1967-68 Messenger hollow body fretless electric bass with aluminum neck

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Previously on Guitarz we've taken an all-too brief look at a vintage 1960s Musicraft Inc. Messenger guitar (as famously played by Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad) and the more recent Eastwood reissue (which is itself a discontinued model... for the time being).

I've not previously seen a bass model of the Messenger, but this is what we have here now being offered for sale on eBay with a starting bid of US $1,500. The bass is a hollowbody and features an aluminium neck.

Intriguingly the neck is fretless (obviously with markers in this instance). The seller does not mention if its fretlessness is an original feature or whether this is a later conversion. In all other areas the bass does seem to be original - it even has the original hardcase.

It would be interesting if, like the Ampeg AUB-1, this was another pre-Jaco Pastorius fretless bass. Jaco famously claimed to have invented the fretless bass, but then again when you are a genius I think you are allowed to make such claims. He certainly invented that whole style of playing. Just look at the flatwound strings on this Messenger in the headstock photo. NOT good for lyrical playing with vibrato, swoops and slides. The best this is going to do is to emulate an upright bass thump.

The eBay seller also provides a few scans of Messenger brochures and sales literature from back in the day, and which I reproduce here for posterity.

If you wondered about that body design:

The perfectly contoured, arrow-straight neck remains thin and fast throughout its entire length. And the fingerboard begins where the soundbox ends, thereby eliminating the need for unsightly cutaways and making possible unobstructed access to all frets.

Regarding that metal neck:

Guaranteed not to bow or warp under normal usage, Messenger's rigid, patented alloy neck grows even stronger with age. Because of its strength, no truss rod is needed. Moreover, the neck requires neither a massive buildup at the heel nor a body support. Backbone of the Messenger is a single-piece alloy structure combining the head, neck and a "fork" extension passing through the sound chamber. The extension is tuned to a frequency of 440 cycles per second. Its constant response controls the tonal quality, reduces "?????" [sorry, can't decipher this word] to an absolute minimum and helps keep strings in motion to produce longer sustained notes.

The price list lists Messenger bass models as follows:

MESSENGER BASS GUITAR

Features: Dual pick-ups with separate tone and volume controls for maximum tone range and versatility. Semi-acoustic body with short scale neck. Available with the Messer tone distortion unit built in the body.

MB50    Morning Sunburst    325.00
MB52    Rojo Red    325.00
MBS60   Morning Sunburst with messer distortion unit    362.00
MBS62   Rojo Red with messer distortion unit    362.00

Note that no mention is made of a fretless model.

G L Wilson

© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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Raven short scale violin shaped bass made in Japan with scroll headstock.

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This is a tough one for me.
I really want this bass, and the seller is quite literally only a few streets away from where I am as I type this. But I currently own 3 basses ( a Westone Thunder, an Ibanez Roadster, and a Vantage V900B - 2 of which i should be selling ) and I really do not play bass. I can play but I only play for demo purposes and I never gig as a bassist ( all drummers heave a collective sigh of relief ).

This Matsumoku made Raven violin bass is, according to the seller, in near mint condition. The pictures seem support his claim, and everything about this bass says "buy me".

My resolve is weak, but my wallet is empty.

R.W. Haller


© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

G&L Interceptor fretless bass from 1984

guitarz.blogspot.com:

These days I feel more at home playing bass than guitar, and thus find myself more drawn to basses when perusing the racks in guitar shops, browsing the web, etc. I'm especially drawn to fretless basses; my first ever bass was a fretless (a Westone Thunder I-A) and I've owned several others over the years, most recently I've been playing a Hohner B2A fretless conversion. But I'm always looking out for that special ONE, so regularly check the eBay listings.

Recently this 30-year old G&L Interceptor fretless bass caught my eye. It's not a model that I've been aware of previously, and I'd imagine that most guitar and bass enthusiasts would have to agree that it is one of Leo Fender's more obscure bass designs. The body shape, I guess, belies its 1980s origins. It's rather blocky-looking with sharp, straight edges. A little bit like a Status bass maybe, but without the bevelled edges. I really like the headstock shape too, which is unusual for a G&L but still manages to incorporate their trademark "sting" (for want of a better word).

The bass is equipped with narrow field full range humbucking pickups and active electronics; the eBay seller insists that it has "an amazing bass boost which takes your breath away with its dub-level bottom end ... It would make a killer reggae or dub/indie PIL type bass, or any kind of contemporary rock or jazz, PERFECT for knocking the wind out of any audience." Sure sounds good to me, but then I do love dub reggae bass.

Currently listed on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of GBP £895.

G L Wilson

© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

1985 Tokai Paisley Telecaster copy

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I almost bought a 1980s MIJ Fender paisley Telecaster once. It was in a pawn shop in the early 1990s for $400 Canadian. It was a time before anyone could easily find out that the MIJ Fenders of that era were so incredible, and the price reflected that. I knew, but I was a student and had no money and all my credit was used up. I still regret it though. I think that was when I really started to covet the paisley Telecasters, with that missed opportunity.

What I did not know was that Tokai had done a copy of the paisley Telecaster. This 1985 Paisley Telecaster clearly shows its age. But I think that makes it all the better.

R.W. Haller

© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Rare Carved Shiraki Acoustic made in Japan 1981

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I'd never heard of Shiraki Guitars. They were apparently part of the Matsumoku fold in the early 1980s, so you know that it is likely a quality instrument. It also seems that they did some level of collaboration with Alvarez as well.

Though it's really not my taste with the intricate carving and lack of a sound hole ( I wonder if projection through the carved area is any good ), I'd gamble that this cedar top dreadnought from 1981 plays and sounds quite nice. Note the neck joint. Is it glued in, bolted on the inside, or a different kind of joint?

I'm reminded of Blueberry Guitars and wonder if there was some influence from these Japanese rarities.

R.W. Haller


© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Briilliant made in Japan St George MP3 from the 1960s

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here we have yet another example of Japanese awesomeness from the past. This 1960s St George MP3 hits a lot of perfect notes for me. The body shape is familiar but unique, there is a healthy dose of chrome but not so much as to take away from the overall elegance, and a wacky headstock that really isn't so wacky after all. It just looks like the right headstock for this guitar. The Burns-esque pickups and faux shell pick guard are just icing.

I wish I'd had one of these 30 years ago so I could be all hipster-like and say that I had an MP3 way before you could put them on your ipod.

R.W. Haller


© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Takamine EA-360 electro-acoustic guitar, a.k.a. the Takamine Flying A

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I've written before on this blog about the curiosity that is the Takamine Flying A. It's basically an acoustic Flying V that looks af if it has been over-inflated with an air-pump. Of course you can get more V-like acoustic Flying Vs these days from Dean Guitars, but these Takamines remain rare and sought after in certain circles.

So, it's interesting to see one come up for sale on eBay this week with a Buy It Now price of US $2,350 (with a starting bid of US $1,799).

It's also interesting to note that the eBay listing uses the very same photo montage that I personally Photoshopped together from a previous eBay listing from four years ago and blogged about here when another of these guitars was offered for sale. I wonder if it is actually the very same guitar again, or just another very similar example? It's a shame I hadn't made a note of the asking price back then in 2011, just for sake of comparison for those of us who are interested in such things.

G L Wilson

© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Highly "customized" Martin D-16GT makes me feel more than a little blue.

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I'm just going to leave this here, along with a few quotes from the seller.

"I'm just the type of person that always has to customize things and this production came out of that"

" Most stock guitars I've found have thicker than necessary soundboards that don't resonate as well as if it were thinner, so I thinned the top so that the guitar could respond and resonate better with a lighter softer touch"

" The neck was also thinned down a bit to make it more easier to play, and the fretboard slightly scalloped ( not yngwie malmsteen type scallop as you can tell) giving every note more air/openness and better control over bending and vibrato"

"So if you are crazy left brained perfectionistic about things please go buy yourself a stock whatever"

This custom Martin was listed at $1999 U.S. but see now that the listing has ended.

Did it sell?

The link is still active if you want a complete description from the seller.

R.W. Haller

© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Japanese made Heit Deluxe from the 1960s

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I see a lot of different influences in this 1960s Heit Deluxe. There are definite similarities the the Epiphone Wilshire, and Tiesco. There are even hints of a solid body Ovation. And, I cannot for the life of me remember which guitar has a scoop-cut body behind the bridge. I know I've seen it before, but where?

R.W. Haller

© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.