Guitar
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Yesterday we looked at a vintage guitar made by an almost forgotten American manufacturer, and today I want to show you a guitar from an almost forgotten British manufacturer.
We've looked at Shergold guitars before here on Guitarz, plus related brands Hayman, Ned Callan and Shaftsbury. Of course there's a Burns connection too, as Shergold was founded in 1967 by Jack Golder and Norman Houlder who were both former Burns London employees; also in the mid 1970s Shergold would go on to produce guitar bodies and necks for the re-launched Burns UK brand with guitars such as the Flyte.
Shergold were always a forward-looking company, keen on innovation. They are famous for their "detachable" doubleneck guitars (as famously used by Mike Rutherford of Genesis), plus guitars with modular electronics which can be swapped and changed dependent on the sound desired. They were also the ONLY manufacturer (that I am aware of) who were producing a 6-string bass back in the 1970s. This was after Fender had given up on the Fender Bass VI and a LONG time before the advent of modern 5- and 6-string basses in the mid 1980s.
The Shergold Marathon 6-string bass pictured here is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $4,500. I can't help but feel that this price is a little steep, but maybe that's because I remember when I was working in Summertown in Oxford, there was a music shop near the office that had a Shergold 6-string bass in white marked at £199 and it was in there for ages; obviously people weren't rushing to buy it. I thought it was cool, but it was still too expensive for me at the time. This would have been in the late 1980s. Only a few years earlier, Peter Hook of New Order had used a similar Shergold 6-string bass on "Blue Monday".
Stylewise, it is somewhere between the old-fashioned Bass VI (tuned as a standard guitar but an octave down) and the modern 6-string bass (which typically have a low B string and a high C). I believe the Shergold opted for the one-octave down from guitar tuning, but the neck and string spacing is wider than you'd find on a vintage Bass VI (Fender, Danelectro) - definitely more bass-like than guitar-like; even the tuners are large-buttoned dedicated "no doubt about it" bass tuners.
Whilst I'm sure the Shergold Marathon 6-string bass has gone up in value since the example I saw for sale in the late 1980s, I find it hard to believe that it's remotely in the area that this eBay seller is asking for. It's a very cool bass, but I think it's another one to file under "Optimistic sellers".
G L Wilson
© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!
- Shergold 6 And 12-string Double Neck Guitar, Ex Julian Cope
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- Shergold Marathon Bass Vi Left-handed 6-string Bass Circa 1986
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- Musicvox Space Cadet 12-string Bass - Nos From 2000
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- 1970s Vintage British-built Ned Callan Bass
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Guitar
Shergold Marathon 6-string bass from 1978
guitarz.blogspot.com:
We've looked at Shergold guitars before here on Guitarz, plus related brands Hayman, Ned Callan and Shaftsbury. Of course there's a Burns connection too, as Shergold was founded in 1967 by Jack Golder and Norman Houlder who were both former Burns London employees; also in the mid 1970s Shergold would go on to produce guitar bodies and necks for the re-launched Burns UK brand with guitars such as the Flyte.
Shergold were always a forward-looking company, keen on innovation. They are famous for their "detachable" doubleneck guitars (as famously used by Mike Rutherford of Genesis), plus guitars with modular electronics which can be swapped and changed dependent on the sound desired. They were also the ONLY manufacturer (that I am aware of) who were producing a 6-string bass back in the 1970s. This was after Fender had given up on the Fender Bass VI and a LONG time before the advent of modern 5- and 6-string basses in the mid 1980s.
The Shergold Marathon 6-string bass pictured here is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $4,500. I can't help but feel that this price is a little steep, but maybe that's because I remember when I was working in Summertown in Oxford, there was a music shop near the office that had a Shergold 6-string bass in white marked at £199 and it was in there for ages; obviously people weren't rushing to buy it. I thought it was cool, but it was still too expensive for me at the time. This would have been in the late 1980s. Only a few years earlier, Peter Hook of New Order had used a similar Shergold 6-string bass on "Blue Monday".
Stylewise, it is somewhere between the old-fashioned Bass VI (tuned as a standard guitar but an octave down) and the modern 6-string bass (which typically have a low B string and a high C). I believe the Shergold opted for the one-octave down from guitar tuning, but the neck and string spacing is wider than you'd find on a vintage Bass VI (Fender, Danelectro) - definitely more bass-like than guitar-like; even the tuners are large-buttoned dedicated "no doubt about it" bass tuners.
Whilst I'm sure the Shergold Marathon 6-string bass has gone up in value since the example I saw for sale in the late 1980s, I find it hard to believe that it's remotely in the area that this eBay seller is asking for. It's a very cool bass, but I think it's another one to file under "Optimistic sellers".
G L Wilson
© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!
- Shergold 6 And 12-string Double Neck Guitar, Ex Julian Cope
guitarz.blogspot.com: We recently looked at a very fine example of a Shergold doubleneck 4+8 string bass. Now it's time to meet its guitar counterpart, the above pictured Shergold 6+12 string doubleneck which is currently being offered for sale via...
- Shergold Custom Masquerader With Extra Pickup For Stereo
guitarz.blogspot.com: After Sunday's lovely 60s Vox Grand Prix, we have another classic British guitar. This time from the 70s. This beauty is currently on Ebay. The seller doesn't go into much detail except to say that this is a 70s...
- Shergold Marathon Bass Vi Left-handed 6-string Bass Circa 1986
guitarz.blogspot.com: We looked at a Shergold Marathon Bass VI earlier in the year, but the example now pictured here is even rarer simply because it is a left-handed version. I'm particularly pleased to feature this instrument on the blog as I am...
- Musicvox Space Cadet 12-string Bass - Nos From 2000
guitarz.blogspot.com: I had previously reported - in 2008 - that Musicvox guitars were no longer being made. Well, I'm happy to tell you that Musicvox are back with a new range of guitars and basses plus new editions of older designs such as the Space...
- 1970s Vintage British-built Ned Callan Bass
guitarz.blogspot.com: Peter Cook developed the Ned Callan range in the 1970s, guitars being initially handcrafted by Cook himself from his small workshop in London's Notting Hill, and later for Shaftesbury with Shergold Guitars being commisioned to...