Guitar
After perusing through the stacks of weird instruments in my attic .. closets .. basement .. etc .. I decided maybe a weekly series covering a particularly weird, rare or unusual instrument or amplifier from my collection would interest people - feedback is welcomed!!
So first up is a seemingly obscure - maybe close to unique - instrument made by the well-regarded Brazilian manufacturer Del Vecchio. Del Vecchio are primarily known for their resonator guitars, though they also have made other acoustic instruments such as classical guitars and ukes.
What I have here however is a solid body electric guitar, loosely modeled on the Fender Jaguar - and apparently from sometime in the 1960s. I found this on Ebay several years ago after using one of my favorite search terms "project" - it was cheap because it was incomplete and essentially an unknown instrument. Oh yeah - and it's built QUITE poorly !!
Some classical guitar construction influence can be seen in:
- the tuners, which appear to be right off a 12-string acoustic
- the mega chunky neck without an adjustable truss rod
The paint color, three pickups and incomplete tremelo all point to the early or mid-60s surf guitar influence. The pickups maybe have not held up well over the years - though they are not dead - just VERY low resistance (2 K ohms) and even lower output.
As a point of comparison, below are a few pictures of a more typical Del Vecchio resonator guitar - this rather beat example was for sale by Elderly Instruments at one time.
I will add some more pics to this post in the future, but if anyone out there has any more info on Del Vecchio electrics or has ever seen another, please let me know.
- Double-sided Electric Guitar/bass...
guitarz.blogspot.com: Apologies for the poor quality of the photographs of this particular instrument; unfortunately the eBay seller didn't provide any better pictures. However, this is such a crazy instrument, I thought you'd like to see it anyway....
- Bizarro So-called Resonator Guitar Being Offered For Sale On Ebay
guitarz.blogspot.com: The eBay listing for this Highway Key supposed "resonator guitar" starts as follows: You are bidding [No, I'm not, I'm just looking] on a one of a kind, custom made acoustic/electric resonator from Highway Key Guitars. This...
- Vintage & Rare "guitar" Of The Week: Manndolins By Jonathan Mann
guitarz.blogspot.com: I'm a couple of days late with this Vintage & Rare "Guitar" of the Week and once again, it's not actually a guitar I'm featuring. The instrument you see pictured here is actually a Manndolins 5-string Octave/Baritone...
- Acoustic Guitar Retrofit
This is my retrofitted nylon string Spanish guitar - my very first guitar, on which I learned classical guitar at 14 - not very assiduously I have to admit, but it still had an influence on my playing even when I switched to 3 power chords punk at...
- Mako Exotec Xk-4: Extreme 80s Pointiness!!!
During the 1980s, guitar design really got abstracted - with "pointy" guitars becoming the norm, as well as various experiments with head-stockless and even bodyless guitars, such as the Steinberger and associated knock-offs. As a "vintage guy" - I always...
Guitar
Del Vecchio Electric Guitar - Weirdo Surf Guitar !!!
After perusing through the stacks of weird instruments in my attic .. closets .. basement .. etc .. I decided maybe a weekly series covering a particularly weird, rare or unusual instrument or amplifier from my collection would interest people - feedback is welcomed!!
So first up is a seemingly obscure - maybe close to unique - instrument made by the well-regarded Brazilian manufacturer Del Vecchio. Del Vecchio are primarily known for their resonator guitars, though they also have made other acoustic instruments such as classical guitars and ukes.
What I have here however is a solid body electric guitar, loosely modeled on the Fender Jaguar - and apparently from sometime in the 1960s. I found this on Ebay several years ago after using one of my favorite search terms "project" - it was cheap because it was incomplete and essentially an unknown instrument. Oh yeah - and it's built QUITE poorly !!
Some classical guitar construction influence can be seen in:
- the tuners, which appear to be right off a 12-string acoustic
- the mega chunky neck without an adjustable truss rod
The paint color, three pickups and incomplete tremelo all point to the early or mid-60s surf guitar influence. The pickups maybe have not held up well over the years - though they are not dead - just VERY low resistance (2 K ohms) and even lower output.
As a point of comparison, below are a few pictures of a more typical Del Vecchio resonator guitar - this rather beat example was for sale by Elderly Instruments at one time.
I will add some more pics to this post in the future, but if anyone out there has any more info on Del Vecchio electrics or has ever seen another, please let me know.
- Double-sided Electric Guitar/bass...
guitarz.blogspot.com: Apologies for the poor quality of the photographs of this particular instrument; unfortunately the eBay seller didn't provide any better pictures. However, this is such a crazy instrument, I thought you'd like to see it anyway....
- Bizarro So-called Resonator Guitar Being Offered For Sale On Ebay
guitarz.blogspot.com: The eBay listing for this Highway Key supposed "resonator guitar" starts as follows: You are bidding [No, I'm not, I'm just looking] on a one of a kind, custom made acoustic/electric resonator from Highway Key Guitars. This...
- Vintage & Rare "guitar" Of The Week: Manndolins By Jonathan Mann
guitarz.blogspot.com: I'm a couple of days late with this Vintage & Rare "Guitar" of the Week and once again, it's not actually a guitar I'm featuring. The instrument you see pictured here is actually a Manndolins 5-string Octave/Baritone...
- Acoustic Guitar Retrofit
This is my retrofitted nylon string Spanish guitar - my very first guitar, on which I learned classical guitar at 14 - not very assiduously I have to admit, but it still had an influence on my playing even when I switched to 3 power chords punk at...
- Mako Exotec Xk-4: Extreme 80s Pointiness!!!
During the 1980s, guitar design really got abstracted - with "pointy" guitars becoming the norm, as well as various experiments with head-stockless and even bodyless guitars, such as the Steinberger and associated knock-offs. As a "vintage guy" - I always...