Instrument of the week.
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Edison-Bell mechanical gramophone,
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The first recording machine, the “Phonautograph” was made in 1857, most likely by the Frenchman Edouard-Léon Scott De Martinville (1817-1879). It transcribed sound onto a blackened glass plate or a blackened paper but it couldn’t be played afterwards. In 1877 Thomas Edison developed a machine that could not only record speech, but also reproduce it. His invention involved a stylus attached to a diaphragm inscribing the vibrations up and down on a rotating cylinder covered in tin foil. In 1886 Charles Sumner Tainter and Chichester Bell used wax in the place of tin foil and a floating stylus. Soon Edison, as well as Tainter and Bell, started to invest in cylindric music records with mostly popular songs. Another improvement came in 1887, when Emile Berliner, a German immigrant to the US, began using flat discs to record sound. The groove is engraved horizontally as the needle moves from left to right on the plate. The round discs were cheaper, more durable, easier to use and could hold up to 6 minutes of music on each side, twice as much as an Edison cylinder. Berliner also started using the more durable shellac in 1897 and the speed was standardized to about 78 rotations per minute.
The gramophone business began to flourish, and in the 1910s the first portable devices were being produced. Especially during World War I these gained popularity. All kinds of classical and popular music were brought out, also contributing considerably to the popularity of the guitar and other fretted instruments. With the rise and improvement of record players came the first recordings of jazz and, especially important for the guitar: the blues. When Prohibition came to an end in 1933, the jukebox industry took off and, especially in Chicago, the new mecca of the record industry, new record labels from producers such as the American Record corporation (Decca), Victor (Bluebird) arose. The radio sets were equipped with an input for gramophone players using electric pickups, and with the introduction of electric motors for driving the turntables, the era of mechanical machines came to an end. In the 1940s, even more jazz and blues labels emerged, such as Savoy, Aladdin and Modern. The typical Chicago blues sound is reflected in the records of the 1950s with singers-guitarists such as Howlin' Wolf and Jimmy Reed. Their music is distributed by the emerging radio, with the help of a new phenomenon: the deejay. |
Bronson GA-100 Steamliner electric lap steel, c. 1939
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The GA-100 Steamliner is Bronsons version of the Dickerson "Standard" model. Of the three pre war models this was the middle size, the “Student” from week 51 being a version for “Oahu” of its smaller brother. George Bronson and his half brother Harry Stanley started the Honolulu Conservatory of Music in Flint, Michigan in the late '20s. In 1933 Stanley founded Oahu, and about the same time Bronson started the Bronson Music & Sales Co. in Detroit. Both companies published music and magazines promoting Hawaiian music, while organizing courses and wholesaling guitars and other instruments. Oahu and Bronson had similar offerings such as round-neck and square-neck acoustics guitars, some student level, some fancier and more expensive. Both companies also sold electric lap steels from other manufacturers as they gained popularity. Oahus were often made by Kay or Valco (see week 62), while some Bronsons were made by Rickenbacher (compare week 8) .
The “Steamliner” is very similar to the Oahu “Student” version, but with a slightly larger paddle shaped body. Like the Oahu it has a metal nut and bridge, and the strings pass through ferrules in the back of the body. Two control knobs instead of one are mounted on the “golden” hand rest with the Bronson brand name and the patent number pressed in. Small diamond shaped gold sparkled pieces contoured in black are inlayed in the blackened fingerboard, on the headstock, and on the instruments treble side facing the audience. The body is “finished in Maroon-Golden combination” , meaning it is covered with the usual “Lumarith", this time a beige mottled celluloid skin. Originally the Steamliner was offered as a set with a 15 watt amplifier with a similar finish. According to a contemporary ad it had “four tubes, so constructed as to give five tube performance”. Once again the single-coil pickup mounted under the thin pearloid sheet layer sounds strong and full. |
Framus Atlantik 5/113 52T, c. 1965
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After the first Framus thinline was built in 1953 in collaboration with guitarist Billy Lorento, aka Bill Lawrence, countless models and variations were distributed in the 50s and 60s. Most, but certainly not all, had an ES-335 body contour, but lacked the central sustain block of the Gibsons. These guitars were given names like "New Sound" or "Fret Jet". The "TV" series guitars, another line of Framus thinlines, featured a bold asymmetrical body, slanted pickups and a Fender-type headstock. The Atlantik 5/113 has a little bit of everything. The average "Atlantik" was typically single-cut, but to complicate matters, some have two cutaways. Usually the headstock has a three plus three configuration, just like on the “New Sound” and the "Fret Jet", but some share the "Fenderish" six on a side head with the "TV" models. Structurally, these guitars are issued on violin making traditions, with their arched spruce top and maple back and sides, the Hofner “Club 50” from week 11 and “Beatle Bass” from week 87 being the best examples.
This 5/113 has a single bound body, while some other "Atlantik" models are called "Softline" guitars because the edges of the laminated arch-top and -back are rounded. The electronics consist of two oval single-coil pickups with chrome and black plastic covers, each operated by a volume and a tone pot, and a number of switches mounted on a faux tortoiseshell plate fixed near the cutaway on the bass side. The floating pickguard is made from the same material, while the tremolo unit comes from a similar mid 1960s Framus thinline, as does the adjustable metal bridge with wooden base. All in all, this guitar perfectly reflects the German taste for thinline archtops that prevailed at the time, like some of the other German instruments from this collection. This is the case with the Hopf Saturn from week 2 and the Hopf Allround from week 61, which also have a sturdy neck made of fine wooden strips glued together, although the 5/113 has a truss rod mounted. It is secured by means of four screws and a "made in Germany" neck plate. The rosewood fingerboard has a zero fret, and the string retainer and six-on-a-strip tuners look very Japanese. |
Kay "Del Oro" sunburst with “panel” decoration, c. 1938
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This guitar was made for wholesaler Spiegel by Kay around the same time as the "Del Oro" Hawaii scene parlour from circa 1937 (week 36). In terms of quality the same can be said about both guitars: “despite being a little rough they are solid and don’t generally fall apart”. Again this Del Oro has a solid birch body with ladder bracing, a V-shaped neck and a slotted headstock, a rosewood fingerboard with four dot markers and a bone nut. The guitar has a unique sharp, crisp sound, to put it positively. Actually this one is almost identical to the Hawaii scene guitar, except for the decorative finish: brown sunburst with a trapezoidal middle section bordered by painted “inlay” strips.
In the 1937 Tonk Brothers catalogue it is described as follows: "No.4301 Regulation standard size body with top, back and sides constructed of selected birch. Nicely shaped neck, equipped with accurately fretted fingerboard. Finished throughout in a two-tone brown, nicely shaded. Both edges are striped in white. Top is decorated with a panel of Oregon blistered maple graining. Very attractive appearance. Beautifully finished. Each...$8.25”. Note how much the visual qualities are being emphasised. This is also true in the descriptions of the same instrument in the 1937 Targ & Dinner catalog (as No. 732) as well as in the 1939 and 1942 Continental catalogs (as Nos. 2092 and 1161). However, there are two differences from the Del Oro we present here. The “panel of Oregon blistered maple graining”, also described as a “strippled panel running the length of the guitar”, is plain here. And in all three cases there is a Kamico (“Kay Musical Inst. Co.”) logo instead, while the Targ & Dinner models can also be found with a “Maxwell” decal logo. Identical 4/4 but mostly 3/4 guitars show up in the USA with the Del Oro label, mostly with the imitation burlwood panel on the brown-burst finish. The British distributor Biltmore-Dallas offered the same guitar of “American make” for £3 in their 1939 catalog in a “full auditorium size” version and with their “Zenith” logo (as No. F9818). |
A collection of guitar picks, c. 1925-1970
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Along with guitars, banjos, mandolins ukuleles and more I have collected many related items: vintage amplifiers, record players, straps, leads, catalogs, tutors, ... and picks. Like violin bows, guitar picks or "plectrums", as they are called in British English, are used to produce the sound on a guitar, although strictly speaking they are not necessary, as proven by classical guitarists and many blues musicians. Feather quills have been used to play stringed instruments for thousands of years, but tortoiseshell, the outer shell of a sea turtle, became more popular in the late 1800s. However, it was rare, expensive and tended to break. Tony D'Andrea and his father Luigi discovered that celluloid was perfect for making guitar picks for stringed instruments. It closely imitated the sound and flexibility of tortoiseshell while being stronger and cheaper. From the 1920s to the 1950s, D'Andrea Manufacturing would dominate the international pick market, supplying major companies such as Gibson, Fender and Martin and developing more than 50 shapes. These were given numbers, which are still in use today. They include the small, pointed teardrop called the "358", the larger, rounder teardrop called the "354", and the ubiquitous rounded triangle: the 351. The latter was originally associated with Nick Lucas, the singer and guitarist from the early 20th century, who was the first to popularize a playing style involving a flat "plectrum style guitar pick", as opposed to the use of finger- and thumb-picks.
In the mid-1950s, D'Andrea's quasi-monopoly was broken when the Hershman MI Company of New York began offering Japanese celluloid picks under the brand name "Herco". But in the early 1960s, Herco and D'Andrea faced competition from a Japanese company called "Pickboy", founded by Shoji Nakano. In the mid-1960s, more durable nylon picks were being developed almost simultaneously by Herco and a new entrant to the market: chemical engineer Jim Dunlop of Scotland, whose company would eventually buy out Herco in the 1980s. Nylon would become popular for making guitar picks due to their increased grip, flexibility and tonal qualities. The search for a good grip had been going on for a while. Attaching cork to the wide part of the pick was a remarkable improvement, first patented by Richard Carpenter and Thomas Towner of Oakland in 1917. This was obsolete because printing a relief in nylon proved to be so much easier. |
Kay Value Leader K1962, c. 1962
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Kay introduced the “Value Leader “line in 1960, along with two other thinline models: the "Pro" and the "Style Leader" series. They would all last until 1965. Sharing their name with a line of similar archtops, the Value Leaders were exactly as described: “the most affordable thinline electric guitars in the catalog”. They had newly designed flat single coil pickups with plain chrome covers, one for the K1961, while the two and three pickup models were called the "K1962" and "K1963". The bass version (K5961) had four strings, but was otherwise completely identical to the one pickup K1961, up to the same scale length. The model was sold under a number of different brand names: with a natural finished top as "Old Kraftsman" by wholesaler Montgomery Ward, with a black finish as "Silvertone" by Sears, and in black or white with "b&w" block linings as “Custom Kraft” by St. Louis Music.
The Value Leader thinlines were the first Kays with bolt-on necks. These were steel-reinforced and featured maple fingerboards and tortoise shell dot markers, a novelty at Kays. The headstock was of the old pointed type and originally had a large metal, partially blackened cross-shaped cover, with a geometric design and a "K" in a triangle above the "Kay" logo. This tin ornament is often confused with the plastic "Kelvinator" logo. The body was laminated maple, finished in brown burst, and for the height-adjustable floating bridge unstained maple was used. The electronics, one volume and tone knob per pickup, were mounted on trapeze shape brushed chrome pickguards with a square geometric pattern. The multi-pickup models had a chicken-head rotary selector switch. The knobs were all bakelite. The aesthetic qualities of the overall design can be questioned, but to me these are cool vintage instruments. With their medium output but warm sounding pickups, the Value Leaders come into their own as blues guitars. A K1961 was favoured by bluesman Lonnie Johnson, who often played it in the key of G. Jimmy Reed was sometimes photographed playing a 1963 K, but the honor of being called the "Jimmy Reed" guitar is reserved for the Kay K161 (week 082). |
Egmond Kansas 2ES1V, c. 1970
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Egmond's Kansas model is a late 60s upgrade of the Lucky 7, now with a truss rod added, a system Egmond calls "varifort". The cutaway is still at an almost right angle to the centerline of the guitars but has a sharp end, and the Egmond logo adorns the headstock from now on. Two acoustic Kansas archtops can be found in their catalogue: the S1 with a white pickguard, and the M1 with an exotic wood top and a “tortoiseshell” pickguard. The 1ES1 electric guitar is simply an S1 with an old single-pickup PP1 pickguard with integrated electronics. Bass models were also available with one or two pickups and one or two cutaways. In the 1970 Sorkin catalog (with different numbering and names) , the Kansas models are listed as a line of "compact cutaways," with the E60 featuring one pickup, the DE60 featuring two similar single coils, and the DE60-T featuring a vibrato unit.
The Egmond Kansas 2ES1V presented here is a two-pickup version, with simple and effective controls: a volume and a tone knob, and a rotary selector switch, . On the top, two single coils are screwed into pickup rings. They are of the same, quite well sounding type as those on the Rambler 2ES1 from week 1. The V stands for the Jazzmaster type vibrato unit, which works well with the height-adjustable wooden floating bridge. The quick-apply brown burst varnish is typical of low-end production. It does not hold well and retracts according to the fibers of the wood, giving this pleated aspect found on Italian or German guitars of the same period. The advantage is that it does not suffocate the wood. Top and back are made from laminated maple which is thin enough and only slightly arched. Two long diagonal braces cross each other between the bridge and the sound holes, while the ribs are quite low. All this results in a rather dry and trebly acoustic sound, very different from most large archtops. The maple neck has a fairly thick "D" profile, which together with the rather accentuated radius of the rosewood fingerboard certainly gives it a vintage feel. It is attached to the body by means of a long vise with a large spring, which also adjusts the angle of the body and neck. There are 21 durable frets, not the cheap brass ones, and there is a zero fret. The truss rod is similar to the system Gibson uses, and the tuners are somewhat reminiscent of the Waverly machines used by Harmony, only cheaper looking. After all, this is another budget guitar; the painted binding on the front says it all. But all in all, like the Rambler, this guitar plays and sounds good enough, unlike most of the earlier Egmond models. |
Guild SF-IV Starfire Standard, 1965
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Noticing the success of Gibson's ES-335 since the late 1950s, Guild developed its own double-cutaway, semi-hollow body in 1963 by adding humbuckers and a solid spruce center block to a newly designed model in the "Starfire " line. And again there is a connection with the car industry: Oldsmobile's "Starfire" series had debuted in 1954. Guilds Starfire IV stayed close to the ES-335, largely under the influence of George Mann, a former director of the Epiphone Guitar Company. It did, however, bring something of its own identity to the table, such as a laminated mahogany body, rather than Gibson's usual maple, and a slightly different body contour. In any case, it is a serious alternative to the much more expensive ES-335. Together with the Starfire IV, Guild added the V and VI models to their catalog in 1963: the "SF-V Starfire Deluxe" differed by its Bigsby vibrato unit, its block fingerboard inlays and the addition of a master volume control, while the fancy "SF-VI Super Starfire" featured a maple-walnut-maple neck, an ebony fingerboard with two-tone abalone inlays, a G- shield headstock inlay and gold plated hardware and Bigsby unit. Throughout their existence, the Starfires have undergone a number of changes, production stops and reintroductions. Since 2013, they have been produced in Korea.
Like the early ES-335 models, the Starfire IV featured a floating bridge, initially a Hagström-made AdjustoMatic with adjustable saddles, mounted on a rosewood base. This was secured to a Guild harp (or lyre) trapeze tailpiece. While the original scale length remained the same at 24-3/4", the body-neck joint shifted in 1967 from the 16th to the 18th fret for better access to the higher positions. All parts, bridge and pickups, were moved towards the neck end of the body, which of course influenced the overall sound of the guitar. A bound rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays covers the set neck made from one piece of mahogany. The mother-of-pearl headstock inlays consist of the arrow type "Guild" logo above the Guild "Chesterfield" crest on black veneer, with a metal "Starfire" truss rod cover screwed on. Initially, the Starfire IV could be obtained in two standard finishes: cherry and, as in this case, sunburst. There is a lot of "buckle rash" on the back of this guitar, just like on the week 28 Starfire III. This Starfire IV has a voice of its own, not only because of the construction where the center block connects top and back, and runs from the neck to the terminal block. Much of its tonal personality is due to the two anti-hum dual coils which sound brighter, sharper, louder, woodier and perhaps rawer than the "PAF"s in an ES 335. The Guild pickups have a lower output combined with just the right amount of smoothness and sparkle, adding up to a seriously complex and versatile sonic palette. The Starfire is highly regarded, especially among blues musicians such as Lightnin’ Hopkins and Buddy Guy. Bluesman Buddy Guy, for example, endorsed this guitar and as such became almost synonymous with the Starfire IV. But at the same time, it has proven itself far beyond the boundaries of the blues. From the dawn of jazz to rock stardom, the Starfire's adaptability is unparalleled. |
Harmony Sovereign H1203 "Western Special" flattop guitar, c. 1972
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A few years before the start of World War II, Harmony took over brand names such as Stella and Sovereign from the bankrupt Oscar Schmidt Company. In 1945 they released the "Sovereign Western Special, model H 1203" and from then on they would use the Sovereign brand for their premium flat tops. Initially, the H1203 had a more figure-eight body line and no pickguard. In 1958, a jumbo model was added: the H1260, which would become even more popular than the H1203 with its smaller body closer to the Martins 000 or OM models. The H1260 was the acoustic of choice for many famous artists. Roscoe Holcomb, Mance Lipscomb, Big Joe Williams, Jimmy Page, Pete Townsend and Keith Richards all used this model to compose and perform their music. These models would be joined by the H1270, a 12-string Sovereign, and the H55, a single-pickup version of the H1203. Some Sovereigns carry other brand names such as "Regal" or "Barclay".
While ladder reinforcement is standard on all Sovereign models, the line is characterized by quality material and craftsmanship. The sitka spruce top is reinforced with five braces: one above the sound hole, two between the sound hole and the bridge plate and two between bridge plate and end block. Honduran mahogany is used for the sides and the back, which is often one-piece. Bridge and fingerboard are Brazilian rosewood, with round mother-of-pearl fret markings. The rosette is composed of multiple black and white plastic "boltaron" rings, not unlike the equivalent Martin 000-28 of the time. The binding includes a simple and elegant single layer on the back and a more elaborate multiple trim on the front. The Sovereigns are finished in a nice gloss that brings out the wood, except for the "shaded" H1265 Deluxe jumbo and the black H1204, both launched towards the end of Harmonys' existence in the US. The quality tuners are Waverly WG31. Like the Stellas and Harmonies of the 1930s with only three braces, the Sovereigns have a sound of their own. Tonally, the H1203 is often compared to Martins: refined, with clear, sparkling highs and pronounced mids. The basses are not as booming as the H1260 with its large jumbo body, but they are sufficiently present. All in all, the H1203 was and is a good alternative to the more expensive Martin and Gibson flattops. |
Hüttl Opus 59, 1960s
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Born in Schönbach in 1921, Wolfgang Hüttl was one of the most creative and extravagant luthiers in Germany. After the expulsion of the Sudetes from Bohemia and Saxony, he settled in Bubenreuth near Erlangen, which after World War II became a center of excellence in the manufacture of stringed instruments. He was married to the daughter of Rosa Klier, owner and leader of the "Klira" company (see week 67). Hüttl employed about 50 people, some of whom were homeworkers. A number of models, such as this Opus 59, were sold through "Leoma", a sales company run by Leopold Müller in Bubenreuth. Hüttl existed until 1983, after having imported guitars from Asia for some years. The founder Wolfgang Hüttl died in 1995. His preference for extravagant designs is reflected in numerous Hüttl models, such as the "OP-Art" and the "Beat 67", both models with rich inlays of fine veneer, or the "Elkompa " (electric compact system) guitars with amplifier and built-in loudspeaker. While solid bodies and flattops were also produced, the most notable are the acoustic and electric archtops, the Opus line being best known.
The “Opus 59” shown here, still available in the “Leoma” catalog of 1969-1970, combines a traditional cutaway outline with eccentric elements such as a striped back and sides in mahogany and maple, and a headstock featuring the same striped design. The original pickguard with similar inlays as well as the tuners have been replaced since. The sound holes in the spruce top show the stylized H-shape typical of Hüttl. The wide and lustruous binding of the body and fingerboard is made of high-quality pearloid. The neck construction of solid maple and mahogany layers is reinforced with a steel rod insert. The tonal qualities of this instrument can be described as full of expression, rich in overtones, voluminous, assertive, not very loud but ideal for strumming jazz chords. The other “Opus” models come forward as show guitars as well: the “60”, with rosewood instead of mahogany for the back and the sides, the red or redburst stained “61” and the “Bella Nova” made especially for the “Lindberg” music store. The “62”, “63” and “64” are archtop electrics. |
Truetone Jazz King (Kay Speed Demon
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The 1961 catalog initiated the downward trend for Kay as a low-end guitar supplier. The share of high-quality acoustics and electrics, mostly archtops, typical of the fifties, would decrease considerably afterwards. The use of bolt-on necks from then on in almost all models is symptomatic in this regard. The introduction of the Vanguards, a line of rather uninspired, cheap-looking solid-body electrics, was another example of this negative evolution. However, these instruments are a favorite of many blues players today. The "Speed Demon" name for these new thinlines had been adopted from a 1950s line of Kay archtops. All in all, this model was a simplified version of the Kay "Pro" (K1992 and 1993), but with three-part sound holes. It was available in three versions: with one (K571), two (K572) or three "speedbump" pickups with humped chrome covers, each controlled by a volume and tone knob. The pickup selector was operated by a rotary switch with a black “chicken head” button.
The three-pickup version was a well selling product listed as the "Jazz King" in the catalog of the Western Auto Supply Company. This was a vendor of auto parts that had become a wholesaler operating in Kansas City, Missouri since 1905, and better known as "Western Auto". In 1960, a year before the Speed Demons were launched, the Truetone brand name was introduced as their registered trademark for musical instruments. The sunburst-finished plywood body was constructed of more or less quilted maple combined with a laminated spruce top, on which were mounted a floating rosewood bridge and a trapeze tailpiece. The maple neck had a rosewood fingerboard with brass frets and large dot inlays. The headstock has the 3 plus 3 Kluson Deluxe tuners with plastic knobs. The lightweight hollow body, combined with the underwound speedbumps, produces beautiful open timbres and plenty of dynamics. The lows and clear highs are very present at the expense of the midrange, leaving the sound quite dark, ideal for open tuning. |
Epiphone Electar,
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Introduced in 1939, the Epiphone Century archtop electric guitar was part of the Century line of electric instruments and amplifiers, including the Century Banjo, Century Mandolin, Electar Century Hawaiian Lap Steel Guitar, and Century Amplifier. They were sold in "complete outfits", usually including the instrument, a case, an amp and a cord. The guitar was available in conventional “Spanish“ and in Tenor and Plectrum configurations. The Century's body width gradually increased after its introduction, from 14.75" wide in 1939 to 16.375" in 1946. Originally, the single "Master" pickup was mounted in the bridge position, but was moved close to the neck in 1946. Between 1950 and 1957, the Century had a "Tone Spectrum pickup" with non-adjustable posts or a so-called "New York pickup" which is a single coil pickup wound sideways. It has an even and subtle sound, which makes it suitable for jazz. After 1958, when Gibson took over, they reworked the old Century into a thinline electric equipped with one P90 pickup.
The Century in this collection features the grand concert format, non-cutaway, single bound, laminated mahogany body. It has a “highlighted mahogany” sunburst finish and not the natural blond also available from 1954 on. There is some buckle damage on the back, illustrating the negligent attitude towards guitars when wearing belts in the past (see also week 28, 33 and 90). The original tortoiseshell or bakelite pickguard is missing, but the height-adjustable rosewood bridge and the trapeze tailpiece are still there. So are the white octagonal volume and tone knobs with pointed facets. The back of the glued-in mahogany neck shows wear and finish checking from years of playing. The rosewood fingerboard has dot inlays, while the metal "bikini" style logo is mounted on the rosewood veneer of the headstock. The original quality individual tuners with plastic buttons are also present, as well as a non-original hook to attach the strap. Can we now call this a budget guitar? The features are certainly simple: a single pickup, non-cutaway archtop with no fancy appointments, making it another good jazz workhorse, in the same range as the Gibson ES125 (week 55), Guild T-50 (week 39) and Gretsch Electromatic Corvette (week 90). In any case, it is a well-made instrument with quality parts installed. |
Migma Elektra,
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As early as 1931, several craft associations were founded in Markneukirchen, which were united in 1943 in the “Musikmaterialen-Handwerker-Genossenschaft Markneukirchen” (Musical Instruments Craftsmen's Cooperative) or Migma for short. After the war, it was merged with the state-owned company “Musikinstrumentenbau Markneukirchen” (Musima), founded in 1953, which functioned as a purchasing and supply cooperative. The craftsmen included here were obliged to sell their production to the cooperative at fixed prices. Since instruments from the USA and Western Europe were difficult to obtain, Musima also distributed electric guitars from the 1960s on. Some of these were made by violin and guitar maker Heinz Seifert along with a handful of collaborators in his workshop in Erlbach. He made both his own designs and copies of western guitars, sold under brand names such as "Favorit Elektric" or "Migma". However, the East German government at that time clearly took a dissuasive attitude towards “Beat Music”, which they described as “Dreck ... vom Westen”(Dirt... from the west). Despite that, enthusiastic musicians were diligently looking for the right gear for their music. Musima thus released numerous variations of just a few main models under different brand names, of which Migma was one. The Elektra Student in the 1964 "Meinel und Herold" catalogue is almost identical to this Migma Elektra, while the "Elektra Star" comes very near to the Herrnsdorf solid guitar from week 72. The quality was usually poor, with thick necks, messy fretwork and bad mechanics. Only from the 1970s, after the GDR government had become more tolerant of rock and pop music, did these instruments increasingly compete with Western products.
This “Elektra” has two single coils manufactured by “Simeto” (short for “Signal Meß- und Tongeräte”) in Klingenthal, as do many "Musima" or "Migma" instruments. They are the older narrow "soap bar" type with white plastic cover, produced between 1961 and 1964. The standard output socket has a fragile plastic base that has already broken off on one side. The control unit consists of a four positions rotary switch and two potentiometers. At first glance you would bet on a pickup selector switch, a tone control and a volume control, but the system is completely different from what was usual in the West. One pot is for adjusting the balance between the two pickups, while the other one is just a volume pot. The selector switch, called "Trickschalter" in the catalogs, allows a choice between different sound options: "banjo" (a high-pass filter), "rhythm" (clear sound with volume pot), "solo" (clear sound) or "shearing" (a low pass filter). The volume pot is engaged in the second position of the selector switch only. It is not clear whether alder or basswood was used for the solid bodies.The rather short sustain and the somewhat dull sound would, according to some, indicate the use of plywood. In any case, the body is coated with colored celluloid, as used in accordion construction. The edge shows a clear transition between the curved sides and the straight front and back. Maple was probably used for the neck, which features a rosewood fingerboard, but no truss rod has been installed. The scale is a short 64 cm. The wooden floating bridge is only adjustable in height, just like on many budget electrics. The vibrato unit with its spring system under the metal cover and the machine heads with oval bases both resemble systems used on some contemporary guitars from the West. |
Fender Mustang, 1965
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Here's another case of naming taken from the auto industry. The Fender Mustang was released in August 1964, a few months after the first iconic Ford factory namesake rolled off the production line. In fact, this guitar is an upgrade of the "Musicmaster" and the "'Duo Sonic" (Week 32), adding a second single coil pickup and a "Dynamic Vibrato" unit designed specially for the new model. The body now had a slightly offset waist line and the color choice was expanded patriotically with blue and white to the standard red. The Mustang has an unusual pickup switching configuration and was originally available in two short scale lengths, This last feature, combined with a relatively low cost and extremely direct tremolo arm made the Mustang a cult guitar in the 1990s. Fender had discontinued both the Mustang and the Musicmaster in 1982, but due to this renewed success, reissues were launched from 1997 onwards.
The two angled single-coil pickups, each with an adjacent on-off-on switch, are very similar to those of the Stratocaster. However their design, and thus their sound, is somewhat different. The pole pieces of these pickups are flush on both the front and the back of the pickup coils. As with many student guitars, aftermarket changes to the electronics, including the single master tone and volume control, are common in many vintage examples. The maple bolt-on neck had a rosewood fingerboard with white dot fingerboard markers. The vibrato combined with a floating bridge as first found on the Jazzmaster is quite sensitive, to the delight of some and the regret to other guitarists.The list of players favouring this model is endless, although the ladies often opt for the Mustang mainly because of its dimensions. Beside Kurt Cobain (again) guitarists such as Norah Jones, PJ Harvey, Liz Phair, Bilinda Butcher (My Bloody Valentine), Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers) have been seen using this model. This well-preserved example comes in an original case with gray and black speckled covering and orange felt inner lining. |
Gretsch Electromatic Corvette
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Gretsch's activities as a drum and banjo maker were supplemented by guitar building in the early 1930s. The first electric Gretsch was the 1939 Electromatic Spanish, actually built by Kay. After a hiatus during World War I, this model was re-released in 1949, now manufactured by Gretsch itself. It was replaced four years later by the Electromatic Corvette, available in sunburst (model no. 6182), initially also in natural (no. 6183) and later in "Jaguar Tan," (6184). 1953 was the year Gretsch released its first solid body guitar. The influence of the automotive industry can be felt through the name of the model, borrowed directly from the Chevrolet Corvette, launched in 1953. However, the Gretsch Corvette was discontinued as early as 1956, at a time when non-cutaway guitars were losing popularity.
Anyway, this guitar is very simple, with a 16 inch wide hollow laminated body with unbound f-holes and a faux tortoiseshell pickguard. Back and sides are maple, but the top can be spruce or, in this case, flamed maple. There is a compensated rosewood bridge and a trapezoidal tailpiece with "GRETSCH" engraved on the hinge. The double bound mahogany neck has a solid C profile and a rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays and 21 frets. On the "Electromatic" headstock we find the characteristic Gretsch "T-roof logo" and a cool "zigzag" motif. The individual open geared Waverly-type tuners are still present. This guitar sounds quite loud for an F-hole guitar, but really comes to life when the single DeArmond Dynasonic pickup near the neck is actuated. It sounds clear and strong and makes this instrument a beautiful Jazzbox. The single volume and tone pots are equipped with cool clear knobs. The corvette was a direct competitor to Gibson's ES125 (Week 55) and Guilds T50 (Week 39). |
Supro “Comet”
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In 1935, three years after the "National Dobro Corporation" was founded, the Supro brand name was introduced for cheaper electrical instruments, including lap steels. It will remain popular well into the 1950s and beyond. In 1942 "National Dobro" changed to the "Valco Company" named after its owners Victor Smith, Al Frost and Louis Dopyera. In 1947 they adopted a new serial number system, starting with a letter indicating the year of manufacture. That year the Supro “Comet” is introduced as model no. 1410. It will remain in production until 1966, during which time it will undergo a number of changes such as the addition of a black cover over the pick-up, bridge and tailpiece and the replacement of the bakelite control knobs with plastic ones made by Daka-ware. In addition to the "Supro" labels, the comet can be found with the "Gretsch" and "Oahu" logos. In the Gretsch 1948 catalog it is referred to as the "Electromatic 'student' guitar", for $46,75, with a fitting case available for $9.
Although it is a fairly simple instrument, the descriptions in the catalogs are bursting with enthusiasm. According to the 1948 Supro catalog, its features seem unsurpassed: “Durable Glossy Plastic Finish is washable”, “Rich Suede Non-Slip Friction Back Panel”, “Twin-Coil 'Locked-Power' Unit is Hum-Free”, “Scientifically Designed Knobs Turn Freely” and more.The serial number on the example in this collection, starting with a “V”, indicates it was made in 1949, just before the gray pearloid finish changes to white pearloid. Both the guitar and the original "Geib" case are in good condition. Despite the Art Deco-style position markers, it doesn't look as fancy as some of Valco's models with a ”National” brand. There is no socket to plug in a regular guitar cable, instead the cord is permanently attached to the body. The hardware is nickel-plated with 3+3 single-line Kluson tuners. There is a "chicken head" and a round bakelite control knob, both black. The pickup with its adjustable pole pieces is the famous Valco "strings thru" type, the same Ry Cooder had built into his legendary "Coodercaster". It has great punch and a sinewy, glassy twang, pushing small tube amps into moderate overdrive with a good cut and rich harmonic content. |
Maccaferri model R20 “Romancer”, c. 1960
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Mario Maccaferri was born in 1900 in Cento, Northern Italy and learned instrument making in his hometown with Luigi Mozzani. Maccaferri is famous for his typical gipsy swing guitar, designed in 1923 for distributor Selmer in Paris. Belgian guitarist Django Reinhardt almost exclusively used Selmer guitars, and thus contributed to Mario’s fame. Less known are Maccaferri’s later activities as an inventor and businessman with a firm belief in plastic. He made fortunes during World War II and after selling plastic clothespins and other utensils. By the end of the war he had started making plastic wind instrument reeds and from then on he used this new material to produce not only intercom devices but also guitars, violins and other instruments as well. He sold more than 9 million plastic ukuleles between 1949 and 1969.
The Romancer (model R20), a small classic style guitar, was introduced in 1957, featuring Maccaferri’s patented tuners and typical headstock design. The construction method, with the body and neck being a single plastic unit reinforced with wood inside, was closer to the ukuleles than to the G30 andG40. The silk-screened decorations on the front read like cartoons in a comic book, showing how popular the guitar was in the 1950s, and how successful someone with a guitar could get with the girls. It's all in the name: "Romancer". The instrument was clearly designed as an affordable and playable option for young adults. Nevertheless, it's closer to being a toy than Maccaferri wanted to believe. The plastic frets and basic neck construction say it all. Production ended around 1969. |
Hofner 500/1
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The collection doesn't include many bass guitars, but this one just had to be part of it. Paul McCartney bought his first Hofner 500/1 because it was cheap, nearly $200 less than a Fender bass at the time. He soon discovered the advantages of the instrument. It was lightweight, easy to play, sounded and looked good even when held in the "upside down" position, as he did, as a left-handed player. This short-scale semi-acoustic bass was designed in 1955 by Walter Hofner himself and launched at the 1956 Frankfurt Music Fair as an alternative to the double bass. McCartney first bought an early 1961 model, often called "Cavern bass", at a music store in Hamburg. It featured the two pickups closer together, near the heel of the neck. Hofner was one of the first to offer left-handed instruments at no extra charge. McCartney eventually acquired a second 500/1: a 1963 model that became his main instrument, keeping the original as a backup.
For marketing reasons, the model 500/1 was originally called "violin bass". However, the body resembles a viola d'amore without sound holes due to the low rib height, straight corners and sloping shoulders. Either way, it's built with woods and construction methods close to those used by makers at Höfners and elsewhere producing violins. The arched back, ribs and set neck are all crafted from maple and paired with an arched spruce top. The wood chosen for the fingerboard is rosewood, while the adjustable two-piece bridge is ebony. The strings are attached to a sturdy metal tailpiece. The instrument was aimed at double bass players, looking for a more portable instrument, and indeed it is very light and easy to play, thanks to the short scale length, hollow body construction and double bass-like characteristics. The Beatle Bass has a control layout typical of early Hofner guitars: two pots and three slide switches, one for tone control and two for pickup selection. The example presented here features flat-wound strings that produce a distinctive deep sound similar to an upright double bass. When deep, driving bass is desired, the iconic 500/1 is a good choice. |
Bay state mandolin Style 2 ½, c. 1900
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The success of the mandolin around 1900 is reflected in the number of publicity advertisements. On November 1899 the Music Trade Review wrote: “The “Bay State" mandolins are selling freely this season in all styles. The illustration shows new style No. 2 of 1899, with rosewood body, having nineteen strips with white inlay between each strip. The sound-holes and edges are inlaid with fancy colored wood inlay. The guard plate is of imitation tortoise shell. The neck is of mahogany with ebony veneered head. The "Bay State" mandolins are finding especial favor in the eyes of professionals, their indorsers including Prof. George Barker, of Boston, I. W. Niles, Miss Amelia Luigi and many other well-known artists of high rank.” Bay State guitars and mandolins were made by the John C. Haynes Company in Boston. John C. Haynes was born there in 1829 and in 1848 he started working for Oliver Ditson, a music publisher. When Ditson was expanding by opening spin-off companies across the country, including Lyon & Healy in Chicago in 1864, Haynes opened a music store in his own name and began making guitars around 1887. The Haynes workshop became the manufacturing wing of Ditson & Co. around 1891, at a time when Haynes himself ran the company. This lasted until 1904, when Oliver Ditson stopped sales to become an agent of Lyon and Healy. Three years later John C.Hayes died at the age of 80.
The Hayes Company had been in the mandolin business since the 1890s, when they offered four mandolin models. Although Haynes outsourced some of its production and imported his violins from Europe, the mandolins and guitars were made in-house, all under the Bay State brand name. So is this fine example with the number "2 ½" engraved below the "Bay State" decal on the back of the headstock. The label reads "Bay State Warranty Certificate. This Instrument is Warranted for one Year against imperfect or defective material. If any part proves defective in that time, we will replace it in the factory without charge". This mandolin has a Brazilian rosewood bowl back and a spruce top bound with fancy purfling around the edge and the soundhole. Rosewood is less common on old American mandolins, but it is perfectly suited to bowlbacks as it gives a little more warmth and sweetness. Dyed maple or ebony bowlbacks produce a harder, denser sound with more low-end resonance. This Bay State actually sounds surprisingly akin to vintage Martin mandolins: rich and focused in the midrange era. It has a simple ladder bracing and the bowl itself is lined with gauze to strengthen the rib joints. The mahogany neck has an ebony fingerboard with mother-of-pearl dots and crosses. The tailpiece, with “Pat. Apl’d for” stamp, has lost its cover. The "Waverly" tuners are still working great. |
Dynacord Jazz tube amplifier, c. 1965
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In 1945, Werner Pinternagel established a radio repair shop in Pilsting, Germany, where he built his first tube amplifier by hand. The following year, he founded the Dynacord company in Straubing, specializing in stage technology such as guitar amps and reverb units. Combo amps were big sellers in the 50s and 60s. For example, the DA 15 model, which has been in production for more than ten years, has sold more than 70,000 units. The company also developed and built guitars. Launched in 1965, the audacious "Cora" model featured a metal frame instead of the usual wooden body and was available in chrome and gold-plated versions. The accessories and electronics were partly purchased elsewhere. In 1969, Werner Pinternagel sold his company to nine shareholders, including some German families, with Hans Bauer, previously owner of Echolette (see week 80), being the most important with 50%. Then, in 1990, Dynacord was sold to Telex Communications, based in the US, and it still operates in the US and Germany, with Bosch as its parent company.
The "Jazz" model tube combo amp was developed in the late 1950s and was available in a few different versions in the 1960s: with 8-inch speakers or with single or dual 10-inch speakers. They could be had in various combinations of light and dark grey, red and black, and an amp head model was also offered. This one from the mid-1960s, with one 7.5 ohm 10-inch Dynacord speaker, has a dark gray cabinet and a black chassis. It has two extremely simple channels, one with both a din and a jack connection. They have a common tone pot, and separate volume for each channel. However, the great peculiarity of this assembly is that there is a direct interaction between the two channels: by increasing the volume of the second channel, the sound produced on channel 1 deepens gently in the treble region and rises to a smooth crunch. So with just three knobs to turn, you can get a wide palette of different sounds. One ez81, one el84 and two ecc83 tubes work together to produce approximately 16 watts of powerful, perfectly defined, velvety and warm sounds. There is nothing to indicate that space for electronics was limited in order to make the amplifier as small and light as possible. Weighing in at approximately 12kg, Dynacord continued the trend they had started with the “Bass King” model, which is highly sought after by bassists for precisely this reason. |
Gibson Melody Maker, c. 1965
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In 1959, Gibson released their cheapest solid body electric guitar ever: the Melody Maker. It was so straight forward and simple that anyone on a budget could buy one. Because it sold so easily, Gibson was able to produce this model in large numbers and for many young Americans this was the first guitar they owned. While Gibson's standard of 24.75 inches was applied, a short 18.56-inch scale ¾ version was developed especially for children. To achieve this, the neck joined the body at the twelfth fret and the bridge was moved further down. Melody makers had a slab-style mahogany body similar to the early Les Paul Junior model, but thinner, combined with a one-piece mahogany neck. In 1961 the original single cutaway body was replaced with a symmetrical double cutaway outline, called the "Melody Maker D" (double cutaway) design. Different versions were offered with one or two pickups, and available with a sunburst finish as before, though some where in cherry red now. In 1963 the body became larger and more rounded on the edges. Now the cherry finish was standard, until 1965. That year Gibson replaced the traditional single cutaway Les Paul with the double cut SG, so they redesigned the Melody Maker accordingly using the SG body style, and released it as such in 1966, now available in a variety of new finishes. The color of the pickguard and pickup covers also changed from black to white. When the guitar market collapsed in 1970, Gibson stopped producing the Melody Maker, but from 1977 on, the model was revived at various points over the years.
All Melody Makers, including this one in cardinal red, had the electronics mounted on the pickguard. In this case, two single coil pickups, a toggle switch and an input jack, and one volume and tone control are provided. The strings are attached to a wrap-a-round bridge-and-tailpiece unit. The neck with its unbound rosewood fingerboard with dot markers is glued in. In order to save wood during production, the very slim headstock is not much wider than the neck itself. This guitar belongs to the category of student guitars from that era, together with the Gibson Junior, the Fenders Musicmaster and Mustang, the Gretsch Corvette and the Epiphone Olympic, all solid electronics on a budget, made by leading American manufacturers. Red was clearly the color of choice. The Epiphone (Week 25) comes closest to this Melody Maker; it has the same type of pickups and is very similar in sound, although perhaps a little more substantial. Both guitars produce strong fundamentals and solid mids. While the Melody Maker's sound isn't very heavy and fat, it can be punchy and crunchy, with a nice round, warm, bell-like tone. Despite its limitations, this lightweight model is at its best in garage rock, blues, pop, punk or indie live music, and is a good choice if you want to play slide guitar. |
Couesnon Gypsy Swing guitar, c. 1956
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Mirecourt, in the east of France, has been a center of instrument making for centuries. The emphasis was on violin making, but guitars and mandolins were also part of the tradition. Fretted instruments even became core business after the Second World War for a number of workshops that were previously mainly engaged in violin making. One of them was Couesnon. In 1887 Amédée Couesnon became head of the Paris-based company Gautrot Ainé & Cie. This company had many years of experience manufacturing woodwind and brass instruments and had only recently started producing stringed instruments. In 1914 the company, now named after its new leader, had six factories across France, with Mirecourt as the production site for stringed instruments. The Mirecourt workshops began to weaken during the Great Depression and were particularly affected by the outbreak of World War II. After the war, industrial instrumentation made enormous and rapid advances in technical innovations, and the weakened giants of Mirecourt could not stand their ground efficiently. Couesnon went bankrupt in 1967.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the survival strategy for many stringed instrument makers, including Couesnon, was to jump into the guitar market. Their classical guitars were endorsed by Ida Presti and Alexandre Lagoya, and their metal-string guitars were at times high quality products with spruce tops, ebony fingerboards and maple backs, sides and necks. However, most of the time the standard was not that high. A wide selection of guitar models were released, most of them flat tops, often focusing on the gypsy swing-playing style popular in France at the time, but no electrics could be found. The sound holes had many different shapes: F's, musical notes, flames and circles, and the same goes for the cutouts: flat, rounded or sharp. As time goes on, the impact of American designs became apparent. Like most non-classical Couesnon guitars, the instrument shown here is equipped with a metal tailpiece. Sometimes slothead and even one-in-a-row tuners were used, but in this case the mechanics are simple three-plus-three devices. The rosette consists of a series of black and white strips, with similar binding around the spruce top. Despite its simplicity, the tone of this instrument is quite satisfying, with some firm mids and great projection. The sound is very dry, with very little overtones and clear, strong fundamentals. |
Old Kraftsman (Kay K161 model), c. 1954
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Kay was a pioneer of the electric guitar. As early as 1928, when the company was still called "Stromberg-Voisinet", the first commercial electric was produced: the Stromberg Electro. This spirit of innovation was kept up since, so when the first cutaway electronics appeared around 1950, the company could not stay behind. The first K 161 was probably constructed in 1951, but the model only appeared in Kay's catalog the next year. It was produced continuously until 1959 and was arguably the best known and most successful Kay electric from the 1950s. Two of the greatest blues artists are associated with it: Howlin' Wolf and Jimmy Reed. Both were photographed holding a K161, and on Reed's album "I'm Jimmy Reed" it has a prominent place on the cover, leaning against a chair. Howlin’ Wolf's instrument is now on display in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
It was called the "Thin Twin" in the Kay catalogs. Though a bit thinner and smaller than most hollow body jazz guitars at the time (70mm deep), it owes its name to the two thin blade pickups, which are actually large single coils partially hidden under the pickguard, with only the top exposed, thus resembling Danelectro's 'lipstick' pickups somehow. Kay had used these pickups on various electrics since the 1940s, including the K162 Pro Bass, the second electric bass ever on the market after Fender's "Precision Bass". These pickups are partly responsible for the characteristic clean yet gutsy sound of the K161, but the wooden construction does the rest. The hollow body without sound holes has two strong parallel wooden beams that run down the center below the pickups, reducing feedback and providing plenty of sustain, making this model one of the best guitars Kay has ever released. More than six years later, Gibson will use a similar interior structure for its successful “ES335”. The Thin Twins were sold by a number of “jobbers” under different brand names such as Silvertone, Kamico, Gagliano, Sherwood Deluxe, Orpheum or Old Kraftsman. The Silvertone version, from the Sears catalogue, was less fancy, with a sunburst finish and a less ornate white headstock veneer and pickguard. Most of the other versions, including the Old Kraftsman shown here - made for the wholesaler Spiegel - looked at least as luxurious as Kay's own version. The choice of wood was first class: a flamed maple body, mahogany ribs and a flat spruce top with a rosewood bridge on two threaded studs. The glued neck has a bound fingerboard with block inlays and Kluson Deluxe machine heads. The distinctive striped tortoiseshell pickguard serves as the basis for the three position selector switch and two volume and two tone the controls. Since 2009 several different reissues of the Thin Twin are available. |
B&J "The Serenader" tenor guitar by Harmony,
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Here's a second tenor guitar from the collection. Four-string guitars tuned in fifths had been made previous to the tenor banjo wave that started around 1920, but the golden era of tenor guitar got going after the 1929 Wall Street crash. Suddenly, the vibrant, rhythmic sound of the banjo had become too optimistic and too superficial for most, and the sweeter sounding, more discrete guitar gained popularity. For the numerous mandolinists and banjoists, who were used to playing in fifths, the tenor guitar was the best option to keep up with the new trend, without having to start from scratch. In addition, this instrument had its very own sound compared to the “normal” six string guitar. Harmony, like many other manufacturers, soon started making four string versions of their regular models, and they even developed new tenor guitar lines with suitable proportions. According to common practice, these instruments were mostly distributed by “jobbers” who wanted their own house-brand on the headstock. One was Bügeleisen & Jacobson from New York, who had been selling all kinds of musical instruments since 1901. They used the “Serenader” brand on guitars, banjo’s, mandolins, ukuleles etc. made by Kay, Oscar Schmidt, National, Regal … and Harmony. For more fancy models the “S.S. Stewart” trademark was applied. The company closed in the early 1970s.
This tenor guitar is related to Harmony’s “Vogue model B” six string, with similar f-holes interrupted near the circular ends. In Harmony's 1940 catalog the tenor version is described as follows: “No. 1773 – Extra Auditorium size arched tenor guitar with cello type f-holes. Birch body with resonant spruce top. Deep ebony black finish, highly polished, with wine color sunburst effect on front. Matches Vogue guitar No. 1273. Hardwood neck : 23’’ scale rosewood fingerboard. Adjustable bridge. Heavy nickel-plated tailpiece. Large tortoise-shell celluloid guardplate. Each …$ 19.50.” These models were also sold as “G.B. Walters” in the US, and as "Columbian" by Selmer in the UK. The B&J serenader version is slightly different and less fancy: no spruce top, a flat back, sunburst and faux flame finish all around, and a black pickguard. The scale length is the same as on most tenor guitars by Harmony, but the dimensions of the narrow short neck and the wide sound box is somewhat out of proportion. But isn't this true for most tenor guitars based on six string versions, like Martins R-18T archtop for example, that looks very similar to this Serenader after all? |
Klemt echolette NG51/S tape-echo effect, c. 1965
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The first echo effects in the 1950s and 1960s were based on a continuous loop of recording tape revolving around a recording head, an erasing head, and a number of playback heads to create delays of varying lengths. The British Watkins-WEM “Copicat” - also to be found in this collection - and the German made Klemt Echolette NG51 - known as the “golden box” - were the best-selling Echo units in Europe. The circuit of the NG5, produced from 1960 to 1967, was the more advanced one, however, as it had three playback heads, the output volume of which could be varied independently of one another, resulting in an infinite number of irregular return echoes. Another plus point of the Echolette was the good sounding tube preamplifier, which resulted in a rich, thick, warm echo. It added everything from juicy tube tones at lower levels to a hefty swath of saturated harmonic overtones when turned up. No wonder leading artists like The Beatles, Hank Marvin, Chuck Berry and Jeff Beck all used the Echolette S NG51 on stage or in the studio.
These well built devices were manufactured by Klemt. Arthur Klemt founded the company in the 1930s in Olching near Munich under the name "Radio Klemt" and sold, repaired and serviced radio equipment. Around 1955, an orchestral musician named Hans Bauer suggested to the Klemt company to manufacture four-channel mixer amplifiers for instruments and vocals, soon followed by loudspeakers, bass amplifiers, instrument cases, microphones and the tape echo and reverb units of the NG series. In 1969 the prefix "Klemt" disappeared from the logo when the series was bought by "Dynacord". The "Echolette" brand was discontinued in 1981. The 3 input sockets are 3 pole dins, while a 5 pole din is installed for the output and for the remote control. Four ECC83 (12AX7) tubes and a single ECC82 (12AU7) were used, resulting in nice tape modulation, saturation, and when driving hard, frequency controlled delay distortion. |
Egmond “Typhoon”, “Tempest” or …”?”
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This weekly series started with an Egmond guitar. Here's another one. But first let me say a little more about the history of this company. When Uilke Egmond retires from the Dutch Railways in 1933 at the age of 55, he decides to give violin lessons in order to earn some more money. His son Gerard Egmond soon joins him and they open a music store together, first in Valkenswaard and a few years later in Eindhoven. After the Second World War, all four Egmond brothers take part and found the “Musical Instrument Factory Musica”. Given their success, they open a new plant in the town of Best in 1959, producing up to 200,000 guitars per year and offering nearly 250 different guitar models. Their instruments bear over 40 different brand names such as Caledonie, Wilson or Miller, and some are sold as "Rosetti" in the UK. For thousands, Egmond is the first acquaintance with the guitar. These are not the least: Paul McCartney, Brian May, Rory Galagher, Garry Moore, Peter Koelewijn…. However, after 1970 the market collapses and seven years later Egmond is bankrupt.
This red guitar, issued on the Fender Jazzmaster like so many others at the time, is quite playable and good sounding, despite the rather thick beechwood neck and cheap hardware. Honestly I don't know what model this is. It has the looks you often see on "Typhoon" basses by Egmond: the body is covered in red "Rivièra" vinyl and the matching headstock is painted red. And it has the same electronic configuration: three pots and no switch, mounted on a dark gray "mother-of-pearl" pickguard. The vibratone tailpiece (model 6/319) is the same as on the Egmond “Typhoon” guitars, but these have chamfered bodies and a different type of pickups. Then again the two single-coil pickups and the completely solid body are reminiscent of the “Tempest”. So this doesn't appear to be either model, and I haven't found an image of an instrument that fully matches the one in this collection. However, it seems that all the elements belonged together from the start and there are no traces of anything being altered or put together afterwards. Maybe it was a model specially made for the US, since that's where I found it. Or maybe this is just one of a kind. In that case Egmond's advertising slogan is certainly appropriate here: “a guitar is a personality”... |
Stella mandolin (by Oscar Schmidt),
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The first two decades of the previous century the mandolin was hugely popular, even more so than the banjo. In the decades before 1900 the mandolin had moved to America with Italian immigrants, but one event had particularly accelerated its success: in 1880 a group of Spanish students toured the US with bandurrias, but American audiences became interested in mandolins, thinking this was the Instrument that these students were playing. At the turn of the century more than 10,000 mandolins in various stages of construction could be found at Lyon & Healy’s,, all of the traditional bowl-back type. Mandolin orchestras became meeting places for us citizens and newly arrived immigrants, and contributed to a strong sense of community. The Oscar Schmidt company jumped on this profit wagon on time. On September 26, 1903, the Music Trade Review reports: “Mr. Schmidt has won an excellent reputation as a manufacturer of zithers, mandolins, mandolin-harps and the tremolina-mandolin, a recent addition of his own invention.“ After the First World War, however, the mandolin will be surpassed in popularity by the banjo and the guitar.
This no-frills American bowlback must have been below on the list at Oscar Schmidts. With only nine ribs and no binding, this mandolin is as simple as can be. It is poorly finished with lots of tool marks still visible. Scratches, pitting and dark spots, and a layer of fake black dust prove it was antiqued from the beginning, thus concealing the imperfections. The fingerboard is the usual stained maple. The only decoration present is the floral motif inlay in the pickguard, which is bulging up in some places due to age. The original label is visible through the oblong sound hole, simply reading: “Stella mandolin”. Yes, and there are dark wood inlayed strips along the bowl, and two pearl dot position markers. That’s about it. But that doesn't mean this ugly duck doesn't sound and play well. Probably it performs even better than some of the very ornate instruments of its kind. Oscar Schmidt roundbacks do have longer and deeper bodies than other contemporary American makes. It's slightly narrower than most other American bowlbacks, so it feels pretty comfortable in the lap and less topsy-turvy. Oscar Schmidt “tatter bugs” often feel a bit "stiff", but they are surprisingly vibrant and loud, just like their guitars. The tone is sweet and sustained with that classical clarity one expects from a nicer bowlback. The basses are quite present and the overall sound is balanced. So here we have another affordable workhorse. |
Proto-banjo after the “Haitian Banza” preserved in the Cité de la Musique in Paris
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The collection includes a number of objects that illustrate what came before 1920 and after 1970, this forerunner of the American banjo being just one example. The banjo originated in West Africa. Nearly sixty different types of plucked string instruments are related to this symbol of American culture, all with long necks that pass through the body and under the skin head. The percussive West African playing style is also reflected in the "clawhammer stroke" style, which is still very popular in American banjo picking. The instruments were brought to the Americas by African slaves and have been in use in the Caribbean since the seventeenth century. The earliest eighteenth-century written references to the banjo in America describe it as an instrument with a gourd body, covered with animal hide or skin, a fretless neck and strings. A few works of art and one or two extant instruments, one of them being the Haitian "banza," give a slightly more detailed image: the proto-banjo had four strings, one of which was shorter, as with some ancient African precursors. Over the course of the nineteenth century, banjos quickly changed from purely homemade folk instruments with skin heads attached to gourds or to easy-to-find wooden boxes such as grain measures and the like, to instruments of more modern style and construction. A fifth string was added on the treble side.
In 1841, a French abolitionist named Victor Schoelcher brought back several musical instruments from Haiti. These were part of his personal collection in Paris until he donated them to the “Musée du Conservatoire de Musique” in Paris. They were boxed and stored until 1997. That year Philippe Bruguière, curator of “non-European” instruments at the new Museum of Music at La Villette, found a gourd covered with an animal skin, with an inscription describing it as a "banza", the instrument of the "nègres” of Haiti. Shortly afterwards, he found the neck. When Saskia Willaert, curator at the Musical Instruments Museum in Brussels, was looking for material for the "Banjo!" exhibition in 2003, she realized the importance of this "banza" to the history of the American banjo and wrote an essay about it. Pete Ross traveled to Europe to measure and photograph the instrument inside and out. Since then he has made a number of replicas, thus inspiring many American makers, scholars and players. The banza I made is not an exact copy of the instrument in the “Cité de la Musique” in Paris. It has five strings now, but can easily be converted back to a more traditional three plus one short string banjo. The neck is tilted back slightly to make it easier to play for musicians accustomed to modern banjo standards. But other than that it's pretty true to its source: a gourd body with a skin attached by means of round tacks, a a fretless neck - maple in this case - running through the gourd, a leather tailpiece and gut strings, or nylon strings that give the same feeling. The friction pegs and the absence of a nut are also reminiscent of the original. The one ornament in the middle of the neck, in the form of three palm leaves, composed of side by side holes punched with an awl, has an interesting history to it: an ancient song in Haitian Vodou tradition refers to this symbol, and some slave singers got their name from it, as illustrated in this old recite: On avait même vu une esclave de l’habitation Lefeuve, maîtresse du procureur, donner à la Saint-Louis un repas de 400 couverts, servi en vaisselle plate et égayé par les chants des chanteurs publics, Trois-Feuilles et Grand Simone, dont les banzas (guitares) étaient garnis de doublons. (“There was even a case where the slave of the Lafeuve plantation, the mistress of the plantation manager, held — on the feast of Saint-Louis — a dinner with 400 plates, served on flatware, and enlivened by the songs of the public singers Three Leaves and Grande Simone, whose banzas (guitars) were garnished with doubloons”). |
Hagström II, 1965
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The Hagström company, founded in 1925 by Albin Hagström (1905–1952), initially began importing accordions from Germany and Italy. In 1932 Albin decided to start manufacturing his own line of accordions at a facility in Älvdalen, Sweden. He founded a number of accordion schools that are estimated to have taught over 70,000 people. In the early 1940s, however, as accordion sales declined, the company began diversifying into acoustic steel-string and classical guitars, producing its first electric, the Hagstrom “De Luxe”, in 1958. Often sparkle and pearloid celluloid finishes and stamped metal logos were used, and push-switches were preferred over potentiometers, all repurposed elements adopted from Hagströms accordion making tradition. Another notable feature was the innovative aerospace-designed "H-Expander™" truss rod, which resulted in an unusually thin neck construction and allowed the guitar to be adjusted to a much lower action. The company often used this “invention” of the "world's fastest playing neck” to promote their guitars: “You must let your fingers literally fly up and down this revolutionary neck ...for fast fingering action ... for smoother, easier playing along the entire fingerboard ...for the lowest string action, … a rhythmic miracle from Hagström”. In 25 years, between 1958 and 1983, Hagström sold around 130,000 electric guitars that found their way around the world, often owing details to some Gibson or Fender models, but some with whole own designs. After other guitar makers relocated their production lines to Asia, production for Hagström guitars made in Sweden unfortunately ended in 1983. In 2004, however, the brand was brought back onto the market and is now produced in China.
According to the serial number on the neck plate, starting with 632, this "daphne blue" dual pickup Hagström II was made in 1965. Merson, the importer for the USA, gave the Hagström's alternative names. This model was called the "F200" while the three-pickup version, distributed in Europe as the “H III”, was called the "F300" in the USA. These models, with their Gibson SG-inspired bodies and Fender-style headstocks, lasted from 1964 to 1976. The ultra-slim necks were covered, as usual, with unbound rosewood fingerboards, a two-screw-held string retainer was fitted, and the tuners were Van Ghents. All Hagström II and III’s had the same basic electronics: an on / off switch for each pickup, a mute and a tone switch, and one potentiometer for volume. The connector was now a separate Stratocaster type output jack, more durable than on previous models. The body was made of solid birch with a red, blue, white, black or sunburst polyester finish. In 1966, the "rounded" pickups were replaced by new rectangular ones and more tightly spaced controls without a metal mounting plate. Hagstrom pickups and tailpieces were also used at times by other manufacturers, such as Guild, who equipped some of their guitars and basses on a large scale with Hagström parts in the 1960s, or Harmony, who used the vibrato unit on their H17. |
Aldens (by Harmony) Stratotone H-45,
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“I found myself in a second-hand guitar”. This is the first line of rising star Lianne la Havas' title song for her new album "Is Your Love Big Enough?" The album's backbone is her Aldens model 9908 "Stratotone", made by Harmony in the early 1960s. Her love for this instrument is certainly big enough to call it her favorite: "I've had it for a year now and I can't imagine playing any other guitar". And she adds, "never would’ve picked it out just by looking at it". The guitar we're talking about here is an H45 "Stratotone" model, made by Harmony. The "A" logo in a crest stenciled on the headstock stands for Alden (or Aldens), a Chicago-based mail order company, which was the fourth largest of its kind by the 1950s. Like Sears and Montgomery Wards, Aldens bought guitars from Harmony and other mainly Chicago-based makers to sell in their catalogs. Around 1964 Alden started using the Holiday brand, which can be found on many Harmonies. With the rise of malls in the 1960s to 1970s, shopping became a leisure activity and mail order companies could no longer compete. The Alden catalog finally folded in 1982.
This is a light and handy electric guitar. It looks like a solid body, but has a chambered body without sound holes, giving a surprisingly resonant and very responsive sound. Like most Danelectros or Alamos, it looks cheap, despite the white celluloid bindings on the front and back of the body. The bolt-on short neck - very common on budget guitars - with built-in steel reinforcement bar and an unbound rosewood fingerboard, is cunky, and only 43 mm wide at the nut. There is an adjustable bridge, a short hinged tailpiece and a set of 3 plus 3 open-back tuners. There's a tone and volume control and a slide switch that allows for quick change: it turns the tone knob on and off, squeezing a rhythm-treble sound out of a one pickup setup, thus providing a variety of cool tones. This is made possible in no small part by the De Armond single coil pickup referred to as the "Hershey Bar" or "candy bar", which is sturdy without losing definition. In this case, it's not too "hot" like some other DeArmonds that produce too much distortion or even feedback, leaving the choice between milder rhythm, blues, and jazz tones on the one hand, and beefed up sounds with a booster or overdrive pedal for a hotter, rougher sound. Vintage Stratotones are known for their surprisingly good tone. Lianne la Havas : “I like that it's almost harp-like when you go up the neck, and also kind of piano-y. It’s got a roundness to the tone.” Of all the budget guitars in my collection, this one is also my favorite. Around 1963, the exterior features of the model were slightly changed: the "A" logo disappeared, the guitar was given a "tuxedo finish" - black with gold glitter - and a pinstripe and "atomic note" graphic was added to the pickguard , which now ran under the single pick-up. The Stratotone "Mars" version was born. |
Famos semi-acoustic archtop, c. 1960
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Famos was the largest guitar manufacturer in the Netherlands in the 1950s and 60s, after Egmond. In fact it was a brand name used by the company “Venlonia”, founded in 1939 by violin maker Harry (or Hay) Schreurs (1921-2002) in Venlo. After WWII, mainly guitars were built and as the guitar market increased, production also grew. In 1959, a larger factory is moved into, where 16 employees produce several thousand guitars a year under the names Famos, Top Tuner, Unicon, Magic and Venlonia. Solid bodies are usually branded “Magic”, while “Famos” tends to be reserved for flattops and acoustic or semi-acoustic archtops. The quality was generally not high, due to the use of less suitable materials such as beech wood or plywood, but also due to substandard techniques, for example for the neck insert. Initially, pickups with oak shells were used, later replaced by plastic covers. Elements sliding along a rail were also developed. The instruments were intended for domestic use as well as for export, including to Belgium and France. In the 1970s, when the guitar market became saturated, Hay Schreurs closed the factory and only a chain of shops for musical instruments remained.
The white Famos from the collection is a typical product from the Venlonia factory. The neck and fingerboard are beech, while the body, including the pick guard, is made of pressed plywood. The off-white finish is enhanced by painted-on “binding” for the top and the f-holes. The fingerboard with brass frets is blackened and the dot markers are in white paint. Typical for Famos is the shape of the 3 plus 3 tuners with idiosyncratic white buttons. The black-topped metal pickup is controlled via volume and tone knobs, and the output plug is the old “dyn” type, making connection to old radios or tape recorders easy. All in all, this guitar is still in good condition and quite usable, and it comes most into its own in gypsy swing music. |
Kay K5113 flattop,
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The K5113 "Plains Special" debuted in 1957, along with a range of other flattops such as the wide 6100 "Country Dreadnought", which repaced the K6000, Elmore James acoustic of choice . The “pop-culture” folk revival was still in its infancy, so both models were quite successful. The K5113, based on the Martin 000 Auditorium models, would last until the end of the Chicago Kay factories in 1968. The main competitor on the market was the Harmony H162, which came very close to the Martin 000-18 for example. Both the Harmony and Kay feature well figured spruce tops and mahogany back and sides, although Harmony, in its own tradition, chose solid wood, while Kay was more into plywood. Both guitars had rosewood bridges and fingerboards without binding, while the bodies had tortoise binding front and back. The headstocks had similar center pointed head designs, later replaced by a more "modern" circle segment for the K5113. There are only minor differences in the contours of the headstock and the body, with the Kay’s upper bouts being a bit narrower and squarer and the head slightly wider. Also, the Kay is equipped with brass frets.
The "pseudo Kelvinator" aka "T" logo allows us to date this guitar some time between 1961 and 1965, while the stamp inside ("L9803") doesn't reveal much more. Sound wise, the Kay may lack a bit of bass and overall openness, due to the use of laminate woods and ladder bracing, but the sound that comes out perfectly reflects the spirit of the "folk" revival, when picking or strumming old style country or blues music. A tenor version was also available, from Wabash for example, soon to be featured on “Instrument of the Week”. |
Herrnsdorf solid body guitar, c. 1955
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The electric guitars made by the Herrnsdorf company in Markneukirchen since 1953 show great courage and imagination, more than the average instruments from the Eastern bloc (see also week 9). It is not clear when the company first built solid guitars, but given the boldness of the designs, and the materials used, this started probably pretty early on. The sturdy body outline of this small instrument, finished with a gray glitter layer, looks very special because of the black binding, but especially because of the straight line in the lower curve, intended to facilitate fitting the straigt socket with the brand name “Lanco”. This is the old type of socket that was also used for connecting to the currency network. These sockets for “double banana plugs” are also found in old radios and tape recorders of the time, and it was common to plug in electric guitars to such devices. After all, the purchase of a separate guitar amplifier was not easy for most, even though the Herrnsdorf company itself manufactured some. The practice of using straight power plugs was short-lived, however, because it was life-threatening if the guitar was plugged directly into the wall sockets, out of sheer habit or ignorance. Otherwise the electronics, mounted on a black pickguard, are not extraordinary: a three-position rotary switch to select the two Rellog pickups separately or together, and two pots, all three with black knobs. A tremolo system with a very short handle guides the strings to a height-adjustable wooden bridge. Three plus three tuners, decorated with beautiful floral motifs, are attached to the white-rimmed black headstock. The mahogany neck features a rosewood fingerboard with round markers and white bindings. Despite its small size, the guitar exudes a certain quality and looks little used, just like the original case that bears both the “Herrnsdorf” and the store brand: “Ernst Rudolf Glier gegr. 1884 Musikinstrumente-Saiten Markneukirchen/Sa. August-Bebel-Str. 23”.
The name Glier has long been an established name in the Markneukirchen instrument making community. Between 1677 and 1772 Gliers were accepted into the guild of instrument makers. The string factory C. G. Glier & Sohn, founded in 1830, can be followed up until 1929-1930. From 1891 to 1894 Ernst Rudolf Glier (1862-1930) teached zither making to Richard Jacob (1877-1960) who also lived and worked in Markneukirchen, and who is considered one of the outstanding guitar makers of the 20th century. The trading company, which was founded in 1884 by Ernst Rudolf Glier, still exists today. |
Epiphone Sheraton,
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In 1958, a year after Epiphone was bought by Gibson, its longtime rival in the hollowbody guitar market, the new owners began developing new thinline electrics. They reworked Epiphone's old “Century” archtop into a thinline electric with a single P-90 pickup, and they introduced the Sheraton, at the same time as their own less fancy ES-335. Both guitars would prove to be very successful, not least because of the unique combination of a traditional body shape with a revolutionary inner construction: a crossover between a hollowbody and a solidbody guitar was created by introducing a maple center block, greatly reducing feedback problems. Both the ES 335 and Sheraton were fitted with a glued-in neck, featured the same body shape with two rounded horns, and had similarly arranged electronics. However, the Sheraton had gold hardware, multi-layer binding, beautiful vine inlays on the headstock and other luxurious details. While Gibson's 335 usually had a stop tailpiece or sometimes a vibrato, the Sheraton featured the old Frequensator-type tailpiece. It had block inlays on the neck with V-shaped wedges in the middle, while the 335 originally used dot inlays, later replaced by blocks. Initially, the Sheraton was not equipped with the newly designed humbuckers, like the ES 335, but with the old "New York" pickups, leftovers from the pre-Gibson inventory. In late 1961 these were replaced by mini humbuckers. Minor changes took place before the Epiphone Sheraton II was introduced in 1986. At some point mahogany was used instead of maple for the center block and a 5-ply maple and walnut neck replaced the mahogany one. The Sheraton II became even more popular than the original. There is one big difference with the older models: the tailpiece of the Frequensator is now replaced by a fixed stop bar tailpiece. Now Gibson USA "full-sized" gold-plated humbuckers are being used, it has a 5-ply bound rosewood fingerboard, an extended blooming-vine-inlay headstock surrounded by 3-ply binding, and a multi-ply bound, laminated maple body. Original Sheratons are rare, but the model is still in production and readily available.
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Avalon parlour guitar by The Oscar Schmidt Company, c.1925.
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The 1920s was a decade of rapid growth for the music industry, and The Oscar Schmidt Company enjoyed this heyday more than most companies. By the 1920s, Oscar Schmidt was being promoted as one of the largest music manufacturers in the world, with a number of factories both here and in Europe. It operated music schools and even sold instruments door-to-door. In 1922, the Schmidt factory was again expanded to handle the increasing orders from their retailers. Schmidt instruments were also widely distributed by some of the top musical instrument resellers. One of them was Henry Stadlmair, a New York distributor of musical instruments. In the 1870s he had begun working for C. Bruno and Sons and by 1914 had risen to the rank of Vice President and General Manager. He left Bruno and Sons and founded his own company in 1923. His main brand for ukuleles and tiple ukuleles was "Miami". The ukuleles were endorsed by "Ukulele"-Hughes, who was a radio star at the time. But Stadlmair is best known for its "Triple X" banjos made by William Lange, as well as for Ace and Avalon banjos, some of which were produced by Slingerland. While some guitars were labeled "Stadlmair" on the headstock, the Avalon name was used for guitars, tenor guitars, banjos, and ukes. As we've seen, he was also the East Coast distributor of guitars made by Hermann Weissenborn in Los Angeles (week 68), and many Weissenborns have a Stadlmair brand inside. His company appears to have ceased trading in the late 1920s, possibly as a result of the Wall Street Crash in 1929, the same year Oscar Schmidt died while visiting his factory in Czechoslovakia. Henry Stadlmair died in 1940, but was survived by his son Harry, who also worked in music distribution for Bruno and Sons.
Although visually quite different from the week 14 and 30 faux resonators, also made by Oscar Schmidt, this guitar is again made from solid birch. The sides are deepest in the middle section of the lower bout, and the back is slightly curved. The glued-in poplar neck has a comfortable 'V' profile that extends to about the third fret and then flattens slightly towards the heel. The end of the neck heel is angled slightly toward the back of the guitar. The saw-kerfed lining for the top is square in profile and the bottom lining is chamfered. The dark brown "mahogany" sunburst finish is quite typical of the era. There is no binding, not even a painted one, but there is a stenciled rosette with a golden floral design, identical to the one on the back of the Stella tenor banjo in this collection. Oscar Schmidt was one of the first makers to use colorful decals for decoration, as they already used these for the Zithers they produced in the early 1900s. The bottom is reinforced with four braces, while the top has three “ladder” braces and a wider 'flat wood pad' that does not extend to the body edges under the bridge. The metal trapeze tailpiece is combined with a simple "ebonized" bridge with a piece of fret wire under the strings. The fingerboards on this guitar and on the Rex faux resonator (week 14) are identical, at least they were originally. The shiny silvery surface with its linear relief pattern and its golden glow has been dulled by hours of intensive play. Oscar Schmidt was one of the few companies to place position markers, in this case gold glitter celluloid, on the 10th instead of the ninth fret. The brand name "Avalon" is stamped on the slotted head. The mechanics with black celluloid tuners are secured by means of non countersunk flathead screws. The label has the “HSCo inc.” logo printed on yellowish paper and reads “Avalon. Henry Stadlmair Co. Inc., New York Sole distributors. Highest standard quality”. |
Framus "Hollywood" model 5-131, 1962
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With the introduction of the “Hollywood” model in 1958, Framus entered the world of solid body guitars. The general shape was clearly issued on Gibsons Les Paul, presented to Framus director Fred Wilfer at a concert in 1956 by Berlin jazz guitarist Coco Schumann. However, the Hollywood was still a hollow body construction consisting of a frame with a glued-on top and back without sound holes, making this guitar a lot lighter than the Les Paul. Initially it had one cutaway and was available in "black rose" (black and red sunburst), "gold" (orange and yellow sunburst), or plain red or white. Some had a newly designed vibrato system, which was also sold separately for 20 DM. They were available with 1, 2 or 3 pickups. A Hollywood model of the famous "Star" bass (number 5-148) could also be obtained. Production of the Hollywood models ceased in the mid-1960s, after a number of 'real' solids were introduced, not least the 'strato' series (week 20).
Some time around 1960 a double cutaway version was released, like the one in this collection in "black rose" finish. Still in its original case, it looks like it just left the factory in Bubenreuth. It is equipped with a DIN socket and has two pickups. The electronics consist of a three-position tone switch, a similar pickup selector and a normal volume pot. They are mounted on a black pickguard with white engravings for the electronics and the "Framus" logo. The bridge, simply a metal bar, is height-adjustable only by turning the tumble wheels. The neck has a truss rod as introduced in 1959, and is covered with a rosewood fingerboard with zero fret. It has a three plus three headstock with mother-of-pearl inlays very similar to some Gibson models. In terms of sound, however, it is very different from the original due to the semi-hollow body construction and the single-coil pickups. Recently a reissue of the old double cut Hollywood has been released successfully. |
Weissenborn style Hawaiian guitar
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After its “discovery” in 1778, guitars made it into Hawaii, and by the 1870s they were quite popular with native players. The U.S. got its first taste of Hawaiian music at the 1893 World’s Colombian Exposition in Chicago, and after the US annexation of the Hawaiian territory in 1900, the interest of the American public grew bigger. Arguably the most important figure in the history of the Hawaiian guitar is Joseph Kekuku (1874–1932) who started using a polished metal bar on a steel string guitar in open tuning laid flat on his lap. In 1904, he sailed to the mainland to launch a successful career in vaudeville. His innovative guitar style was immediately adopted by many young Hawaiian guitar players, soon followed by musicians everywhere in the United States. While most players used adapted Spanish guitars, the first purpose-built Hawaiian guitars were being made by luthier Chris Knutsen for music teacher and publisher Charles S. DeLano under the “Kona” brand name. By 1916 Herman Weissenborn had taken over production and was successful in refining and stabilizing the quality of these instruments. Weissenborn was born in Hanover, Germany in1863 and came to New York in 1902 as a widower. Eight years later he moved to Los Angeles, hometown to Knutsen as well. He had been involved in piano and violin making, when he became interested in a hollow-neck lap steel guitar by Knutsen and started making copies around 1913. At that time there was a real craze for Hawaiian music, which became the most popular form of recorded music. By 1920 Hermann had already built examples of the four Weissenborn “Styles” from plain to fancy ornamentation, “style 1” being the cheapest one with no binding and simple position dots. His guitars were sold through DeLano, through various department stores and music stores, and by Henry Stadlmair’s son Harry who was the west coast manager for distributors Bruno & Sons until 1928, when Tonk Brothers of Chicago took over national distribution.
Usually they have the typical bat-wing shaped bridge and flush frets. The koa wood used for Weissenborn guitars was procured and cut by Albert A. Kolb, who ran a lumber yard near Weissenborn’s various shops.The magic of these guitars is a combination of the wood, the X-bracing and the hollow neck design, and can be seen as one of the earliest chapters in Los Angeles luthiers’ collective quest to create louder guitars, followed around 1929 by the development of resonators and electrics. Although visually sometimes a bit rough, with coarse sanding and sawing marks, they all sound good and are quite light. By 1930 however the demand for steel guitars was ebbing, and Weissenborn’s production declined. Noted players of the day, such as Sol Hoopii, quickly discarded guitar after guitar as Weissenborns, then National tri-cones, and then electric steel guitars passed through their hands. Hermann Weissenborn moved his factory to a smaller building in 1935 as the depression and the popularity of electric steel guitar put a strain on the company. Hermann worked his last day on January 7, 1937 when he died of heart failure at the age of 73. Ironically, American infatuation with Hawaiian music came to an abrupt end on December 7, 1941, the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. But from the 1960s onward famous players such as John Fahey, David Lindley, and Ben Harper popularized a revival of the Weissenborn guitar which continues to this day. |
Triumphator (by Klira), c. 1967
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Klira was founded in 1887 by the German violin maker Johannes Klier in Schönbach (today Luby in the Czech Republic) at a time when Germany was experiencing very rapid economic growth. In 1914 Johannes Klier's son Otto Josef took over the company. After the Second World War, the Klier family ended up in Bubenreuth near Erlangen, along with many other instrument makers such as Hofner and Framus as part of the expulsion of German speakers from the Schonbach area. There, the production focus shifted from stringed instruments to affordable entry-level acoustic guitars. In the 1960s the range was expanded with electrically amplified guitars and basses and Klira was able to achieve its greatest sales successes due to the increased demand for electrics and the expansion of the export business. The company's most famous solid-body model - the "Triumphator" - didn't even have the Klira brand name on the head. They were built for mail order company “Quelle” from 1962 to 1971, while other Klira instruments were available at regular music stores. However, in the next decade, due to increasing competition from musical instruments of Asian origin, sales fell so much that the Klira company had to cease operations in 1982 after almost 100 years of existence.
Wholesaler Quelle used to be a German family business, founded in 1927 by Gustav Schickedanz (1895-1977) in Fürth. The idea of the mail order business first came into being in the US, where the major wholesalers such as Sears, Roebuck & Company, Montgomery Ward, J.C. Penney and Alden's had originated. Like Quelle, Otto and Neckermann in Germany, they were symbols of the boom after the dark years of World War II. By 1954 Quelle had a turnover of 260 million marks and in 1964 the firm officially became the "largest mail order company in Europe". The catalog had grown to 444 pages, with more than 6 million customers and sales of nearly DM 1.3 billion. But towards the end of the 1970s, the market started to shrink and in 2007 the Quelle mail order company was dissolved and parts of it were sold. Since 2013, “www.quelle.de” has once again become a universal mail order company with the core ranges of technology and furniture. The Triumphator is a good example of German instrument making of the 1960s, again inspired by the Fender Jazzmaster. Since the target audience was mainly young beginning guitarists, it is robustly built, with care not to exceed a certain budget. The guitar is quite light. The wooden body, presumably basswood or poplar, is covered with a red grain vinyl coating. A rosewood fingerboard is glued to the relatively bulky maple neck, with thin and low frets. When playing it feels very vintage, so anyone expecting modern fast finger playability will be somewhat disappointed. The head is oriented to one side, with a row of tulip-shaped tuners contrasting with the black paint of the neck. The "Luxus-Vibrator" works smoothly and easily, and the guitar stays in tune if the device is not overly pushed. The bridge is a chromed brass bar on which the different intonation of the strings is compensated but cannot be adjusted individually. The simple control unit consists of a rotary switch for the pickups and a turning button for volume and one for tone. The single coil pickups have a great tonal response and sound very clear. They have a fairly low output of about 5.5 Kohm and are slightly microphonic. In combination with the soft body wood, they produce a very direct sound, but with a semi-acoustic touch due to the "big black soundboard" (große schwarze Klangplatte) over a fairly large cavity. Therefore the Triumphator develops a lot of character but is prone to feedback. |
Supertone mahogany flat top, c. 1936
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Vox shadow, c. 1963 Week 65: july 25 to 31 2021
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In the early 1960s, JMI (Jennings Musical Industries) in Dartford, in addition to producing their own Vox brand, distributed Fender guitars and amplifiers in the UK. These were well regarded by the British guitar-buying public, but were largely out of their price range at the time. Before the Beatles, Vox's biggest endorsees were the Shadows, with lead guitarist Hank Marvin playing his famous red Fender Stratocaster. So in 1963, JMI released a range of affordable Vox-branded Stratocaster-shaped guitars, mostly in red, with two or three single-coil pickups, and most of them were called the "Vox Shadow." Body and neck production was moved from Stuart Darkins and Company to G-Plan of Hemel Hempstead, another UK-based cabinetmaker.
Controls are very simple for this guitar: two volume knobs, one for each pickup and one master tone control, with typical early JMI white plastic knobs. Originally, there was no selector switch for the two single-coil Vox V1 pickups. The laminated body, fitted with the Vox standard tremolo, marked "Vox Pat. App For", is just under an inch thick. Later UK models improved on this with thicker, solid wood bodies. The sycamore bolt-on neck has a 19-fret rosewood fingerboard, and is reinforced with an embedded steel rod. Originally, many early UK-made Vox guitars had a coaxial input on the bottom edge of the body. These inputs are awkward to use and require a non-standard cable. The 1963 Vox "Precision in Sound" catalog described the Shadow as follows: "A new moderately priced guitar with a fine specification of two slim-line pick-ups and a roller bearing smooth action tremolo unit. Single side machine heads, polished slim hardwood reinforced neck. Separate tone and volume controls. Rosewood fingerboard". Early Vox guitars often don't have great build quality, but the pickups are pretty nice. This guitar has a great biting bridge pickup and a wonderfully mellow neck pickup, with the tone rolled down. With a little love and attention (particularly frets and set-up), these lightweight guitars can sing like a lark! |
Richter Hawaiian girl stencil guitar, 1930s
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Richter was another Chicago instrument maker in the period between the two world wars, alongside Oscar Schmidt, Harmony, Regal and Kay. They were specialized in inexpensive guitars with birch bodies and poplar necks, most of which had stenciled or silk screened decorated soundboards, very popular at the time. The “Richter Manufacturing Co.” was founded by Charles F. L. Richter some time before his death in August 1920. Richter, who had been a mason and a shriner, was born in Germany in 1853 and came to America in 1883. After his death, the company was initially led by his two sons, Harold and Carl H. Richter. The latter was to become president of the company sometime before 1927. By February 1923 the Richter Mfg. Co., located at 2532 Irving Park Boulevard, Chicago, had “completed its first full year as a manufacturer of stringed musical instruments for the musical merchandise trade” and were “now in a position to supply the trade with an excellent line of mandolins, banjos, guitars, ukuleles, and other stringed instruments”. In the early years of production, the company seemed to have had great success with the ‘Sweetheart’ brand of Ukuleles. They were not afraid to try new products and advertised a “waterproof” Ukulele in 1922: the “Beach-Uke”. They also made banjos. The 1930’s seemed to be busy years for Richter, with direct sales through their own brand and through distributors. They made guitars for Buckeye and for Buegeleisen & Jacobson, but more importantly, they had a deal with wholesaler Montgomery Ward, who sold their guitars through their mail order system. Some of these where so-called cowboy stencil guitars, with names like “Home on the Range” from 1938-1939, or “Red Foley” and “Rodeo Scene”, both from 1940-1941. “The Plainsman” guitar was made from 1938 to 1943, with a scene taken from the 1936 film with Gary Cooper.
The Richter guitars have quite distinctive characteristics, not least the asymmetric “gumby” style headstock, often with a small paper “Richter” label in a script font on the front, and “RICHTER MFG. CO CHICAGO, ILL.” impressed into the wood on the back. This one has no signature, but it has all the right features. The linings around the top and bottom inside the guitar usually have a small square profile. The rounded neck, with its slotted head, is chunky yet comfortable. The ebonized fingerboard has only three simple dot markers and as always there is no tailpiece, but a glued-on pin-bridge. The top, with painted rosette and single binding, is decorated with a nice Hawaiian hula girl playing ukulele on a palm tree beach under the setting sun, something to dream away with. The guitar, however basic, sounds just as good as any contemporary all birch Stella or Regal: bluesy, but quite loud. |
Epiphone ET 270, c.1972
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The story of this guitar clearly illustrates the evolution of guitar making after 1970. That same year, the Norlin Corp. who owned Gibson, decided to stop production of Epiphones in Kalamazoo and move it to the Matsumoku factory in Japan. Gibson thus pioneered as one of the first American companies to relocate part of their production to the Far East. The new overseas-built Epiphone solidbody guitars of the ET series had more in common with other Japanese guitars than with previous Epiphones. Anyway, these instruments are somehow underrated these days as their quality was excellent. The ET 270, initially called model 1802T, was produced from 1970-1978, and was the only model in the ET-series with single-coil pickups. Somehow, the name Kurt Cobain keeps popping up when speaking of “affordable guitars”, especially those made in the late 1960s and early 1970s (see also week 49). The Nirvana frontman used an ET270 in the “Bleach” era in 1990, the first time probably on January 20 at Legends, Tacoma, and the last time when he smashed it on April 26, 1990, at Pyramid Club in New York. An almost identical guitar with Cobain’s autograph is on display at the Hard Rock Café in Pennsylvania.
The ET270 was Epiphone’s most affordable solid body at $159 in 1974. The three-ply maple neck is attached to the hardwood cherry red body by means of four bolts, passing through the typical Matsumoku neckplate, with the serial number and “Steel reinforced adjustable neck” engraved. The rosewood fingerboard has dot inlays and the four-ply pickguard has a black surface. The two pickups with rectangular plastic covers sound good, with a strong output of around 9K. In addition to the three-way toggle switch, there is a “bass boost”-switch that increases the output considerably. The chrome hardware includes a useful vibrato tailpiece and typical Japanese tuners. |
Oahu "Tonemaster" (229K) electric lap steel by Kaykraft,
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Here we have another “Oahu” branded electric lap steel, built between 1937 and 1941, by Kay this time. It slightly preceded the much shorter Dickerson made instruments like the one from week 51. At the time this model, the “Tonemaster” was the Hawaiian guitar of choice among professionals, and it is still highly regarded today. This is due to the unique tone full of chime and clarity, unmatched by any other lap steel of the era. The 25 inch scale, longer than usual, puts nice tension on the strings, giving it more range than lap steels usually have. Also beneficial in sound are the solid body and neck through construction in mahogany with outlying wings, and the large single-coil pickup with its six individual cylindrical poles. Typical of the pre-war design are the volume and tone controls on either side of the pickup. But the electronics’ most remarkable element is the coil tap boost switch in the center of the crackle-finished metal back-plate. It gave a little more freedom at a time when many amps were just "wide open”, and the only way to control the output was with the volume knob on the guitar. In the 1941 Oahu catalog, in the description of the very similar “Diana DeLuxe” (model K263), this switch is referred to as a "touch control", saying it "gives the player with a soft touch an added range of volume with which to work and a great amount of sustained tone. It compensates for the loss of volume encountered when a foot pedal is used and steps up the volume for satisfactory operation on a battery amplifier." The guitar-shaped body with its tobacco brown two-tone sunburst finish has a double celluloid cream binding, and the neck has a 21-fret rosewood fingerboard with dot markers and a large bone nut. The headstock features the “Oahu” decal and single line strip “Kluson Deluxe“ tuners with cream buttons. The aluminum bridge is marked "PAT. NO. 5".
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Hopf Allround,
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The history of the Hopf family business goes back to the end of the 17th century. Caspar Hopf was the first known master violin maker in Klingenthal. The instruments manufacturing company, as we know it today, was founded in 1906 in Zwota, Vogtland. After the Second World War, Willy Hopf resumed production in Taunusstein near Wiesbaden, where the first electric guitars were released sometime in the mid-1950s. In the 1960s Hopf introduced several archtops and solid body guitars. The most famous is undoubtedly the iconic “Saturn” (week 2). The focus shifted to the more classical instruments in the 1970s, when Japanese imports nearly wiped out the German guitar industry.
Not all guitars were made by Hopf. In the 1960s some electric guitars were supplied by a number of other manufacturers, such as Glassl in Erlangen, Eko in Recanati, and even Harmony in Chicago. In the case of the “Allround”, both Gustav Glassl and Manfred Pletz seem to have been involved in its production. Today, mistakenly almost forgotten, the master guitar builder Manfred Pletz, who was located in the immediate vicinity of the Hopf factories, was one of the most innovative craftsmen of the German post-war era. In any case, a number of variations on the “Allround” exist. Some have symmetrical headstocks with three plus three mechanics, while most are hockey stick-shaped with six-in-line tuners. They don’t all have the same Schaller single-coil pickups or the Gretsch-style master volume, and some have a red nitro finish, instead of the lustrous walnut varnish covering the beautifully flamed book-matched backs. Moreover, some Allrounds are very similar to the “Astro” by August Strohmer, another thinline inspired by the Gibsons ES-175, with the Strohmers having done some work for Hopf in the 1960s. Like the ES-175, the Allround in this collection has a small Florentine cutaway and a short center block inside, but the ribs are lower, only around five centimeters high. The neck, secured by means of an adjustable furniture screw, is made of fine strips of wood and therefore extremely robust and absolutely torsion-resistant, so no truss rod is needed. It carries a dark rosewood fingerboard with mother-of-pearl markers and 21 thin frets including the zero-fret. The glossy black plastic headstock veneer shows the stylish “Allround” logo. The vibrato tailpiece by ABM-Müller, with Hopf engraving, functions accurately, as does the fully adjustable bridge. The matte white pickguard with cutouts for the pickups follows the guitars outline. The Allround is extremely present and highly versatile soundwise. Everything is in here, from sixties beat, over blues and rockabilly, to hard rock on the one hand, and soft, clean sounds on the other. The Schaller pickups, equipped with double magnets similar to the Höfner toasters, sound great. They are controlled by a toggle switch in the upper shoulder and a volume and tone pot for each pickup. |
Harmony H5 lap steel, c. 1950
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Being one of the rarest Harmony lap steels, the H5 has a charm of its own. It features a two-tone sunburst nitro lacquer finish, and the screwed on celluloid “faux tortoise shell” fingerboard is quite unique. On the headstock, with the silkscreened music note and "Harmony" logo, closed back Grover tuning machines have been installed. Crazing and wear are evident throughout the finish of this instrument, with scratches on the back and the edges of the body, indicating that it has gone through a lot of playing. The tailpiece cover and the electronics, including the nickel-plated “Tone-Emphasizer” pickup, are the same as on the guitar shaped Silvertone lap steel models number 1315, 1316 and 1319, also by Harmony. Similar "P13" pickups can be found on Harmony models H3, H61, H62, and on the Roy Smeck (H56) and the Espanãda (H63) electric archtops and their Silvertone counterparts.
Oddly enough the same electronics, including the P13, were developed by Gibson in 1940, namely for their EH-125 lap steels and for the ES-100, ES-125 and ES-150 archtop guitars. The P13 replaced the old “Charlie Christian” blade pickup of the 1930s. The metal covers came in two versions: the “speedbump” type with a raised longitudinal center section, and the "knuckle-grater”, so called because of the crenellated surface of the cover. Both versions were available with or without adjustable pole pieces. After only three years they were replaced by the more familiar P90 pickups, possibly because production costs of the P13 were too high. Strangely, Harmony used these pickups from 1947 to 1964, that is, until about 20 years after the P90 replaced the P13 on Gibson models. One commonly held belief is that Gibson sold a "boxcar full" of P13's to Harmony when the P90 appeared, just to get rid of the P13 stock. This theory is difficult to sustain however, given the huge production numbers at Harmony and the improbability that Gibson would produce such a large amount of pickups during the war and then just keep them in stock. Also there is no hard evidence supporting any subcontracting agreement between the two companies. Maybe Gibson sold all the surplus, and tooling equipment was part of the deal. The P13, being quite rare, is highly sought after for its unique warm overdrive tone. It is definitely the pickup for blues, jump blues, slide, swing or be-bop, but not for a clean sound. It tends to sound very dark when played quietly, then wild as one turns up the volume. Therefore, and because it is a little hard to control and it doesn’t agree with every amp, it is considered by some to be too much of a one trick pony. Anyway it was popular with the early Punk movement for its raw tone. |
Zenta solid guitar,
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There is more certainty about who imported this guitar to the UK than about who built it. Zentas may have been made by Guyatone or by Kawai (who bought Teisco in 1967), but the “Zenta” brand name had been chosen for a range of Japanese electrics and for OEM pedals made in Japan, by their importer John Hornby Skewes. He was a passionate “ideas man”, with a keen eye for quality and value. With his wife Madge, he founded the company that bears his name in Garforth near Leeds in 1965, starting with just a few small accessories. In the following years they released some now quite funky and collectible “early days” affordable guitars, with brand names like “Zenta” but also “Kasuga”, “Terada” and “Hondo”, and more recently “Vintage” and “Encore”. John Hornby Skewes is also one of the pioneers of the Music Industry Association in the UK and the British Music Fair. His company is still active today as “JHS”.
This guitar has features that betray its dual origins. On the one hand the design is clearly influenced by Mosrite guitars (week12), so popular in Japan at the time: the general shape, the “German carve”, the slanted neck pickup and to some extent the headstock’s outline are all reminiscent of the famous models endorsed by the Ventures. The pickguard in two parts, with its angular contours, was undoubtedly influenced by Burns guitars, well established in the UK back then. The instrument is perfectly playable and sounds acceptable, although it is not a very high quality product. With its thin body, cheap Japanese hardware, simple electronics in plastic housing, string retainer bar and bolt-on neck, it is a typical example of Japanese electrics from the end of the sixties (see also weeks 23, 38 and 49). At the same time, it has a presence of its own, unlike the many Japanese near-copy Telecasters, Stratocasters, Les Pauls and Solid Guitars, with “Zenta” or other logos, made just a little later. |
Slingerland “May Bell” style “0”, 1930s
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In 1912, Henry Heanon Slingerland started a business in Chicago that would later become "The Slingerland Banjo and Drum Company". First ukuleles, then banjos, and finally guitars were manufactured, and around 1926 the production of snare drums was started in response to the competition of the Ludwig & Ludwig drum company. Although best known for its banjos and drums, Slingerland made first-class archtop guitars in the 1930s and electric guitars from 1936 or earlier. The “Songster”, listed in a 1939 company catalog, was probably the earliest Spanish-style solid-body electric guitar, predating Les Paul's "log" by a decade. After the Second World War, Slingerland stopped making banjos and guitars, focusing on the production of percussion instruments. When Henry Heanon died of a stroke in 1946, the company was run by his wife, Nona, and one of their children, Henry Jr. It enjoyed several decades of prominence in the industry before it ceased operation in the early 1980s. Slingerland was acquired by Gibson, who eventually sold it to DW Drums in November 2019.
At some point early in his career, around 1939, Woody Guthrie played a Slingerland “May Bell style No. 0” guitar, much like the one we have here. His was auctioned in 2006 at Christie’s in New York for $70,000. There are Oahu-branded parlours around that in many ways are clones of these May-Bell “0” style flattops. Although May Bells by Slingerland have a feel of their own, there is evidence that they were manufactured by Regal, and some probably by Harmony. As with some Regals, the tops have “slanted” or "transverse ladder bracing", meaning that the main mid-brace is slanted to give more vibrating space on the bass side. This gives more stability with lighter bracing than in X-braced flattops, and despite the fact that birch is often used for the bodies, the sound of these instruments is louder and warmer than some other contemporary brands of similar size and quality, somewhere between a ladder braced and an x braced guitar. There is more sustain and harmonic sweetness, strong mids and trebles, and a great piano bass. The construction being very light, shrinkage cracks often occur in the thin backs, all "with grain”. A style “0” like this one, with an all solid birch body finished in brownish sunburst, had celluloid binding around the top and soundhole. The “ebonized” maple pin bridge had a brass fret for a saddle. It featured pearloid veneer on the headstock and a thin layer of "brown-burst" pearloid on the fingerboard, ensuring the original brass frets to be seated nicely. This 24" scale guitar had a big D-shaped neck, made from poplar rather than maple. Standard was a steel brace above the rosewood nut to raise the strings, as these guitars appeared to be set up for Hawaiian-style slide play from the factory. For the same reason, there is no endpin in the lower block. The flat-type headstock features what appear to be unlabeled Grover tuning machines. |
Davoli Petit (or Jolly), model DTE 535,
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During WWII, Athos Davoli worked as an apprentice on radio communication systems for war planes. After the war, his passion for electronics led him to start a small business on his own. In 1957 he founded the Krundaal-Davoli company in Parma, which gained ever wider notoriety in the 1960s with their amplifiers for musical instruments and for voice. Since the end of 1965, Davoli organized competitions to reward the best music groups and amateur singers, and to promote its products. Soon most of the Italian bands, such as The Rokes, and many foreign bands touring Italy, including the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, were singing through Davoli amplification systems. Davoli also started a partnership with Antonio Poli “Wandre”, the visionary electric guitar designer. Their collaboration led to a series of groundbreaking guitar designs. In the years between 1969 and 1972 the Davoli company reached its peak, employing a workforce of 220 including technicians, clerks and sales people.
The small Davoli amp shown here, model DTE 535 Petit (or“Jolly”, as it was more often labeled) is a class A combo, powered by only two tubes (a 12AX7 and an EL84). It doesn’t have a big sound, but it’s quite versatile, with tones ranging from very warm and crystalline clean to coarsely distorted. The gray housing with brown speaker cloth, the two 8 inch speakers, and a very convincing built-in tremolo make this seven watt amp a little gem. In the years 1968-1970 it even appears to have been offered as model “6/601” by the Dutch guitar making company Egmond, who imported other amps made in Italy by Steelphon in Torino and Krundaal-Davoli in Parma. |
Goya Panther (by Galanti), c. 1967
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Strangely enough, this guitar, made in Italy by Galanti around 1967, is linked to the Swedish Levin mandolin from week 54, namely through the brand name “Goya”. Galanti was a company from Mondaino, in Romagna near the Adriatic Sea, famous for its accordions since Antonio Galanti started production in 1917. After the Second World War, his grandson Angelo specialized in accordions, vibraphones and guitars. Galanti produced about 16,000 guitars between 1962 and 1967 and then closed in 1968 also due to Angelo's untimely death. Everything was produced in-house except for the rather weak sounding pickups from Nando Marchetti and the good quality “Van Gent” tuners. The range of the Galanti guitars is quite limited and the flagship was the “Grand Prix”, a solid body guitar. In 1967 an almost identical model was made for the Goya brand, the "Panther", possibly as part of a subcontract to Zerosette. Although very similar to the Galanti Grand Prix, the Goya Panthers' slim imitation wood pickguard had a less angular shape and the deep flamed maple neck, with dot markings on the bass side, was tinted. The profile of these good quality necks starts fairly thin at the nut and continues to a good thickness towards the guitar body. There is a truss rod cover at the headstock and an adjustment screw at the body-neck joint, meaning that the truss rod can be adjusted at both ends. The outline of the body leans towards the Fender Jaguar. The vibrato system, connected to the bridge by a metal plate, works fine. Referencing the company's accordion legacy are the four pickup selection push buttons. The two slightly uninspired single-coil pickups have closed chrome covers.
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Gibson ES-125 T,
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The Gibson ES-125 is arguably the guitarist's best-loved workhorse, going through all kinds of variations during its 30 years of production. This full depth model was introduced in 1941 as a successor to the ES-100 and was discontinued the following year. Immediately after the war, it was re-introduced with a larger 16.25-inch wide body and a new P90 pickup. From the mid-1950s, thinline (ES-125 T) and two pickup versions (ES-125 D and ES-125 TD) were added to the catalog, and even a short scale guitar (ES-125 T ¾). These were followed in the 1960s by models with a Florentine cutaway (ES-125 C and ES-125 TC), both also available with an optional second pickup (ES-125 CD and ES-125 TCD). By 1971 the 125s were discontinued.
The thinline became particularly popular because when amplified it had all the benefits of a full version, and in addition it was less sensitive to feedback and easier to handle. Despite the simple concept of just having one pickup, with a volume and a tone pot, this guitar is versatile enough to satisfy most players. It has a laminated maple body and a chunky mahogany neck with dot inlay. The rosewood fingerboard and the open book-type headstock were left unbound. Everything is well made, like most Gibson guitars of the time, with Kluson Deluxe tuners and a sturdy tailpiece. In terms of of production numbers and fame, the ES-125 T was far ahead of its competitors, such as the Guild Cordoba T50 (week 39). |
Levin mandolin
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The name “Levin” may not sound familiar to some, but this company was a major player on the European and American markets, producing more than half a million guitars, mandolins, banjos and lutes between 1900 and 1978. Its story goes back to 1887, when Herman Carlson Levin moved from Gothenburg, Sweden to America and soon got a job at a guitar factory. In 1895 he returned to Gothenburg to start up his own production plant, which would soon be regarded as one of the best in Europe. Between 1904 and 1912 Levin received many awards, and by the mid-1920s the factory had made over 50,000 instruments. In the 1950s, they launched a line of low-cost guitars and mandolins for schools and beginners, and in 1952, Jerome Hershman started marketing their guitars in America under the “Goya” brand name. In 1976, Goya was sold to CF Martin, which had purchased most of the Levin Company a few years earlier. The Levin facility in Gothenburg became the European headquarters for Martin Guitars and their Japan import brand Sigma Guitars. In 1981, it was bought by Svensk Musik AB, and Levin classical guitars are still being produced in the Mariesta area, between Gothenburg and Stockholm.
This mandolin, the first to appear as “instrument of the week”, was created at a time of significant evolutions for Levin. This “model 47” was launched in 1950 to meet the need for a student mandolin, and was renamed Model 54 “Taranto” in 1951. The appointments were simple: a single-bound spruce top and an unbound flat birch back and sides. The headstock and walnut fingerboard with pearloid dot inlays were unbound as well. The tuners were nickel-plated and the pear-shaped body had a sunburst finish. |
Alamo Fiesta 2584 S, c. 1966 and Alamo Capri 2560, c. 1969
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An Alamo is the quintessence of a budget guitar. Not even a Danelectro can compete when it comes to simplicity and efficiency. That’s why a set of instruments from this Texan company figures here as the opener for the second year of ‘Instrument of the Week”. Alamo got its name from a Spanish mission and fortress that played a key role in the Texan War of Independence around 1836, which took place in San Antonio. In this small town a factory was set up by Charles Eilenberg in 1946 to produce electronic devices such as record players and radio sets for “Southern Music”, run by editor and wholesaler Milton Fink. Around 1950 Alamo started producing electric lap steel guitars and amplifiers, and soon gained a stable position on the market. By the end of the 1950s Alamo introduced their first “Spanish” electrics. They made their own pickups, resembling Gibsons P13 and Kays “Speedbumps”, but smaller in size. The guitar models were given names like “Titan”, “Toronado”, “Fury” and “Fiesta”.
This Fiesta 2584 S has one pickup close to the bridge, six in-line tuners, a volume and a tone pot, and a 3-bolt pattern maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. The patented "Acra Tune" bridge system owes much to Danelectro, as does the body structure. It has a solid rim sandwiched between two birch plywood planks, making this guitar very light. It is covered with one of the lesser produced sunburst finishes, even including a cream sunburst pattern around the edge of the peg head. Around 1968 solid state amplifiers were added to the tube amps already in the catalogue. Perhaps the simplest one was this Capri model 2560 with just a volume and tone knob and two input channels. Alamo continued to produce amplifiers till around 1980, while the making of guitars had already ended a decade earlier. With only ten years of production, these instruments are quite rare, especially in Europe. |