Orfeus is one of the worst documented guitar brand on the internet - roughly all we can tell for sure is that it was a Bulgarian company from the communist era and that's it... Still some instruments pop up regularly to be auctioned online, such as this Orfeus Hebros - though the name Hebros is not confirmed (there was a Hebros bass similar to this guitar but noone can tell if the name was used for the guitar - and I saw a few different Orfeus models tagged Hebros...).
Anyway this one seems to be the higher end model with 3 pickups and big inlays on the fretboard (though I cannot tell if it's something nicely done...). The wide burst finish is typical of Orfeus that has been noted for its original finishes (we've seen some on this blog...). You'll notice that the pickups have 'Orpheus' written on them when the headstock sports 'Orfeus' (and since Bulgarian uses cyrillic alphabet it should be Орфeyc or Орфей...)
Bertram D
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I happened to have one of those in hand 30 years ago. As long as I remenber,the neck and overall instrument were ok but the problem was the pickups,very microphonic. I wonder if it's not a very old kind of pickups you could find in the 60s(you could stick them on an acoustic sound hole) containing a membrane (similar to a speaker's one) and that acted more like a regular mike than like an electric guitar one. This could explain the lack of pole pieces and the shape of the top of the pickups.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to know what the pickups are like, you need look no further than here:
Deletehttp://guitarz.blogspot.com/2010/04/orpheus-pickup-detail-from-lord-bizarre.html
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Haha, on Lord Bizarre's pic, the pickup is labeled Орфей !
DeleteEven wilder than everything I tried to figure!
ReplyDeleteI just bought that guitar on ebay. Its wellmade and I think the pickups sounds fine. The bridge-pickup sounds a bit tinny but its an interest sound. With some overdrive it sounds very cool. The tremolo is a bit problematic... If you move it, the guitar is out of tune, but its a fine guitar anyway.
ReplyDeleteI bought this brand of guitar on ebay. It was listed as a "parts" guitar. The paint is chipping but the wood seems to be in good-great condition for its age. I'm going to take this "parts" guitar and get in working order, using it as my jazz guitar.
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