Silvertone 1448 With case Amp in excellent condition.

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We've looked at a Silvertone 1457 before, and like it's 2 pickup brother this Silvertone 1448 sold originally with an amp in the case. This one looks to be in great shape for a 50 year old guitar. 

I've always liked the idea of an amp in a case and I think it would be a more logical concept now. I've owned a ZT Lunchbox amp, and though it will not win any awards for tone it was decent enough and could keep up with even my loudest of drummers. A ZT integrated into a case could be rather good idea.

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.

Silvertone Semi-Hollow form the 1960s with Slider Controls

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here is a great example of the "budget" guitars from the 1960s. This Silvertone Semi-hollow would have been purchased at Simpsons and used until you could afford a "real" guitar.

I love the look of this well maintained beauty. From the zero fret to the slider controls, and an intact tremolo, there is a lot to like.

Currently at $550 Canadian.

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.

Silvertone 14409 vintage Japanese Mosrite-inspired surftastic guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This 1960s Japanese "Silvertone model 14409" guitar (made by Kawai possibly?) has some very strong Mosrite stylistic influences, although that proto-Ibanez-style headstock does look a little at odds with the body design. Despite the obvious influences instruments like this are becoming increasingly sought after in their own right, with more and more collectors becoming interested in vintage Japanese-made guitars.

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $344.99.

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.

Silvertone 1490 bass by Teisco

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Hi Gavin, I know you appreciate a good bass guitar, so I have attached a couple of photos of this Japanese beauty. It is in the care of my brother at the moment as he has been cleaning it up for a friend. I was up for Xmas and we were admiring, it and wondering what it could be.

However, a short search produced an ID - a Silvertone 1490, made in Japan, and an article in Premier guitar states that: "the last model introduced under the Sears & Roebuck name was the 1490 in 1968. It was the only bass exclusively built and distributed by the Japanese company Teisco".

I've seen many claims about the magic 'Teisco' name of course, but, truth or not there is no denying this one certainly has a great look to it and is in very good condition - unfortunately missing a piece of its stylish split scratchplate/pickguard.

Merry Christmas!

Anthony S

Hi Anthony! It's a nice looker for sure... the design of both the body and the headstock reminds me of Peavey in the 1970s. I wonder if there was any influence there? (I'm thinking that the Teisco may have influenced Peavey, not vice versa). Thanks for sharing.

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.

Modified Silvertone / Danelectro U1 with dolphin nose headstock

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Bruno writes:

I just found an interesting guitar on ebay, it looks like a Danelectro 56 U1 with double cutaway, I wanted to show it to you since I have never seen one before, and you'll maybe find it interesting.

Hey Bruno, thanks for the email. It certainly does look like a Silvertone / Danelectro U1 - the seller says it appears that the original colour was copper which sounds about correct for this guitar. However, I'm 99.9% certain that the upper cutaway is a DIY modification. The shape of that upper horn is quite crudely fashioned.

The photo showing the control cavity is interesting also, because it illustrates quite nicely the kind of materials these Danelectro guitars were made from. Note the texture of the underside of the masonite top.

Currently being auctioned on eBay with bidding at $112.49 at the time of writing.

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.

Japanese-made Silvertone with a serious Mosrite vibe going on and sliders!

guitarz.blogspot.com:

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).

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.

Silvertone 1446

guitarz.blogspot.com

This mid-1960s Silvertone 1446 semi-hollow body guitar is not only a cool looking vintage guitar, but also a higher end model of Silvertone, a music instrument brand of department store chain Sears (I precise this for non-American readers, who have no idea what Sears is). Silvertone guitars were built by different companies, this one was made by Harmony, with stock and exclusive Gibson mini-humbuckers and a Bigsby vibrato, and was a replacement for the previous Espanada model. 

This guitar, discontinued in 1967, is currently a well sought after vintage instrument, and not only for fetishist reasons, being still used on stage - a. o. by Chris Isaac.

Bertram D

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

Silvertone 1457

guitarz.blogspot.com

This Silvertone 1457 is a classic amongst the classic vintage guitars, but for some reasons we never had the chance to show one on Guitarz. As you can't fail noticing, this Silvertone model was actually built by Danelectro and shares the typical Dan'o features - masonite body, lipstick pickups and above all a boldly pop design - one of their bests, all in curves and claws! And I love the headstock, even though it's technically absurd!

Another characteristic of the 1457 - shortly released in the mid-1960s - was to be sold together with an amplifier case - something than never took but was a nice gadget for beginning guitarists at the time. Silvertone was the instrument line of mail-order catalogs Sears and Roebuck, and had their guitars made by Harmony, Kay and Danelectro; the 1457 package with the 'Amp-in-a-Case' has been very popular, and was even sold with a a guitar playing method on a 45rpm record!

Bertram D

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - 10 years and counting!

1960s Silvertone/Kay 1413 single pickup electric guitar in (what should be) metallic green

guitarz.blogspot.com:

The Silvertone 1413 guitar and its sibling the tremolo-equipped 1417 were only part of the Silvertone catalogue for 1963-1964. These guitars were built for Silvertone by Kay, Silvertone being the brandname for musical instruments sold through Sears. Unfortunately this example would have been a lot cooler if someone hadn't painted it black at some point in its life; having scraped away only some of the black paint to reveal some of the original metallic green finish hasn't helped matters a great deal.

I thought at first that the guitar was missing a bridge, but checking on the catalogue pics uploaded on the Silvertone World website it does appear to be accurate. I guess I was forgetting its a short scale guitar - or at least not very long in the body - and expected the bridge to be further forward. Silvetone World also offers the tidbit of information that:

The 1413s most famous role was probably onscreen with Cap'n Geech and the Shrimp Shack Shooters in the Tom Hanks film 'That Thing You Do.' 

The 1413 retailed for $39.95 in 1964. This example is listed on eBay with a But It Now price of $395, suggesting that it is 10 times more valuable now than it was new.

G L Wilson

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

1960s Silvertone "Phantom"-inspired guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We seem to be in a blue mood these last couple of days on Guitarz, and today's guitar is a 1960s Silvertone-branded "Phantom" which according to the seller is correctly designated as a EV3T. It's obviously inspired by the 1960s Vox guitars - as is further evidenced by the headstock shape - but the body shape is symmetrical as opposed to the offset lozenge of the Vox Phantom. If anything, it's somewhere between a Phantom and Vox's Mark series teardrop-shaped guitars.

As with anything stamped "Silvertone", you can guarantee this is another manufacturer's guitar, re-badged. It has a Domino look to it, although I don't think I've seen a Domino of quite the same design. The neck bolt plate confirms that this guitar is "Made in Japan".

This guitar is currently listed on eBay with what I'd call a slightly optimistic Buy It Now price of $975.

G L Wilson

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

Silvertone 1445L - Mosrite-inspired solidbody from 1969

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Again, I don't have too much information on this 1969 Silvertone guitar. Despite having seen better days it's still quite a beauty. The pickup covers have been removed; the seller says they were taken off because they were rusty - I still would have liked to have seen them in place on the guitar. The Silvertone brand was sold through Sears, Roebuck and Company stores with guitars being supplied by a number of manufacturers, most notably Danelectro. I'd hazard a guess at this particular model being of Japanese origin. The Japanese were very fond of imitating Mosrite guitars, and the headstock looks very similar to that found on early Yamaha SG-2 and SG-3 guitars, for instance.

This auction is finishing in approximately three and a half hours at the time of writing with bidding currently at $250.

G L Wilson

Additional: sold for $250.

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

1967 Silvertone-branded Danelectro 1443 bass in red-black burst

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This 1967 Silvertone-branded Danelectro 1443 bass in red-black burst was made by the original Danelectro company in Neptune New Jersey in what would have been their final couple of years. Having moved away from guitars made as cheaply as possible (bodies were a crude pine frame sandwiched beteen two sheets of masonite), this dual liptsick pickup long-scale (34") bass is a proper solidbody instrument, a contender perhaps against the Fender Precision. The Silvertone brand (a name with which Danelectro is almost synonymous) on this bass means that it would have been sold through Sears, Roebuck and Company stores.

The example seen here is in excellent condition for its age and is currently listed on eBay with a starting price of $399.99 and a not unreasonable Buy It Now price of $779.99.

G L Wilson

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

Harmony/Silvertone Espanada 1950s vintage guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

The American department store chain, Sears, Roebuck and Company (often referred to simply as Sears) had from 1915-1972 its own line of sound equipment. This included phonographs, radios, and musical instruments.
This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs!
Their guitars were inexpensive for the time, but were well-made and had their own distinctive vibe. Of course, there was no Silvertone guitar company, the instruments were made by Danelectro, Harmony, Kay, National and Teisco.

Here we see a Harmony-made Silvertone Espanada guitar from the early 1950s. This was one of the more upmarket guitars bearing the Silvertone brandname, it has Gibson P13 pickups and an unusual but interesting feature in having metal binding around the top.

Hear this model in action here:

Thanks to Dirk Lubbe for bringing this guitar to our attention.

G L Wilson

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

1959 Silvertone 1423 aka Jupiter

guitarz.blogspot.com

Another baby of the inevitable cross-brand electric guitar industry in the 60s, this Silvertone 1423 was actually built by Harmony (as the H49 Stratotone Jupiter), equipped with DeArmond pickups and released exclusively in black / gold sparkle finish. Its chambered body made it very light and highly appreciated by beginners.

Silvertone had its models based on Danelectro, Harmony, Kay, National or Teisco guitars - they were actually manufactured by these companies with slight variation and branded by Silvertone that was the music instrument brand of the Sears Department Stores from the 30s until the early 70s.  

Bertram

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

Silvertone Blue Kentucky

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Fancy paint on guitars is no news, this Silvertone Blue Kentucky model was issued in 1955, you can imagine it in the hands of some operette cowboy all dressed in white and blue to fit together with the guitar (it was before Village People definitely twisted American macho self-consciousness). Anyway, acoustic archtops are way cool, it's a pity that they almost completely disappeared, vintage cultists should do something about this!

Silvertone's budget but appreciated guitars have been produced by several companies in the 60s, this one is a Kay product, so I take the opportunity to mention the King of Kays website, that is not only about Kay - though there is an important information there, that is that Kay claims to be the actual inventors of the electric guitar (to be added to the list) -, but also presents a nice collection of Japanese and European vintage guitars.

And even better, you'll find there a series of videos of some of these old ladys being played - that is not so often that they can be more than mere images. The demonstrator is not Steve Vai but he has heart - and guts!

Bertram


NB: There are a lot of blogs STEALING content and bandwidth. If you read this anywhere else but on guitarz.blogspot.com then you are reading a blog that STEALS content. Please support original bloggers!