ESP Phoenix II

guitarz.blogspot.com

I was searching about the Firebird legacy and I found one that is clearly rooted in it and more than a mere copy, the ESP Phoenix II. Unfortunately the result is not convincing, the lower horn is too wide, though its Rickenbacker style curve could have been nice. I keep looking, any suggestion is welcome.

BTW, a white finish with a black pickguard is one of my favorite finish.

bertram

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

Would you like a little Bossa Nova with your Fresher Straighter?

guitarz.blogspot.com:
Fresher Straighter?... that's a rather cheekily named brand/model, and with a rather cheeky headstock decal too. The word "lawsuit" springs to mind. It appears to be a rather accurate copy of an 1970s-era Ash-bodied You Know What, and is of Japanese origin.

This example has an unusual feature in the shape of a built-in drum machine of sorts, which is no doubt very crude by today's standards. Still, it makes a change from the endless Kay-brand LP style guitars with built-in effects which eBay sellers will insist are rarities.

Read more about Fresher guitars here.

G L Wilson

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

August Carlstedt Ideal Harp Guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This harp guitar by August Carlstedt is not the kind of instrument that turns up very often on eBay. The seller has listed it as a "double neck" and I suppose that is not an innaccurate description of it, but you'll notice from the closeness of the upper neck carrying the sub-bass strings to the main neck that the sub-bass strings are not meant to be fingered (I won't say "fretted" for obvious reasons). The sub-basses are intended to be plucked as open strings - the neck is there merely to support these strings. The designs of harp guitar vary wildly; many other brands employed winged extensions to the body where this guitar has the extra neck. I assume that the fretless fingerboard on this example is there for aesthetic purpose only.

I note that currently the guitar has only two of its four sub-bass strings present. Possibly, in its current condition with cracked body top it would not be wise to string it up with the full complement of strings. I am curious as to the presence of four additional bridge pins on the treble-side of the guitar's bridge, which would suggest that the guitar may have had even more extra strings. However, there are no tuners present on the treble side of the body, nor marks to indicate where they may once have been. Could the four extra bridge pins be merely an aesthetic touch so as give provide visual balance to the whole bridge design?

August Carlstedt, by the way, lived from 1861 to 1928 and was a Swedish immigrant who ran a shop in Chicago during the early 20th century, building instruments under the Ideal brand.

This beautiful antique guitar is, as already mentioned, in need of some restoration. No doubt it will appeal to a collector of harp guitars; hopefully someone who will lavish some attention on it.

For more on harp guitars, see the excellent www.harpguitars.net website.

G L Wilson

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

Gibson Firebird XII non-reverse

guitarz.blogspot.com

A few days ago, GL was talking about the fact that 12-string guitars, that were once a standard in solid body guitars - a post-Brit invasion trend for sure -, became rare nowadays. I absolutely agree that it's a pity, and reduces the range of what you can do with a guitar! 

Here is a rare Gibson Firebird XII, a 12-string non-reverse version of the Firebird. The non-reverse body was produced between 1965 and 1969, when it appeared that the 1963 Firebird regular body - the reverse body as it's been called since the lower long horn felt so bizarre at the time - was a selling failure. Fortunately at this time Gibson was visionary enough to insist on its innovative designs, and the reverse body came back for good in 1972 (the non-reverse is quite ugly to me). Here you can find several photos of a Firebird XII, and you can see that it doesn't have the characteristic neck-through - another concession of the non-reverse phase...

I wish they'd issue one day a reverse body 12-string Firebird XII, that would really fit this guitar and its out-of-time feel (12-string doesn't fit much to rock but as I've stated here already, for me the Firebird is the guitar of Brian Jones and PJ Harvey and is a perfect brit-pop guitar).

Hey people at Gibson, are you reading the Guitarz blog? You know what you have to do!

bertram




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

Greco Firebird copy

guitarz.blogspot.com

Another Firebird, and a vintage black one (!), but it's not a Gibson, it's a Greco... 

I don't have more info about this guitar, but it looks like a faithful copy, obviously from the lawsuit era... Greco were so good at copying other companies guitars that they ended up as Fender Japan - just had to change the logo on their teles!

bertram

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

Danelectro U2 Resophonic

guitarz.blogspot.com:

The seller of this Danelectro U2 resophonic guitar says that:

"Don't know too much about it but when I took it in to my local music shop they were fascinated by it. Said it was unusual to see a resonator on these guitars and that they were not cheap."

Yes, it is unusual indeed to see a resonator version of this guitar. These were not stock. I had a friend several years ago who had one just like this, and it was my understanding that a number of these Korean-made EVETS corporation Danelectro reiussues from the late 1990s were in fact modified into resonators by Holiday Music in Leytonstone, London.

As well as the original neck lipstick pickup, the guitar also has a piezo pickup fitted beneath the resonator cone allowing the electric and acoustic properties to be mixed. Note the re-located position of the controls on the upper part of the body. I don't suppose there was space left for them anywhere else.

By the way, my friend reported that it sounded fantastic.

G L Wilson

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

1964 Gibson Firebird I

guitarz.blogspot.com

Since we're busy with Firebirds, I'm happy to have the opportunity to present here a rare vintage Firebird I, with a single mini humbucker in bridge position and wraparound bridge. 

Less than 500 Firebirds I have been released in the early 60s as a budget model, this one seems to be in a fine condition for a 1964 cheapo - of course now it's a treasure ! 

bertram

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