Currently listed on eBay with a starting bid of £39.50.
G L Wilson
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Friday, 21 November 2014
Cobbled-together looking but intriguing Russian electric acoustic guitar
guitarz.blogspot.com:
At first when I saw this photos of this Soviet-era Russian-made electric acoustic guitar, I thought that someone had customised an acoustic guitar in order to electrify it. But looking more closely, it would appear to have been designed this way; I'm pretty sure that this guitar was conceived this was in its Leningrad factory.
It looks for all the world like an old nylon-strung Russian-made acoustic we used to have in the house when I was a kid. I'd be surprised if it had anything as sophisticated as a truss rod; the action doesn't look too healthy in the photos. Remembering the old Russian acoustic we had, the neck angle could be adjusted via a large square bolt located inside the heel of the neck.
It's certainly a curiosity and one I feel myself drawn towards, partly because of the sense of absurdity I feel emanating from it. But what easier way for a Soviet-era guitar manufacturer to produce an electric model than to modify an existing acoustic model? I think you have to applaud their inventiveness (and bear in mind too that none other than C.F. Martin used the same approach when initially dipping their toes into the world of the electric guitar). Note also that it has TWO pickups for increased tonal options - they could have played it easy and just had the one pickup.
Currently listed on eBay with a starting bid of £39.50.
G L Wilson
© 2014, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.
Currently listed on eBay with a starting bid of £39.50.
G L Wilson
© 2014, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.
That kind of neck is pretty common in Soviet acoustic guitars and the headstock like a classic guitar is common too. I tried twice guitars from that factory and they always sounded great, thanks to the wood nut too, but unfortunately I had to leave them on the place because of the flights, but they never had pick ups. I think somebody added them later, but, of course, you should know more than me. I have an old 7 string Soviet guitar with original Soviet pick up (with hammer and sickle sticker), and Soviet jack too, bought it two years ago in Erevan and nobody was able to tell me something about that...
ReplyDeleteIt looks elegant. I have a fascination for old fashioned instrument. Well, This Russian guitar reminds guitarists of 18th century. It has somehow connected with Spanish guitar. I really love it.
ReplyDeleteI once nicked one of these from an abandoned cornerstore. Rusty strings, same layout though.... I did find use for it as some sort of slide machine, put some new thick steel strings on it. Eventually, it bent completely out of shape, so it ended up as low grade firewood. I wondered what kind of jack would've fitted the pickups. Would've been interesting to have heard it amplified....
ReplyDelete