More One-Pickup Wonders

Here's a another power trio for you; a garage-rock triple threat consisting of a Danelectro-made Silvertone, a Teisco-made Kay "Tulip," and an earlier American-made Kay Vanguard.  This is the second Vanguard we've had and about the third or fourth Silvertone, but amazingly this is our very first "Tulip," despite its status as a ubiquitous pawn shop beater that everyone seems to remember owning at some point.

The main attraction to a lot of funky old guitars like these is that they work great for slide - you can bypass the often "quirky" action and fretwork while still taking full advantage of the unique tones that these vintage single coil pickups can crank out.  It's hard to choose when they are all so wonderfully rude, but it's hard to go wrong with the Vanguard's sweet DeArmond "Zippo" pickup.

Competition Mustang Re-issue and '68 Super Reverb

Here's a cool pair.  The guitar is a Japanese-made Competition Red Mustang re-issue, and the amp is a genuine 1968 Super Reverb.  Being a '68 means that though the amp has the look of a silverface, the insides are still the same as an older (and more desirable) blackface model.  I myself play a later Super Reverb from the early 80s, and I firmly believe that if you seek to play rock and/or roll music (as opposed to metal or hard rock), you can do no better than one of these babies.  The ten-inch speakers sound vicious when they break up, and the shattered glass roar you can unload still leaves plenty of room for the dynamics of the rhythm section.

We've had older Mustangs in before, but this one being a reissue puts it in a more affordable price range - ironically the reason why old vintage Mustangs and the like became so popular (and gradually less affordable) back in the 80s and 90s.  Of course, there are more virtues to the "student" offset models - the short scale and comfy slim neck are a boon if you've got smaller hands.  And of course, racing stripes rule.

We often take it for granted, but the amazing thing about Fender is the wide range of players that their products appeal to - from the snooty types whose noses fly up if it isn't covered in tweed and/or nitrocellulose, to the punk rockers scraping up enough to buy some scrappy Japanese Squier.  Of course, here at the shop we try our best to do the same!

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!"



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.

Resophonics and exotica

Here's another one we're trying to research. It's an old resonator guitar - and that's all we know. Just how old and what brand are a mystery - can't really even say when the metal body got painted black. If we can figure out what its worth the owner wants to see about putting it in the shop on consignment. It is worth mentioning that this one seems to be set up for regular, Spanish-style playing and not just lap slide stuff. Also, whoever tried playing it last strung it up with nylons!


There's no name on the headstock, just a serial number on the very top - 896. Or, um, 968. Gee, does anybody out there have any special tricks for dating and identifying old resonator guitars? We were thinking of dis-assembling the cone and looking under the pan, but any advice is welcome. We're going to have to spruce this one up a bit (fresh strings, set-up, etc.) before it goes on consignment, anyway.


Speaking of resonators, here's a Republic concert ukulele with a metal body and resonator cone. Very, very loud for the size, but the nylon strings keep it from being shrill despite the relatively high tuning. Come to think of it, maybe that's why somebody put nylons on that guitar. In any case, given that resonator guitars usually make me think of Son House, and ukuleles usually make me think of Tiny Tim, my brain just doesn't really know how to fully process this thing yet. A strange beast indeed.


The same guy that brought in the resonator guitar also had this odd bird to show off. A Japanese-made Firstman "violin" guitar from the sixties. This things has character!


The pickups have a great weedy twang, and the vibrato begs to be abused, Takeshi Terauchi-style. The lack of nutty switches and superfluous knobs is countered by the just-complicated-enough-to-be-useful bridge, as well as a liberal application of tortoiseshell.


The freaky "hammerhead" headstock is a nice touch, also.

Be sure to check back next week, we'll (hopefully) have some really cool news to share...

60s Audition Guitar and Amp

Well, it looked like Santa Claus came early - we had boxes of new goodies piled up when I came in today. My boss gestures towards the tall, thin box in the corner and says, "got another Mexican Strat for you to sell..."

Grumble, grumble...



Hey, wait a minute - that's not a Strat case!



Score! A nifty mid-60s "Audition" guitar with funky, oversized gold foil-type pickups.



Audition was a brand name for guitars sold through Wool-worth's department stores in the sixties - in actuality, this is a Japanese instrument, probably built for Wool-worth's by Kawai or Teisco. The pickguard and body shape are off-kilter, the knobs & switches numerous, and the neck is as thick and heavy as a Louisville slugger. In other words, a perfect example of mid-60s Japanese guitar design.


The gigantic gold foils alone are worth the price of admission - sweet and twangy at the same time. These look very, very similar to the one that the great slide guitarist Ry Cooder slapped into the neck position of one on his famously hot-rodded Stratocasters (along with an old Supro/Valco lap steel pickup).

The "Cooder-caster." No, really.

But, just as every old low-watt Supro amp is the "one Jimmy Page used," I'm well aware that every Japanese gold foil pickup is the "Ry Cooder" pickup, especially when it pops up on the interweb. I say use your ears - mine tell me that this guitar is cool either way.


Also, we have the matching amp that goes with it. It's a 1x12 tube amp, and though it sounds like about a watt-and-a-half of volume, it gets nasty and crunchy very quickly.



Just for fun, here's the chassis/guts of that amp. This has built-in tremolo, but otherwise its about as bone-simple as can be. Yes, that's a Hitachi brand tube there in front. My boss says that the pots date this setup to about 1966, which sounds about right. Stop by and check these out soon - the funky stuff seems to practically fly out the door these days!

We've got plenty of other cool finds on way for the holidays - check back soon!

Mystery Guitar

?????

Here's a mystery guitar that we can't quite identify. It has the word "Japan" pressed into the back of the neck, and that distinctive striped plate under the knobs and input jack practically screams late-60s Teisco, but so far I've been unable to pinpoint the exact model. In fact, I've haven't been seeing any single cutaway semi-hollow guitars made by Teisco, so I may be way off the trail. But when the trail includes digging through Japanese guitar sites with names like Rolling 60's Bizarre Guitars Garage, I think the journey alone is well worth it.

Well worth it, indeed

If anybody can help us out, just leave a comment or send me a message. And of course, even if we never figure out where this one came from, it could still use a good home...