Fasan Holiday Guitar from 1968 with incredible "finish"

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I love the look of this German made Fasan Holiday. There is nothing better than fake plastic trying its best to look like fake wood. In a fake news world this guitar should get all the headlines. The metal embossed pickguard, and a well aged tremolo only add to the character of this late 1960s beauty.

Currently listed for $500 Canadian

R.W. Haller


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Ultra Rare1967 Bigsby Condor Prototype. One of only Only 3

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There's a lot that can be said about this 1967 Bigsby Condor Prototype. But, like the seller, I really don't know where to start. He has this information though, which is a bit more than I could muster up:

"1967 Bigsby Condor Prototype Experimental Guitar, only 3 made, was to be called the Condor, one was given to Barney Kessel, the other was given to Howard Roberts, this one sat in Milwaukee since then, Paul Bigsby may have worked on this-no way to know, the pots are 1967, Paul died in 1968, Hammond was contacted for the electronics, and the work was contracted out to Gibbs Electronics in Milton Wisconsin, Natural finish, Rosewood fretboard, the guitar weighs 11 lbs. - 0.9 oz., biggest volute & headstock on Earth !!, huge neck profile, the guitar has been sitting for almost 50 years, it has not been tested, everything is in very good condition, don't miss this once in a lifetime chance to get an extremely cool & unique collectors item, has the original fancy heavy duty hard case."

The first thing I noticed was the way the strings break at the bridge at a sideways angle. I've never seen another guitar do that. I wonder how effective it is.

Currently listed at $3295 U.S.

R.W. Haller

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Gemelli. An Incredible original offset Italian guitar from 1964

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This Italian beauty caught my eye. I feel Ive seen a similar guitar but I cannot quite recall where. Made by Gemelli ( Italian for "twins" as it was a company founded by twin brothers) in 1964 this offset 4 pickup wonder has all the elements of a vintage Italian guitar. Glitter finish and rocker ( or are they push button? ) switches help to complete the overall package of awesomeness that is this guitar. The funky tremolo is just icing on the cake.

Currently listed at $1600 Canadian.

R.W. Haller

Edit: I knew I'd seen a similar guitar before. Check out this red Bartolini.


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Norma EG-200 Teisco Split pickup guitar from the 1960s

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We've looked at this awesome made in Japan Norma before on Guitarz, but I thought it was worth another look since this one recently popped up on eBay.

I love the pickup selector on this split pickup guitar. I think every option is there, including All Off. And that tremolo is, for lack of a better word, epic.

R.W. Haller

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Vintage 1960s Mark in Dartford Kent, Vox Clubman Bass for South Paws

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A guilty secret of mine is that I do actually quite desire one of these: a original 1960s Vox Clubman Bass, "Made in Dartford, Kent" (England) by Jennings Musical Industries (JMI).

Pre-dating the Italian-built Vox guitars of the later 1960s, the short-scale Clubman Bass was part of Vox's range of "student" instruments. The body was made of plywood, and whilst the neck had no adjustable trussrod it did have a steel bar embedded beneath the fingerboard. [EDIT: According to the Vox Showroom website, it had TWO non-adjustable steel rods embedded in the neck.]

So, if it's such a cheap, crudely made instrument, why should I be interested?

Well, it's just that the Vox Clubman Bass has quite a reputation for playability and versatility. It has that particular sound that typifies an era but yet still manages to sound relevant today. I also quite like the design and used to own a similar Clubman II guitar that was my 2nd electric guitar (I've lost count of how many have followed - I'm sure it's in three figures) so it's partly a nostalgia thing, I guess.

This particular example, currently being offered for sale on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £320, is the rarer left-handed version. Whether it sells is another matter; a right-handed example in the more common red finish failed to sell earlier today with a Buy It Now of £399.  I know these instruments are quite desirable amongst collectors and people like me, but I do wonder if perhaps they are being priced a little too highly in today's market.

Note that this example has a jack output socket which is probably a later conversion as from the factory it would have been equipped with a television-aerial type co-axial socket.

G L Wilson

© 2016, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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Framus 12 String Semi-Hollow Guitar from the 1960s

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We've looked at a lot of Framus Guitars guitars here on Guitarz so I was a little surprised that when I checked we hadn't yet featured this 1960s 12 string beauty.

This Framus looks to be in great shape. The seller even uses the word pristine. Short of the nick in the headstock I'd say they would probably be right.

R.W. Haller

© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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Harmony Roy Smeck H73 signature guitar from 1966

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I didn't know who Roy Smeck was until I bought a bunch of parts from 2 Harmony Roy Smeck lapsteels a while back. Born in 1900, Smeck, who was known as the Wizard of Strings died in 1994. He was known for his skills on guitar, lapsteel, banjo, and ukulele. He was even inducted into the Ukulele Hall of Fame.

It seems he had a long affiliation with Harmony and was even somewhat of an inventor. Many Harmony products bear his name.

This H73 is one of those products. I like the profile of this hollow, 2 pickup electric. It has an ample cutaway and an upper bout that is slightly reminiscent of a telecaster's curves.

It looks to be in great shape and comes with the original case. 

The seller is looking for trades, something interesting or unusual.

R.W. Haller

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Awesome Vintage 1960s Goya Rangemaster with funky original case.

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I'm not sure i could describe this 1960 Goya Rangmaster with near the enthusiasm of it's seller:

"Wow, FAB, Groovy, Cool, What a Gas, Baby . . .

Dig THIS, Daddy-O~! Far-OUT, Man.

Freaky Flower Child, Pop Art, Jazzy & Right On.

This Gorgeous Vintage '60's Axe WILL Bring YOU

Right back to the Hip Psychedelic '60's . . .

Sock It To Me, this Bad Ass Git is Outta Sight~!

Crazy multiple switching pickups selectors & tone controls.

Artsy faux wood pickguard, neato neck dot inlays, PRIMO~!

This beauty plays as good as her awesome Italian looks.

Great, semi-chunky neck, wonderful frets, smooth action.

Several minor battle scars as expected of a 50 plus year old instrument.

Original Italian Art Goya Case, everything operational (missing trem arm).

This is one fabulous piece of music art history and plays like a mo-fo...

Dig it, man, this jive axe can be YOURS right now. Freaky… "

Freaky, man. Freaky indeed.

Currently listed for $850.

R.W. Haller

© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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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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1967-68 Messenger hollow body fretless electric bass with aluminum neck

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Previously on Guitarz we've taken an all-too brief look at a vintage 1960s Musicraft Inc. Messenger guitar (as famously played by Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad) and the more recent Eastwood reissue (which is itself a discontinued model... for the time being).

I've not previously seen a bass model of the Messenger, but this is what we have here now being offered for sale on eBay with a starting bid of US $1,500. The bass is a hollowbody and features an aluminium neck.

Intriguingly the neck is fretless (obviously with markers in this instance). The seller does not mention if its fretlessness is an original feature or whether this is a later conversion. In all other areas the bass does seem to be original - it even has the original hardcase.

It would be interesting if, like the Ampeg AUB-1, this was another pre-Jaco Pastorius fretless bass. Jaco famously claimed to have invented the fretless bass, but then again when you are a genius I think you are allowed to make such claims. He certainly invented that whole style of playing. Just look at the flatwound strings on this Messenger in the headstock photo. NOT good for lyrical playing with vibrato, swoops and slides. The best this is going to do is to emulate an upright bass thump.

The eBay seller also provides a few scans of Messenger brochures and sales literature from back in the day, and which I reproduce here for posterity.

If you wondered about that body design:

The perfectly contoured, arrow-straight neck remains thin and fast throughout its entire length. And the fingerboard begins where the soundbox ends, thereby eliminating the need for unsightly cutaways and making possible unobstructed access to all frets.

Regarding that metal neck:

Guaranteed not to bow or warp under normal usage, Messenger's rigid, patented alloy neck grows even stronger with age. Because of its strength, no truss rod is needed. Moreover, the neck requires neither a massive buildup at the heel nor a body support. Backbone of the Messenger is a single-piece alloy structure combining the head, neck and a "fork" extension passing through the sound chamber. The extension is tuned to a frequency of 440 cycles per second. Its constant response controls the tonal quality, reduces "?????" [sorry, can't decipher this word] to an absolute minimum and helps keep strings in motion to produce longer sustained notes.

The price list lists Messenger bass models as follows:

MESSENGER BASS GUITAR

Features: Dual pick-ups with separate tone and volume controls for maximum tone range and versatility. Semi-acoustic body with short scale neck. Available with the Messer tone distortion unit built in the body.

MB50    Morning Sunburst    325.00
MB52    Rojo Red    325.00
MBS60   Morning Sunburst with messer distortion unit    362.00
MBS62   Rojo Red with messer distortion unit    362.00

Note that no mention is made of a fretless model.

G L Wilson

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Please read our photo and content policy.