Conrad and 20th century industrial design...

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I'm afraid that this Conrad will never make music again, but maybe it can still toast bread, provide air conditioning,  vacuum clean... 

Bertram

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

Vox White Shadow

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The Vox White Shadow is better known with 2 humbuckers and no pickguard, it's the first time that I see one with this strat configuration, and actually the pickguard improves its very special shape (again I wish I could see it in natural finish, because this blue finish doesn't do it any good). This twisted strat design has this kind of typically 1980s stylization that claimed then that psychedelic times were over - here came the computer age... 

The guitar case is also a nice design effort as you can see here.

This guitar was built at Matsumoku factory in Japan - Vox never built their own instruments but subcontracted them to several international companies, like Italian Eko in the 60s for the famous teardrop-shaped Mark VI or the Phantom, or in the case of the White Shadow to Aria - in the early 80s for Vox guitars first come-back.

Take the opportunity to have a look at Vox's new come back in the guitar field, with their 2008 beautiful high-end semi-hollow Virage model - unfortunately not the kind that most people can afford.

Bertram


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

1982 Daion 555 HeadHunter

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I talked about the Daion 555 Headhunter a few weeks ago (when I found one on a flea market but couldn't afford to buy it [sob]), and I'm happy to have the opportunity to show one today.

Not easy to have much information about Daion, a late 70s Japanese-Texan brand that produced apparently good guitars but didn't last very long - they stopped in 1984 - and didn't leave much information. All this starts to give them some kind of cult status (also the fact that they have cool designs and are not mere copies people expected from Japanese guitars in these times), and I have to admit that I was quite impressed when I saw a real Headhunter, before I even started to dig the Internet to know more.

I love the back cutaway on a classic ES-335 body, and the unusual bridge on a semi-hollow!

Bertram

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

1978 Aria PE-1500

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The Aria PE-1500 is Aria's first original model, issued in 1976. This is the kind of guitars that put Japan amongst the great guitar nations, with the US, UK, Germany and Italy... It had powerful DiMarzio pickups and put Aria on the first line of the Metal guitar market that would explode in the 80s. 

I already posted about Aria, how it was an important brand when I started to get into guitars, and that I still use Aria power supplies for my pedals that work perfectly 20 years later. I'm glad to see its coming back - the company never stopped but quite went out of fashion, but since its older models became vintage, Aria becomes attractive again...

I added a close up on the Super Matic Bridge and the elegant wood topped knobs, but didn't show the heel-less neck...

bertram

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