MIJ vintage Elk strat

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Elk was an esteemed Japanese amps and guitars company in the 1960s/1970s - more known for its amps actually, and it ended up building some for Fender.

This two pickups strat copy is quite beaten, but I like the look of a Jaguar tremolo on a strat body - it feels right, isn't it?

Bertram D

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Pre-war 1930s vintage Harmony Supertone parlour guitar - La Habernera

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At nearly 80 years old and showing signs of heavy usage, this pre-WWII 1930s Harmony Supertone "La Habernera" parlour guitar could surely tell a few tales.

The "La Habernera" artwork on the front of the guitar could be considered kitsch by today's tastes, but to me it all adds to the guitar's whimsy making it all the more interesting. Personally, I'd much prefer this than anything with skulls all over it, as the modern cliché seems to be.

The fingerboard seems to be covered in some kind of pearloid material - I've seen the same on other parlour guitars of the same era - but you'll notice that wear and tear through heavy playing has worn away much of the pearloid down to the bare wood of the neck, possibly illustrating why it was used in the first place: so as to avoid using expensive rosewood or ebony for the fingerboard.

Currently listed on eBay this auction is finishing within the next 24 hours as I write this, with bidding at $50.99 at the time of writing.

G L Wilson

EDIT: Sold for US $168.39.

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MeloDuende Aluha 2 aluminium Hawaiian guitar

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What with French luthiers and metal body guitars? We saw already steel instruments by Trussard and LePape, here is MeloDuende - who dropped steel for aerospace grade aluminium, and as you can see the Aluha undeniably shares DNA with spaceships! Doing so they went back to the origins of electric guitar - the original 1932 Rickenbacker Frying Pan was made out of aluminium...

Unfortunately MeloDuende doesn't have original models - come on people, why have a luthier's guitar that looks like everybody's Squier? - but this Weissenborn style hawaiian guitar seems quite unique - and sounds terrific! 

Bertram D

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Please help us identify Eric's (probably Japanese) short-scale bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Eric writes:

I need some help identifying a bass guitar. Specs: standard sunburst JB/P-body, finger rest (no thumb rest), black block inlays, pickup and bridge covers (missing), machineheads of a type I also found on a Framus (and others), but what triggered me is the pickup. Looks identical to the ones on my Vox Symphonic bass (that has the traditional Vox headstock, by the way - not the F-shape I've seen in catalogues). Vox used similar ones on the Clubman bass, too, but those had 'Vox' engraved, the ones on the Symphonic and this mystery bass are clean.

So... do you know if Vox, or a company that worked with Vox (Eko, or the Japanese firms that made the VG-6 etc), had a bass that might look like this?? Or is this just another nameless Japanese? (No, it doesn't have 'steel-enforced neck' on the neck plate). It sounds fine, by the way, if you - like me - appreciate 'authentic' over 'hi-fi'.

Although I cannot find an exact match, it looks Japanese to me, I'd guess it originated from the FujiGen Gakki factory in Japan because of the hardware used matching that on other of their guitars - I used to have a "no-name" Japanese Tele (similar to this Lero-branded example) which had two pickups that looked exactly like the single unit on the mystery bass. Ultra-short scale, I'd say looking at that photo. Probably more like a guitar scale length, about 25" or so.

But do any of our readers have any more definite information? Please let us know via the comments below. More photos follow.

G L Wilson

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The Croatian twins - doublecut acoustic and electric guitars

guitarz.blogspot.com: I know very little about this pair of guitars but I was intrigued to see them being offered for sale on eBay, where the sellers tells us:

The guitars were made in Croatia (ex Yugoslavia) in Muzička naklada Zagreb factory.

The 3 PU electric model (hollow body) is called City and the acoustic model is called Carioca.

Guitars are hard to find separately so they are very, very rare in pair. Both guitars are in very good condition for their age.

There are some marks of use and some laquer cracks on the both of them but normal for their age. They both function mechanical very well. Guitars are with all original parts except for th electric - City where one pot knob is not original.

The guitars were made probably at the end of the 60-es or early 70-es. Muzička naklada Zagreb was one of two musical instrument companies in former Yugoslavia and a lot smaller than Melodija Mengeš, so the guitars are hard to find.

It's interesting to see that both the electric and acoustic model share the same basic design - I guess it made things easier on the production line to have both models share the same basic construction. Interesting also to see the triple soundholes on the Carioca acoustic guitar.

These guitars are currently being auctioned as a pair by a seller in Croatia with a starting bid of £400.

G L Wilson

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Multivox/Premier scroll bass from late 1950s/early 1960s

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This Multivox/Premier scroll bass currently listed on eBay is quite a looker, but despite its alleged rarity I think that the Buy It Now price of $3,695 can only be called optimistic.

We've looked at Multivox/Premier guitars before now on this blog; I always thought they looked really classy although if you read this Guitarz review of a 1959 Premier guitar renovated by blog reader Mark you'll see he mentions that build quality could be inconsistent and that these instruments often suffered from quite basic issues such as bad fret spacing.

Of course, incorrect fret spacing wouldn't have worried the late great Mark Sandman of Morphine, who played a Premier bass strung with only two strings with a glass slide.



G L Wilson

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Link Wray would have been 84 years old today...

guitarz.blogspot.com:


...so I think it's only appropriate that we RUMBLE!

I'm going to play this on my Yamaha SG-3 at guitar club later today by way of tribute.

G L Wilson

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Could this Tokai MIJ doublecut electric possibly be a Black Widow?

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This guitar, supposedly a Tokai doublecut, made in Japan, is currently listed on eBay by the dreaded music-outlet-shop of Cologne. As usual, this seller gives zero information and only one very small photo of a guitar which it is asking quite a large amount of money for.

I suspect that this may be one of the guitars that Tokai made for Acoustic Corporation / Bartell as it looks remarkably like the Paul Bartell designed Black Widow guitars, although perhaps the pickups have been swapped out for something a little more generic. The two-tone sunburst is unusual for a Black Widow which usually were only available finished in black (...if Henry Ford had made guitars!).

If anyone knows any more about this model, please leave a comment below.

This guitar is currently listed on eBay priced at $990.

See also: The Acoustic Black Widow Fan Page

G L Wilson

© 2013, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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The strange story of the Vietnam Serviceman Stratocaster

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Hmmmm... There's something a little fishy about this Stratocaster listed on eBay recently. Note how it has a trem but the lack of a spring cavity on the rear makes it look like a hardtail from the behind.

That trem looks to be a very crude version of the Jazzmaster-style tremolo. And speaking of "crude", just look at that bridge!

The neck bolts are actually beneath the neck plate which is held in place by screws where you'd expect the bolts themselves to be.

The Fender headstock looks a little wonky in shape and - appropriately - has wonky decals applied.

Apparently it's a Philippine-made forgery, as sold to Vietnam servicemen in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Jazzmaster and Jaguar forgeries were more commonplace as these were the top of the line Fenders of the day, and this Strat version is supposedly much more unusual. It could also explain why the choice of tremolo used too. The seller tells us that the middle pickup is a dummy stuffed with paper, and that the pickup selector switch was originally only two-way but has since been replaced by a three-way.

For more information on these Philippine-made forgeries, check this website.

Recently listed on eBay but unsold with a starting price of $399.

G L Wilson

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An Epiphone neck attached to... What on Earth is THAT supposed to be?

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Do you think someone actually consciously DESIGNED this guitar body?

My guess is that it's the result of randomly cutting out shapes from a piece of wood with a jigsaw. It does have a vague heraldic look to it, but I'm sure that is through accident rather than design.

Currently listed on eBay UK with a quite astonishingly optimistic Buy It Now price of £500.

G L Wilson

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Please read our photo and content policy.