The Danelecto Bellzouki 12 string guitar from 1965

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This Danelectro Bellzouki was the brainchild of Vincent Bell, a session guitarist in the 1960s. Apparently when asked to play bouzouki for a gig he tuned one up 12 string style and faked his way through the show. This lead him to design an electric version of a bouzouki. 

Initially there were 2 sets of g-unison strings to help emulate the sound of the greek instrument but quickly evolved to a standard 12 string tuning. Interesting to note that the heavier gauge of the octave strings are on top as opposed to the bottom as on standard 12 strings. I've always thought this would be a better idea, but have never owned a 12 string long enough to try it out.

Other than the bouzouki shape this guitar is very Danelectro with the lipstick pickup, aluminum nut , and skate key tuners.

R.W. Haller

© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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Homemade Upright Bass-Banjo. Awesomely unique instrument.

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I'd love to hear how this Bass-Banjo sounds. I think it's a great idea and I had one of those " how have I not thought of this" moments. This particular bass looks like it was made quite cheaply It makes me wonder if it's a viable concept to make a higher end version.

Has anyone seen something like this before?

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.

Rayco ResNick Resophonic Banjo

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As a struggling Dobro and Banjo player the thought of adding a hybrid of the two to my arsenal is both appealing and daunting.
Perhaps this Rayco ResNick Resophonic Banjo designed by Ross Nickerson could be a replacement for the other two.

Less gear to carry is always a good thing, right?

Currently listed for $2200 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.

Nechville Meteor 5 String Electric Banjo with Fleximount Neck design.

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I must have missed Bertram's post about the Nechville Meteor Electric Banjo from a few years ago because until today I didn't know that this incredible beast existed.

This Nechville Meteor is apparently the only electric banjo that they have made with the Fleximount neck design. It allows you to easily swap out necks.

The listing does not say, but since i see 2 volume pots I can assume that there is some kind of acoustic pickup under the bridge which with the EMG81 would make for a nice hybrid instrument. ( please note that the pictures with the single coil are from Nechville to further illustrate the design of the Fleximount )

I'd love to see how closely the smaller head sounds compared to typically larger banjo heads. I suspect with the right tension it would be pretty close.

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.

Banjocaster. Custom made Telecaster conversion

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I recently purchased a 1970s era made in Japan banjo and I was doing some internet searching to figure out if it was sold under a specific brand as it has no name ( my best guess so far is that its an Iida.....but will keep looking ).

In my searching I came across this great little custom project.
This Banjocaster looks like it was built from a fairly entry level Telecaster, or from parts of that quality level.

The idea is great even if some of the work is not of the highest fit and finish. Plus I'd love to hear Foggy Mountain Breakdown through that humbucker.

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.

One of A Kind Doc Fossey acoustic Banjo. A Banjotar in reverse?

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here is a nice take on a hybrid instrument. With all of the 6 string guitar-tuned banjos out there its nice to see someone go the other way with the idea. An acoustic tuned to open G with a high G on top should thrill finger-stylists and banjo players looking for a different sound.

It's a very nice looking instrument as well, and I'm way less offended by the double cutaway than I normally would be. I guess it's an odd enough instrument that it's ok.

Currently Listed at $1200 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.

Electric Turkish Saz being offered for sale on eBay

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Although this looks for all the world like an electric guitar (albeit with a rather clumsily designed body shape), perhaps the long thin neck and tied-on movable frets give away that it is actually an electric Turkish saz. It has three courses, this example currently being strung with a doubled bass course, although it appears to have the facility to double the treble-most string also. The positioning of the frets may appear to be rather bizarre to many of us, but this is because the instrument is set up for just intonation.

As for the sound, well judge for yourself:

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $1,899.99.

G L Wilson

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

Walking cane tenor guitar/mandola - for those who like music on the move, now here's an instrument you can take hiking

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Now this is clever. I'll let the seller/maker describe it:

A truly unique instrument, functions as a cane and a Tenor Guitar or 4 string Mandola at the same time. Tuned C-G-D-A, 19 inch scale, so it is a little long for a mandola, and on the short end of a tenor guitar scale, but in the cane design it is very ergonomic. The cane crook acts like a armrest, and it is very comfortable to play. Very light yet strong enough for support, the sound is not as full as a full-bodied instrument yet very sweet and clear. This is a fully acoustic Tenor Guitar, not a solid stick. It has a Spruce soundboard, Mahogany headstock lamination, Rosewood back and crook laminations. The body is hollow. The crook-cane handle is cross laminated for directional grain strength.

The seller also makes walking cane mandolins, ukuleles and dulcimers.

G L Wilson

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

1967 Rickenbacker 6000 Bantar Electric 5-String Banjo

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This instrument is unmistakably a Rickenbacker with its gently contoured upper body edges, the back's checkered binding, the varnished rosewood neck with distinctive triangular inlays, the fireglo finish... but it's a banjo!

Indeed it's a Rickenbacker 6000 bantar, a hybrid between a solid electric guiar and a 5-string banjo, as played be legendary banjoist Bela Fleck. It doesn't feature the skin as found on a traditional banjo so is not going to have the same percussive tone, so soundwise its classid Rickenbacker all the way, just utilising banjo stringing and tuning.

Another weird Rickenbacker hybrid instrument of the time was the Banjitar, which according to the promotional literature:

"...combines the sounds of the plectrum banjo, mandolin, Hawaiian guitar and Spanish guitar. Two harmony string pairs and two single strings plus a vibrato unit create this incredible range of tones."

To look at the Banjitar you might think at first glance that it was a standard Rickenbacker guitar, but the very narrow long neck might cause you to do a double take.

G L Wilson

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

Have you ever seen and heard a Piyanolin?

guitarz.blogspot.com

Let's make a little step aside the strict guitar field to discover and enjoy the Piyanolin, an oud/violin hybrid invented in the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century (this one is a recent model by Cengiz Sarıkuş) and beautifully played by Gürsel Torun, first as a violin, then as an oud. 

Bertram

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

El-gitarrorgel - a hybrid guitar/electric organ from Sweden

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Hi, thanks again for maintaining such a great blog. Here is something you might like from a swedish auction site:

http://www.vend.se/ad.php?83223

Below is a translation, some info is repeated and the first line is a classic, but you get the idea:

This is a unique instrument! It is also the only one of its kind!

It is constructed as a guitar with all the possibilities of an electric organ. The instrument contains the circuit board of an electric organ, which is controlled from the strings and fretboard. Basically the organs "lower/under manual" (not sure what he means here) is replaced with a fretboard and strings.

When a chord is played on the fretboard and strings, a preset rhythm, background and bass line starts. The strings work as they would on a conventional guitar.

An organ keyboard is built into the instrument, with different harmonies.

The construction is a easy to handle electric guitar, with all the possibilities for rhythm, backgrounds and bass lines of an electric organ.

The builder was a musician and telephone electrician, who for years had been thinking about how to build a guitar with backgrounds, just like an electric organ. In the end he built this prototype. Technical drawing is available.

Price: £142 / €165

Kalle Mattssonwww.hijackyourlife.com

Thank you, Kalle. That is, indeed, a classic. Love it. - G L Wilson

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

Left-handed Telemaster

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I like to post blog entries about interesting left-handed guitars - as and when I find them. After all, left-handed people deserve to have a better choice of interesting guitars. The off-the-shelf choices are so limited that some southpaws end up seeking out custom instruments.

This oil-finished left-handed Telemaster looks to be one such instrument, a self-build perhaps. The Telemaster - as its name suggests - is a hybrid of a Telecaster and a Jazzmaster. That is, a Telecaster with a Jazzmaster body. Or is that a Jazzmaster with Telecaster routing and hardware? It's actually a guitar with a bit of a cult following amongst self-builders, guitar projecteers and custom builders. A quick Google search will turn up loads of them!

This auction finishes in just a couple of hours, so if any interested lefties are reading, you might want to snap it up quickly.

G L Wilson

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

Diego Stocco's Bassoforte

guitarz.blogspot.com

I stole this video from the MuZicoSphere blog - sorry Sémi, it's just too good and I couldn't not show it here!

It makes me feel positive about mankind to know that this guy, Diego Stocco, can conceive, build and play this instrument, compose good music, record and shoot himself, edit and mix and offer his work on the Internet... Poor Lady Gaga who has to pretend she's a musician and release muzak for morons just to show her clothes!

bertram


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