Today I'm showing you this 1970s(?) Electra guitar just to prove that once upon a time it wasn't just the likes of Fender, Gibson and Rickenbacker that were being copied en masse by Far Eastern manufacturers*. It's a copy of one of Sweden's finest, the Hagstrom II. It seems quite unusual to see copies of European guitars, but of course guitars from Hofner, Vox and Burns have had their imitators over the years. This Electra Hagstrom II copy even features a replica of Hagstrom's "Tremar" vibrato arm - these days a replica would most likely feature generic hardware and you'd end up with a Strat-style trem irrespective of what the original was like.
Currently listed on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £350.
* OK, I'm generalising a little here, these days we have brands such as Eastwood and Pure Salem who are reissuing all sorts of cool designs, but the big distinction here is that these guitars are deliberately and joyfully retro. Back in the day when Electra copied Hagstrom, it was a copy of a then contemporary guitar. Just thought I ought to mention it before someone said "Hey, what about Eastwood?" in the comments!
Here's a 1960s Japanese-made guitar that is more unusual than most. It's a prototype Guyatone Telstar, has a very oddly shaped - and rather over-large - body with a "zolatone" finish (looks rather like Ovation's textured finish), and a 24-fret neck. This latter feature is very unusual for a guitar of this vintage - the Ovation Breadwinner which dates to the early 1970s is widely regarded as the first production model guitar with a 24-fret neck, although I believe there may have been other contenders to this particular crown. You'll note that despite the 24 frets, the top of the neck isn't particularly accessible with this body shape. Note also the bizarre almost exclamation mark-shaped position markers.
Thanks to Antony M who saw this guitar on eBay and posted it on the Guitarz FaceBook page.
Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $6,500. It may be a rare guitar, possibly even a one-off, but I still feel that price tag is a tad optimistic.
I couldn't find any information about this beautiful Sunrise bass from the 1980s, but I love it! It combines the typical Matsumoku seriousness and natural finish with a sober but original outline and a light german carve...
It would look perfect in my grand-mother's dining room - all dark wood - and even better on stage in my hands - it's an extra-long scale bass, just what I need!
It sure looks cool but what are the advantages of a EpicGrip Titanium guitar pick to the modern guitarist? EpicGrips mainman John Wundes spills the beans:
Solid Titanium, super strong, incredibly light-weight, solid grip, durable as hell... This is the pick that rocks as hard as you do. Smooth rounded edges, high-polish, killer grip, insane durability, fantastic price. You won't find ANY titanium pick at this price, much less one with this level of craftsmanship.
Titanium is used in cars, planes, hiking gear, medical implants and spaceships, because it's light as plastic, with the strength of steel! The high strength to weight ratio makes the EpicGrip a great general purpose pick, and when you need to do high speed precision picking, THIS should be the pick you reach for.
Because it doesn't slip, the EpicGrip feels like an extension of your hand. Sound-wise, Titanium picks have a stronger attack if you hold them loosely, and a tighter grip softens the tone. It gives me an extra bit of dynamic range when I'm playing. Some rock guitarists in the 80s used to boil their strings to achieve a custom sound - now you can tweak your sound mid-riff, just by using the EpicGrip pick.
I know I don't usually post pictures of guitars for Shred-heads, but even I have to admit that this Blackmachine B2 is a thing of pure beauty and because they so seldom come up for sale, I just had to bring this example - currently listed on eBay UK - to your attention.
Blackmachine guitars are hand built in the UK and feature natural finishes to allow the beauty of the wood to speak for itself. They are also famed for their very thin bodies as you can see in the side-on shot above. This particular model, built in 2006, features: Honduras Rosewood neck, grain aligned with Ebony fillets, Ebony fingerboard, Ebony top, 40 year old Mahogany body, Bare Knuckle Nailbomb Pickups (Camo finish) with coil tap, Sperzel locking tuners, and an Earvana compensated graphite nut. Blackmachine are currently not taking orders for guitars as they already have a large waiting list, so if this guitar appeals to you, this could be your only chance to lay your hands on one in the immediate future.
Bidding currently over £300 at the time of writing with two days to go on the auction - I think it'll fetch a lot more than that. [EDIT - It ended up selling for £4000 more than that - the winning bid was £4,300.]
This 2002 Rickenbacker 4003S8 8-string bass is quite scrumptious. What would you call that finish? It looks like Fender's Aztec Gold but what is that in Rickenbacker-speak? Aztecglo?
However, bearing in mind the eBay seller has slapped a $3,200 Buy It Now price tag on this bass, I can hear alarm bells ringing when I read that:
Owner kept it tuned down a step to relieve tension on the neck, which we recommend, too. Tuned up to pitch bows the neck a bit more then usual on the bass side.
C'mon guys, this is a high quality professionally-made instrument from a world-renowned manufacturer, it's not some cheaply-made plank from China. The prospective buyer should NOT have to compromise. If the neck bows more than usual on the bass side, that says to me that this instrument has a problem that needs to be sorted. Don't Rickenbackers have two truss rods? At a guess I'd say, hey, maybe the bass-side truss rod needs adjusting.
This shouldn't be a big ask. After all, other manufacturers produce 12-string basses and these can be tuned to pitch, i.e. standard bass tuning (plus octave strings, obviously).
The moral of this story? If you want to earn big bucks selling your guitar/bass on eBay, how about spending a few bucks getting it set up properly in the first place?
Here's a fantastic clip of Link Wray and his Ray Men playing "Rawhide" on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. I love the reactions of the young studio audience when the camera turns on them, especially the girl who quickly whips her glasses off. (Please note, I am unable to embed this particular YouTube video here, so please click on the links).
The guitar that Link is seen playing here is the Danelectro Guitarlin, first produced in 1959 (it would have been new and "modern" when this video clip was filmed). The lyre-shaped body with extra deep cutaways allowed a longer than usual neck to be used on the guitar whilst keeping the instrument at a regular guitar scale length, thus the neck sports 31 frets taking it into mandolin territory when playing high up the neck - hence the name, Guitarlin.
It's the long-awaited return of the occasional Guitarz series, When Relics Go Bad. I personally think that the whole concept of guitars that have been artificially aged is quite ridiculous. Whatever your opinions on the concept, it can't be argued that there are those who excel at the process of creating aged-looking used and abused guitars, and there are those - usually the enthusiastic amateur DIYer - who really should leave well alone.
Take for example this poor unsuspecting Epiphone Dot Studio semi-hollowbody. WHAT was the owner thinking? How would a guitar end up looking like this complete mess even after many years service as a gigged instrument. Unless of course, it is supposed to be the re-creation of a guitar belonging to legendary psychobilly band King Kurt whose live shows were notorious for flour, eggs, paint and all manner of missiles being thrown at the stage.
Thanks to Matt for bringing this abomination to my attention. The eBay seller is asking a Buy It Now price of $375 for this guitar. It might play well, but in this state a price like that is most definitely optimistic. Dreadful
We've previously looked at these Greco semi-hollowbodies with crazy V-shaped pickups before on Guitarz (see here and here) but the example pictured above is all the more rarer for being a 12-string. This guitar differs from the 6-string Greco Shrike in that it doesn't have the same contoured - almost German carve - top, plus the pickup selector switch panel is located on the upper horn rather than on the lower bout. Note too the body and neck binding and proper f-holes rather than the Shrike's diamond-shaped soundholes.
I'm not sure if technically it is a "Shrike" - the eBay seller lists it as being a Greco Model GR-960. The neck plate of the guitar mentions that the pickup design is U.S. patent pending, SH0-42-12136. I do like the single volume control. I often think that's all you need.
Currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $1,595.
This Kay Value Leader bass has an ultra short-scale length; we're talking a guitar-like scale here. It also has an 18-fret neck and a single pickup in the neck position. It's not going to be the first choice of instrument for the modern bassist, but for that certain vintage sound...
With that guitar-like scale I'd be very tempted to tune it "baritone ukulele" style, D-G-B-E (low to high), making it a kind of baritone bass, I'd guess.
This rarer bass version of the Kay Value Leader guitar was made in Chicago circa 1960, and sports a sunburst lacquer finish, laminated maple body, maple neck, and still has its original two-tone chip board hard case.
Currently listed on eBay UK, with bidding currently at just over £100 at the time of writing. Auction ends this coming Saturday.
[EDIT: sold for £460]
The eBay seller of this one-off 1980s Mosrite Axe Bass claims that it must be the rarest of the rare amongst Mosrites, but when that company is known for its various one-off guitar creations, such a claim is hard to substantiate. I guess it's more a case of how desirable a particular guitar is, and I'm guessing the seller is assuming that the Gene Simmons/Kiss connections (even if Simmons never even set eyes on the bass - was it made FOR him or just inspired by him?) would make serious Mosrite collectors reach for their chequebooks.
Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $25,000.
...from the ridiculous to the... errmmm... ridiculous. (But at least these guitars are made to play well).
And what could be wilder than a Bender Distortocaster from Brian Eastwood? Other than a Distortocaster with a wacky paint job, that is. And should I know what "gouranga" is supposed to mean? (Answers in the comments please).
This particular guitar is currently being offered for sale on eBay UK and has a Buy It Now price of £1,399.
For other Bender Distortocasters please see here and here.
I've said it before and I will say it again: I really seriously HATE skulls on guitars. It's just such a appallingly naff cliché that I can't imagine anyone wanting such a thing unless they are part of a comedy metal band. Not only has this heart-shaped guitar got skulls all over it, but also their eye sockets light up with red LEDs. Spooky, eh?
I mean, really, WHO is it supposed to appeal to? Even most 12-year old have better taste.
Also, check out that action. OUCH! The pink strings don't help, only serving to draw attention to it.
This horror is currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $549.99. (Oh look, the auction number ends in 666... it must be a sign or a prophecy or something!)
You can't miss a Pagelli guitar with its characteristic ergonomic shaped designed for Eastman and the curved headstock - and everybody says that the sound is as good as the looks...
Slanted pickups on guitar were around a long time before Leo Fender designed the Telecaster and Stratocaster. Here we see a Gibson ES-300 from 1940 with a long slanted pickup which is very nearly 7 inches in length. Later examples had a shorter pickup, which was still mounted at a slant.
This guitar comes in the original Geib 5 latch hard shell case (the seller claims that the case alone is worth $1,000), and is currently listed on eBay with a starting price of $6,500.
Thanks to Andrew K for bringing this guitar to my attention.
I couldn't possibly comment on how this vintage Silvertone guitar might sound, but it's certainly a head turner with several Mosrite-inspired design elements (reverse offset body with German carve, angled neck pickup and angle to the top of the neck) and with those crazy slider volume and tone controls. It looks like the original trem is all present and correct too.
Despite the Silvertone brandname it's certainly a Japanese-made instrument, although with the various Japanese manufacturers of the 1960s era, it's often hard to pinpoint who made what as hardware and designs were often common to more than one factory. Personally, I think it looks more Kawai than Teisco, but that's just a hunch.
Currently listed on eBay UK with a starting bid of £299, and with just over a day to go before the auction finishes (as I type this).
I'm not averse to 6-in-a-line headstocks on acoustic guitars. Fender, for example, have used Strat-like headstocks on their acoustic guitars since the 1960s, and I always quite liked that look. But a pointy 1980s jobbie like this? Perhaps my lack of approval stems from the fact that I never liked pointy headstocks like these on ANY guitars, let alone a poor unsuspecting dreadnaught-styled acoustic.
But of course such things are subjective. Even though I hate it, someone else will probably love it. If that person is reading this blog entry, they may like to know that this guitar, located in Georgia in the USA, is currently listed on eBay and has a starting price of $145.
Gperc is a percussion for electric guitar. It is a removable plate attached to the upper part of the guitar.
Various percussion sounds are made by the standard guitar playing, and strumming techniques used
by guitarists.
This is an innovative musical concept, and a totally new musical instrument invented by French
guitarist/guitar teacher Frédéric Riedel.
The Gperc sound is a natural percussion sound. It is the result of the percussion plate vibrations
captured by a piezoelectric pickup. Gperc does not involve any simulation nor any percussion sound
samples of any sort.
Imagine how Gperc could open up new musical horizons... Imagine a Gperc guitarist playing guitar, and
singing on an intimate stage... Imagine the dialog that could rise between a Gperc guitarist, and a
percussionist... Imagine the source of inspiration of a guitar/percussion arrangement at the very first stage of
songwriting...
That's the kind of horizons that Gperc could open up.
Why a crowfunding campaign?
Launching a innovative product is more than ever a real challenge. So we thought we could seek help from
the guitar lovers, and innovation lovers out there. The principle of crowdfunding is simple. The owner of an
innovative and/or a creative project call people for contribution to their project following 2 principles :
Any contribution is important to build a project, even the smallest.
The production of a first batch of Gperc kits for electric guitars.
Research & development fora more flexible Gperc attachment system.
Research & development for the future versions of Gperc, especially a version for
acoustic guitars.
If the goal is not achieved at the end of the campaign, then the contributions are fully repaid to the
contributors.
If the goal is achieved at the end of the campaign, i.e. July 2nd 2013, then the Gperc will come to life to
conquer the world and open up new musical horizons!
More information about the Gperc crowdfunding campaign on Ulule
The value of the compensations increases as the level of contribution increase.
First levels of contribution: Gperc goodies and accessories.
Intermediate levels of contribution: a Gperc unit for electric guitars (stratocaster and telecaster body shapes).
High levels of contribution: an electric guitar equiped with a Gperc. The Gperc will be installed by a luthier.
(The guitars equiped with a Gperc are: a Cort G210 or a Tom Launhardt TC61 -Telecaster body shape - or a
Tom Launhardt ST612 -Stratocaster body shape)
Meinel und Herold was a renowned German late 19th century accordion and harmonica company that later turned into a music instruments mail order distributing company - though they didn't build them, their violins, flutes or mandolins were as sought after as their previous instruments.
They eventually got involved into electric guitars and had them built by East-German Migma - as I assume was this beautifully eccentric electro-acoustic archtop - the finish is original and quite cool.
If you've ever considering dipping a toe or two into the world of fretless guitar, then you could do a lot worse than snap up this Gordon Smith SG-styled fretless guitar, currently listed on eBay UK with a starting bid of a very reasonable £299 and with no bids at the time of writing (approx 13 hours to go before end of auction). It's a one-off handcrafted custom build from this acclaimed British maker from Partington, near Manchester. What's not to like?
And while we're on the subject, check out the below video by Guthrie Govan in which he answers all the questions you may have had about playing a fretless guitar but were too afraid to ask. It really is an excellent introduction to the subject.
Pictured next to a Fender Jaguar Bass (which I believe has a 34" scale length), I'm guessing that this extremely long fretless electric bass is intended to be played as an upright. It probably wouldn't be great as a double bass replacement as the fingerboard does not have the necessary radius nor are the strings high enough from the top of the body to allow playing with a bow. But as a fretless electric upright bass played finger-style, I'm sure it'd work fine. It does sort of look like a giant bass guitar what with the P-Bass pickup, the fingerboard position markers giving the impression of frets, and the Fender-esque 4-in-a-row headstock. There must be an awful temptation to try to play this horizontally as if it was a bass guitar. Imagine how crazy that would appear on-stage.
I am reminded of Mark Rubel's Giant Jazz Bass, built to the scale length of a double bass, and which we featured in the Guitarz Calendar for 2012 (long sold out, but then it was last year's calendar). I was going to let all the calendar pictures remain as exclusives, but if enough of you want it, I'm tempted to show the Giant Jazz Bass pics here. (Vote NOW in the comments below!)
Anyway (I went a bit off-tangent there), the pictured electric upright bass, which I'm sure must be a one-off creation, is currently listed on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £499.
Just under a year ago we looked at a couple of prototype designs from Pure Salem, a new guitar company offering retro-styled guitars with modern production standards and playability. Pure Salem have recently unveiled their range of guitars (although not all the prototypes made it to final production models in case you were wondering what became of design based on the Meazzi Zodiac).
However, just look at what they ARE offering (pictures above), all of which are available in all finishes in both LEFT and RIGHT-HANDED versions. Lefties, take note!
Some of the guitars are obviously Fender inspired (the Wood Soul, Sad Fester, and Reverberation models), whilst the Tom Cat is a modern take on the Guild S-200 Thunderbird. As for the other designs, sharp-eyed readers may recognise some of the influences from vintage guitars featured here on Guitarz.
If you want a closer look, you could do far worse than check out this video demo of the Pure Salem Wood Soul by John Way:
Pure Salem guitars are priced between $625 and $825 depending on model. See their website for further info and/or their very busy FaceBook page. I think they look and sound fantastic, and would love to get my paws on one.
We've looked at a similar Watkins Rapier 33 before on Guitarz, not to mention an earlier incarnation of the Rapier. However, this fine example of a Watkins Rapier 33 in rare white finish has just turned up on eBay, and its a real beauty in fantastic condition and includes two tone controls, one volume control, individual pickup on/off switches and rhythm/solo switch, plus the original Watkins Hi-Lo tremolo with the original arm and original non-adjustable chrome Watkins bridge. Note also that this Rapier 33 has a bolt-on neck whereas the example we looked at previously appears to have a set neck.
For further info I once again would refer you to the excellent Watkins Guitar World website.
Currently listed on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £365.
Here at Guitarz quirky old Japanese-made guitars like the near legendary Teisco Spectrum 5 are held in very high esteem, so it's great to see one of these idiosyncratic 1960s twang-machines in action courtesy of Will of The Scant Regard!
By the way, I've been playing a guitar version of Kraftwerk's "The Model" with a band I play with, but now I'm beginning to wish that our arrangement was more like the above.
Magnetic Effects are a small company in the UK specialising in handmade boutique effects pedals. Their latest pedal, the Electrochop, has a really cool vintage-sounding vibe. To quote from their own press release:
The Magnetic Effects Electrochop is a super choppy tremolo that features the classic, unique LFO section from the Vox Repeat Percussion. A new audio circuit has been designed around the LFO, resulting in a tremolo that sounds like the Repeat Percussion but with a fuller, louder sound and more controls. All the classic throb but with more user friendly features!
The controls are: Volume, Depth and Speed plus a toggle switch that alters the overall speed range.
The speed range goes from very slow to crazy fast. At higher speeds the sound morphs into a ring modulator type effect.
Features:
High input impedance and low output impedance
True Bypass switching
9V DC adapter or battery powered
Rate Toggle switch
Volume, Depth and Speed controls
Magnetic Effects very kindly let us borrow an Electrochop for review, and I can honestly say I've had great fun playing with it. I'm going to be sad to have to box this one up and send it back. Having had a taste of what it can do, if I wasn't so utterly broke right now I'd buy this immediately.
The Electrochop is housed in a sturdy metal casing, and the three control knobs are of excellent design allowing even those of us with rapidly failing eyesight to be able to ascertain the various settings at a glance. I also like the use of a blue LED for the power indicator (i.e. pedal ON) as opposed to the usual red we see on effects pedals. The blue nicely complements the colour scheme of the casing too.
Now, while I freely admit that I am not overly comfortable about getting myself out in front of a video camera, I decided that what we really needed here was a demo video, so please watch the below YouTube clip. Please note, that for review purposes I am using the Electrochop as the sole effect on the guitar's tone. Even though Magnetic Effects recommend using it in conjunction with a quality fuzz pedal, I wanted to demonstrate the sounds as produced by the Electrochop alone. As I say in the video, of course you can use it with other effects, you are only limited by your imagination.
By the way, in the video I mention the clarity and silent operation of the Electrochop. Please note that the hum you hear in the video is from my amp, NOT the effects pedal.
The Electrochop is priced at £89 and is available from the following retailers:
