Höfner HE179 Jazzmaster-esque evaluation model

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Now here's a Höfner guitar that I've not seen before. And no wonder, it's what they call an "evaluation model". I think that means "prototype" to you and me.

Here's what the seller has to say about it:

Höfner HE179, Jazzmaster style evaluation model, mint condition, in original carton very rare. In 2003 Höfner designers came up with a jazzmaster styled model in very limited number (apprx 50) which were sent out to specific dealers for evaluation across the World. Perhaps not wishing to go up head to head with Fender on the similarities of the jazzmaster, Höfner decided not to proceed. [...] Maple body, with rich sunburst finish, Grover tuners, stop tailpiece and adjustable tuneomatic bridge, 3 way pickup switch, volume and 2 tone controls, fully bound neck and headstock. Pickups are a pair of stonking Gibson-style humbuckers (which look suspiciously like a set of Lindy Fralin Nickels), fully pole-adjustable, these produce a mighty punch. One of these guitars found its way to Oz last year and fetched over £1000 on Oz Ebay.

So, there you have it. Personally I wouldn't have thought that the body shape would put Höfner "head to head with Fender", as plenty of other manufacturers have borrowed this same body style. I'm also not too keen on the 3+3 headstock design with this body shape; it looks a tad incongruous.

Whatever, it would seem to be quite an individual guitar for the player who doesn't want to have the same axe as everyone else, and the Buy It Now price of £340 seems very reasonable.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

OCG Freestyle - extreme offset body prototype guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

One of these of this extreme offset body prototypes by Oren Clark Guitars is up for grabs on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $3000. These guitars, built for Clark by Zion, are designed with ergonomics uppermost in mind.

For more, see the Oren Clark Guitars YouTube channel.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Burns/Hayman prototype hybrid guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Am I the only one who thinks that modern electro acoustics and and hybrid guitars look just too sterile? I really never did like this business of hiding away all the gubbins. "Oh, you can't have any visible pickups or control knobs, that'll spoil the illusion of this being an acoustic guitar." Huh! As if those horrible little slider controls they stick on the rim of an electro acoustic are any kind of replacement!

I've always liked acoustics that have obviously been electrified with pickups and control knobs on show for all to see. They can have a rather Heath Robinson appeal sometimes (Oh, if only Heath Robinson had designed a guitar!), but to me they seem all the more honest, as if to say, "Yes, this is an acoustic but it's hardly unplugged!"

Think John Lennon with his Gibson J-160E, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain playing supposedly "unplugged" with a Martin D-18E, or John Martyn with a Martin guitar with pickups obviously gaffer-taped to the guitar creating loops on an Echoplex machine (as if an acoustic could do that without all the electrickery!).

So... the above pictured one-off Burns/Hayman prototype is a guitar that I find mightily appealing. It's an acoustic/electric hybrid guitar that proudly displays its electric components for all to see. I like the electric style compensated bridge set into an acoustic style "moustache" - that's a nice touch. Actually, I doubt that acoustically this guitar is very loud at all - looking at the picture of the back of the guitar (I'll put some more photos in the comments) it does appear to have a very shallow body. It's like they took the Burns Steer guitar, and made it a little bit more acoustic-y.

I don't really have much info on this guitar other than what the eBay seller tells us (hey, it is a rarity), so let's quote from the listing:

Rare Virginian hybrid guitar designed by Barry Gibson and Keith West of Burns London Ltd. featuring:

• Burns Rezo-Matik pick-ups
• Solid Spruce Top
• Rosewood back and sides
• Burns badged Gotoh tuners
• Burns Tortoiseshell bridge section

A real collectors piece for Burns/Hayman fans 1 only made as this model was never put into production. The guitar was made over 12 years ago in the U.K. and has been sitting in the Burns warehouse since then, untouched.

I'm actually surprised it's as recent as that; it looks older. Anyway, it has a starting price of £249 on it and a But It Now price of £850.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Califone-branded Murph Squire XII from 1966

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We've previously looked at a California-made Murph Squire 12-string back in December 2009. Murph guitars don't come up on eBay all too often, but the above-pictured example - currently for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $1650 - is even rarer as it carries the "Califone" brandname and is effectively a prototype. To borrow from the eBay listing:

Califone guitars were made for Rheem Califone (the record player people) in Los Angeles to complement their range of school PA equipment. In mid 1966 Murphy Music was approached by Califone (also located in San Fernando) to build a range of guitars and amps (this is how the amp side of the business got started) that they could market to schools to compliment the audio stuff they were providing to the education department - a potential BIG money spinner for MURPH! ...BUT, as seemed to happen a lot with them, the luck of the Irish WASN'T with Pat Murphy with this venture either - Califone had a change of heart and called off the deal after 25 or so prototypes were made. They were made up of 6 strings, basses and 12 string guitars. Most were basic Squires [...] with a changed nameplate but they did do some with ‘slanted’ pickups and different Gumby-like headstocks.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Kramer Invader prototype, #1 of 1

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I started writing a piece about how I never "got" Kramer guitars, couldn't understand what all the fuss was about, etc, etc, but then noticed it was almost word for word the same as a blog post I'd written in 2009 about a certain Kramer Triax guitar. So, rather than make you all think you are experiencing déjà vu, let's take a look at the above-pictured crazy-looking axe.

It's a Kramer Invader and must surely be one that Kramer afficionados and collectors would dearly love to get their mitts on. Apparently it is a one-off prototype model "built in '82 or '83 for Floyd Rose himself". It's currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $7,500.

I believe that Roland's G-707 guitar synth controller (which may or may not have been made by Greco in Japan) was introduced in 1984, so would have just been pipped at the post by this prototype Kramer for a guitar with a bar connecting the body to headstock. (I'm sure there are earlier precedents; list examples in the comments if you like!) I think here, though, it is purely cosmetic, whereas on the Roland it was supposed to eliminate deadspots on the neck and thus improve synth tracking.

And I don't know about you, but I always get nervous when I see pictures of expensive guitars standing by the side of a swimming pool!

(Thanks to Greg Cadman for pointing this one out to us!)

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Heavy Metal Mandolin?

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This is a Gibson solidbody mandolin based on the Futura body design (an early variation of the more familiar Explorer). Made from Korina as were early Vs and Explorers, it's a prototype pre-production instrument built in the 1990s by Roger Giffin.

Note that it is a 4-string as were Fender's solidbody mandolins.

This mandolin is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price just shy of £5,000. Note that the eBay seller is musicgroundinc. I believe I have seen this very instrument when I was buying my Yamaha SG-3 in the Music Ground shop in London's Denmark Street earlier this year and I wished I'd taken a photograph at the time. (I know the listing says "Item location: Doncaster", but surely it couldn't be that much of a coincidence?)

More photos here.

Thanks to Karl for bringing this mandolin to my attention.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Michael Spalt Hybrid Matrix Bass prototype

guitarz.blogspot.com:

If you want innovative guitar and bass design, then look no further than this Michael Spalt Hybrid Matrix Bass prototype currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $4,300 (not one to be bought on a whim).

The construction is an abstract marriage of quality timbers and aluminium parts. To quote from the Spalt Instruments website:

"Hybrids employ an aluminum skeletal structure with wooden wings and wood necks. These instruments embody my sculptural approach to guitar/bass building - they are stripped-down to the essentials. The wood neck dials in the tonal color and is comfortable to play. The aluminum imparts a warm tone and clarity to the sound. All metal and wood work is done by hand."

Whilst I applaud this daring approach to luthiery, I can't honestly say that I like the appearance of this bass. Of course, appearances might be what initially attracts us to an instrument, but it's the sound and the playability that matters.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Mathias Lerche's aluminium and walnut bodied guitars

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Mathias Lerche, an industrial designer from Denmark, has emailed with photos of guitars he has created. He says:

"I have been working on a guitar concept for some years now and I'm currently building third generation of my design. This is the first two prototypes. I plan to produce these in the near future as a side business to my industrial designing. Starting slow and safe...

"The first prototype was made while studying at the Danish Design school, drawing layout and sculpting foam for months to get the a working shape. It was carved from a 22kg piece of aluminum(my cheapest option at the time) down to about 2,3kg. A terrible waste, but the idea was that the production model should be moulded and a bit more exiting than the usual routed flat alu guitars seen. It has a warmoth wenge/ebony neck, two slide-able Lace humbuckers, and two series/parallel switches at the back."

"The second is a one piece walnut body, CNC routed from a 3D model made in Studiotools and Solidworks. It has a walnut/ebony neck, Kahler trem, Kent Armstron and Seymour Duncan pickups, and one series/parallel switch at the back. It's a slightly larger and rounder body than the alu-version.

"My goal was to make a unique signature shape. I wanted it to be sculptural, to relate to the body of the player and, like classical instruments, have a female waist line.

"As you can imagine, the guitars are quite different sonically!

I'll keep you updated. The new ones should be done quite soon."

Thanks Mathias! I love these designs, particularly the aluminium-bodied guitar. I like how it's a case of form follows function and how the back is carved out and the space between the pickups. It is utilitarian, ergonomic and classy all at the same time. It's good also to see how well the design translates to the walnut-bodied guitar.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Clarence White's 1968 Fender Telecaster B-Bender prototype

guitarz.blogspot.com:

'Here is Clarence White's 1968 Fender Telecaster with original string pitch bender prototype as purchased from him in the early 1970s. An incredible piece of the early history of Clarence White and the invention that later became the "Parsons White String Pull", and then more commonly known as the "b-bender".'

We've looked at B-Benders before here on Guitarz, but this one would appear to be the one that started it all. Note the external mechanism and the false back. This is a fantastic museum piece and an important part of guitar history!

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

The Flyte Of the Conchordes or Flyte from the long arm of the law

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Now, this Conchorde prototype is a turn up for the books! It has a bit a twisted story to it too. According to the "owner", the guitar was stolen from Jim Burns's workshop! He knows it was stolen because Jim Burns told him! So if you're in the market for a hot guitar, you know where to look. I don't know what eBay's policy on selling stolen goods is but I suspect this auction may not run its course. I believe they check for counterfeits (or as we known them - "Lawsuit", copy etc.) so I suppose they'd check for items that had fallen of the back of the proverbial lorry too.

It would appear to be a handmade (by Jim Burns) prototype of the famous and lovely Flyte and probably ought to be in a museum.

In the listings own words:

Burns Conchorde Prototype Bass Guitar
Believed to be the only one ever made (any comments welcome)
prototype of the Flyte Bass
there is a six string Conchorde (looks newer than this bass to me)
but this is the bass version (looks older)
has pre - Burns U.K. lettering etc.
The bass seems older than a 1970s Burns U.K. instrument
It looks more late 60's / early 70's ...
obviously a prototype , obviously handmade
the pickups etc look like a late 60's Burns ( they look hand-wound )
I bought the Conchorde bass in approx 1974 ( used / secondhand )
from a dealer in Northern England.
I spoke to Jim Burns in approx 1975 about the Conchorde ...
(at a trade fair / exhibition in London, Russel Hotel ?)
He was very angry because he said the bass was stolen from his workbench
some years earlier.  He was very aggressive to me, he thought I'd stolen it)
I said I had bought it in good faith but he was so angry I had to leave quickly.
I played the bass in a band for many years
It sounded good and was good to play.
I want to sell this Burns to someone who will appreciate it.
any offers considered / any questions are welcome
U.K. delivery F.O.C. (no charge) international at cost.

David in Barcelona - not to be confused with the Costa Del Crime

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Egypt Karnac Osirus from 1986

guitarz.blogspot.com:

OK, so it may be an 80s guitar, but this Egypt Karnac Osirus is a quality UK-made instrument and certainly not one that everyone else is going to be playing.

Quite how this model differs from the Egypt Karnac Luxor we previously looked at this time last year, I don't know, because they look identical to me. In fact, I suspect this may even be the exact same guitar. Perhaps the seller got the name wrong. Note that there is some confusion in the eBay listing, as we are told that Egypt Guitars were made in Glasgow, Scotland, but the heading says "Made in Ireland". The seller also claim that this is a prototype, serial # A004, and that only five examples of this model were made, and only one in this metallic lilac. If that's all true, it must be the same guitar.

Anyway, the auction finishes tomorrow night, so if an unusual Scottish-built metallic lilac 80s guitar is your thing, then snap it up!

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

The Höfner Bat prototype ... revisited

guitarz.blogspot.com:
Filippo writes:

Hello,

I noticed my Hofner Bat on http://guitarz.blogspot.com/2010/05/hofner-bat-prototype-from-1960.html

I'm restoring it.

Found the right tuners, the bridge, the truss rod cover and all knobs/controls. All Hofner parts (except for the selector and switch) from the 60s, of course.

A friend of mine, a genius, restored the neck & headstock. Completely restored except s/n and some finish wear. Impossible to realize it has been restored. Still not reglued.

Body and pickups still untouched.

The new scratchplate has been made after hours of work to obtain the right sizes. Conclusions drawn by an architect who has been based on some photographs + body signes valutation. A perfect job done with old 4 layers piece.

The amp: the original one is gone and it isn't possible to have it.

I'll buy a small amp (which?????) and in a way or in another way I'll install it with a 4" speaker or a bigger one mounted with an option.

This guitar will be equipped with a modern amp with digital effects without extra holes or other modifications. Of course!

It needs an amp, so why not a modern one? It's inside and will be great for (home and entertainment only) playing!

Best regards,
Filippo

Great to hear from you, Filippo, and I'm so pleased to hear that this fantastic old guitar is being restored. If you want to send us any further photos of the resoration process or the finished guitar, we'd love to see them here on Guitarz.

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Back to the future - Old Alloy Electric Guitar 1965 Vintage Unique 1 Off

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Now, this is an unexpected find. The seller claims it's from 1965 but from the overall look, the pickup and the headstock it looks like it's from the 80s/90s. So as the seller says, It's waaaaaay ahead of it time. I'm simply going to copy and paste the sellers description in full as he's done such a good job and to be honest, there isn't a whole lot more I could add. Except to say that if this is from the sixties, it's a pity it didn't go into production.

Here we go...

...Well, where do I start in describing this incredibly unique electric guitar. I can not think of any other that comes near the unusual build or sheer sexiness of this instrument. It was clearly way ahead of it's time. I have nicknamed her `The Bat'Leth" because the body has a striking similarity to the Klingon battle weapon in Star trek.

I was left this guitar by an old neighbour of mine in his will, where I used to live in Bristol. I had always admired it whenever round his house and had asked many times if it was for sale but he always said no.

His name was Brian Laney. He worked for the R&D department of an English guitar company but I have been racking my brain for several days and have never been able to remember the name of it. Though I believe they were Bristol based. I have no idea if they even still exist. The guitar was handed to him on his retirement.

The guitar was a prototype built by Brian circa 1965 in order to assess the musical qualities of different materials. Needless to say it is a One Off. Completely unique. It is left handed, though I remember being told that it can easily be converted by unbolting everything and swapping everything over the other way round.

From what I remember being told, the body and neck were made from an aircraft quality alloy, the head being wood. It has a Spruce-Ply Back, stained blue, which is attached to the body by bolts. There is a gap of about 5mm between the back & the front which I have tried to show in one of the pictures. The whole guitar is only about an inch thick.

The main alloy body is about 10mm thick and was cut, shaped and finished entirely by hand. The bottom front point is removable, I assume to suit your mood (see Picture 5). Brian had a sense of humour.

At the rear, the neck is attached to the body by another alloy plate, thus making an extremely rigid structure. Indeed, this guitar will sustain for Britain. The wood back serves no structural purpose whatsoever.

It seems there used to be a cover of some sought on the back of the neck. The neck itself was `hand carved` and shaped from alloy. The head is wood with what seems like a clear plastic backing and chromed tuners. I don't know if these are original or not.

The nut appears to be graphite. The pickup is a humbucker but I have no idea of the name or model of it. There is the facility to fit 2 single coil pickups but I don't think this has ever been done.

Amazingly, the guitar only weighs 9 lbs, the same as a Gibson Les Paul, though I am sure a pound or two could be saved by changing the bolts to alloys.

I have plugged it in on many occasions and she can certainly sing, though my rendition of `Smoke On The Water` hardly gives her justice. I'm only a poor drummer, so no talent then?

It comes with it's own custom cable as the body is fitted with a `canon` connector. A normal 1/4" mono jack is at the other end.

The guitar is fitted with strings but their age is unknown. I have cleaned her a little bit, though not to much as I don't want to destroy the Patina of the past 45 years.

The volume pot could either do with a clean or replacing (cheap to buy), as it's a bit crackly when turning, though she happily pumps out the decibels.

One word of warnng. If you intend to emulate Pete Townsend, beware that you will probably destroy the stage, not the guitar as she is incredible strong.

I have no idea as to value, so have started the bidding at 99p and see where it goes from there...

Well, there you have it. Not wanting to be a doubting Thomas (more like a disbelieving Betty), the pickup looks like an 80s (Dimarzio or similar) and the shape is so 80s/90s - I know the Gibson Explorer is from the fifties so this could well be the real deal. It's just so hard to imagine this being played by The Beatles, The Moody blues, Roger Miller, Sonny and Cher, Cliff Richard, Ken Dodd, The Seekers or pretty much any band in 1965. I'm pretty sure the machine heads are later than 65 but they could have simply been replaced.

I have to say I do love it. I love the blue coloured plywood, the industrial rivets and the raw metalness of it. I'm tracking it on eBay and if it stays close enough to my budget, I will be bidding for it. If I get it we'll be able to see close up and hopefully learn some more about it.

David in Barcelona

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Millennium #13 Prototype - aluminium body with on-board T-wah

guitarz.blogspot.com

Bertram is currently travelling and does not have internet access, but he wanted me to show you guys this intriguing Millenium lightweight aluminium-bodied guitar which features built-in Boss T-wah effects circuitry. Effects are engaged with a patent pending wrist-actuated switch, supposedly providing for quicker and smoother control than a foot-actuated pedal.

The body is arcraft-grade indestructible aluminium and is married to a hand-made mahogany neck with African ebony fingerboard and equipped with LSR lightweight locking tuners. The guitar weighs 7 lbs.

All in all, it's a very fitting guitar to show you on this, our 8th birthday!

G L Wilson (on behalf of Bertram)

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Prototype Eastman El Rey ER-F

guitarz.blogspot.com

This Eastman El Rey is exactly the kind of guitar I love: an ultra-classic archtop jazz guitar design smartly distorted to personalize and update its line in an extremely elegant way, and a few killing details, like the round cutaway and the ebony tailpiece and pickguard on a white finish...

For some reason Eastman never released this F-holes version of their El Rey series designed by Otto d'Ambosio, so this prototype is a one-off so far...

bertram

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Höfner Bat - prototype from 1960

guitarz.blogspot.com:
According to the listing on eBay this highly unusual Höfner BAT from 1960 was a prototype guitar first shown at Frankfurt in 1960, although it never went into production. The guitar incorporated a built-in amp and speaker, taking advantage of the then-new technology offered by the transistor.

Unfortunately this (lone surviving?) example of this model does not have a functioning amp, whilst several parts are not original and the neck is not currently glued in.

This guitar we might call "museum quality". It's not going to be a player, but for the collector it must surely by a very interesting piece.

Thanks to Nathan for bringing this intriguing guitar to our attention.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Gibson Korina Futura 1957 prototype

guitarz.blogspot.com

In my previous post about the Epiphone Prophecy Futura, I failed to identify its original model - the Futura designed in 1957 by Gibson - and credited it to the Epiphone current creativity (well I actually think that Epiphone anyway refined and updated the line of the Futura). 

I'm even more baffled at this guitar thinking that it's been created in the 50s, but that should not be a surprise when you know the other guitar designs Gibson experimented at that time, including the supreme Flying V. The Futura was anyway too radical and not issued then, but lead to the creation of the Explorer. If you're interested in the whole story, you'll find it here. 

Thanks to Greg for pointing my mistake.

bertram 

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!

Ex-Nuno Washburn Mouradian prototype

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Yes, I appreciate that this Washburn Mouradian guitar is a rare "one-of-a-kind" prototype model.

I appreciate also that it belonged to Nuno Bettencourt and is the actual guitar that he played it with Extreme at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert in 1992.

Nevertheless... a $35,000 Buy It Now price on eBay?

You're having a laugh?

Thanks to Jono for bringing this guitar to our attention. As he says, "You gotta wonder where they pull out those prices from and more importantly, who the hell buys this stuff?"

I've got nothing against Mr Bettencourt, who is a fine guitarist, but I wouldn't have thought he was the kind of guy whose personal instruments commanded those kind of big bucks. That asking price is not quite in Hendrix/Beatles/Elvis territory, but it's close.

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 9th year!