Fender Stratocaster doubleneck production model from Fender Japan

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Fender have produced various doubleneck guitars over the years, either as prototypes or as Custom Shop guitars, but as far as I am aware they have never made available a production model instrument in the doubleneck format.

Until now, that is. Here we have a Fender Japan ST-W Stratocaster 12+6 doubleneck, which (I don't read Japanese but I strongly suspect) is being offered for sale as a non-Export Japanese-market only model. (I've commented before that the most interesting Fender guitars seem to be made by Fender Japan for the Japanese market only). Each side of the guitar has its own volume control, but it looks as if they share a single tone control, with the middle position pot where there would normally be a tone control having been replaced with a neck selector switch. The ST-W looks all the better for having the more compact 12-string headstock as featured on the Japanese-made Fender Stratocaster XII and instead of the oversized hockeystick 12-string headstock as seen the (American-made) vintage Fender XII and Custom Shop doublenecks.

The Fender ST-W is listed on the Fender Japan website, priced at ¥246,750 (that's over $3,136 USD at the time of writing and which is approaching Custom Shop prices for such an instrument anyway).

G L Wilson

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

Vintage & Rare Guitar of the Week: 2012 Nick Page Gott 4 Paisley Bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This Gott 4 bass is an original design from Berlin's Nick Page Guitars, featuring a Swamp Ash body and American Maple neck and fingerboard. The design has some Rickenbacker influences, whilst the paisley finish must surely be inspired by Fender. On the Nick Page website you'll see a simlar bass with an aluminium top; I can't decide which version I like the best.

The Nick Page Gott 4 Paisley bass is being offered for sale by Gitarren-Studio-Neustadt, Germany, via Vintage & Rare and is priced at €3200.

G L Wilson

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

Look, no strings! 1979 Oncor Sound LGS Touch 6000 Guitar Synthesizer

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's a rare early guitar synth, perhaps one of the first systems not to use a real-guitar but a guitar-style interface. Note that this Oncor Sound LGS Touch 6000 Guitar Synthesizer doesn't actually feature any real strings. The eBay seller claims that: "Everything works fine, we had a lot of fun testing this out, all those knobs and switches make for endless tone combinations. All features work perfectly just as they should."

Currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $899.99 which seems quite reasonable for such a rare instrument in good condition, although, of course, I cannot vouch for how playable it actually is.

G L Wilson

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

Jeff Lynne playing a Veleno aluminium guitar with ELO in 1973

guitarz.blogspot.com: Speaking of aluminium guitars...

I saw this archive clip on television earlier this week: the Electric Light Orchestra playing "Showdown" from a 1973 edition of BBC1's Top Of The Pops. I was very interested to see that Jeff Lynne was playing a Veleno guitar. Veleno guitars were legendary for having been completely crafted from aluminium and for featuring a real ruby inset into the headstock.

Note how in typical Top Of The Pops fashion, when the song goes into the guitar solo, the camera focusses on the drums! When the camera DOES alight onto the guitar then they apply a colour synthesizer to the image. Frustrating for all us guitar spotters!

As well as having a new solo album of cover versions due to be released, Jeff Lynne has recently re-recorded 12 classic ELO songs playing all the instruments himself, which is being released as "Mr. Blue Sky - The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra". You can read more about this project in this Music Radar interview.

G L Wilson

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

Goulding Resonator guitar handmade in aluminium

guitarz.blogspot.com:

UK luthier Anthony Goulding, who specialises in guitars made from aluminium, has unveiled his latest creation, this gorgeous single-cutaway resonator guitar.

It's a departure from his trademark doublecut German carve guitars, and I guess he's based it on the Goulding Stack body shape. Of course, a metal-bodied guitar lends itself nicely to the resonator concept. Like all Goulding guitars it is completely hand-built and features Goulding's own hand-turned metal hardware. I particularly like the plate on the headstock which features the same pattern as that on the cover over the cone on the body.

G L Wilson

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

Vox Mark IX, vintage 9-string electric teardrop guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This isn't just any old Vox teardrop-shaped Mark series guitar. Just check out that headstock. Several manufacturers have dallied with 9-string guitars, that is, guitars with six courses, three of which are doubled. These have taken several forms. I have seen acoustic 9-strings which had the bass strings doubled (I believe Gordon Giltrap used such 9-string guitars), and of course there have been various electric models such as this Vox Mark IX from 1966 which have the higher strings doubled. The intention is to create a 12-string sound on an instrument that is a little easier to handle than a 12-string and on which you could also play lead lines or riffs, power chords or whatever, on the single strings depending on whether they are to the bass or the treble side.

Personally, I'd like to see a 9-string with the B, G and D strings in pairs. This is the way that some studios set up their 12-string guitars and does have a certain logic. The problem with doubling just the three higher strings as on this Vox, is that only the G has an octave string, as the E and B strings are merely doubled up in unison. I know from my own 8-string acoustic that adding octave strings to the middle most courses gives very good results.

The Vox Mark IX was not a particular success story, and examples are very rare. This example, in excellent condition, is currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $3,495.

G L Wilson

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

Northern SG - an all maple Canadian-flavoured guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Guitarz reader Richard Haller spotted this Northern SG for sale on a Canadian classifieds adverts website. Obviously based on the Gibson SG, this guitar features all-maple construction with a vine leaf design carved into the top of the body and (appropriately) maple leaf inlays on headstock and position markers.

According to the website listing:

This is a 1980s Northern copy of the Gibson SG. The Northern brand was offered by North American Music Enterprises, a now-defunct distributor and importer located in Burlington, Ontario. Northern models were made in Japanese factories to specs provided by the importer. They were quality-made copies of popular American guitars.

Listed for sale in Ottawa, ON, for $849 (Canadian dollars, I presume).

G L Wilson

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

Vintage & Rare Guitar of the Week: Katar Popmaster Thinline Kustom 2012

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here at Guitarz we don't just celebrate only vintage guitars, we also take an interest in contemporary instruments. Katar Kustom Kuitars (their spelling!) are a boutique maker from Finland specializing in Custom Shop instruments. As well as guitars obviously styled after certain famous Fender and Gibson models, Katar also offer some original designs such as the Popmaster which is delightfully retro in its design having the vibe of some of those old Danelectro and Kay guitars, but obviously with much higher production values.

This particular guitar is being sold by Amplisonic Ltd of Finland via Vintage & Rare and is priced at €3800.

G L Wilson

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

1967 Gibson EMS-1235 doubleneck tenor guitar and mandolin

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Of all the doublenecks ever produced, those made by Gibson must be the most easily recognized (no doubt helped in no small part by Jimmy Page), but they didn't just produce 12-string/6-sting and bass/6-string combinations.

Here we see a super rare Gibson EMS-1235 doubleneck that pairs together a 4-string tenor guitar with a mandolin. It would appear to be a custom order, handmade by master craftsman William Westman in 1967. Note the pickups which are full 6-string sized but only have 4 polepieces.

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $12,995. Also, see here for another unusual Gibson doubleneck.

G L Wilson

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

What's that guitar that Tom Cullinan from Quickspace is playing?

guitarz.blogspot.com:

James writes:

Hey, I've been following your guitar blog for a long time now and it is great. I check it every day.

I was wondering since you seems like an expert in guitar identification, if you can tell me what guitar is pictured in the attached image? It' the guitar played by Tom Cullinan who played in a band called Quickspace. I've been trying to figure it out for ages. Sorry I couldn't get a better picture.

Your help would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

James.

Hi James, it looks to be a Vox Clubman. This would be an early 1960s, Made in Dartford, Kent, UK, Jennings Musical Industries (JMI) Vox, before guitar production was outsourced to the Eko factory in Italy. If it is anything like the Vox Clubman II that I used to own (the II had a different body shape), then it's a very basic student model with a very thin (approx 1" thick) plywood body, and non-adjustable trussrod in the neck (basically just a neck with a steel bar beneath the fingerboard). From the picture you have supplied, it looks like this example has been modified with tuners moved to both sides of what was once a 6-in-a-line headstock.

G L Wilson

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