Guitar Info

guitarz.blogspot.com:

The wildly exaggerated design of this 1960s Japanese Kimberly Fire Bird makes for quite a glorious guitar, enhanced by the green burst finish. I'm sure this was the effect that MusicVox intended with their retro-themed guitars with exaggerated body horns.

Unfortunately there are just 6 hours left for this auction to run on eBay, so by the time some of you read this the guitar will be sold. The bidding at the time of writing is at $760. It's a shame that the vibrato arm appears to be missing.

We have looked at a couple of Kimberly guitars before (here and here) and other than one of them being a re-branded Teisco, I am afraid I am unable to tell you much more about the brand.

Thanks to Tom Naumann for bringing this guitar to my attention.

G L Wilson

Additional: The eventual winning bid was $2,225. Wow!

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Next up today, we have another red Japanese guitar, although this one is from two decades before the Kawai Aquarius we looked at earlier.

This 1968 Kimberly/Teisco Vamper would appear to be a rare beastie. As the seller points out:

Aside from a picture on the Teisco Twanger's Paradise site, a few small mentions and queries by persons attempting to discover their value, there's almost no info at all on the 'Net about the Vamper.

Basically the same hardware and appointments as its sister instruments, the somewhat more common May Queen and the uber rare Fire Bird. Like her sisters, the Vamper is at least a level or two better quality than most ordinary Teiscos. Great playing guitar!

Semi hollowbody construction with an obvious Mosrite influence. Red/orange finish, almost like Fender Fiesta Red...

We looked at another Kimberly guitar in October 2008 - I couldn't find out very much information about that one either!

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

You just don't see guitars with 4 pickups these days, do you? Not comtemporary instruments, that is. Those 4 pickups on this tasty greenburst Kimberly have a Teisco look to them. As another Japanese guitar this Kimberley could well have been made at the same factory that produced Teisco guitars. It's not just the pickups which are in abundance. Just look at all those knobs and switches!

On the subject of guitars with a crazy number of pickups does anyone remember a photo in an early edition of the UK's Guitarist magazine which showed a reader's Stratocaster which he had fitted with nine single coil pickups and a whole bunch of switches? I'd love to see that picture again.

(I'm aware of the Music Man Spinal Tap guitar with 4 humbuckers before anyone mentions it. They also had a bass with six pickups.)