Here's a little extra something that I bet you wouldn't mind finding in your Christmas stocking this morning.
Via the Guitarz Facebook page Bryan has asked if we can shed any light on this diminutive G L Stiles 4-stringer which comes complete with its original case. He initially thought it was a tenor guitar, but says that it's "very small as well about half the size of a regular guitar". That's too small for a tenor, so I'd wager that this was intended as an electric mandolin and borrows Fender's idea of using just 4 strings instead of 4 courses of paired strings as on a traditional mandolin. As to any particular information about this mandolin, that's nigh-on impossible, I'm afraid, for during the 1960s and 1970s Gilbert Lee Stiles built a number of what were essentially one-off instruments from his workshop in Miami, Florida. It's highly possible that this mandolin is the only one that he made.
This is not a GDR guitar but its baby sister, a beautiful vintage Musima mandolin. I'm not a specialist but I've never seen one like this, with its wide german carve and wooden pickguard. Remember that Musima was not just a guitar company but produced all kind of music instruments, and you can still find accordions, zithers and violins auctioned online.
One of the things that we have to look out for on eBay is that sellers - especially those buying from estate sales, house clearances, etc - very often don't have the first clue about what they are selling. Take for instance this auction where the seller accurately tells us that this is a Kent model #744 because that is what it says on a sticker on the back of the headstock, but doesn't actually appreciate what that means and describes it as a "Kent short electric guitar".
Unfortunately the photos of the item in question give very little indication of scale, but to us at least, the 8 strings and rather compact body design should give away that this is in fact an electric mandolin. The Kent 744 is a Japanese mando, built in a factory near Tokyo, and in fact uses a longer than usual scale for a mandolin so that it is somewhere inbetween a mandolin and a mandola.
For more information please check this page at the excellent eMando.com website, where if you scroll down you'll also see a photo of Neve Campbell with a left-handed example of this Kent mando, giving a very nice indication of scale.
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!).
Here's another take on the electric mandolin, which couldn't be more different than the Gibson Futura mandolin prototype we looked at recently. This is a Gordon Smith electric mandolin, made in Britain, and is - I believe - a one-off build. It is an original design - unusual given Gordon Smith's usual Gibson influences, and features a very compact body (unlike the long stretched-out body of the Gibson) with a lengthy upper horn which no doubt would let it hang on a strap much more nicely than the Gibson. It also has the traditional eight strings arranged in four paired courses that we expect to see on a mandolin and so would appeal more to purists.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
This is a Gibson solidbody mandolin based on the Futura body design (an early variation of the more familiar Explorer). Made from Korina as were early Vs and Explorers, it's a prototype pre-production instrument built in the 1990s by Roger Giffin.
Note that it is a 4-string as were Fender's solidbody mandolins.
This mandolin is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price just shy of £5,000. Note that the eBay seller is musicgroundinc. I believe I have seen this very instrument when I was buying my Yamaha SG-3 in the Music Ground shop in London's Denmark Street earlier this year and I wished I'd taken a photograph at the time. (I know the listing says "Item location: Doncaster", but surely it couldn't be that much of a coincidence?)
I just stumbled upon a recent addition to the Framus vintage archives you might be interested in: the mandolin section. Apparently they made a couple of high-end electric/acoustic mandolins that were modelled on their famous jazz and electric guitars, e.g. the Black Rose, Television/Hollywood, etc., but with a twist!
I never came across any of these on eBay, so I suppose they are quite rare.
Cheers from Germany, Martin
Thanks for that, Martin. I never knew that these existed either. I note also that there are 10-string and 12-string mandolins (each with 4 courses of strings in pairs and/or triples) as well as the more familiar 8-strings. I really like the solid-body electric - it's a much more pleasing shape than the more usual Fender Mandocaster.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
While we are on an art theme, lets talk about art... and guitars. From the previous sorry attempt to something altogether much more interesting and I believe, more artistic on every level. If a guitar can be a work of art, I think this is one that deserves the tag.
This Guitar, The Destroyer, was built by luthier Mark Dalzellfor the 2007 Jersey City Studio Artists Tour, which seems to be an "open studios" not a music tour.
Firstly, it looks amazing and secondly it looks like it was built by someone who knows what he's doing. He certainly does.
I'm going to list the features in Marks own words:
- Double neck 6-string guitar, 4-string mandolin - Onboard digital effects Distortion, Chorus and Flanger - Onboard analog "Theremaniacs" theremin - Onboard chromatic tuner - Scalloped brass nut on guitar and mandolin - LED fret markers - LED pickup indicators - 1/4 scalloped neck on guitar - 6-bolt neck - Matching amplifier - 60's styled chrome accents
It is well worth spending a little time checking out his Flickr stream to see some of his other creations, not to mention some spiffing shots of his Vermont 2009 golfing holiday. And don't miss the opportunity to check out his "Incredible Stupephone" on Youtube. It made my day and I hope it has the same effect on you.
David in Barcelona
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
This Fender Mandocaster or Fender Electric Mandolin as it is properly known, is a nice instrument and is unusual if not rare. A quick Google of Fender Mandolin/Mandocaster does bring up quite a few instances. The Mandocaster was in production for twenty years 56 - 76 so you'd imagine they were popular enough but as it apparently sounded more like an electric guitar than a regular 8 string mandolin, it didn't have that wide appeal. It makes you wonder why fender didn't discontinue it, especially as Gibson had really cornered the market. The eagle eyed of you will have already spotted the 24 frets! Altogether un-mandolin-like.
Coincidently, Gavin's recent post on Grinderman led me to this video of Honey Bee (let's fly to mars) on their Treacle Sessions.
David in Barcelona
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
guitarz.blogspot.com: The almost circular body give this electric mandolin the resemblance of a table tennis bat. Its pickups are a dead giveaway, and betray it as being a product of the former Soviet Union. From the location of the controls you might think it was a left-handed instrument, but it is strung right-handed and other examples I have seen have the same layout. Indeed, the output jack is on the right-hand side in keeping with a right-handed instrument.
G L Wilson
Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!
Scott from RockGuitarLife.com brought this crazy instrument to my attention. It's a five-neck electric bass/guitar/banjo/mandolin/fiddle and with a harmomica attached at the top too just for good measure! The guitar belongs to Steve Puto and is on loan to the Cantos Music Foundation in Calgary
If you've ever wondered about the history of the guitar, how the instrument first gained popularity and where the likes of the Hawaiian guitar, mandolin and ukulele all fit into the picture, then you could do a lot worse than to read this Interview with Vintage Guitar Restorer and Historian Richard Johnston courtesy of Collector's Weekly. Absolutely facinating stuff.
G L Wilson
NB: Please make sure you are reading this Guitarz post at guitarz.blogspot.com and not on a Scraper blog that copies posts without permission (and steals bandwidth) so as to profit from advertising. Please support original bloggers!
On the previous post I put a link to a video to show Homme's Maton but this video was erased so I replaced it with another one from the same concert but with the BelAire...
So here is the Maton, and even better you can see John paul-Jones playing a Manson bass mandolin (I didn't even know bass mandolins existed until 30 minutes ago... If you'd asked me, I would have thought of the ENORMOUS contrabass balalaika I saw last week played by a Russian street band, not of rock legend playing progressive stoner rock...).
Anyway, you can read a good article about Hugh Manson's guitars making here.
NB: There are a lot of blogs STEALING content and bandwidth. If you read this anywhere else but on guitarz.blogspot.com then you are reading a blog that STEALS content. Please support original bloggers!
BTW, 20 strings are not bad but the same seller proposes also a triple neck - 12, 7 and 6, that makes 23, and that is too much - who want to carry a 3-neck guitar and what can't you do on a 7-string that you can on a 6-string?
Yes, indeed, this is the 2,500th post on this, the world's longest running guitar blog. I find that quite astounding, especially when you think that I usually only post at a rate of one a day (at least I have done so for the last three or four years).
So, to celebrate, I'm showing you this particularly bonkers-looking instrument. You'll notice that it has eight strings - I think it's some kind of electric mandola or octave mandolin. The burning question, however, has to be: Why the ridiculous banana-shaped body?
Actually, this eBay seller - Cassandra Elk Design - has quite a few wacko designs on its books, some of which look like they've been knocked up from cheap Strat copies in the garden shed with a jigsaw. I'll probably be re-visiting this "brand" in future posts.
Originally produced between 1964-1966, the Vox Mando Guitar is a half-scale 12-string guitar. It's tuned like a 12-string, only an octave higher, and thus allows the guitarist to get a mandolin sound from a familiarly-tuned instrument.
I used to have an 80s-era Eko mando guitar (still do have it, in fact, but it's in bits - but that's another story). It was quite nice for adding little overdubs to recordings, just to get a different sound in places. However, the Eko had a DiMarzio humbucker much more suited to heavy metal. The single coils of the Vox seem to be a much more sensible choice of pickup.
Now here's something you DON'T see very often on eBay. It's a rare - very possible one-off - Mosrite doubleneck 12-string guitar/mandolin circa 1970. It looks to be in very nice condition too. The starting bid is at $2,000 - I'll be interested to see what this fetches.
Here's one from the Archives. I originally linked to this one back in the early days of this blog (the first English-language guitar blog and longest-running guitar blog ever, I hasten to add). I'm featuring this wonderful Flamingo Guitar again, because it's a favourite of mine and you may have missed it first time around.
In case you think I can't count, this guitar does indeed have five necks - mandolin, nylon string guitar, banjo, electric guitar and a Flamingo neck (of course!) and apparently it is fully playable. (That's a Bird of Paradise capo clamped to the banjo neck's 5th string machine head, by the way.)
It was built by luthier Bernard Lehmann, maker of fine acoustic and jazz guitars, as well as one or two oddities like this, two dreadnought guitars joined by one neck, a water-powered electric guitar, and a guitar that is part telephone. Wish I had photos of those!
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Now these hardly ever go up for sale on eBay!
Here's one from the Archives. I originally linked to this one back in the early days of this blog (the first English-language guitar blog and longest-running guitar blog ever, I hasten to add). I'm featuring this wonderful 