I've always liked the story behind the Defil Kosmos. As you can see its body copies the mythical Gibson Moderne, a model conceived in 1958 together with the Flying V and the Explorer, but discarded as too radical...
It's not clear if the Kosmos was released before or after the 1982 Moderne limited reissue (or first issue, it depends on if the 3 Modernes built in 1958 and lost since can be considered as a first edition) - information I could find are contradictory, but if they were pre-1982 they are the first real incarnation in the real world of this cool design!
If they were post-1982, since there was no chance for a 1980s eastern-european musician to put his hands on a Gibson limited edition, copying it was no real infringement, more an homage! And the Kosmos was a really successful model amongst communist metalheads!
Bertram D
EDIT: A contemporary or even earlier copy by Ibanez released in the mid 1970s was brought to my attention by our knowledgeable readers - not the only Gibson copy of the time as you can see here...
Ibanez released a Moderne-shaped guitar in the 1970s.
ReplyDeleteActually, the first "real world example" of this guitar was released in the 70's by Ibanez, and that is probably what this design copied.
ReplyDeletedidn't know about the Ibanez, gotta look about that...
ReplyDeleteI'm of the opinion that there was a good reason why this guitar did not make it off Gibson's drawing board back in 1958, and that is that it's a really crappy design.
ReplyDeleteWell, I love my 2011 Gibson Moderne. It is like an SG, but more interesting to look at. Sounds great. Great sustain, and in my subjective opinion, looks amazing. I have the black one with tortoiseshell guard (and split headstock).
ReplyDeleteIt certainly isn't to my tastes but I have to applaud you for being different from the crowd.(As you say, it's all subjective).
Deletebought a guitar from poland 1989 just says defil 1989
ReplyDeletebought a guitar from poland 1989 just says defil 1989
ReplyDeleteDefil Kosmos was most hated and laughted at guitar I can remember in Poland in eighties. I lived in Lubin , the city where they make these guitars and believe me nobody wanted to play that shit.
ReplyDeleteVery bad instruments, if you can call them instruments at all. I played guitar in Metal band Squier (named after my JV Stratocaster) in that city and music industry practically didn't existed in Poland. Everything was controlled and tammed by communists.
Probably Kosmos was an Ibanez copy. First specimens have headstock like Ibanez.
ReplyDeletehttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FoVvLeDJdkk/Us1JEqXuOwI/AAAAAAAAAW0/Rfe8jR4hIBw/s1600/kosmosinnaglowka.jpg
I think someone in Defil has Ibanez catalogue this time.