This guitar's patented revolutionary unique design joins the end of the neck to the body creating an all around brace removing the need for a truss rod. The three sound holes in the top side create a better listening perspective for the player. The round hole and F hole help to distribute the tones equally along the front of the instrument.I guess that volume-wise (I'm talking litres rather than decibels) the body is of similar size - although a very different shape - to that of a regular classical guitar. The video below gives a good indication of how good it sounds/.
This is not a ONE OF A KIND guitar. It is a prototype, but they actually made a total of (8) guitars:Kev was also kind enough to supply us with the photos reproduced here of his Mouradian guitars, indeed what must be the largest collection of Washburn Mouradians.
(2) guitars, one neck thru, and one bolt on
(2) basses, one neck thru, and one bolt on
I know because I have one of each from Washburn, with documentation. What I was told when I bought these guitars [was] that Washburn gave one of each guitar to Nuno, and One of each bass to Chris Squire of Yes.
The Jet Sonic is a post-Jim Burns design, courtesy of Italian designed Pagelli. At first glance it looks like someone has taken a saw to a Les Paul but a closer inspection reveals some tasty curves and contours, and the gently curving upside-down 6 in-a-line head complements its weird good looks. Otherwise the layout is pretty standard fare, with two Burns split-coil humbuckers (albeit in parallelogram-shaped casings), single volume and tone and 3-way selector switch.The above-pictured example is currently being offered for sale on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £549.
I'd like to share with your readers one original guitar I recently put my hands on. It may be a Matsumoku or a Kasuga one, made in Japan, it was bought in France circa 1977 (according to the previous owner). The shape of the body is quite original and after few weeks lurking at vintage guitars catalogues and internet forums, I still can't clearly identify it. Pickups are TWB-20, a Japanese copy of DiMarzio Super Distortion. The overall quality build is very nice, excepted for the original bridge that I replaced with a new one. I would compare it to some great examples of Matsumoku made guitars (this bridge is found in some early models of Electra brand guitars... made by Matsumoku). While cleaning the guitar, I noticed the note "SV300" on the heel of the neck, may it be an indication of the model?Thanks Greg. It's not a model I am aware of, and neither have I previously heard of the "Country" brand. Whilst it does seem plausible that it could be a Matsumoku guitar - they were quite fond of sandwiching the different body timbers in the style shown - I wouldn't rule out the other Japanese manufacturers either.
According to my local guitar maker, woods are: mahogany for the body (or is it bubinga?) with a piece of maple for the centre part, one piece of maple for the neck and rosewood for the touchboard.
Would it be an early example of Matsumoku original design guitar? Or could it be a Kasuga Musical Instrument guitar, a factory that made guitars for some well known japanese brands like Greco or Tokai?
I'd like to have the inputs of your contributors and readers about this one, even better: an actual pic of the same guitar from some old catalogue!
You'll find lots of pics of the guitar on my website (article in French).
Thanks for your help!
Greg
Paris, France
Check out this hot piece of Soviet history (cheesyguitars actually said Soviet junk). The date of its introduction in mass production is unknown, but I it must be somewhen around 1970s (1980s according to CG but I guess sometimes Ebay-speak can be a little like estate agent speak). It was produced in very small quantity, so you won't find this guitar again (Ebay-speak).
The body sports an extremely intriguing octagonal shape with a giant Russian letter "Ж" (Zh) embossed on it, which must remind the proud owner of this deadly weapon the name of its manufacturer - Zhitomir Factory of Musical Instruments. The label inside has a picture of some cool guy dressed in black suit - perhaps a Beatle - playing this guitar.
The best thing about "Zh" is the material of its body. It's aluminium (!!!) (Ebay exclamations), just a thick sheet of painted aluminium folded in shape of... well... guitar. What kind of evil mind could put forward an idea to produce guitar from aluminium in one of the most forested regions of Ukraine?
I think it's perfectly suit (CG spelling mistake copied by Ebayer) for true Norvegian black metal musicians (or as a present for vintage rare collector), because the sonic palette is really uncompromisingly evil, to say nothing of this instrument's looks.The guitar is on Ebay with a $1,099 price tag and it's already garnered four offers, so if this is your bag, get on over there and tussle with the other hopefuls for it.
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| Well, that's one way to fix a strap on... |
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| Not a great photo, I know, but it does go some way to illustrate the Über Kool label inside. |
and goes on to say:John Dopyera [..] claims to have built nine of these guitars with the "Penetro" label on the headstock before they were licensed to "Regal" to market under that name. So this appears to be one of the nine Penetros, and it may well be the last one on the planet. I pulled the resonator long ago and inside, scrawled in pencil it says "made by John Dopyera, March 1, 1940, The Guitar House, 3201 W. Florence Ave., Los Angeles, Ca.".
I took this guitar to the Antiques Roadshow in Pittsburgh last year. Although the appraiser appreciated my story, and in fact was pretty knowledgeable regarding the Dopyera resonator guitar legacy, he told me exactly what I thought he was going to. The guitar is so rare, nobody even knows what they are and thus has little value except to a resonator guitar afficianado whose collection has everything Dopyera except for this. So I am not going to give this guy away...Indeed! The guitar is currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $5,000. That's a lot of money but you can't argue with his logic. This is a rare, possibly unique, guitar and an important part of the history of the guitar - and the resonator guitar in particular. It really is a museum piece.
This guitar is designed and signed by George BARRIS only #100 made this is #56. It is designed like the Bat Mobile and is called the "Wing-Bat". George BARRIS was the original maker of the Bat Mobile. I won this very unique item at an auction. This is a very high quality guitar made by Hallmark Guitars. There is a red led light that works with a switch, very cool accessory. The black case is included with purchase. See picture #12, there is a small imperfection that happened during manufacturing.Currently listed on eBay with a starting bid of $1,699.
It's nice also to see a non-Custom Shop reissue of the Bass VI at last, although it's a shame that the individual pickup on/off switches and strangle switch have been replaced by a bog-standard Strat-like 5-position selector.FENDER® INTRODUCES NEW ADDITIONS TO PAWN SHOP SERIES
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (January 10, 2013) — The Pawn Shop Series introduces yet another pleasingly unconventional assortment of "guitars that never were but should have been," in which new models take the stage and long-vanished classics return in modern form. Fender is excited to welcome four new, out-of-the-ordinary models to its innovative and popular Pawn Shop series–the Pawn Shop ’70s Strat® Deluxe, Pawn Shop Super-Sonic™, Pawn Shop Mustang® Bass and Pawn Shop Bass VI.
The Pawn Shop ’70s Strat Deluxe is one of the most unusual takes ever on the world’s most archetypal electric guitar, with a pronounced 1970s style and vibe. For tonal versatility, its alder body houses a Telecaster® single-coil neck pickup and an Enforcer™ humbucking bridge pickup with a smaller Wide Range chrome cover. Other distinctive features include a "U"-shaped maple neck with 22 medium jumbo frets, 9.5" radius and "bullet" truss rod; four-ply white pearloid pickguard; three-way blade pickup switching and two Jazz Bass® control knobs (master volume, master tone); ’70s-style hard-tail Stratocaster® bridge and vintage-style "F" tuners. Available in 2-Color Sunburst, Black and Vintage White.
The Pawn Shop Super-Sonic model resurrects an unusual, short-lived and increasingly collectible ancestor of the late 1990s, the Squier® Vista Series Super-Sonic guitar. Very little about the Pawn Shop Super-Sonic isn’t highly distinctive—from its diminutive offset "reverse" body (resembling an upside-down Jazzmaster® or Jaguar®) and upside-down headstock to its short scale (24") and dual canted Atomic™ humbucking pickups (only the bridge pickup was canted on the original Squier models). Then there are the controls--neck pickup volume and bridge pickup volume only (no tone control), which are reverse-wired like the Squier original, meaning that the bridge pickup volume is the one closest to the bridge and the neck pickup volume is the one farthest from it. Other features include a "C"-shaped maple neck with "bullet"-style truss rod, 9.5"-radius rosewood fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo frets, three-way toggle pickup switching and dual Jazz Bass control knobs, three-ply parchment pickguard, vintage-style synchronized tremolo bridge, vintage-style tuners and new Super-Sonic four-bolt neck plate. Available in Apple Red Flake, Dark Gun Metal Flake and Sunfire Orange Flake.
With its racing stripe (305) and short scale (30"), the new Pawn Shop Mustang Bass authentically evokes the original "competition" Mustang Bass of the early 1970s. This time, though, you get the huge bass sound of a single humbucking pickup (the original had a single-coil pickup) and several classic Fender finish options. Other features include an alder body, "C"-shaped maple neck, 9.5"-radius rosewood fingerboard with 19 medium jumbo frets, four-ply white pearloid pickguard, two Jazz Bass control knobs (volume, tone) and a string-through-body bridge with four adjustable saddles. Available in 3-color Sunburst, Candy Apple Red with Olympic White stripe and Olympic White with stripe.
The Pawn Shop Bass VI marks the return of a historic Fender instrument, the Fender Bass Guitar (also known as the Bass VI). This updated version of the baritone classic features the short scale (30") and is armed with Special Design Hot Jaguar single-coil neck and middle pickups and a powerful JZHB humbucking bridge pickup. Other features include a "C"-shaped maple neck with 9.5"-radius rosewood fingerboard and 21 medium jumbo frets, five-way pickup switching, four-ply tortoiseshell pickguard (3-Color Sunburst and Black models) and three-ply parchment pickguard (Candy Apple Red model), two Jazz Bass control knobs (master volume, master tone), vintage-style adjustable six-saddle bridge with "floating" tremolo tailpiece, and vintage-style tuners. Available in 3-Color Sunburst, Black and Candy Apple Red.
For more information, go to www.fender.com.
I have something else you would be interested in. My mate at the band (Leroy y los masoquistas) has this weird guitar and he wanted to know something about it: maybe you can help us :)Hi Adrián, the first thing I thought when I saw the photos is that the pickups had been swapped for something more modern. It also looks like the tuners have been replaced and possibly other hardware too(?). I fear that I can offer little assistance other than to say that the shape of body and headstock are reminiscent of certain 1960s Hofner guitars.
I only have this bad quality photos, but I think they'll do the trick. The pickups were replaced because of malfunction.
Thank you very much!
Regards,
Adrián F. Leiro.
The Swedish pop group ABBA won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest, held in Brighton, UK, with the song "Waterloo". For the contest and for subsequent TV appearances and public appearances around the world, Abba member Björn Ulvaeus played a multi-pointed star-shaped guitar created by Goran Malmberg. Unfortunately, the orignal guitar is now missing, but Malmberg has created this replica for the ABBA Museum in Stockholm.I don't care about ABBA's "pop" credentials, or the (im)practicalities of such a very pointy guitar design, this is one of my favourite iconic guitar designs and along with the John Birch Superyob as played by Slade's Dave Hill it epitomises the whole glam rock era.
I designed the entire guitar shape. The original question from Bjorn was that they liked a guitar in the shape of a star, and I made a few baseline drawings for him to look at. If you look at the shape it is not symmetrical. We have the Gibson guitar "Flying V" and "Explorer" from the time that has "horns" in different directions. A common thing with those guitars along with my star guitar is that it has to serve a practical purpose, therefore the horns are pointing logical directions. The strap has to be fastened in a good balance position. There should be no horn where one has its right arm. There has to be a horn to place tone and volume knobs. So the design issue was to find a design balance that included those features. I have seen copies of the guitar. No criticism, but if the builder does not has a very good picture to make a copy from, he will surely miss the geometric figures behind the design. And the guitar will not show the same harmony as the original.For more see this post.
About the "player" issue, it is just about the same as a Strat with patent number pickups. The body is laminate plywood, for the reason that the edge of the horns should not break. It is all solid as a Strat. Good sustain. However, the guitar main purpose was for image, and even if Bjorn had come "asking" for it as an instrument, there was newer any time for fine tune adjustments.
