Burns Weill RP2G Super Streamline bass guitar from 1959

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Here's an intriguing and supposedly quite rare bass guitar from Jim Burns and Henry Weill, the Burns Weill RP2G Super Streamline Bass. I suppose that back in 1959 it looked futuristic and space-age. Today it looks ... I don't know what. It's an ugly bass for sure but probably not as hideous looking as those ghastly singlecut jobbies with the bass-side bout extending half way up the neck which seem to be unfathomably popular these days in bass playing circles. It's quite recognisably a design from the Burns stable, displaying future echoes of the Burns Flyte on the treble side of the body.

Here is what the eBay seller has to say about it:

Burns Weill RP2G bass

This is a very rare bass made in 1959 by Jim Burns and Henry Weill. The body, neck etc., were designed and made by Jim Burns and all the electrics and pickups within the scratchplate were designed and made by Henry Weill.

This particular bass came from the collection of Mark Griffiths - bass player for The Shadows.  It was sold in auction some time ago along with many other guitars and basses owned by Mark Griffiths. I did not manage to buy it then but a while ago I contacted the buyer and managed to purchase it.

It is totally original apart from the fact that it had been refinished in the past - possibly when Mark owned it.

It is a very rare bass regardless of previous owners and its actually the only one I have come across. It has two pickups with volume, tone and blend controls plus a pickup selector switch and two-way switch - all working well, and it is a very nice playing bass with a lovely neck, quite narrow but very playable with twenty-two frets with red dot markers and a scale of thirty inches.

Currently listed on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £950.

G L Wilson

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Hoyer shortscale bass, a genuine relic from the late 1960s/1970s

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Ah, damn! I think I would have bid on this eBay UK listing for a vintage Hoyer solidbody shortscale bass had I seen the auction in time. It's a German-made instrument with one of those laminated necks which seemed to be popular on lower priced instruments of that era, and with a nice P-Bass meets Telecaster vibe going on too.

The seller listed this with a starting price of £100 and it eventually sold for £180

G L Wilson

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Amazing Tele-Strat hybrid 50/50 guitar from Rafael Villanova Bazaga

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Can't decide between a Strat and a Tele? Maybe you want a guitar that's a bit of both? One answer would be this offering from Spanish luthier Rafael Villanova Bazaga which is quite literally half-Telecaster and half Stratocaster right down to the half-tremolo on the Strat side! The attention to detail is quite something. Check out his other guitar and bass creations on the Bazage Guitars website.

[Thanks to Antony Moggridge of Shonky Guitars for the heads up on this one!]

G L Wilson

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1977 Burns "Jubilee" Flyte with faded UK Union Flag finish

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As I have mentioned many times in the past on this blog, I am a big fan of the Burns Flyte guitar, even though the only time I have actually seen one up close and personal was last year when my band was playing a psychedelic festival and Nick Saloman of The Bevis Frond, who were also playing, let me have a look at his.

However, I'm not so sure about the patriotic finish on this "Jubilee" example from 1977. (1977 was the year of Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee, i.e. she'd been monarch for 25 years). Even though this is the original factory finish, the Union Flag - popularly known as the Union Jack but technically speaking it shouldn't be referred to as such unless flown from a ship - has been poorly rendered with very thin crosses and not enough of a pinwheel effect on the diagonals. It's made to look all the more bizarre by the process of ageing which has turned the blue background to green and the white to yellow - in fact when I first saw this I was trying to decide if it was supposed to be the Union Flag or not. If you didn't know it was supposed to represent the flag of the United Kingdom, then perhaps it'd be easier to think of it as an abstract design. Still don't think I'd like it.

Like it or not, it's still a very interesting piece. This particular example was being sold by Denmark Street Guitars in London but is marked "Out Of Stock" which implies that it has either been sold or else withdrawn from sale. Unfortunately this means I cannot give you a price or value. However, three years ago, a Burns Flyte with "supposedly" original rare red finish was being offered for sale in Germany with a price of €1444. My feeling is that this Jubilee edition would be more valuable. Burns experts please feel free to correct me!

G L Wilson

© 2016, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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Dave Of England hand-built solidbody - Zemaitis related

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Here's a stunning UK hand-built guitar from a luthier I was hitherto unaware of (hey, you can't know them all) and which has strong stylistic and heritage links to the legendary guitars made by the late Tony Zemaitis.

It's a Dave Of England guitar, currently being offered for sale on eBay. It'd probably be easiest just to copy the text of the auction rather than reinterpret what the seller has written so well already:

This is an unique guitar made in 2011, completely by hand, for me, by now-retired guitar maker (luthier!) Kevin Parsons. We made guitars using patterns and jigs supplied by Tony Zemaitis upon his retirement, and this is one of our last. Our guitars are/were all “Dave Of England” guitars, and we have built them for the likes of Ronnie Wood, Pete Townshend and many more. All by hand.

The body shape is one of Kevin Parsons’ original designs, it is quite slim when compared to a Les Paul, but has a similar tone, as the best quality mahogany and flamed maple are used. The top is an incredible flamed bookmatched maple set, and the back is 3 pieces of mahogany with reverse grain construction, as favoured by Tony Zemaitis. There is a smooth cutaway for easy access to the dusty end. The two-piece bound neck is mahogany, too, with a rosewood fingerboard and rosewood head face on the Zemaitis-shaped headstock.

The high quality Gotoh tuners are complemented by wooden buttons.

The bridge and tailpiece are hand-made, as well as the pickup surrounds, all from top grade aluminium. They too are made in the Zemaitis style, to get the fantastic sustain and tone that these instruments were noted for. The bridge and tailpiece are mounted into threaded brass inserts in the body, using galvanised steel bolts. The aluminium parts are all hand engraved by Kevin Parsons.

The pickups are from the Creamery, hand-made again in the UK, to order, just for this guitar. They sound powerful, and quite thick, in a nice way.

The finish is nitrocellulose over a very old stain, supplied to me by Mr. Zemaitis. The colour fades out after a year or two to give a very vintage amber look. Although shiny and glossy, the finish is very thin, again, a Zemaitis trait. It helps resonance and shows grain like antique furniture, it is not like glass or a Japanese instrument, you can see and feel the undulations in the grain.

This instrument is quite a bespoke affair, and won’t suit someone looking for a Les Paul lookalike. But if someone was looking for an easy playing modern hand-made, great-sounding unique electric solid body guitar, they should look no further.

It is a really excellent professional quality instrument, made from the finest materials by hand, here in England.

Scale length is 25” and the scalloped nut is approximately 1 11/16ths of an inch.

The case is a Hiscox.

Don’t confuse this with, or compare it to, a factory-made guitar. It is a complete one-off and took many, many hours to build.

This guitar was originally sold to a studio owner friend of mine, who took great care of it then traded it back to me for a vintage Telecaster.

A Dave Of England solid body guitar was listed recently at Sotheby’s of New York at $17,500 or  thereabouts. One of my old headstock badges with my name on it is currently for sale for $499! Grab this one while you can.

Currently listed on eBay UK with a Buy It Now price of £1995.00.

G L Wilson

© 2016, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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A 1960s German take on the Stratocaster by Klira

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This vintage 1960s S-type guitar from Klira in Germany is quite an oddity. It seems familiar yet alien at the same time what with the inclusion of features like Klira's own branded K pickups which visually have a P90-ish vibe to them plus the Jazzmaster-ish tremolo system. The Strat-style body appears to be of high quality with some very nice figuring to the timber beneath the sunburst finish.

The eBay.de listing refers to this guitar as a "Hammer Guitar" or "Hammer Gitarre" which makes little sense to me. I feel something is being lost in translation here. Currently listed with a &eurol449 Buy It Now price.

G L Wilson

© 2015, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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Awesome Vintage 1960s Goya Rangemaster with funky original case.

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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

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Klira electro-acoustic vintage German-made guitar

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To continue a recent theme of mine on here, namely obscure vintage "junk shop" acoustic guitars that look as if they've had aftermarket electrics added to them but were actually produced that way in the factory...

This one is a German Klira guitar. Note the primitive-looking blade-style pickup has been mounted near to the bridge rather than in the more usual soundhole location.

Currently listed on eBay with a (possibly) optimistic Buy It Now price tag of €450.

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.

Wandre Davoli Cobra 2 ... sadly one for the collectors only at this price

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I think it's high time we had another look at another guitar from our favourite eccentric vintage Italian guitar manufacturer, namely Wandre. This Wandre Davoli Cobra 2 is one of their later models and is nowhere near as barking mad as many of their earlier designs. In fact, the offset body design is somewhat reminiscent of Fender's Jaguar and Jazzmaster models. But checkout that headstock design; that's got to be a contender for our Top 10 of crazy headstocks.

Here's what the eBay seller has to say about this guitar (translated from Italian, I believe):

Perfectly Working! Imagine Wandrè’s discouragement in contemplating the Cobra model, so traditional and inspired to other people’s designs. A restyling was necessary... Wandrè did not follow the Vox and Eko fashion of generally giving to guitars animal names (condor, lynx, cougar etc.)

Wandrè believed the name Cobra meant to draw inspiration and energy from the animal itself. That’s why in the second version a bizarre headstock imitating a snake’s hood with glasses and a snake scale finish for the pick-guard and for the headstock itself. Ready to leap and bite. The swan song of a production with no more raison d’etre in the market. An intoxicating bass version also available.

Note that the guitar still features Wandre's trademark metal neck construction. Notice how the headstock is attached to the neck by means of a bracket.

Wandre guitars now fetch silly money among collectors. Which is a shame because it means they are often languishing in collections rather than being used and played by working musicians.

This example is currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of €3,200.00.

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.

1960s Migma Favorit hollowbody teardrop electric from Germany

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Here's an intriguing German-made guiar currently listed on reverb.com with a Buy It Now price of US $1,400 + shipping. It's a Migma Favorit, according to listing made by Heinz Seifert (?) if I am reading that correctly. It's supposedly from 1960, in which case it would have pre-dated the Vox Mark IV (a.k.a. Teardrop) by three years. I guess the shape might have been based on that of a lute - it would seem to be the obvious genesis for this design.

The example being sold here is obviously missing a pickguard, which would have hidden the enlarged part of the lower f-hole. I'm guessing it was made that way as an easier way of getting the pots in place during assembly. And just to prove that this is a playable guitar, here's a video of Linas Pečiūra playing "Corcovado" on this very instrument.



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.

Merlijn shows us his Welson

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Merlijn writes:

Hello everybody from the Guitarz blog! I love reading your blogs but I want to know something from you. On the photos [above] you can see an old guitar from the brand 'Welson'. It was a famous guitar brand during the 50s and 60s. This guitar belonged to my father. I'd like to get more info about it. Could you help me?

Sincerely, Merlijn.

Hi Merlijn, whilst I can't give you much specific information about your father's old Welson guitar, I can tell you that the Welson brand name belonged to a Castelfidardo-based (i.e. Italian) accordion making company founded by Orlando Quagliardi in 1921. Welson guitars were distibuted in Germany as Dynacord and in the USA under the Wurlitzer and Orpheum brands.

For more information see the always fascinating Fetish Guitars website.

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.

The Swanee Singer - Guaranteed not to split!

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Our friend Eric Geevers writes:

I'm fixing this guitar for someone, but I can buy it at a fairly low price. Bit of a twist in the neck, but we'll see what happens. 'Germany', and it's said that it's pre-WWII. I can believe that! What do we say?

Does anyone have any more info on this guitar for Eric (and for the others of us who are also curious)?

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.

Very unusual vintage semi... one-off or production model? Who knows?

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Here's a weird guitar that I am unable to identify. I couldn't tell you if it was an actual production model or if it has a homemade body and has been pieced together from parts from an archtop hollowbody electric (witness the Hofner pickup mounted to the top end of the fingerboard). This guitar was offered for sale on eBay UK, but the auction finished before we were able to post about it here. The seller told us the little he knew about it:

I've no idea what this guitar is. I bought it in France at a street market.

It has an Aria nameplate in metal, it needs attention to restore it to it's potential so it's sold as seen and sold as NOT Aria.

I've not tested it as it has a funny looking lead socket and the action is high. Some of the black plastic trim is loose / missing so please look at the photos...

My guess would be that it is European in origin, maybe East European, although it does look somewhere between an Egmond (from The Netherlands) and a Wandre (from Italy). If anyone could actually identify this guitar, we'd love to hear from you.

Thanks to David C for bringing this guitar to my attention.

More photos here.

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.

1960s Italian-made Goya Rangemaster with split pickup

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The very mention of vintage 1960s Italian guitars makes me think of gaudy finishes, arrays of push button switches, and guitars with four pickups squeezed in between the top of the fretboard and the bridge. This Goya Rangemaster is more minimalist than most with just a single pickup, but then you can trust the Italians to do things differently and this pickup is split into two halves with a bass emphasis on the three bass strings, and a treble bias to the three highest strings. You'd think with a pickup like this the guitar might be wired for a stereo output but no mention is made of this in the eBay listing and I suspect that it is not the case.

This guitar also comes complete with its original case (minus the upper lining). Now, haven't I seen a recently produced very expensive "designer" guitar case that looked almost exactly like that? Hhhmmmmm...

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of US $690.

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.