Gretsch Astro Jet

guitarz.blogspot.com

OK, this is not a new topic here, but what if Gibson never reissued the Explorer or the Flying V after their selling failures in the late 50s? The universe would be bleaker, and cosmic entropy would win sooner, since human creativity is the only anti-entropic force (as far as we know)...

So why did Gretsch gave up the Astro-Jet so quickly when it didn't become an instant hit in 1965? The guitar was anyway supposed to be controversial, since it was a clear effort to take distance with the old-school rock'n'roll hollow-bodies that made Gretsch famous - distance at least with the design, since the sound was to keep Gretsch standards! So why not assuming the slow start and give it time?

Simple like a classic, though twisted according to American aesthetics of the time (in Italy this guitar would have been just another one), it could have been one of the few designs that defines this part of modernity embodied by rock music and electric guitars.

You can find a nice review about the Astro Jet on VintageGuitar.com.

Bertram

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Yamaha's coolest guitar designs : SGV & SG-2C

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Another extremely lovable Japanese guitar is the Yamaha SGV-300 (the blue one). It's usually credited as a surf guitar, but if I'd play one (when I play one, soon enough I hope), my music would have nothing to do with surf music - I hardly know what surf music is, and the little I know comes from Tarentino's soundtracks - and again I don't understand why a specific guitar design should influence the style of music one would play on it! Anyway, when plugged in a couple of fuzzboxes and a Metal Zone, any guitar is suitable for extreme noise.

Couldn't resist to show its bizarre cousin the Yamaha SG-2C, also from the late 60s, not so sexy and sharp, but still an interesting design - that actually works better on the bass model (SB-2C). The SGV and the SG-2C share this great headstock, both elegant and ergonomic - I'm always surprised that it didn't have a bigger legacy...

Contrarily to the SGV, this guitar was never reissued and is not so easily found, I was happy to find this great Japanese webpage that show an incredible collection of vintage guitars, a. o. several models of Tokai Hummingbirds (that answers my interrogation about the upside-down Hummingbird, actually a regular model).

And since I talk about websites, I advise you to have a look at the Guitar Garage, a blog about guitar repair and refinish, with not only nice pictures of vintage models but their whole rejuvenating process extensively documented, very interesting indeed, it's worth taking the time to explore it all.

Bertram

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Ibanez Iceman in natural finish

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A couple of months ago I stated in a post about I don't remember what guitar, that any guitar with an eccentric design should be given the opportunity to exist in natural finish to be appreciated for its line only and not some fancy finish what would much likely spoil it.

Well have a look at that beautiful 2003 Ibanez Iceman IC200, one of the best design of Japanese guitars, on the top on my GAS list of dream guitars... It's mostly known in tasteful black or white (and also, contrarily to what I just said before, with a very cool H.R. Giger biomechanical custom paint) and it's the first time I see it in natural brown finish, and it really works!

Just for this guitar (and a couple of semi-hollows), Ibanez stays a great brand, even after two decades of JEMs.

Bertram

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Kramer Triax

guitarz.blogspot.com:
Someone just shelled out $3,500 for this Kramer Triax on eBay. I never really got Kramers and could never see what all the fuss was about, but I know that there are some pretty rabid Kramer fans out there with huge collections. Yeah yeah, I know Eddie Van Halen used to use them in the 1980s, but so what? They just never appealed to me. I thought the original aluminium-necked guitars and basses were interesting but after that I kind of lost interest. (Kramer fans, you are welcome to respond and tell us why you love them. I'm open to hearing your side of the story.)

Anyway, this Triax... What's the deal with the shape? It looks like a Klingon spaceship from out of Star Trek. Or something. I can't imagine it fares very well in the ergonomics department, and that headstock design is just silly. Isn't it?

I guess it's just the designer having some fun. And why not? We like wacky guitars here on this blog!

Anyway, for those who want to know about the guitar, it's from 1986, is Floyd Rose equipped as was de rigueur in those days, and apparently only about 10 of these exist. This particular example is in pristine condition. I can imagine that if used for heavy gigging those outer-body pointy bits would be subject to damage.

G L Wilson

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John Backlund Design

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I've noticed John Backlund Design's guitars a while ago, but I discovered only recently that the very few guitars that were actually buit - such as the JBD100 down there - are just the visible part of an iceberg of design research. Have a look at J. Backlund online portfolio and enjoy his refreshing 'retro-futurist' aesthetic - of which you can see a few samples on the left.

It doesn't seem that these guitars are a big success - such sophisticated American hand-built guitars are not affordable for the average player -, and it's a pity since I think that, if widely spread, these guitars could change the curse of guitar design and take it of its current track if dullness and easiness.

Bertram

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Hohner EGS "Blackhawk"

guitarz.blogspot.com:
This is Hohner's take on the ergonomic guitar, the Hohner EGS "Blackhawk". Personally I would have described it as minimalist rather than ergonomic. Where is the right forearm support, a la Ovation Breadwinner or Klein guitar?

The treble-side horn is actually an "Ergo-Wing" made from anodized high-grade aluminium. The Ergo-Wing is "adjustable, and can be rotated into two different wing radius positions that comfortably fit on the guitarist's legs for different playing positions".

The guitar features Schaller M6 locking tuning machine heads and security locking pins, a trio of EMG pickups (two S-1 singlecoils and an EMG-85 humbucker) and also has a piezo pickup built-in to the Shadow tremolo system.

I think if I was buying a guitar that retailed in the USA for $3,659.99, I'd want much more tasteful pickups than EMGs. In fact, their very presence makes me wonder what's wrong with the body. Does it not have any resonance, tone or vibe of its own that a decent set of pickups would enhance?

Finally, the seller claims that this is the ONLY Hohner EGS to have been brought into the UK. That's a bold claim. How does he know?

G L Wilson

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Soviet guitar with secret compartments

guitarz.blogspot.com:
Just by looking at it you can tell that this SOLO-2 is a Soviet-era Russian-made guitar.

I'm posting this picture really because I've not seen switches quite like these on a guitar before.

The pickups look very similar to those found on the "Flight Of The Conchords" Kavkaz bass.

Apparently it was made in the mid 80s by Belarusian Musical Instruments Factory in Borisov city and has fuzz and phaser built-in effects (currently not working on this example).
The battery for the built-in effects is located beneath the neck plate.

Additionally there is an integral screwdriver beneath the rear strap button which screws out.

I'm remimnded of one of Fender's Strat models (the Strat Plus? or was it the Elite?) which had a hex key on the end of its tremolo arm.

G L Wilson

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Vintage Italian folk guitars - E-ROS Dakota vs Eko Ranger VI

guitarz.blogspot.com:
E-ROS guitars. That's a name I haven't heard in many years. They seemed to be quite omnipresent in the late 70s and early 80s, as I recall.

This particular example is an E-ROS Model 606 Dakota which according to the seller dates to the 1970s. They were in fact made from 1966 to 1970 by an Italian company called Fratelli Fuselli (Fuselli Brothers) headquartered in Recanati.

You might notice that, unusually for an acoustic guitar, this E-ROS has a bolt-on neck. Which seems strangely familiar.

Actually the design of the instrument all seems very familiar. If I didn't know better, I'd say that this was a copy of the Eko Ranger guitar from the same period. So, you've got Italians copying Italians. Or perhaps it wasn't quite like that. Perhaps the two companies were related in someway, or both ranges were designed by the same person. I don't know the story, but would like to find out if anyone out there could fill in the blanks.

Here, to illustrate my point, is an Eko Ranger VI guitar from the same era. You have to admit that the two guitars are very similar, right down to the shape of the pickguard.

I myself used to have an Eko Ranger XII 12-string, and that was an excellent guitar. Before that I had also played a friend's E-ROS 12-string, and although I wasn't aware of the similarities at the time, it was that guitar that made me want to go out and buy a 12-string acoustic in the first place.

G L Wilson
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Vox Distortion pedal from the 1980s

guitarz.blogspot.com:
Blimey! I had one of these way back - it was my first ever FX pedal. Actually, I ought to still have it as I never remember getting rid of it. I think I'll raid my box of bits and pieces later and see if I can find it. I'm going to watch this auction. If it's really worth 99 quid, then mine will be going on eBay too.

I seem to remember it was a rather nasty distortion effect. Later on I used to use it in conjunction with a Boss Distortion/Feedbacker pedal to create my own hyper-distortion sound through a Vox AC30. That was a brutal sound!

G L Wilson

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Guild archtop tenor guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

For the 'less-strings' lovers, this is a tenor guitar - here a 1974 Guild archtop one. It's a beauty, well balanced with its florentine cutaway, big headstock and elegant black finish - but not just a small guitar, it has its proper proportions.

It's not been very long since I've been aware that tenor guitars exist. I guess it's because it is a quite specifically American instrument - though I found a Portuguese company making some - for specific music. The neo-folk current hype on continental Europe brings this kind of instruments back in the light.

I can see why guitar players want to play other similar instruments - myself I'm a hidden mountain dulcimer player for almost 30 years!

Bertram

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