Vintage Guitar and Bass forum
  1. Vintage Guitar and Bass forum

Vintage Guitars and Basses

No New Posts Vintage guitars on Ebay

This is the place to talk about things for sale on other websites; ebay / craigslist / gumtree etc
No New Posts Gibson basses

Gibson bass talk. Also Epiphone and Kalamazoo brands made in the USA. See Fly Guitars for more Gibson bass information
No New Posts Gibson guitars

Gibson / Epiphone / Kalamazoo guitar talk. See the Gibson index and Epiphone index for more Gibson guitar information
No New Posts Vox guitars and basses

Vox guitar talk. See the Vox index for more Vox guitar and bass information
No New Posts Hagstrom guitars and basses

Hagstrom guitar talk. See the Hagstrom index for more Hagstrom guitar and bass information
No New Posts Fender basses

All about Fender basses
No New Posts Fender guitars

All about Fender guitars
No New Posts Hofner guitars and basses

Hofner electric guitar, Hofner acoustic guitar, Hofner bass. Anything to do with these classic German guitars.
No New Posts Gretsch guitars and basses

Everything Gretsch goes here
No New Posts Rickenbacker guitars and basses

Rickenbacker guitar and Rickenbacker bass
No New Posts Other manufacturers - Guitar

Guitars made by manufacturers without their own category
No New Posts Other manufacturers - Bass

Basses made by manufacturers without their own category

General vintage guitar talk

No New Posts Vintage guitar talk

General vintage guitar topics: favourite guitar shops, ebay experiences, the state of the market and so on.
No New Posts Repairs

From broken headstocks to scratchy pots. We all need to fix something!
No New Posts Musician Interviews

Talk about interviews in the vintageguitar network of sites. Got an interview you'd like to see? Tell us here
No New Posts Listen to this

Got a great new track? we'd all love to hear it!

Amplifiers and Effects

No New Posts Amplifiers

All about amplifiers - both vintage amps, and newer ones, you prefer for your vintage guitar
No New Posts Effects

Anything about effect pedals - both vintage, and newer ones, you use with your vintage guitar

Classifieds

No New Posts Vintage guitars for sale

No New Posts Vintage guitar parts for sale

No New Posts Vintage guitar memorabilia for sale

No New Posts Vintage guitars wanted


General MUSIC chat

No New Posts MUSIC chat

For talk about music, playing styles, bands, and other non-instrument specific banter. ABSOLUTELY NO TALK OF RELIGION OR POLITICS please
No New Posts Technique & Playing

Ask questions or discuss playing styles and technique. Share tips and help each other become better players.
No New Posts BluesRockWorld

Discussion of Blues, Rock and Country guitar - for guitar players.

Child Boards: Introductions, Electric Guitar, Famous Guitar Players, Classic Blues Rock Bands, General Chat

New to this forum? Look here first

No New Posts Please Read Before Posting

Please read this short message before posting
No New Posts Site updates and announcements

No New Posts Introductions

If you don't have a specific question and just want to say hello, do it here. Wecome!



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Recent posts on vintage guitar and bass

1961 Hofner Colorama IHofner Colorama was the name UK distributor Selmer gave to a series of solid and semi-solid guitars built by Hofner for distribution in the UK. The construction and specifications of the guitars varied over the period of production, but by 1961 it was a totally solid, double cutaway instrument, with a set neck, translucent cherry finish, six-in-a-row headstock, and Hofner Diamond logo pickups. Available as a single or dual pickup guitar, this sngle pickup version would have been sold in mainland Europe as the Hofner 161.
1971 Commodore N25 (Matsumoku)Commodore was a brand applied to a series of guitars produced in Japan at the well-respected Matsumoku plant from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s - and sold primarily (perhaps exclusively?) in the United Kingdom. The models bearing the Commodore name were all guitars available from different distributors with different branding. Although there may have been some minor changes in appointments (specifically headstock branding) most had the same basic bodies, hardware and construction. Equivalent models to the Commodore N25 (and this is by no means an exhaustive list) include the Aria 5102T, Conrad 5102T(?), Electra 2221, Lyle 5102T, Ventura V-1001, Univox Coily - and most famously the Epiphone 5102T / Epiphone EA-250.
1960 Hofner Colorama IIThe Hofner Colorama was the name given by Selmer to a series of solid (and semi-solid) body Hofner guitars distributed in the United Kingdom between 1958 and 1965. The Colorama name actually applied to some quite different guitars over the period, but in 1960 it was a very light, semi-solid, set necked guitar with one (Colorama I) or two (Colorama II, as seen here) Toaster pickups. Although an entry-level guitar, it was very well-built, and a fine playing guitar; certainly a step up (at least in terms of craftsmanship) from many of the Colorama guitars that would follow, and a good deal of the guitars available in Britain circa 1960.
1971 Epiphone 1820 (ET-280) bassBy the end of the 1960s, a decision had been made to move Epiphone guitar production from the USA (at the Kalamazoo plant where Gibson guitars were made), to Matsumoto in Japan, creating a line of guitars and basses significantly less expensive than the USA-built models (actually less than half the price). The Matsumoku factory had been producing guitars for export for some time, but the 1820 bass (alongside a number of guitar models and the 5120 electric acoustic bass) were the first Epiphone models to be made there. These new Epiphones were based on existing Matsumoku guitars, sharing body shapes, and hardware, but the Epiphone line was somewhat upgraded, with inlaid logos and a 2x2 peghead configuration. Over the course of the 70s, the Japanese output improved dramatically, and in many ways these early 70s models are a low point for the brand. Having said this, there are a lot worse guitars out there, and as well as being historically important, the 1820 bass can certainly provide the goods when required.
1981 Gibson MarauderProduction of Bill Lawrence's Gibson Marauder began in 1974, with production peaking in 1978. But by 1980 the model was officially discontinued, though very small numbers slipped out as late as spring 1981. Over 7000 examples shipped between 1974 and 1979, and although no totals are available for 1980 and 1981, it is unlikely production reached three figures in either of these years. These final Marauders were all assembled at the Gibson Nashville plant, and had some nice features not available through the later years of production, such as a rosewood fretboard, and in this case, an opaque 'Devil Red' finish. It's a great looking and fine playing guitar!
1971 Pick Epiphone catalogWhen Epiphone production moved from Kalamazoo to the Matsumoku plant in Japan, a whole new range of electric, flattop and classic acoustic guitars was launched. Between late 1970 and 1972 the new models were launched and refined. This 'folder' catalog contains various inserts released over these years detailing four electric six-strings (ET-270, ET-275, ET-278, and thinline EA-250), three bass guitars (ET-280, ET-285, and thinline EA-260), three folk/steel acoustics, four jumbo flattop acoustics, two 12-string jumbos, four classic acoustics, and a banjo.
1981 Gibson Specials Pre-Owners Manual'Gibson Specials' was part of the June 1981 pre-owners manual series, but unlike the other folders contained a mish-mash of different guitars: limited editions, test marketing and close outs. "You will find the unusual, the brand-new, and the bargain within this folder". End of line 70s guitars like the Marauder, S-1, and L-6S Custom mixed in with brand new models the The V, The Explorer and the Flying V Bass.
It was the largest folder in the series, with 24 inserts, (19 guitars and 5 basses): Guitars: 335-S Standard, Melody Maker Double, Marauder, L-6S Custom, S-1, RD Artist, Firebird, Firebird II, Flying V, Flying V-II, The V, Explorer, Explorer II, The Explorer, The "SG" Standard, Les Paul Artist, Les Paul Artisan, ES-335 Heritage, ES-175/CC Basses: Grabber, G-3, L-9S, RD Artist Bass, Flying V Bass
1970s Shaftesbury 3263 bass Rose-Morris were selling Shaftesbury-branded Rickenbacker copy instruments from the late 1960s right through the 1970s. The 3263 bass was one of the first models, (alongside the 3261 six string and 3262 twelve string) available from late 1968 until about 1974. The earliest incarnation was a set neck bass, produced very briefly in Japan. But production quickly moved to Italy. This bolt-on neck example was built by Eko, in Recanati, using the same hardware and pickups as fitted to Eko, and Vox basses built around the same time. It's certainly a fine looking bass, and not a bad player either.
1961 Hohner Zambesi This very early, and pretty rare British-built guitar is branded Hohner London. Hohner were, of course, a German company, better known for their harmonicas and accordions, but they were keenly expanding into guitars at the birth of the 1960s. This model, along with the Hohner Amazon and (particularly) the Hohner Holborn, bear some similarity with Vox guitars of the same period; furniture manufacturer Stuart Darkins constructed bodies and necks for both brands, with Fenton Weill assembling them using their hardware and pickups. These guitars do have some hardware peculiarities, and they are not the most adjustable of instruments, but they actually play very nicely, being solidly built out of some very nice woods. Check out the video on this page.