Boutique semi-hollow guitars - you'll have to look to know more...

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For sure you won't see these guitars everyday! Only two of them were ever built, and handmade semi-hollow guitars with an experimental design are quite uncommon, because another level of skills is required than when you make up a solid body... 

And the result is - IMHO - quite stunning! The shape is brilliant, the thick contoured horns are quite a smart move (people busy with guitar design will understand what I mean) and I love the big German carve! I appreciate the fact that they look timeless and could have been made at any moment of the history of electric guitars (and they would have bizarre all along) - at least in Germany where there is a tradition of highly creative jazz guitars!

I imagine that people who will look at these strange instruments with the image of a ES-335 in the head will find hard to love them, so please forget everything and really look without any preconception - and enjoy!

Bertram

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

1968 Vox Bossman V265

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Very similar in shape to the previous Klira Lady, this is the Vox Bossman - not as exciting as the Teardrop/Starstream or the Apollo designs, but still sophisticated enough to bear built-in effects - a fuzz and bass/treble boosters...

You can find anything you want to know about vintage Vox guitars here so I won't say more...

Bertram

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

Klira 'Lady' jazz guitar

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This is a 1965 Klira Lady (another Klira after this one) with a new view at this great vintage tremolo... Since the company collapsed a while ago, it shouldn't be too difficult to copy, upgrade (it would be too high for nowadays standard action) and release this nice piece of gear, why doesn't anybody do this?

Anyway, Klira was quite a good brand from West-Germany -  it's compared to Höfner with which it shared parts - that unfortunately disappeared without anybody gathered a proper database on the Internet about it. These guitars will probably be the next big collectible ones, they seem to be much better than their reputation used to tell.

Bertram

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

Mosrite Celebrity Bass, ultra-short-scale

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As you can see in this photo with two Fender Starcasters behind it, this Mosrite Celebrity Bass from 1967 isn't just a short-scale bass, it's an ultra-short-scale. In fact with a scale length of 24.5" it's a shorter scale than many guitars. You can just imagine how it sounds!

Personally I'd quite like to have an instrument like this and set it up and string it for DGBE tuning, i.e. an octave lower than the TOP four strings of a guitar rather than the bottom four... or octave baritone ukulele tuning if you prefer. That's an instrument I can imagine having a real use for.

Anyway, concerning this particular instrument, the seller tells us that:

According to the orange Mosrite label inside the f-hole this is style #221, the Celebrity CE III Mark X, which was offered from 1966-69. It is 1 7/8" deep at the rims and has a single-bound top and back. The serial number, Z 0362, is written on the label and stamped at the end of the rosewood fingerboard between the 21st and 22nd frets. Other features include bound f-holes, metal zero-fret, Mosrite logo-embossed machines with metal tuner buttons, adjustable bridge with non-roller string saddles, raised white plastic pickguard, short trapeze tailpiece, bridge cover/hand rest, dual pickups, and white plastic control plate with mounted jack and selector switch.

If I was in a position to be buying guitars right now, I'd be so tempted to snap this one up. It has a Buy It Now price of $795, which is about £488 to people like me. Sometimes it's hard compiling a guitar blog with all this temptation on daily basis!

Thanks to Jeremiah Cornelius for bringing this bass to my attention.

G L Wilson

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

What's that guitar?

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I should know this guitar, I've seen this cool control plate before, but it's one of these no-brands from the 60s - I can't even figure out if it's Italian or Japanese (it's sold as an Eko but I doubt that, it's not in any Eko catalogues). 

So, people, who can identify it?

Bertram

Edit: check the comments, no answer yet but serious leads point to either Cimar or Teisco.

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

Kay semi-hollow

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I'm afraid that there's nothing I can tell about this Kay semi-hollow guitar (Kay is a complicated topic), but that I love semi-hollow body guitars with double florentine cutaway, the sliding pots are really cool, the F-hole is quite special, and the pickguard looks like the batwing ones you find on some vintage Höfners.

Bertram

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

Prestige semi-hollowbody guitar

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Additional to the previous post, here is another - quite different - guitar bearing the Prestige brandname. Unfortunately I can tell you nothing about this one because this was a photo I had saved to my hard-drive a little while ago. I guess I meant to blog about it before but unfortunately I have no record of the details.

If anyone out there knows more, please let us know in the usual way!

G L Wilson

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

1967 Epiphone Riviera 12-string

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I'm also a 12-string guitars lover and this Epiphone Riviera is an extremely lovable one! This is not the first ES-335 12-string we've seen here - there was a Gibson, a Kapa, an Ovation... - but this one in dark natural finish is quite something. 

It's been produced in Gibson's factory in Kalamazoo in 1967, at the same time Gibson was selling a similar model, but actually at a cheaper price!

Bertram

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

Framus Atlantik 5/113 52 T

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This 1960s Framus Atlantik 5/113 has all the cool characteristic features of the model - the slanted single-coil pickups, the batwing pickguard, the four knobs in line, the trem... - but also a nice custom psychedelic paint job... 

I wrote this here already about another guitar: the Germans were the best hippies! 

Bertram

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

Innovex "Condor GMS" vintage guitar synth

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One of world's first guitar synthesizers was the Innovex "Condor GMS", released around 1970. Innovex was a joint venture company of Hammond and Ovation. Examples are rarely seen, but one such complete guitar and synth unit (pictured above) is now being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $2,000. Ovation fans will recognise the semi-hollowbody guitar as being the Ovation Tornado model, albeit with a box of tricks attached to the bridge containing, I guess, individual pickups for each of the strings and with an output cable to the synth unit.

The seller comments that:

It is very lofi, and in my opinion, completely awesome. It tracks terribly and warbles, and does everything I love. If you are accustomed to Line 6 stuff you will probably hate this. It functions properly, everything works.

One for the collector, perhaps, or the Lo-Fi recording enthusiast!

G L Wilson

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

Epiphone Riviera P93 - with THREE P90s

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Rob J writes:

Dear Guitarz Blog,

On Tuesday you posted about a hollowbody guitar with 3 p90 pickups and asked 'did you ever see a hollow body guitar with 3 p90s?', well there is one sitting in my front room!

I bought this guitar a year ago from a local guitar shop for £300. Google has revealed to me that it is an Epiphone Riviera P93, a thinline semi-hollowbody guitar with 3 p90 pickups, a threeway selector, 3 volume pots, a master tone pot and a bigsby tailpiece with a tune-o-matic bridge. The selector switch selects the neck and middle pickup in the top position, all three pickups in the middle position and the middle and bridge pickup in the bottom position. It was released sometime around 2007-8 so it is definitely a modern guitar!

just thought you might be interested in this guitar after Tuesday's post.

Keep up the good work,

your loyal reader,

Rob J

Oh dear, it looks like I'm going to have to watch Bertram coming out with wild things such as "did you ever see a hollow body guitar with 3 P90s?"

I just KNEW someone was going to challenge that - it was an open invitation! And as was already pointed out in the comments, there's also the Gibson ES-5, as played by T Bone Walker.

Thanks for showing us your guitar, Rob. It's a beauty!

G L Wilson

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

Dad's guitar: Martin F-65 semi

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Greg writes:

Hi there,

I've been following your blog for a little under a year now and I really love it. Thank you for sharing so many treasures and for providing such great commentary.

I thought you might be interested in a guitar that I came across in my dad's possession over my holiday vacation back home (somehow I didn't realize my dad owned this gem). While it's by no means completely wild, it sure is unusual. It's an electric guitar that Martin made back in the '60s. Kind of unusual considering Martin is known exclusively for their high quality acoustics.

As I understand it, there were only something like 1,800 of them ever made. The model is a F-65. Sadly, I don't know the exact date it was built, but they were only created from 1962 to 1965. Talking with some fellow guitar enthusiasts at a local vintage guitar meetup, they explained that it was a case of Martin just not being able to sell the model due to their strong association with acoustics and not electrics. It's an incredible guitar workmanship-wise. This particular guitar was professional sanded down to a nice, natural wood, which I absolutely love. The pickguard was removed too, giving it something of a John Lennon Casino look. All models I've seen online and read about have a sunburst finish otherwise. The place where the tremolo bar would lock in has been blocked with a wooden dowel though. My dad picked this up back in 1980 from a vintage guitar shop in Kansas City and all of the cosmetics were as they are now. He's had some work done to it and I hope you'll forgive the overused expression, but it's an absolute dream to play. Sounds great too! I hope in his older age, he finds it in his heart to fork it over to me, hah!

Anyway, I thought you might be interested in this oddity. I'm sadly back in Seattle now so I can't really provide too many more details on the guitar without probing my dad for information. Hope you're having a great New Year! Take care.

Greg

Hey, thanks for sharing, Greg. We have looked at a couple of Martin's electric models previously, but it's good to hear from someone who has personal experience of one.

Keep 'em coming, folks!

G L Wilson

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

1974 Gibson Les Paul Signature Sunburst

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Here's another Les Paul, and one of my own personal favourites - but you know me - it most probably appeals because within the sphere of Les Pauls its a bit of an oddity. Looking for all the world like a hybrid  a Gibson 335/Les Paul, the Gibson Les Paul Signature - produced between 1973 and 1978 - is a semi-hollowbody guitar. Now, some would say a semi-hollowbody Les Paul was an oxymoron because a Les Paul by definition should be a solidbody guitar. I think it's this breaking the rules attitude that appeals to me. However, it could have been even more bizarre. I seem to remember seeing pictured in a guitar book many years ago, a Gibson Les Paul Jumbo acoustic guitar with cutaway and pickup (single, I think). Now surely that couldn't be further away from the Les Paul ethos? (And I need to find a picture of one of these!)

The Signature differs also in that its controls consist of volume, treble tone, midrange tone, and in/out phase switch, and it has two output jack sockets - high-impedance on the guitar's top, and low-impedance for recording on the rim.

Most Gibson Les Paul Signatures were finished as gold tops - this is one of the rarer sunburst models, of which there were only 84 produced, and this example is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of £2,995.

G L Wilson

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

1966 Martin GT-75

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See this Martin GT-75 from 1966 in superb condition for a 45 year old guitar... I'm younger and don't look so fresh (mostly in the morning)!

It has a strange yet sober double cutaway thinline body that looks more Czechoslovakian than American, sinuous S-holes (they don't look like F) and deliciously vintage looking DeArmond Dynasonic pickups with asymmetric covers, a Bigsby trem specially designed for Martin...

The Martin F-65 previously shown on the blog was an earlier model and shares the design and the pickups of the GT-75, that mostly improves the neck and the bridge...

Bertram

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

Electric 12ers #6: Firstman "violin" electric XII

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Finally in today's look at electric 12-string guitars...

We're all well aware of the Violin Bass, whether it's a Gibson, a Hofner or one of a whole host of copies. Less well known are its guitar counterparts, and - I shouldn't be surprised although I've never seen one before - here we see a 12-string carrying the Firstman brandname. The seller claims it dates back to 1967. It's not a name I am aware of. I'd wager that - once again - it's a Japanese guitar. If you know differently, please let us know!

Thanks again to Jaimie for sending in today's selections! (Please note, I'm not going posting six blog items every day).

G L Wilson

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

Electric 12ers #4: Aria Diamond semi-hollowbody electric XII

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The 4th of our electric 12-string guitars as chosen by The Ones That Got Away's Jaimie Muehlhausen is this rather attractive Aria Diamond semi. It's most likely inspired by the Gibson 335, but features double Florentine cutaways rather than the Venetian cutaways of the 335 design. It's also a bolt-on neck design as is common with most Japanese guitars from the 1960s.

Jaimie comments that:

...weird how the control knobs are on either side of the F-hole...

I suppose if you have two volumes and two tones they've got to go somewhere.

G L Wilson

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

Electric 12ers #2: Ovation Hurricane semi-hollowbody electric XII

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Jaimie writes:

Despite once owning a 1984 Ovation Collector Series guitar, Ovations now generally scare me a bit. Their electric guitars scare me more. But this one looks fairly normal, other than being a 12 string...

Ah, Jaimie don't say that. One of my biggest regrets is that I lost out in an auction for an Ovation Deacon 12-string by a measely couple of pounds.

The guitar pictured is an Ovation Hurricane XII which pre-dates the better known solidbodies such as the Breadwinner and Deacon. I believe it is quite a find amongst Ovation collectors.

G L Wilson

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

Atlas guitar from Hicksville

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This so-called Vintage Atlas guitar is a bit of an oddity (see also here). It appears to be a generic 1960s semi but looks to be in such remarkably good condition that it could almost be new. The seller on eBay tells us that:

The label inside the F hole has an Atlas emblem and model number AC-2, a penciled serial number, and Atlas Musical instrument 319 West John Street, Hicksville, Long Island, NY. I have seen this label on acoustics, but on nothing of this quality.

Well, I may be wrong, and am quite happy to be corrected on this, but to me the guitar absolutely screams "JAPANESE". Atlas Musical Instruments would be the store that sold these guitars - it may even have been a brand name applied to such imported guitars.

Nevertheless, it's a very nice time capsule instrument, and so good to see it in such perfect condition.

G L Wilson

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

Gibson ES335 12-string

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Here's one you don't see very often: a rare 12-string variant of the Gibson ES335. This example is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a starting price of £5,499. The ES335 was first introduced in 1958 as the first commercially produced semi-hollowbody electric guitar having a solid centre section to the body beneath the strings and pickups.

The 12-string version of the 335 is rarely seen but has been used by artists such as Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys and Julian Cope.

G L Wilson

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

Duesenberg chrome custom by Zinc

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This gleaming artifact is - according to its eBay seller - a Duesenberg-based custom work by French luthier Zinc (about which I couldn't find any information by the way).

It has for sure the characteristic humbucker/P90 configuration of hollow-body Duesenbergs, also the Duesenberg knobs and switch (plus one extra that might be a killswitch), but the body doesn't really fit to any Duesenberg model I can identify: the F-hole is too wide, the cutaway too pointy and the body too round to be a Starplayer - the closest model to it... Also the neck is for sure no Duesenberg, but a strat copy (carrying a Zinc logo) - so it could be that only the gear made it to this custom - then the body is a mystery... Love the chrome finish though!

Bertram

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