Guitar
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Before the Stratocaster hit the shores of the United Kingdom, there was another three pickup solidbody guitar with a tremolo arm that was popular with British guitarists of late 1950s/early 1960s. This was the Futurama 3 which was indeed very futuristic for its time (even if by today's standards it does look quite bizarre and rather "chunky"). Fast forward just over a decade into the 1970s, and a whole other generation of budding guitarists who couldn't afford Fenders, Gibsons or even their cheaper Japanese knock-offs, started out playing Futurama guitars, I guess as hand-me-downs from their fathers, uncles or older brothers, or else as cheap 2nd-hand shop finds.
Futurama guitars were imported into the UK by Selmer as an alternative to German-made Hofner guitars. Early examples were manufactured in Czechoslovakia under the trade name of Resonet by the huge Drevokov Co-operative, which was also known for furniture manufacture. The proper name for this guitar model is "Grazioso" - they were re-branded as Futurama for the UK market. The guitar had been designed by Resonet's Mr Ruzicka (who must have caught a glimpse of a Stratocaster at some point) and had been in production since 1955 before Selmer started importing them into the UK in 1958.
From 1959 production switched to a company called C.S.H.N. (which simply means Czechoslovakian Music Instruments) and produced these guitars under the brandname "Neoton", later to be re-named "Jolana" (which apparently was the name of Mr Ruzicka's daughter - no coincidence, surely?). The headstock design also changed from 3 tuners on each side to 6 in a line.
The Futurama 3 pictured here is one of the later Jolana-made examples, probably from 1962-63. It is currently being offered for sale on eBay UK with a starting price of £450.
For more information, please see this page.
G L Wilson
© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!
- Jim Is Looking For Info On His "triumph" Archtop Guitar
guitarz.blogspot.com: Jim writes: Hi Gavin, I'm a fan of the Guitarz blog, it's been a great read. I started to learn how to play last year, and I'm finding the instruments and their history very interesting. I bought this guitar in a...
- Music Man Sting Ray Ii Guitar From 1977 (back When They Were Cool)
guitarz.blogspot.com: Music Man had as one of its founding members a certain Mr Leo Fender, who had sold his previous eponymously named company to CBS in 1965. They started out in the early 1970s producing hybrid solid-state/tube amps, but by 1976 had...
- Kramer Kl8 Bass - Aluminium Neck And Eight Strings
guitarz.blogspot.com: It always kind of annoyed me that no-one seriously took notice of Kramer guitars until Eddie Van Halen started using them, mainly because by this time - in my eyes - they had stopped being cool by abandoning the aluminium necks that...
- James Chance, The Contortions And A Hagström Kent
guitarz.blogspot.com: Another video, that gives the opportunity to see an Hagström Kent in action - played by Pat Place, one of the two guitarists of James Chance and the Contortions, a late 1970S New York-based No Wave band that combines jazz-punk...
- Japanese-made Westone Guitar From 1964? I'd Aways Thought They Were From The 1980s
guitarz.blogspot.com: We've looked at several Westone guitars previously here at Guitarz. As we've mentioned before, Westone was the house-brand of Japan's Matsumoku factory with guitars being produced from 1981-1988. The Westone name was...
Guitar
Vintage 1960s Futurama 3 solidbody electric guitar
guitarz.blogspot.com:
Futurama guitars were imported into the UK by Selmer as an alternative to German-made Hofner guitars. Early examples were manufactured in Czechoslovakia under the trade name of Resonet by the huge Drevokov Co-operative, which was also known for furniture manufacture. The proper name for this guitar model is "Grazioso" - they were re-branded as Futurama for the UK market. The guitar had been designed by Resonet's Mr Ruzicka (who must have caught a glimpse of a Stratocaster at some point) and had been in production since 1955 before Selmer started importing them into the UK in 1958.
The Futurama 3 pictured here is one of the later Jolana-made examples, probably from 1962-63. It is currently being offered for sale on eBay UK with a starting price of £450.
For more information, please see this page.
G L Wilson
© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!
- Jim Is Looking For Info On His "triumph" Archtop Guitar
guitarz.blogspot.com: Jim writes: Hi Gavin, I'm a fan of the Guitarz blog, it's been a great read. I started to learn how to play last year, and I'm finding the instruments and their history very interesting. I bought this guitar in a...
- Music Man Sting Ray Ii Guitar From 1977 (back When They Were Cool)
guitarz.blogspot.com: Music Man had as one of its founding members a certain Mr Leo Fender, who had sold his previous eponymously named company to CBS in 1965. They started out in the early 1970s producing hybrid solid-state/tube amps, but by 1976 had...
- Kramer Kl8 Bass - Aluminium Neck And Eight Strings
guitarz.blogspot.com: It always kind of annoyed me that no-one seriously took notice of Kramer guitars until Eddie Van Halen started using them, mainly because by this time - in my eyes - they had stopped being cool by abandoning the aluminium necks that...
- James Chance, The Contortions And A Hagström Kent
guitarz.blogspot.com: Another video, that gives the opportunity to see an Hagström Kent in action - played by Pat Place, one of the two guitarists of James Chance and the Contortions, a late 1970S New York-based No Wave band that combines jazz-punk...
- Japanese-made Westone Guitar From 1964? I'd Aways Thought They Were From The 1980s
guitarz.blogspot.com: We've looked at several Westone guitars previously here at Guitarz. As we've mentioned before, Westone was the house-brand of Japan's Matsumoku factory with guitars being produced from 1981-1988. The Westone name was...