who gave a helping hand in the early days of the company being set up. As you'd expect, production soon after shifted to the Far East.
Guitarz reader Elad found this metal guitar on eBay. He writes:
This was offered on eBay with a start price of 99.99$, gained some bids, but then ended early by the seller for an unknown reason.
Even though it is hollow with the body made in two halves (and hinged so it can be opened up!), it looks to be pretty chunky. I sure hope that it's made of aluminium and not anything even heavier! And just check out all that wiring inside. That looks like it would be a nightmare to sort out. It appears there's a series of LEDs around the top and sides of the guitar so I guess it has a built-in "light show" of sorts. The trem arm is a pretty unique shape too - looks like it might double as a bottle opener.
See more, bigger photos, etc, over at Elad's blog TonePedia.
Regular readers of Guitarz will know that I am an avid fan of Yamaha's early solidbody guitars. Looking at this 1969 Yamaha SA-30 complete with vibrato, I'm thinking that I could well develop a taste for their hollowbody and semi electrics too!
Having recently come into possession of an Aria TA-40 - quite a modest semi-hollowbody - I had to wonder why it's taken me so many years to even try one out, and that's speaking as someone who has owned 50+ guitars over the years.
This Yamaha SA-30 is quite glorious, and is finished in a deep emerald green. It looks to be all original, apart perhaps from the bridge, the colour of the wooden base of which doesn't quite ring true to an instrument of this vintage. This guitar is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $1,295 which is approximately what I paid for my Yamaha SG-3 last year and seems quite reasonable for a vintage Yamaha electric so long as it's all in tip top condition.
The Guitarz blog is supposed to cover all kinds of guitars, but there are certain guitars that I don't blog about very frequently simply because I don't know a lot about them. These include resonators, lap-steels, pedal steels, antique guitars, and classical guitars.
Here we see a classical 10-string by French luthier Gérard Audirac, currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $7,350. This model is known as the Cathedrale and is known for its powerful projection, rich tone and long sustain. As you can see from the photos, this is quite a contemporary design with its distinctive headstock and elongated soundhole, which is positively conservative compared with the soundholes on Audirac's Conservatoire double bouche model.
For those wanting more information, there's an interview with Gérard Audirac here, and for French-speakers, the first installment of an interview on YouTube here.
Those of you who fell in love with the candy apple red Fender Bass VI in our previous post here on Guitarz but didn't fancy the eBay Buy It Now price of $15,995, might want to consider this sunburst version of similar vintage and condition. This Bass VI was listed on eBay UK today with a starting price of £0.01 and with the bidding currently at £500 as I type this. I don't expect that it'll cheaply but I'd wager it'll go for a lot less than the asking price on the candy apple red example.
Here's an original Fender Bass VI in glorious condition - like a natural relic - but the candy apple red finish must be as vibrant as when the guitar was new in 1963. The Bass VI first went into production just two years before, in 1961, although it wasn't the first six-string bass; Danelectro got there first in 1956. The body design is somewhere between a Stratocaster and a Jazzmaster. The Jaguar, with which the Bass VI shares similar electonics, wasn't introduced until 1962.
With a 30" scale, it was designed to be tuned as per a regular six-string guitar but tuned down an entire octave so that it covered the bass range. The result was a hybrid guitar/bass - a bass in guitar format. It even came with a tremolo arm.
The four switches on this example are three pickup on/off selectors plus a "strangle" switch for bass cut.
This particular example is currently being offered for sale with a whopping Buy It Now price of $15,995.
LaBaye 2x4 guitars were produced in the Holman-Woodell factory in Neodesha, Kansas in 1967, and share features and hardware with the Wurlitzer-branded guitars that were built in the same factory. The guitar is so-called because it is modelled after a 2-by-4 plank with a neck attached to it. Controls are positioned on the top edge of the guitar except for the pickup selector on the guitar models situated on the bottom edge where it is very easy to inadvertantly knock and change the pickup selection. Short-scale bass, guitar and 12-string versions were all produced plus allegedly one or two long-scale basses, but none were successful and production ceased within a year.
This particular example looks to be well-used and is being sold "as is". The auction has started with a low price, and it'll be interesting to see what this eventually sells for. The action does look a little high. Maybe Devo's Bob Mothersbaugh should buy it as a back-up guitar for the one he uses on "Smart Patrol/Mr DNA". I don't think the guitar's action is very important on that "solo"!
I'm reminded of the heart-shaped 12-string guitar built by John Birch in the 1970s for Rob Davies of glam-rock band Mud. That one, whilst having a smaller body, was also pierced by an arrow serving as the neck.
Anyway, I'm sure this particular guitar was a labour of love for its maker and have no wish to belittle the craftsmanship involved, but I can't help thinking that the Buy It Now price of $5,250 on eBay is slightly optimistic.
The Gibson Shark Fin, a limited edition of 1000 guitars from 2009, is essentially a modified Explorer. This example has just turned up on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $979.99.
Gibson claim that the Shark Fin is ergonomically designed when they say, "The swooping relief cuts that form the guitar's asymmetrical shape may appear to be placed at random but they've been carefully engineered for maximum balance in your hands." Personally, I think this is marketing department BS. I can't believe this was designed with ergonomics more uppermost in mind rather than aesthetics. That it balances well is most likely serendipity at work.
This Framus Hollywood 5/132 is currently being offered for sale on a French website with a price of €800.
The Hollywood model dates back to 1958. Although often referred to as a solidbody, the body construction is of plywood top and back glued onto a frame with a solid centre section (I'm reminded of the construction of Danelectro guitars, although with better materials). There were several models with one, two or three pickups, and with a choice of single or double cutaways. The example we see here, the 5/132 has three pickups but is sadly lacking its original tremolo (see here to see what it would have originally looked like).
The modern-day resurrected Framus company (which is subsiduary of Warwick, makers of fine German basses) has recently reissued several Hollywood models which are faithful to the originals in looks and construction (see website) but which thankfully have rejected the antiquated 5-pin DIN output in favour of the more usual jack socket.
Thanks to Dirk Lubbe who brought the above-pictured guitar to my attention.
Ooh! It's the Ovation Breadwinner given the Superstrat treatment!
Well, it's actually a Caparison Stevie Salas prototype from 1999 and is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a starting bid of $1,999 and a Buy It Now price of $2,700. As you might expect with such a rare guitar it's expensive, but it does have the cool factor.
I only just saw this auction for a Fender Doubleneck mystery guitar on eBay late last night, and this morning it has finished and the item has sold. Someone has either gotten their hands on a very unusual Fender prototype doubleneck circa 1967, or else a Frankenstein job created from Fender parts by persons unknown. If it's the former, that could have been the bargain of a lifetime for the final selling price of $646.76.
So, it has a DuoSonic/Mustang style body, and two Fender Coronado necks with the 12-string being in the lower position. The shorter 6-string neck (were Coronado 6-strings of a shorter scale than their 12-string siblings?) has had its headstock re-shaped so as to make way for the 12-string tuning machines on the neck next to it.
One of the necks is marked "R&D" - Research and Development? It does indeed look like a genuine Fender prototype even if it is made from spare parts, but there's no way of qualifying this unless some former Fender employee was to step forward and identify it.
Still, it's an interesting one and well worth a look at here on Guitarz.
I'm not sure quite what to make of this guitar. It seems competently realised, and was apparently "made 15 years ago at Simmons Patternmakers, Coventry". I'm guessing they don't usually make guitars. This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs! I'm not so sure if it was designed as such, or if pieces were carved off almost at random until the final shape emerged. The shape reminds me of a chunk of ice - perhaps an icy blue would have looked better?
Proving once again that Gibson aren't the only ones who can do reverse body designs, here we see an Ibanez PGMFRM1 Paul Gilbert Fireman, the signature guitar for the Mr Big guitarist. With a set neck, korina body and three DiMarzio Area '67 pickups, the body is based on a flipped around Iceman with a little tweaking to create a lower horn. This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs! This example, one of a very limited edition, is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $6,999.99 - which, I'm afraid, puts it into the realm of the serious collectors only.
This late '60s Zenta semi-hollowbody shortscale bass is quite an interesting one. The angled neck pickup (and the end of the fingerboard) looks to be distinctly Mosrite-influenced, whilst the symmetrical shape and the S-holes combine to present an attractive instrument. Although the seller refers to it as a Zenta, the headstock clearly proclaims "Felt" (although looks suspiciously as if it were done by hand) but no mention is made of this in the eBay listing. This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs! Currently listed on eBay with a starting bid of £225.
Edit: As Greg Cadman points out on our Facebook page, it's probably a copy of a Martin guitar (this one for instance, complete with the S-holes!).
We've heard of 12-string basses before, but ordinarily (if such an instrument could ever be said to be ordinairy) they consist of four courses of tripled strings. This Prat 12-string bass is an ERB - Extended Range Bass - and has 12 individual courses. Yes, such instruments can sound very nice, although I'm yet to be convinced as I've never heard a truly incredible (or even particularly memorable) piece of music made with one. Touchstyle instruments have been around for a long time (I can't imagine this Prat 12-er can be played any other way than touchstyle), but they've not really set the music world alight innovation-wise have they? They just remain an intrtiguing curio; the audience is more interested in the number of strings and unusual playing technique than the actual music produced. (Oh - prove me wrong, someone!) This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs! I've said it before and will very likely say it again: if you want that many strings, get a harp already!
Well mine was a gift from the guitar gods. Found her in a trash can on the side of the road all in pieces. I put her back together this past fall and I gotta say that she might just be the sweetest player I have ever had. Great tone out of the single coils... nice action and a fast neck to boot. Perhaps someone out there knows more about these??? Would love to find out more about where in Japan this came from!
Keep up the great work!
This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs!
Scott
If anyone knows any more, please tell us using the comments. More photos in the comments, by the way! - GLW
Here's one of our favourite guitars, one that we've looked at before here on Guitarz. The Fender Swinger is one of that company's rarer production models, with only approximately 300 being made in 1969. Fender had recently been taken over by CBS and the Swinger (a.k.a. Musiclander, a.k.a. Arrow) was a cunning ploy to use up unused stock from unsuccesful instruments from previous years. This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs!
Here we get to look "under the hood" where the pickup routing from the body's previous designation as a Fender V five-string bass is uncovered to see.
This particular fine example of a Fender Swinger is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $2,590.
I lose count of the number of times I've seen eBay sellers trying to shift what they insist on calling a "RARE Gibson Epiphone STRAT". They always emphasize the RARE and the fact that it is a Strat but Gibson-made (which it isn't, it was made in Korea). The words "rare" and "mint" have little currency on eBay these days as they are bandied about with wild abandon and without any basis in truth or the seller having done a little basic research. This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs! The Epiphone "Strats" and "Teles" were quite a common sight in music shops in the late 1980s. They offered a fairly decent S or T-type guitar for the price in those days (they were budget-line instruments). Personally I always felt that the Explorer-like banana headstock looked slightly incongruous on those body shapes, but I guess Epiphone wanted to reference their parent company somewhere in the design. This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs! Now this Epiphone copy of a B.C. Rich Bich (shown above) is a new one on me, but I'm guessing it would have come from the same period. It's probably rarer than the Fender-derived designs but I doubt it's particularly rare or of any great value. It's an interesting one, and certainly should be of consistent workmanship for an Epi of that period. This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs! But as ever, if you know differently then please leave a comment!
Inspired by Keith Richards' 5-string Telecaster Deluxe, here's a 5-string electric mandolin designed to look just like a diminutive Fender. This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs! I've not heard of the Almuse brand before, but full marks to them for inventiveness (even if the design is borrowed!).
The American department store chain, Sears, Roebuck and Company (often referred to simply as Sears) had from 1915-1972 its own line of sound equipment. This included phonographs, radios, and musical instruments. This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs! Their guitars were inexpensive for the time, but were well-made and had their own distinctive vibe. Of course, there was no Silvertone guitar company, the instruments were made by Danelectro, Harmony, Kay, National and Teisco.
Here we see a Harmony-made Silvertone Espanada guitar from the early 1950s. This was one of the more upmarket guitars bearing the Silvertone brandname, it has Gibson P13 pickups and an unusual but interesting feature in having metal binding around the top.
Hear this model in action here:
Thanks to Dirk Lubbe for bringing this guitar to our attention.
In 1957 with the launch of Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite to orbit our planet, the world entered what has become known as the Space Age. Around this time futuristic design became all the rage and was evident in everything from household appliances to cars. This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs! Here we see a futuristic jazz guitar design from 1958, the Astro Meister built in Nuremburg by Arthur Strohmer. Did you ever see an upper body horn as large as that? It's not so much a cutaway as an add-on! I can't help wondering if the Fender Stratocaster, launched in 1954 when it must have looked like something from Outer Space compared to other guitars, was an influence here.
The seller believes it may be a one-of-a-kind instrument, and is offering it for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $3,950.
This vintage Valco-made Airline Town and Country hardtail guitar from 1961 illustrates quite nicely that not all Airlines had those Res-O-Glas bodies for which they were famous. With the back plate removed, the construction is revealed to be quite crude. Obviously the three pickups (actually single coils in humbucker-sized cases) are front loaded, but note that there's no way of adjusting the height. This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs! Currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $1,899.99.
Here's a rare Fleishman bass from the mid/late 1970s. It is very minimalistic and appears to be all neck. It has a 3-octave fretboard - that's 36 frets! This bass was one of Fleishman's own brand instruments, and pre-dates the similar basses he designed for Hondo which differed in having 28 frets.
We looked at such a Hondo "Flash" bass on Guitarz in March 2010, when I rather unfairly commented on Hondo and Fleishman "jumping on the headless bass bandwagon". I've since edited that comment, but think it's only fair to let Harry Fleishman put the record straight:
A quick note to the "bandwagon" comment. International Musician Magazine and other bass magazines have credited me as the pioneer of headless basses. In fact, I suspect they were around long before me, but in the modern era mine were the first, dating to 1975. Again, I've since then seen "headless" instruments from the 19th century. I moved the tuners to take the weight off the neck; that simple. It does help backaches.
My personal favorite "headless" basses are Claudio and Claudia Pagelli's beautiful gold-leaf bass, and my own RED ROCKET EUB. Someone wrote that a headless bass is like a headless woman. That's why I named my headless with a body "Jayne."
Thanks for getting in touch, Harry. I think maybe I'd rather naively assumed that Steinberger started that whole headless bass craze that took off in the 1980s (the first Steinberger L-series bass was produced in New York in 1979). There were certainly enough copies around that were obviously directly imitating the Steinberger, not just in headlessness but also in body shape. But yeah, I know, "Never assume..."
(Thanks also to Vince Gotera who posted the Fleishman bass auction on our Facebook page).
This is a Yemaha archtop acoustic bass guitar, and no that isn't a typo! All I can find out about "Yemaha" guitars is that they were made in India and do not have a very good reputation. I wonder if they are a relative of "Givson" guitars? (Coincidentally, Guitarz is currently being plundered by a scraper blog based in India that has changed one letter of the blogspot URL. Is this common piracy practice in India, I wonder?) This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs! Anyway, this bass is a bit of a mystery. Correct me if you will, bass-heads, but it was my belief that the acoustic bass guitar was quite a modern innovation. My understanding was that the Ernie Ball Earthwood acoustic bass introduced in 1975 was the first such production-made acoustic bass, and that Guild and Eko were also early players in this field. (I don't claim to be an expert - I'm just someone who is interested in guitars and somehow manages to soak up all this information, so please do say if you know differently!)
With the onset of MTV in the 1980s and their Unplugged series the acoustic bass soared in popularity and is now quite an ordinairy sight - walk into any music shop and you'll find at least one on display.
However, the seller of this Yemaha believes it originates from the 1960s, although without offering any evidence to support this claim. I think it's far more likely to be from the 1980s or 1990s and is just well-used and battle-scarred making it look older. I did wonder if perhaps it originally had a pickup and would have been a semi-acoustic bass, but there aren't the holes in the body for volume and tone controls - unless all electrics were mounted on a pickguard, which would mean the pickguard we see in the picture would be a replacement. However, I feel this is unlikely, although not impossible.
The only issue with this Bass is that the neck has broken off!!!!!
Ah, that's alright then. I'm glad it's nothing too serious. This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs! I know this listing is by Aria Factory Seconds, but it still made me laugh.
Here's another guitar currently with no strings (we seem to be seeing a lot of those at Guitarz recently) and a couple of other issues too. In fairness to the eBay seller, it is listed as a "project" guitar for restoration. However, they also seem to be under the impression that it is a Bartolini bass! This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs!
Well, it's quite evidently not a bass. The two remaining pickups are by Bartolini, but the guitar has the appearance of a one-off custom job. It's like a Stratocaster that has been carved and sculpted to produce this rounded, smooth shape. But, Wow! Did you ever see such extreme fingerboard scalloping before? Note also the left-handed trem.
Here's another vintage slab-bodied bolt-on neck guitar (we seem to be looking at a few of these here on Guitarz recently - that's Guitarz with a Z and not any other letter [just trying to confound the scraper blogs stealing our intellectual property]). Anyway, it's a Multivox Premier guitar, which the eBay seller tells us is from the 1960s. It looks as if the body styling with the scrolled upper horn was based on the popular mandolin shape. The tailpiece, by the way, is not original.
According to VintageSilvertones.com, "Multivox guitars were produced by Peter Sorkin Music Company. They were a New York City based business who produced amplifiers, guitars,and basses from 1938-1975 and again in the 1990s."
Here's a Carvin #3-SGB (at least, I think #3-SGB is the model designation) from 1957. It's a slab-bodied electric guitar with a bolt-on neck, 6-a-side headstock. Hmmmm... we're scratching our heads here at Guitarz wondering where they got that idea from.
The guitar was made in Covina, California, and has a natural finish on a maple body, with maple neck and rosewood fingerboard.
At least it doesn't have a silly Buy It Now price on it, like some guitars of this vintage. With Carvin's reputation it should be a quality instrument, so long as it's survived the years in good condition. It might be an interesting one to bid on if you're after something a little different.
Firstly, before I comment on the lovely guitar pictured here, I'd like to apologize for our brief hiatus. Blogger were having technical issues and whilst they were sorting these out, somehow, Thursday's blog posts went missing.
According to Blogger all missing posts have now been restored across their network of blogs... but not on Guitarz, so it seemed.
However, I was able to cobble together something to replace the missing post about the Argentinian Morgan guitar from what little text I had already copied over to our Facebook page.
As to Bertram's post about the Hoyer solidbody, ironically I was able to reconstruct that from one of those dreaded scraper blogs! Which doesn't stop me from wanting to eradicate said scraper blog from the face of the blogosphere. Seriously, these scraper blogs are one big headache, and now I am up against the 4th one I've had to wage war with since the beginning of April. If anyone has any good workable ideas about how to contend with this menace, then please contact me, I'm all ears. But I am going through the official channels, reporting them to Google Ads, etc - trouble is that takes time to sort out.
Anyway, long-term readers of the blog may recognize the ESP Doraemon guitar which we originally looked at in December 2008. Still, it bears repeating because it is such an oddball guitar, and we now have many more readers who may have missed it first time around.
Japan is the source of some particularly wacky guitars, but I think for me, this is my favourite. Unlike many novelty guitars - particularly those of the cartoon character with built-in speaker variety - it actually sounds pretty damned good as this video (below) will testify.
Doraemon himself, eponymous star of a Japanese manga comic series which first appeared in 1969, is a robotic cat from the 22nd century sent to aid schoolboy Nobita Nobi.
As to the ESP guitar, it certainly wouldn't win any prizes for ergonomics! Nevertheless, I would love to have one, if only for kitsch value.
Thanks to Bill Cesavice who saw this auction on eBay. ($519.99 Buy It Now price, if you're interested).
I don't think we've looked at an Argentinian-made guitar here on Guitarz before. This Morgan guitar from 1965 is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $1,800.
OK, it's certainly unusual and it might be a rarity, but does it really warrant that kind of an asking price? Furthermore, again we see a guitar listed on eBay which is pictured without any strings. That doesn't fill the prospective buyer with much confidence. How long has it been stored without strings and what condition is the neck in? The seller says that "The action of the truss rod of neck is OK", but how do you tell without having strung it up first?
It's an interesting guitar, but I would advise any potential buyers to approach with caution.
(AND if you're the seller, string it up already! Let us know what it's really like!)
I'm afraid I don't have any information about this Arnold Hoyer solid body guitar - it's of course much easier to learn about the renowned hollow body jazz guitars of their classic period - but the followers of the Guitarz blog may remember this one with which it shares more or less everything - its lower horn, pickguard, control plate, knobs, pickups, bridge, trem, headstock...
This guitar is not so radical in its design and is actually well balanced between classicism and extravagance - something I always appreciate in a guitar (you'll notice the typically German 3-pin DIN output favored then in eastern-europe over the now standard jack connector, and of-course the super cool rhomboidal single coil pickups).
nameless broken flying v electric guitar inc gigbag . you get whats in the picture garden hose ground etc not included . collection only london nw2 . payment upon collection . thank you
Here's a synth/controller in guitar format that I've not seen before, the Unisynth. It looks a bit plasticky, more along the lines of a Yamaha EZ-EG or Casio DG-10/DG-20 rather than a Synthaxe or Stepp guitar.
The eBay seller tells us virtually nothing about it other than it supposedly being "rare", a word which is bandied around on eBay with abandon.
I find myself quite drawn to this 1950s-era Kay Pro Thin Twin Bass. I realise that it's not going to perform nor sound like a modern-day bass, but it is quite beautiful in this blond finish with the gorgeous flame of the timber revealed for all to see but without looking gratuitous like so many flame and quilted finishes we see on modern guitars. This is, of course, the bass version of the guitar made famous by Howlin' Wolf, and comes from the days when most manufacturers building basses simply adapted one of their guitar models despite the lead taken by Fender with the Precision Bass in making it a long-scale instrument.
As well as the volume and tone controls that you would expect, there is an additional switch - but of course on a single pickup instrument this can't be a pickup selector. According to the listing on ebay, the switch "flips the tone from the tone setting you have dialed in to the opposite setting". I'm not sure how useful that would be in practice, but it's an interesting feature.
As gorgeous as it is, I do not fancy the $3,495 Buy It Now price on eBay. Sadly, it's one for the collectors.
Is this a guitar? I'm not entirely sure. It certainly looks guitar-like. Although it's currently strung with just six strings, it appears to be a 10-string guitar and the slots in the nut show that it would have had six courses as on a guitar but with first and second courses as single strings and the remaining four courses as paired strings. (The same stringing as the B.C. Rich Bich 10-string guitar!)
Of course nuts can be re-cut, bridges and tailpieces can be replaced, so we can't be certain if this would have been the original set-up. Does anyone out there know for sure?
This bizarre raindrop-shaped guitar is supposedly a one-off, although to me it looks typical of some of the Far Eastern manufacturers who specialise in intricate inlay work. The fact that it has its own custom-shaped case is quite impressive.
I am reminded of the electric Gruggett Raindrop guitar that we looked at on Guitarz in November 2009, although with what in Gibson terminology might be referred to as a "reverse" body design.
Oh, and a note to eBay sellers. Make sure your guitars offered for sale have strings on them! It makes for a more attractive prospect, even if the buyer is going to change them, and also looks a damn sight better in the photographs.
You may like or not like Ibanez guitars and/or Joe Satriani's music, but you can't deny that an all-chrome finish looks really cool, whatever the guitar, can you?
Here's what the seller is describing as the "1st ever Danelectro Convertable Baritone/6 string bass" although, (a) it's actually spelt "Convertible", and (b) how do they know it's the first when anyone with access to the same parts could create the same Frankenstein job?
This hybrid has been put together using 1990s made in Korea EVETS Corporation Dano parts, most of which are pretty interchangable. (For years I had a 56 'U2 that I had assembled from the neck and body of separate guitars. The colours didn't match but I liked it.)
I can't imagine the intonation on that simple floating bridge is brilliant. Those Convertible bridges are just a piece of rosewood with three inserts for height adjustment and a piece of fretwire set into the top!
Anyway, with a Buy It Now price of $875, I think this is another case of optimistic eBayer!
Well, here is the black and gold leaf checkered one, a limited edition signature guitar for Japanese rockstar Ringo Sheena, same cooler than cool model with its art deco gear - whole in shining gold - with another outrageous finish...
My goodness, take a look at this... Flycaster... Telling V? Call it what you will, just because something is possible, doesn't mean that it should happen. As Guitarz reader Al in Crosby TX USA points out, even the eBay seller describes it as an abomination.
This Telecaster/Flying V hybrid comes from Indy Custom (The Indiana Guitar Company - not to be confused with Indie Guitars) and is one of a limited edition of 100 - even that sounds like pure optimism to me!
It looks like some poor old 1960s Japanese semi was a donor for this bedpan guitar project. I'm going to resist the all too obvious lavatorial comments (if you really feel the need, please use the comments!) and will only add that with a starting price of $319.99 you have to wonder who it is going to appeal to.
The Evets Corporation, current day owners of the Danelectro brand, have hit on an interesting marketing strategy in recent years. They re-issue guitars from the 1950s and 60s in limited edition and make them available for a year. This means there are frequently new models for fans and collectors of the brand. Of course it won't be too long before they exhaust the back catalogue of instruments and have to start repeating themselves. The latest crop of guitars sees the single-cutaway '56 style yet again, in a new interpretation has a lipstick humbucker at the bridge and a single coil lipstick at the neck and is also availble with a choice of headstock styles including the clasic "dolphin-nose" style.
More interesting, I think, are the above pictured guitars that Danelectro have dubbed the "Mid 60s Guitars" but which most suppliers are referring to as the "Wild Thing" series. Apparently these are based on a 1960s Danelectro prototype guitar. It is unmistakeably a Danelectro design, although the twin pointy horns both pointing southwards are reminiscent of the B.C. Rich Mockingbird. (A Danelectro/B.C. Rich hybrid - now there's an off-the-wall concept I'd like to see if it was done properly!)
Available in guitar, bass, and baritone models, these latest offerings from Danelectro are priced at $399 each, although many retailers are selling them for $299. Colours available are black, candy apple red, and candy apple blue (eh? Whoever saw blue apples?).
In August 2010, Bertram posted a Guitarz blog entry featuring a 1960s Merlin/Greco 921 guitar, which prompted reader Jim Garcia to submit the above photos. Jim writes:
I just picked up that same guitar, except it has a different pickguard (I'm thinking the white one [on the guitar we featured before] may be a replacement, maybe from the Greco), the pg on mine has semicircle cutouts that wrap around the curved bottoms of the single coil pickups - the material is black with cream binding, and it says "Arthur Smith" (in gold script) "Country Squire" (in Abalone script). Arthur Smith had a hit in the late forties with "Guitar Boogie", as early an example of rock n roll guitar that you will find. The model was distributed through Lowe's from '62 to '64 from what I've read and been told. I had thought the Merlins were made by Teisco but it's likely all the Greco/Teisco parts got interchanged.
Hey Jim, thanks for filling in another piece of the big jigsaw puzzle that is the history of the electric guitar!
As always, we want to see your guitars, and the more unusual they are, the better! (I think we've all got the measure of what Strats, Teles, Les Pauls, SGs, etc, are like by now, but if yours is an intriguing variation on a theme then it's still good!)
I don't know what to say about this rather bizarre guitar currently being offered for sale on eBay with a starting bid of $3,500. To me that seems quite a lot for a guitar that, despite the "custom" design and one-off status, still appears to use a generic bolt-on neck. I have to wonder about the weight, balance, and possible (probable?) neck heavyness. I love that people build such weird and wacky guitars; I'm just pleased that it's not me that's going to be playing it.
Thanks to Bill Cesavice for pointing this one out on our Facebook page.
Yesterday here on Guitarz we took a second look at David's idea of the "Coolest Guitar Ever Built", and today we're taking another look at my own choice of guitar for that title. Dating from 1966-67, this is an original Japanese-built Yamaha SG-3, one of that company's very first solidbody electrics. It's obviously Yamaha's answer to the Fender Jazzmaster, but is not a straight copy and is all the more desirable for being different.
One interesting feature about this guitar that you may not know is that the truss rod is accessed from the back of the body with an access hole beneath what appears to be the neck plate but is actually a cover.
I've spoken about these guitars before - as regular readers will know, I am lucky enough to own a sunburst SG-3 - but they rarely become available for sale and seeing that this beautiful red example is being offered for sale on eBay Australia with a Buy It Now price of AU $2,200 (Australian dollars), I felt I just had to tell you. Believe me, if I had the money, I'd hit that Buy It Now myself and tell you all about it afterwards. And I already own one! I really think these guitars are that good. If you can find one.
Check out also this post on the OffsetGuitars.com forum which details a replica SG-3 project build and demonstrates nicely the extraordinairy lengths some people will go to get one of these guitars.
...and there was a Westone Raider bass too, seen here in the afore-mentioned two-tone silver flake finish! This is currently being offered for sale on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £275, which is well over twice what it would have cost back in 1983 when it was new.
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