Musicvox Spaceranger prototype handmade in the USA

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Whilst all Musicvox's production guitars have been made in Korea, a handful of prototype Spacerangers were produced for the 1997 and 1998 NAMM shows in Anaheim, California, and initially so as to give the factory in Korea something tangible to work from.

This Musicvox Spaceranger prototype dates from 1997 and features a yellow/gold/cream swirl "mother of toilet seat" top and a black acrylic veneer on the back of the body. It has a maple neck with lacquer finish, rosewood finger board and rosewood bridge, new old stock KAY (USA) trapeze tailpiece, Kent Armstrong neck-mounted Jazz humbucker and Kent Armstrong mini humbucker in the bridge position, and Kluson Keystone machine heads.

This guitar is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $3,600.

Thanks to Jim Hevesy for bringing this to my attention.

G L Wilson

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

Customized Keytone ES 335

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I'm usually not a fan of paint job on guitars, and even less of fake battered looks, but I like this one for some reason... Maybe because it is the crossing between some patterns I like, the Rising Sun Japanese  flag, the Union Flag (as seen on the Epiphone Supernova) and the bizarre Art Deco rays seen on an Orfeus bass...

I know nothing of Keytone guitars, if someone knows more, information is welcome...

bertram








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

Unusual "pyramid box" La Flor Dominicana 4-string cigar box guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here is a unique cigar box guitar (actually if a CBG wasn't unique that would be something unusual in itself) featuring a so-called "pyramid"-shaped La Flor Dominicana cigar box, four strings, and a fully fretted neck. I think perhaps if I'd been the maker and had this box to work with, I might have been tempted to make a doubleneck.

G L Wilson

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

Conrad "violin" 12-string electric hollowbody guitar

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We previously looked at quite a selection of Beatle-esque violin basses, violin guitars and even a violin 12-string guitar before. Here's another 12-string, a Conrad violin 12-string, which looks much more faithful to the Hofner design that inspired the myriad other copies (and yes, I am aware of the irony that the Hofner violin bass was itself inspired by Gibson's earliest bass guitar). This Conrad features the same slim outline as the Hofner; some violin guitars and basses are just too chunky, don't you think? It's Japanese-made (the seller even suggests it's Matsumoku-made, which is usually an indication of a quality Japanese instrument) also has a impressively lengthy scroll headstock, furthering the violin metaphor.

G L Wilson

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

Hohner Zambesi circa 1961 - a re-branded British-made Fenton Weill

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Fenton Weill guitars were formed by Henry Weill, a former partner with Jim Burns in Burns Weill guitars. The above pictured Hohner Zambesi model was produced by Fenton Weill for Germany's Hohner company. Hohner, who were most famously producers of accordions and harmonicas, never produced their own guitars but simply re-branded instruments from other manufacturers.

This guitar was described in the catalogue thusly:

The Zambesi 333

Another fine example in this range. With a beautifully veneered body in bird's-eye maple, improved single-sided machine heads, selector, tone and volume controls to operate the highly sensitive pick-ups. Celluloid finger-plate.

Soft Cover £1.18.0 extra

I believe the "celluloid finger-plate" is the raised plate with the Zambesi name on it. Notice also the Vox-like headstock, implying that various of these early British guitar makers must have shared parts or had a common manufacturer of parts between them.

Currently listed on eBay with a starting price of £40, but beware the condition is not good; I think this will be more of a museum piece than a player.

G L Wilson

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

Farnell Electra-lite - a guitar utilizing an intriguing and innovative construction

guitarz.blogspot.com:

The eBay seller calls this a Farnell UltraLite (and manages to spell it three different ways throughout the listing) but from what I can make out on the Farnell website, it's actually a Farnell Electra-lite (unless they changed the name), designed by Al Farnell, although it looks to me as if he's taken a Strat template as a starting point and made various edits to it. However, the appearance of the guitar isn't the clever part - it's what's inside that makes it innovative. To quote from the badly written Farnell website:

The New Farnell Electra-lite Series Guitar features a unique patent-applied for guitar that consists of a molded body made of High Impact Polystyrene which enables unbelievable sustain, attack, major tone enhancement and extremely strong!!

The Wooden insert and the other design features of the Farnell patented process provides for low-end bass tones. The durable Polystyrene/composite casing provides for incredible high-end to overall tone and strength.

However, the proof would be in the playing, I guess. But it's an interesting concept.

Currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of £499.

G L Wilson

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

Brandless Stratocaster with EMG-ESP pickups, pitch black finish and lots of chrome

guitarz.blogspot.com

For a while now (and yes, it's been a while since I've posted here, sorry, but don't worry, I've been playing guitar a lot in the meantime), I've been wanting to post about a stratocaster - even if I'm not a fan of this guitar, it would be bizarre not to show once in a while the most iconic electric guitar in history on a blog that is dedicated to all guitars. Not so easy though, because there's not often something new or exciting about strats, neither about Fender models or any of their innumerable copies or clones...

And then I saw this one! And, surprise!, I not only find it worth writing a post about, I even like it a lot, I could have one like this - yes, even with the EMG pickups. It's said to have been 'reconstructed' but it doesn't say what was the original guitar, but I assume that you don't put expensive hardware and electronics on a total cheapo. I had already noticed that a chrome pickguard makes a strat look much cooler (here), and the tele knobs make it even better (if I'm not wrong some G&L custom strats have a similar combination).

Despite its EMG pickups - clearly metal oriented - one cannot call it a superstrat, it keeps the classic design and electronics, two humbuckers strats have been introduced by Fender themselves in the 1970s as fat strats - let's say it's a heavyset strat... A super cool heavyset strat!

Bertram

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

The Guitelevision

guitarz.blogspot.com:

As used by the guitarist of the Stillwater Prophets.  I'm reminded of Visionary Instruments' video guitar.

Via guitarfail.com. Thanks Eric!

G L Wilson

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

Eccentrically-shaped home-built Strat-type guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This home-built S-type guitar has just a hint about it of Brian Eastwood's Bender Distortocaster and perhaps a little Burns influence too in the multiple pickguards.

The body is pine capped with fine grained oak, the pickguards are aluminium, and the guitar has a long 26" scale length, so could be suitable for dropped or baritone tunings with the correct strings and set-up.

I'm always somewhat curious when people sell their home-made guitars, because surely such guitars are appreciated most of all by their creator? However, I do find myself quite drawn to this particular guitar.

Currently listed on eBay UK with a starting price of £175 and a Buy It Now price of £275.

G L Wilson

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

Guyatone LG-60B - 1960s Japanese singlecut set-neck guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

You'll have to forgive me, I seem to be on some vintage Japanese guitar kick lately. This gorgeous Guyatone LG-60B would seem to be a Japanese amalgam of various Airline and Supro guitars. In my eyes it is just as desirable. Some nice touches include the "Sharp to Soft" pickup selector switch, the bakelite volume and tone controls and those huge Guya pickups which I suspect, despite their size, are actually single coils.

It's quite a beauty, but I couldn't really say that the $1,390 Buy It Now price on eBay is deserved.

G L Wilson

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