Time capsule SG Pro

Some guitars are well played, some are hardly played. This one looks like we cracked open a time capsule from the early 70s and.........

The strings have been changed.  I'm sure the keen eyes of our followers will notice any non-original parts --- maybe the switch tip?  Dig the Gibson branded bigsby....

1973 Engelhardt EC-1

Yesterday we had somebody come in wanting us to sell his old Engelhardt EC-1 upright bass.  An Englehardt of this era is known affectionately as an "EngelKay" due to the company's close association with the Kay Music Instrument Company, and the super-desirable uprights they made in the 30s-50s.  More on that later.  First soak in that beautifully constructed and finished top.  There's something downright intimidating about an upright - this is one of the 3/4 scale models, and it still stands about 6 foot tall at the tip of the headstock! 

The Engelhardt story really begins with the merger of Kay and Valco, a move which ultimately failed to save either company from their financial doldrums.  When the Kay/Valco company was dissolved in the early 70s, former Valco president Robert Engelhardt and VP Al Link started a new company called Engelhardt-Link that bought up the assets and inventory from Kay's bass and cello division.  They also retained some of the same builder/luthiers, so that the first Engelhardts that the company produced were essentially the same classic Kay uprights with a new brand name. 

Needless to say, this is an example of great old-school American craftmanship.  No cheap composites here, just a whole lot of nicely aged maple!  

Of course, with an upright, the set-up is just as important, and this thing is good to go cat, go -  it's been professionally set-up for very fast and loud rockabilly-style slapping.  Very playable, even to a pampered putz like me who's never really held an upright before.  Throw a transducer in there and it's ready for the stage!



Univox Hi-Flier Bass Phase Three

Here's a cool find that might seem kind of familiar.  Yes, we like our Mosrite copies, and none are quite as cool as the Japanese-made Univox Hi-Fliers of the 60s and 70s.  We've had one of the Phase One basses before, but this one is a later (mid-70s) Phase Three.  You can tell right away because the Phase Threes were the first Hi-Fliers to be available in a natural finish.

The Phase Three was also the where they switched to using the clear plastic-covered humbucker pickups instead of the older P-90-style single coils.  Those funky-looking pickups have the bruisingly loud output that has helped make the Hi-Flier guitars and basses the weapon of choice for many a rock-and-roll noise merchant.

The Pac-Man-esque Univox logo is the cherry on top.  No wait, I take it back - one of their purple-and- teal-tolex'd bass amps from the same era would be even sweeter, but we haven't got one...yet!  As you can tell, we're pretty big fans of the old Univox stuff here, but check out this fan page for a nearly exhaustive look at pretty everything they ever made.

More new arrivals - Hondo Guitarlin and Checkmate 14

We just got these pieces in the other day.  The guitar is a Japanese-made Danelectro copy that's technically called a "guitarlin," a crazy 31-fretted beast that lets you soar up into the stratosphere and pick in the range of a mandolin.  At least, that's the idea.  This one was made back in the late 70s/early 80s by a company named Hondo, and as far as I know this was the very first in a long line of guitars built around the reviving the old Danelectro/Silvertone mystique. 

The Hondo II Guitarlin upgrades the masonite-constructed body of the original with one made from solid mahogany, and the single humbucking pickup is active-electronics-boosted, coil-tappable, and phase-flippable.  It's about as far from lipstick tubes as you can get!  The amp in the picture is a Checkmate 14, another retro Japanese-made piece.  I think Teisco built these back in the 60s and 70s.  This is one of the solid state models, built it does have a nice queasy tremolo built in.  We found the original manual and schematic in the back - neat!

Ralston Electric Bass

This one came to us courtesy of a customer who found it while cleaning out the back room of an old church.  When we first plugged it in, we were greeted only by the sound of the input jack howling in protest.  But one fresh jack and tone cap later, and this thing was ready to kick out the jams.

The headstock says "Ralston," but the back neck plate says "Japan," and that tells you a bit more - cosmetically and tone-wise it fits right alongside most 70s-era stuff that Teisco, Kawaii, etc, pumped out.  This is no short-scale featherweight, however - it has a long-scale neck about as fat as Louisville slugger, which surely contributes to the meaty tone of that one single coil pickup.

I love the overall look, with the not-quite-a-jazz-bass body and a nice roughed-up finish.  The grubby metal pickguard is a nice touch, and helps shield the electronics, to boot.  Even though this bass was found in a church somewhere, I have a hard time imagining it being played for gospel music - it justs seems too wonderfully hip and grimy to not be a disciple of rock-and-roll.  I dunno, maybe somebody got saved and had to leave it at the door - "Gee, I think Bob will be a lot less likely to stray if we can keep this durn thing away from him!"



Peavey T-40 Bass

Here's a Peavey T-40 bass from the late 70s, an almost criminally underrated instrument.  Maybe it's due to the fact that there haven't been many iconic players associated with Peavey when compared to Fender or Gibson, because these early Peavey instruments are very cool and deserve a bigger following.  This bass is American made, after all, and  though it's hefty size and weight aren't for every player, they let you know that this thing means business.  If you can haul it around on your shoulder, you can wield some serious thump stuff.

      

"Whosoever proves worthy..."

 The distinctive "Toaster Top" pickups pack a nice wallop, similar to many of the humbucker-equipped Gibson basses.  The other toggle switch flips the phase, just like the T-40's guitar cousin, the T-60.  The funky, out-of-phase tones available are admittedly more useful on a guitar, though more iconoclastic sound freaks might find the them hip for upper-register soloing or chilly post-punk chord riffs.

The amp back there is a Spectra, a bass amp apparently designed by the people at Dean Markley.  It's solid-state, but it has a very musical EQ and limiter built in.  Again, a lot of the non-tube stuff from the 70s may not be as sexy as a blackface Fender or an Ampeg SVT, but if you dig around a bit you can find some real gems for relatively cheap.  Swing by and see if we've got any cool pieces that are right for you!   

1977 Martin D-35

Got a 1977 Martin D-35 the other week!  A big 'ol dreadnought: very "grassy," and very clean for its age.  Open chords ring for days and it has a nice full, chunky low end that still has good note definition.  In other words, it's a Martin!

Martins don't just walk in the door every day, so check this one out while you can.

Cort Doubleneck

We got this one in the other day.  A Japanese-built Cort double neck with a funky natural/stripey finish that can only have come from the twilight of the disco era.  This thing is massive!  A coffee table with strings!  Actually, the weight and bulk aren't so bad, given that it's a doubleneck, and both necks are quite comfortable to play.  

Opening up the back compartment for the 12-string side reveals a 9-volt battery, which means it has an active pickup system.  I'm not entirely sure, though, if the active electronics are in both sides or just the 12-string side.  In any case, both sets of pickups have a more-than-robust output, capable of going from "chimey" to "blistering" and hitting all the good spots in-between.  It can also produce a wall of spooky, synth-like noise - just strum the 12-string neck while the pickups are on for the 6-string neck (or vice versa), and listen as the strings ring out with sympathetic vibrations.  Neat!

Kay Electric Bass

New arrival!  It's a Kay electric bass; not sure of the model but it looks to be one of the later Japanese Kays from the 70s.  Obviously patterned after a Gibson SG, but if you look closely you'll find that it's full of little oddball touches.  There's a little foam piece underneath the bridge cover that's slightly muting the strings, while the "K" on the headstock seems to have flipped upside-down.

 The pickguard is raised slightly, which has a neat overlapping, two-level effect with the control plate, and  the dual pickups have a nice "gator-esque" tolex covering.  A very cool, playable old bass with lots of character.

Pair of 1979 Gibsons: "The Paul" and The "SG"

Here's a cool pair - matching 1979 Gibsons! The "SG" and "The Paul" were released as a kind of workhorse or budget model during the late 70s/early 80s. Gee, I wish they still made "budget" guitars today with T-Top pickups in them...


The Wikipedia entry on "The Paul" hilariously describes the finish (or lack thereof) as a "Coffee Table Burst." One of our customers told me it was "just ugly enough to be beautiful." Truly, these woody, walnut-constructed beasts go great with the grubby, beard-sprouting aesthetic that so many rock/metal dudes seem to dig these days.


Hmmm....I wouldn't know exactly, but I think the SG has a T-Top in the neck position and something called a "Velvet Brick" in the bridge. Also, the pickup switches on both seem to have gotten lonely, and have decided to huddle up with the volume and tone knobs. The SG is in great shape, and the Paul...well, somebody decided to burn something goofy into the finish. Still, the guitar is solid as a rock and, like the SG, priced well below similar old Gibsons. These are both cool guitars with a growing "cult" following, but they're still within the reach of players (not just collectors). Who knows, one of these might be your best bet for getting some vintage Gibsons in your arsenal without busting your budget too much.