The Totally Miscellaneous non-Alembic Guitar and Bass Thread

[edwardofhuncote]

Joey and me talk on the phone every so often. He sent me this YouTube video yesterday of a guitar demo from Norm's of a vintage Martin, one that's still reasonably affordable. To be fair, I don't know what Norm's Rare Guitars is asking for it, but 30's 0-17's can still be had back-East here at <$5K in good condition. You just gotta' hunt for them. I'm posting partly because it's a cool old guitar, but also because this girl really gets the best out of it.  😎

[Nova Constellatio]

I feel like we need more Fenders here. A 1954 with some patina on it:

[cozmik_cowboy]

Until this moment, a '59 was oldest Strat I'd seen in CAR (my favorite color for a Fender)!
Kewl.

Peter

[Nova Constellatio]

The paint under that red is the same rattle can gold used on the Eldon Shamblin Strat.

I'm pretty sure next to nobody has heard that story, so I'll repeat it, as it was told to me by the guy who bought the gold Strat from Shamblin.

Bill Carson, who was working for Fender in Nashville, heard that Eldon was selling his '54, and realized that he needed to get another Strat in his hands, or he'd just buy the first guitar he came across. He had a gold Strat made up, and drove from Nashville to Tulsa to deliver it on the day Eldon had arranged to drop his old axe off at Cain's Ballroom.

Bill made it in time, and gave Eldon the new guitar, but had to stay over night. The guy who bought the '54 Strat took Carson to dinner, and while they were eating, Carson told him about its paint job.

Evidently, Leo had ordered gold paint from his supplier, House of Kolor, and when they sprayed the first body, it had terrible orange peel, so they pitched it. The next body did the same thing, so Leo sent Bill to the hardware store for a can of gold spray paint, and they used that over some primer, then shot clear over the gold.

That's what Larry Schaeffer (owner of Cain's Ballroom and the gold '54 Strat's buyer) told me around 15 years ago.

As an interesting aside, when I was researching this guitar, I spent a bunch of time talking to Joe Bailon, who invented Candy Apple Red. He was adamant that this guitar (and anything painted with nitro) was NOT Candy Apple. He explained to me that Candy Apple is a process, and required the use of DuPont Lucite, which was the first clear lacquer that didn't craze when used on  metal.

He and the former manager at House of Kolor both told me independently that this style paint had been used on furniture and in car interiors prior to Lucite's introduction in 1956. The guy from House of Kolor also explained to me that lacquer like you see on this guitar was made by mixing printer's ink into clear nitro.

The more you know...

[edwardofhuncote]

That is a beautiful guitar and a great backstory on a custom color.

I have given away every Fender bass I ever had but one... they just don't work for me. I want one to, but they don't. There was a story a while back though, about a 1968 Telecaster bass in Dakota Red. There was a lotta' hubbub about whether the paint was original or not. That was a pretty bass. Can't find it now, or remember where I read it, but that bass was striking. I remember thinking; I'd have to try.

My only Fender-produced bass is this Squier, mysteriously called a Precision. For the rest of the bass-playing world, it's a 71-79 Telecaster bass reissue. Pretty good one. Heavy as hell, and plenty of whump. Fender reissued these as part of the Mexico Vintera line a couple years ago. This one is 20 years old though, and from the Indonesia factory.