Fender Bullet - an overlooked and forgotten classic?

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I remember when the Fender Bullet was originally launched in 1981. At last, here we had a genuine USA-built Fender guitar that was affordable to kids like me. I saw the adverts in the music press and I read the reviews, but still I didn't like it. There was something toy-like about its appearance. In fact, looking at it now, it reminds me of the early student model Vox guitars.

These original Bullets used Telecaster necks and had a slim body based on the Telecaster shape. The pickguard owed more to the Stratocaster design, but was made of metal and had an integral bridge in that the rear of the pickguard had a upturned lip into which were screwed six saddles. A Deluxe version of the Bullet had a separate hardtail bridge.

By 1982 everything changed and the Bullet was re-launched with a Strat-inspired bodyshape, various pickup combinations, plus long- and short-scale bass models. A few years later down the line and the Bullet formed part of the Squier line-up.

Pictured here is an example of the original 1981 Fender Bullet, this example currently being offered for sale on eBay. I don't know if they are particularly "rare" as examples seem to show up on eBay fairly regularly. They certainly seem to have increased in value bearing in mind the prices these sometimes sell for. Apparently they sound great. As the seller of this example says, "There's enough sparkle in these pickups to guarantee a big smile on your face every time its played!"

I can see this guitar being used for studio work. However, in a performance it could look very silly unless you a person of smaller proportions. I recall seeing the band T'Pau on television back in the mid 80s, and their gutiarist was playing one of the later Strat-shaped Bullets. This guy was well over six feet tall and looked ridiculous playing this tiny guitar; it looked like a toy. (I wondered at the time if he was a genuine musician and not a male model who had been handed a random guitar for the TV appearance).

G L Wilson

NB: Please make sure you are reading this Guitarz post at guitarz.blogspot.com and not on a Scraper blog that copies posts without permission (and steals bandwidth) so as to profit from advertising. Please support original bloggers!

Giannini Craviola Classical

guitarz.blogspot.com:
We've looked at Brazil's Giannini Craviola previously on Guitarz; that time it was a 12-string model, but the above pictured example is a nylon-strung classical guitar and is currently for sale on eBay with a very low starting price.

I love this design. It's practical and yet unusual at the same time. The asymmetrical semi-lute shape gives it a timeless appeal that is both modern and classical with a touch of the Bohemian all at the same time. The D-shaped soundhole also puts me in mind of the Maccaferri gypsy jazz guitar, although it is a reversed D here on the Giannini.

G L Wilson

NB: Please make sure you are reading this Guitarz post at guitarz.blogspot.com and not on a Scraper blog that copies posts without permission (and steals bandwidth) so as to profit from advertising. Please support original bloggers!

Kramer Gorky Park

guitarz.blogspot.com:

I could have sworn I'd previously featured the Kramer Gorky Park guitar on this blog, but a quick search through the archives tells me that this isn't the case. This particular guitar is currently for sale on eBay and has a Buy It Now price of £1,499.00 which, to me, seems very steep for a jokey-looking instrument created for the band Gorky Park. (I'd never heard of them and had to look up on Wikipedia. I was amazed to learn they were active from 1987 to 2001. Perhaps they simply never made an impact here in the UK. But then again this eBay auction is in the UK, so someone over here must have known about them.)

Kramer fans, it seems, are a particularly rabid bunch when it comes to collecting guitars from their favourite brand. I personally never saw the appeal, other than for their early aluminium-necked instruments. Yeah, Eddie Van Halen played Kramers for a while, but I still don't get it. (No abusive comments or emails please - if you're a Kramer fan get in touch and tell us here at Guitarz what makes Kramer guitars so great!)

The Gorky Park model was based on the shape of the Russian balalaika - a three-string triangular-bodied folk instrument. Somehow the pointy Kramer headstock spoils this metaphor, as do the over-the-top graphics with band logo, USSR and USA flags, and signatures of the band members. (The signatures are reproductions and are part of the design). In fact, the top of that little triangular body is so busy that perhaps it's a good idea that the guitar sports just a single humbucker and a lone volume control.

G L Wilson

NB: Please make sure you are reading this Guitarz post at guitarz.blogspot.com and not on a Scraper blog that copies posts without permission (and steals bandwidth) so as to profit from advertising. Please support original bloggers!

Antoria model 994 from 1963

guitarz.blogspot.com:
This Antoria guitar, recently sold on eBay, is an early example from the 1960s. It is a Japanese guitar from just before the era of "copy guitars" and lawsuits, Fender and Gibson getting very worried, etc, etc. In fact, it's not often you'll see a vintage example of an original Antoria design as they are better known for their replicas. Note the really thin body which would have had very minimal routing inside; the pickups are basically sitting on top of the pickguard.

Another nice touch is the matching coloured pickup selector switches - that's one way of being sure that the baby blue guitar finish is original!

G L Wilson

NB: Please make sure you are reading this Guitarz post at guitarz.blogspot.com and not on a Scraper blog that copies posts without permission (and steals bandwidth) so as to profit from advertising. Please support original bloggers!

1960s Vintage Italian Bigson bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:
Here's yet another product of the 1960s Beat Boom during which the public simply couldn't get enough guitars and European instrument manufacturers switched from producing accordions and leapt onto the guitar bandwagon.

This short-scale Bigson bass is vaguely reminiscent of the Eko Rokes model and was also produced in Italy at around the same time. It's possible that it was also made by Eko despite the brandname that appears on the headstock.

Speaking of which, I can't help wondering if the "Bigson" was a deliberate anagram of Gibson.

G L Wilson

NB: Please make sure you are reading this Guitarz post at guitarz.blogspot.com and not on a Scraper blog that copies posts without permission (and steals bandwidth) so as to profit from advertising. Please support original bloggers!

Ibanez Les Paul Custom Agent 2405

guitarz.blogspot.com

Like the people who sell this Ibanez Les Paul Custom on eBay say, this guitar is more than a very good copy of a Gibson (from the lawsuit era), it's a real homage to the brand, combining the body of the LP with the headstock of their mandolin models.

Add to that the mother-of-pearl inlays, and you have a remarkable, beautifully classic and slightly bizarre instrument... (and it's the first time that I like a sunburst finish, isn't it weird!)

bertram

NB: Please make sure you are reading this Guitarz post at guitarz.blogspot.com and not on a Scraper blog that copies posts without permission (and steals bandwidth) so as to profit from advertising. Please support original bloggers!

Eagle guitar - created through divine inspiration

guitarz.blogspot.com:
Whoah! This one-off "Eagle Guitar" originally had a whopping $75,000 price tag on it on eBay, but now is being offered with 10% discount. So - for a mere $67,500 - it could be yours!

So, what's so special about it? you may well ask.

It seems that the idea for this guitar and the knowledge to build it came to its creator in a dream. Call it divine inspiration, if you will.

The guitar's maker talks about its creation being a "supernatural experience" supervised by his own "inner guide", so it's a wonder that he doesn't want to keep the guitar for himself. After all, it sounds like an intensely personal experience.

G L Wilson

NB: Please make sure you are reading this Guitarz post at guitarz.blogspot.com and not on a Scraper blog that copies posts without permission (and steals bandwidth) so as to profit from advertising. Please support original bloggers!