The Totally Miscellaneous non-Alembic Guitar and Bass Thread

[edwardofhuncote]

Hole plugs for the stoptail, I reckon? Yessir, that's primetime Gibson stuff there. 

[Nova Constellatio]

I've heard that they used pick material for the caps before they went to the "CUSTOM MADE" badges.

[cozmik_cowboy]

I've only ever seen MOP  or a black plaque inscribed "Custom Made".

Peter

[Nova Constellatio]

I've only ever seen MOP  or a black plaque inscribed "Custom Mad".

Peter

This is bizarre. Literally seconds after I read this, I opened a social media program and saw this video of Vince Taylor singing Peppermint Twist.

Check out the color of the caps on the 345!

[peoplechipper]

wild if it's the same guitar...

[Nova Constellatio]

I don't think it can be — the guy I bought mine from got it as a kid and didn't play it out at all, from what I understand. They do look like twins.

[edwardofhuncote]

The issue of birth-year guitars came up on Davids 'Dreaming' thread...

I've had a couple stringed things from 1969, but only one now. There was this F-5 Gibson mandolin I gifted to a nephew a few years ago. It actually had an ink-stamped '65 FON, but an orange Kalamazoo label with a '69 serial number. It probably laid around the factory for several years, or was simply unfinished. I inherited it from the mandolin player in my Ol' Man's bluegrass band. It was completely unplayable, so I had to have it refretted and set up. He had played the living daylights out of it.

I also had a 1969 D-18. I traded that guitar for a 1930 0-18, even swap. I didn't need the D-18 anymore because I'd just gotten fired from the gig I used it for. And I really wanted that little 12-fret. No pics of that D-18... long gone, but I did buy it as a birth-year guitar. As far as 1969 Martin guitars go, it was okay. Nothing like my '50, but we played in bars and all I needed was something to beat rhythm on. It was a good trade and I didn't miss it long. 

The current and only one; a 1969 D-12-20 that I've converted to a 6-string. I had it for years and played it on a recording as a 12-string exactly once. Paid peanuts for this thing. I've since had the neck reset too, and it's my go-to for a big Dreadnought sound. I thought about selling it for a while, but I gifted the only other 12-fret Dreadnought I had, so this one stays... a birth-year conversion. Maybe someone will figure out what happened. 

[Nova Constellatio]

I love the peghead on it.

[cozmik_cowboy]

While I'd love to have it, I have always found slotted headstocks to be a serious cause of buttockal agony.

Peter

[edwardofhuncote]

I love the peghead on it.

That was the thing. I really didn't want to do anything that couldn't be undone. It crossed my mind to just replace the neck. Then I realized (or rather remembered) that Martin 12-strings are short-scale. That created a new set of problems. So this staggered mounting of individual tuners using 1/4" hole plugs for the vacant holes, and some adhesive-backed black pickguard material for plates to hide the faces solved the main issue.

I saved the original nut, and made an ebony one with every intention of making a bone one later. Never did. The aesthetic suits me fine.

Then came the bridge. It was shaved too thin anyway because of the tragically shallow draught angle. It was eventually getting replaced when we reset the neck, so I plugged all 12 pin holes, then routed and inlaid a thin plug of BRW, then redrilled for 6 pins centered so that none went back through the same holes. Eventually we did just make a full height replacement that fit the footprint, but for experimental purposes, here was the solution. If you know what to look for, you can see it. I saved this one for a souvenir. If it ever gets converted back to a 12-string, it would need a replacement bridge anyway. 

[Nova Constellatio]

I love the creative/conservation-minded solutions. I think of all the wholesome guitars that I've seen converted in a way that can't be undone, and it's pretty depressing.

[Nova Constellatio]

Ok — here's a Gibson with double courses, to tie stuff together:







It's gigantic and dark and watery sounding.

[edwardofhuncote]

K... 2? 

I'd love try a mandocello, though wouldn't have much context for regular use. Like you say, dark and watery. Not really an endorsement of the idea, but the last Gibson mandocello I saw here was a converted L-50 archtop. If memory serves they are the same scale, and I have to say they did such a nice job I tried it on a lesser instrument. 

I love the pumpkin-tops. Lemme look for a couple pictures. I restored one in my shop a couple years ago, just an A-model mandolin from the 'teens. Gifted it to a musical buddy along with a banjo-lele by Mike Ramsey, the only one of his I ever saw. 

[edwardofhuncote]

Here was the pair. The mandolin was a simple A-model from 1916 that turned up in the store I do repair work for. As a consignment it just wouldn't sell because it needed so much work, but I could tell the 'bones' were there. It didn't have any of the classic issues that usually do these in... the sunken top, the sprung waists, tailblock splits or neck joint issues. None of the above. What it did have... the original bridge was super-glued to the top, in the wrong place, and backwards. (the trifecta of stupid) The frets were shot. It was just unplayable. But you could just tell, when the open strings were struck in tune... it thumped like a ripe watermelon. I made a play for it with my store credit, fixed it up, and it went to a good home. The Ramsey banjo-lele was a very fortunate find on Craigslist. Also a gift. I've never seen another. Mike was a genius of a banjo-maker, no longer with us.

The other pumpkin-top in my life the longest... a 1914 L-1 guitar, is not mine. I repaired it for an old friend in the late 90's. After which she played a tune on it and handed it back. I had it for the next 25 years, played it regularly and recorded with it. A couple years back when I was losing the feeling in my hands again, I sent it back to her. I hear a musical niece has it now. The guitar is a family heirloom so that's how it should be.

[Nova Constellatio]

Switching gears a little, here's a fun, high-octane hillbilly guitar from Southern California circa 1961 or 62 — it's a Sterling, made by a guy named Joe Hall, who later founded Hallmark Guitars.

Hall was a guitarist who ordered a custom double neck Mosrite from Semie Moseley in 1958. A year later, Semie hadn't started it, and Hall ended up building it with Semie at his shop, just to get the thing done. He then went on to build a small number of these Sterlings, which are obviously close relatives of early Mosrites.

My friend Deke is writing the definitive book on Mosrites, and stayed with me for a couple days to photograph some of mine, and we ended up comparing the Sterling to a Joe Maphis Model, which is the precursor to the Mosrite Ventures Model, and the bodies are literally mirror images of one another. The pickups are also almost identical, and may be the best sounding vintage single coils I've ever heard.

If you like wacky stuff, this one's for you: