Eko doubleneck guitar / mandolin solidbody

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Whilst it's neither as cool nor as radical as this other Eko doubleneck, the above-pictured Eko guitar / mandolin doubleneck does at least seem to be of practical proportions and shouldn't break your back having to gig with it. However, of course, Eko of Italy never made such a doubleneck guitar/mando combination. This is a Brandoni creation. Roberto Brandoni acquired Eko's remaining stock when they closed down back in 1987. Stock included bodies and necks and other assorted parts from vintage 1960s Eko and Vox guitars and from Eko models produced into the 1980s. Eko in the early 1980s produced two solidbody mandolins - an 8-string and a 12-string "mandoguitar" model. This Brandoni-customised Eko doubleneck would appear to have been made by joining together two separate mandolin bodies.

Currently listed on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £635.

G L Wilson

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1968 Eko Kadett Bass

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We've looked at a few of these Eko Kadetts on Guitarz before, but I have a soft spot for 1960s Italian-made guitars and basses and always enjoy a bass design that owes very little to Fender's Precision or Jazz Bass. Their short scale and very thin, almost parallel along the length, necks don't make basses like this play anything like a contemporary instrument. Personally I wouldn't think a bass like this would be perform particularly well for live work, unless you're trying to play a crazy fuzz bass lead part or something. I'm not denying its coolness factor; as a former vintage Eko bass owner I will readily admit that for recording there are some very interesting tones to be had, but generally speaking I'd say this was one for the collectors.

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of US $495.

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.

1960s Italian-made Eko doubleneck guitar and bass

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Our friend Eric Geevers recommended that we take a look at this Eko doubleneck guitar and bass listed on a Dutch auction site. It's not a model I've ever seen before, but then when it comes to manufacturers like Eko, nothing surprises me any more.

I understand that it might well be desirable to have a more compact body on a doublenecked guitar, but I can't help but think that this particular instrument must be ever so neck heavy. Note the positioning of the strap buttons between the necks and below the lower guitar neck - probably an attempt to compensate for the neck heaviness. Also not that because the guitar and bass are of different scale lengths and the headstocks are raked back, that the two headstocks actually overlap one another; the effect isn't displeasing.

From what I can make out the current high bid is €1000.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Eko 8 and 12-string solidbody electric mandos from Italy

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Currently being auctioned on eBay UK are an Eko solidbody 8-string mandolin and an Eko solidbody 12-string mandolin. The latter is essentially an octave 12-string guitar (I used to have one myself), almost certainly influenced by the now legendary Vox Mando Guitar, and usually tuned a whole octave above (modern) 12-string guitar tuning.

I'll let you know what these Eko mandos fetch on eBay when the auctions end.

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
Please read our photo and content policy.

Brigitte Bardot plays an Eko 500/2

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We've seen before that Brigitte Bardot had her own Wandre guitar named after her.

However, in this psychedelic video clip which also features Sacha Distel (a fine jazz guitarist, by the way, in his non-crooning career) and Serge Gainsbourg, it seems that BB is being unfaithful to Wandre as she plays a guitar from another Italian manufacturer, namely an Eko 500/2.

Dare I mention at this point if anyone is after an Eko 1100 (the bass sibling to the Eko 500) then I have one that I want to sell?

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!

Eko C01 'Super Cobra'

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The Eko C01 is a later Eko guitar from the early 1980s, and follows the trends that arose in Japanese guitars in the late 1970s: 3-piece neck, natural finish (though here it's glossy, must be the Italian touch), uncovered humbucker in bridge position, simplified controls and tailpiece.

It has the body of a Cobra, one of Eko's most successful model from the 1960S, turned into a C-series the same way strats became superstrats in the same period, so I call it a 'supercobra'!  

Bertram D

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!

1970s Eko Manta

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We didn't show an Eko guitar here for ages - here is a Manta in very good condition for 40-year old guitar. It's one of the models that have been reissued by the reborn Eko company lately - I must say I prefer the original pickups (probably just my chrome fetish). The bridge couldn't be simpler, I wonder how the intonation is on this guitar!

Bertram D

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!

Eko X-27

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The Eko X-27 is my dream vintage Italian guitar with its inevitable Jaguar-esque outline, its unique pickups and of course its smashing shellproof chrome pickguard. This guitar has the particularity that it's a clone of a Japanese model called Columbia from the same period - circa 1965 - but the knowledge of why is lost: copy, rebranding, shared model? Also it was supposed to be a budget guitar but the chrome pickguard happened to rise the building costs so it didn't take...

And of course you couldn't help noticing that the X-27 name comes from the character played by Marlene Dietrich in Josef von Sternberg's 1931 film Dishonored - very classy indeed! 

Bertram D

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Eko Florentine 360

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Have you seen anything as attractive as this Eko Florentine 360? A double florentine cutaway is always beautiful, it's a plus if it's on an archtop, but when the two horns have these Bison-esque curve, I just can't resist! Add to this the fancy double pickguard and big square white switches and you wonder why you weren't born 50 years before and in Italy, when it was ordinary for guitars to be so cool!  

Bertram D

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1960s vintage Vox Student Prince

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A 1960s student-model guitar from Vox might sound like a bad idea to some, for early Vox guitars were not exactly known for their high quality in the first place; so, an even inferior model would not, on the face of it, present a very good prospect. However, the back of the headstock of this Vox Student Prince tells us that this is one of the later 1960s Voxs from the period when guitar production was no longer from Dartford, Kent in England, but was outsourced to Italy - most famously with the Eko factory. That would make this unassuming little - almost 1950s-style - guitar a contemporary of the more famous Vox Mark Series, Teardrop and Phantom models.

At first glance it would appear to be an archtop acoustic guitar with a pickup mounted at the end of the fretboard. However, turn the guitar sideways on and you'll see that this guitar does not have a full-depth acoustic body and is more of a thinline. It also has a bolt-on neck which is much more in keeping with the construction of electric guitars, although Eko were known for their bolt-on acoustic guitars such as the Ranger series. Note also there is access for the adjustable trussrod at the end of the fingerboard. The earlier Vox guitars from Dartford did not have adjustable trussrods, just am immobile steel rod embedded beneath the fingerboard for strength (I know this from having changed the fingerboard on an old Vox Clubman II guitar in order to convert it to fretless).

It looks to be in excellent condition for a guitar approximately 45 years old. The sunburst finish looks as good as new, although perhaps with a guitar this shape you'd expect to see some binding but I guess that was left off as befitting the guitar's student status.

This Vox Student Prince in currently listed on eBay (with just over a day left to run on the auction) with a not unreasonable sounding starting price of $395 and no bids at the time of writing.

G L Wilson

EDIT: It didn't sell and has been re-listed.

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Eko mando guitar, 1980s 12-string octave guitar (and who is that playing it?)

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Further to yesterday's post about the Robin Ranger octave guitar, just through sheer coincidence this morning I found this photo featuring an Eko Mando Guitar which is essentially a half-scale electric 12-string. No doubt this was an instrument inspired by the Vox Mando Guitar, the Vox and Eko companies having previously had very close ties in the late 1960s when Vox shifted guitar production to Italy's Eko factory. Unlike the 6-string Robin Ranger, the Eko with 12 strings arranged in 6 courses allows for a more realistic mandolin sound.

"New old stock" Eko mando guitars are still available today via Brandoni Guitars, if anyone is interested in purchasing such an instrument. They also have 8-string Eko electric mandos.

As for the identity of the 1980s kid in the photo (nice tank top and balloon pants!), I have to put my hand up and admit it is me.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1960s Italian wonder Meazzi Zodiac

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At first sight, this Meazzi Zodiac looked to me like a small body travel guitar à la Eko Short Gun, then I found this picture of Swiss musician Lili Zeller playing the Zodiac (on fetishguitars.com, like usually when one needs info about Italian vintage guitars), and like me you can see that despite its unusual design, it's a well proportionate and well balanced instrument. I'm happy to have found this guitar today, it's exciting and inspiring, for both a musician and a guitar maker, not to mention a collector...

Unfortunately this one lacks its bridge and trem arm, but they should be easily replaceable, mostly if you take the opportunity to install an upgraded model of bridge, after all, what matters is how well it plays! Meazzi guitars had all you can expect from Italian vintage ones: odd designs, unique pickups and trems, strange controls and plenty of chromed plates! Meazzi started in the 1950s with Antonio Wandré Pioli for designer, who released his first instruments as Framez - a Meazzi sub-brand.

Bertram


© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

11 on 11/11/11: #1 - Eko violin baritone guitar - possible Frankenstein job using 1960s body

OK, it's the 11th November 2011, that is 11/11/11, and as such today has been designated Nigel Tufnel Day. To celebrate this day of Maximum Elevenness, we here at Guitarz - for this day only - will be posting an unprecedented ELEVEN blog posts! So, keep tuned throughout the day for eleven weird and wonderful guitars!

Here we have what the seller describes as an "Eko Baritone Guitar 1960s Rare". To my eyes, something doesn't look quite right about it. Yeah, sure the body could well be an original 1960 Eko violin-style body and the pickups and other hardware look to be of the correct vintage. However, the short-scale bass neck, drilled for two extra tuners, is out of place here. You can see that it was originally intended for just four strings by the string angles over the headstock.

It's not uncommon to find these Frankenstein guitars put together from old Eko and Vox parts. Brandoni Guitars of London have made a whole business out of doing just that. Possibly this violin-style baritone is one of theirs. I am pretty sure that it is not a vintage guitar in its original condition.

Currently listed on eBay UK with a starting price of £170.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Amazing Eko 295 - 1960s original and 2000s reissue

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I was making some research on Eko for my previous post, and thought I would check the new Eko website, and I figured out that they discreetly but steadily reissue all their vintage models - without big announcement in guitar magazine and reviews on professional guitar blogs... 

I discovered this crazy guitar, the 295, a so far extremely rare semi-hollow version of the classic Eko 700 model - a dream guitar for all those bored with the classic designs. The reissue model differs from the original, mostly with its humbuckers that are much likely an improvement, and the stop-tail replacing the cool but probably unsteady tremolo.

Strangely the eccentric sound-holes have been modified, and not for the better, and the rotary switch is now a standard one - guitar makers, please reintroduce rotary switches, they are so much cooler and practical (I actually look for a 5 positions one for my next guitar project, anybody knows where to get one?)

You have like usually the best article about Eko 295 on fetishguitars.com and the vintage photos come from guitarage.nl, another good resource for alternative guitar lovers - and you can find the contemporary version on ekoguitars.it. For me I still favor the Eko Kadett 67, it's on my list of must-have guitars, and I'm happy to now have the chance to get a contemporary version of it, for a guitar is meant to be played and I wouldn't be comfortable with a museum piece (and I also think, contrarily to common belief, that most nowadays guitars are better that they used to be).

Bertram

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1960s Eko Modern semi-acoustic guitar: pure Italian cheese!

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What I love about some of these old brands from the 1960s and earlier, is their prodigious output; there are so many different models left to be discovered. This Eko Modern semi-acoustic guitar, recently offered for sale on eBay, is a joy to behold with its pushbutton pickup selectors, pearlised plastic pickguard, and bold "Modern" legend. I couldn't say what it's like as a player, but cosmetically it's fantastic.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1967 Eko Kadett bass and more...

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Following Bertram's blog post yesterday about the Eko Kadett guitar, there were some great comments that I felt should be given more prominence on the blog. Jozef Porazen tells us that:

I have bass version of Kadett - made in '67. Honestly, as far as bass goes, the body is horrible. Neck dives like mad, body is too small, that body 'horn' goes right under your right hand and it hurts :-P

The neck is pencil-like, strings are floppy, due to short-scale, but overall its nice little funky bass nonetheless :) I did change the bridge, coz original was broken and the tuners (put in some small schaller ones, just like the guitar-ones, but for bass). Here's the pic [see above], bad one, I used phone.

So, it seems that sometimes these vintage quirkily-designed guitars come at a price other than the purely financial; that is to say that if you want to play one you have to compromise and/or upgrade components to make them practical usable instruments.

Ryan Waldron also commented about Eko guitars:

From album covers and pictures, I've noticed that EKO guitars seemed to be omnipresent in West Africa in the late sixities and early seventies - they must have been heavily distributed there. Here's a great clip of an orchestra in Mauritania rocking a three Eko line-up:

Thanks for that, Ryan. It's a great clip indeed!

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1968 Vox Bossman V265

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Very similar in shape to the previous Klira Lady, this is the Vox Bossman - not as exciting as the Teardrop/Starstream or the Apollo designs, but still sophisticated enough to bear built-in effects - a fuzz and bass/treble boosters...

You can find anything you want to know about vintage Vox guitars here so I won't say more...

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

1960s Melody Guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Hey, it's got a triple cutaway design, a bank of pushbutton switches, a pearlescent celluloid finish, four pickups... it's GOT to be 1960s Italian, hasn't it?

And indeed it is. It's a Melody, which for a while, operated as a subsiduary to Eko. For the full story, check this article on the always brilliant Fetish Guitars website. This particular example (pictured above) sold on eBay just recently for what seems like a very fair price of €412.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Eko Rock VI rocket-shaped surf beauty!

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Following a recent re-issue by Eastwood Guitars, the Eko Rock VI is Eko's own re-issue of the Eko Rokes guitar from the 1960s. These rocket-shaped guitars, also available in bass and 12-string models, were created for and named after 1960s pop band The Rokes who were Italy's answer to The Beatles.

This particular guitar offered for sale here on eBay was used by The Fuzztones recently on tour in Italy. It has a Bigsby-esque vibrato and - rather unusually - a Tele-style single coil pickup and a humbucker both positioned together in the centre position. This does seem an odd arrangement, but according to the listing these pickups deliver "a warm punchy mid sixties sound which is brilliant for rhythm but on the other hand can be selected to give a cool surf early 60s lead sound similar to a vintage strat!"

The retro styling coupled with modern playability offers something a little bit different in the modern guitar world where we see the same designs re-interpreted ad nauseum. I like it!

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Eko M33 Short Gun + bonus

guitarz.blogspot.com

I've been willing to show an Eko Short Gun guitar for a while, this is a good opportunity. 

The Eko Short Gun (aka Fuciletto - I like Italian nicknames for guitars - did you know that in Italy the SG is called Diavoletto - little devil?) is a very interesting small guitar, designed to look like the stock of a handgun, compensating the cold minimalism of the Steinberger L models with a sensual curved wooden body...

This M33 is the one pickup model - the M35 having two pickups. The Eko Short Gun is supposed to have had much visibility when used by The Knack on their hit My Sharona, that is of little interest but if you enjoy as much as I do how Frank Zappa inserted a few bars of My Sharona in his 1988 version of Ravel's Bolero, as you can hear here: 

Bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!