Jansen Victor (Black Swan?) electric guitar from New Zealand circa 1960-61

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's an email I received earlier today from Steve:

Hi Gavin, I was doing some research on Jansen electric guitars because my Father owns one and saw your post on Jansen Invaders - then I spent too much time reading random interesting posts on other guitars - you have a great blog.

Anyway - I thought this might interest some of your readers:

Dad passed away recently from a rare cancer, and while cleaning out his garage I came across the old Jansen again. I remember stripping the electrics from it for him about 25 years ago so he could have it repainted so I know he's owned it at least that long - of its previous history though, I don't know anything unfortunately.

I found it in the garage in the condition you see it in now - the paint job was a shocker and it is all lifting off again. But it looks to pre-date the Invader series of guitars (My friend has a 12-string Invader which I used to play it when I was younger).

Anyway, I have a lot of his stuff to work through, and I really only play acoustic myself. I'm also not really skilled enough to restore this to the condition it really should be in so I have decided to put it up for sale, and hopefully someone who has the time, patience and skill can do it justice.

Anyway, thanks for a great blog - I'm looking forward to reading more of it

Cheers

Steve D
New Zealand

Hi Steve, thanks for sharing your photos of your father's Jansen with us. On the Jansen Guitars fan page on FaceBook there are plenty of photos of various Jansens including a Jansen White Swan II from 1961 which looks very much like your guitar. Actually, the name given on the FaceBook fan page is "Jansen White Swan II (Victor)", so maybe Victor is the actual model name and "White Swan" may refer to the the finish on that particular example. They also have photos of a similar guitar in a blue finish (Victor "Blue Swan") with comments that it is from 1960 and is the first of the Jansen range. Perhaps you should get in touch with these guys for some further info. It looks like you may have quite a rare guitar there!

EDIT: Please note that the guitar is no longer for sale. Steve has decided to keep it, restore it and play it in remembrance of his father. I think he's made the right decision. [19 July 2013]

G L Wilson

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From New Zealand, a pair of Jansen Invaders - how collectable exactly are these?

guitarz.blogspot.com:

At first glance, this auction looks mightily suspect. Two 1972 Jansen Invader guitars - which would appear to be not very accurate Stratocaster knock-offs and rather knocked about at that - for HOW MUCH? $12,200.00? That's over $6,000 each! Is this another case of a highly optimistic eBay seller?

What do we know about these guitars? Well, they were obviously deemed of enough importance for an example to be included in the Museum of New Zealand. The museum website tells us that:

In the 1960s, many kiwi pop guitarists owned one of these – a Jansen electric guitar. Jansens were the first solid-body electric guitars to be mass-produced in this country, and they became firm favourites with our musicians.
[...]
Their Invader model, made in 1964 and based on the famous Fender Stratocaster, was a huge success. It was named after local hit band Ray Columbus and the Invaders. For several years in New Zealand, this was the guitar to have. It outsold not only the Stratocaster but all other imported brands.

Although Jansen guitars were often modelled on overseas examples, the company introduced many of their own innovations, especially in the design of the pick-up.
[...]
Already noted for their innovative pick-up design, Jansen staff put a lot of effort into studying ‘waveforms’. Perhaps the best Jansen pick-ups were designed by Paul Crowther, their organ designer, who later became drummer in the famous kiwi band Split Enz.

In the late 1970s competition from overseas, especially Japan, was heating up, and Jansen went out of production.
[...]
Today Jansens continue to be highly sought after both locally and internationally – as collectors’ items.

So, they might be collectors' items, but do they warrant the price tag we see here? Personally, I rather like the concept behind the design. It's obviously modelled after a Fender Stratocaster but has a couple of features seemingly lifted from the Jazzmaster including the bridge and tremolo, and the individual pickup selector switches (surely more logical than Fender's 5-way switch). As someone who likes Strats but has never liked nor gotten on with the traditional Fender Strat tremolo, the Invader does appeal. But at these prices, I'm not going to be trying out one any time soon.

A quick Google search does reveal that the vintage guitar prices seen here are not without precedent. It also reveals that there was a 12-string version too!

G L Wilson

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