...from the ridiculous to the... errmmm... ridiculous. (But at least these guitars are made to play well).
And what could be wilder than a Bender Distortocaster from Brian Eastwood? Other than a Distortocaster with a wacky paint job, that is. And should I know what "gouranga" is supposed to mean? (Answers in the comments please).
This particular guitar is currently being offered for sale on eBay UK and has a Buy It Now price of £1,399.
For other Bender Distortocasters please see here and here.
I've said it before and I will say it again: I really seriously HATE skulls on guitars. It's just such a appallingly naff cliché that I can't imagine anyone wanting such a thing unless they are part of a comedy metal band. Not only has this heart-shaped guitar got skulls all over it, but also their eye sockets light up with red LEDs. Spooky, eh?
I mean, really, WHO is it supposed to appeal to? Even most 12-year old have better taste.
Also, check out that action. OUCH! The pink strings don't help, only serving to draw attention to it.
This horror is currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $549.99. (Oh look, the auction number ends in 666... it must be a sign or a prophecy or something!)
You can't miss a Pagelli guitar with its characteristic ergonomic shaped designed for Eastman and the curved headstock - and everybody says that the sound is as good as the looks...
Slanted pickups on guitar were around a long time before Leo Fender designed the Telecaster and Stratocaster. Here we see a Gibson ES-300 from 1940 with a long slanted pickup which is very nearly 7 inches in length. Later examples had a shorter pickup, which was still mounted at a slant.
This guitar comes in the original Geib 5 latch hard shell case (the seller claims that the case alone is worth $1,000), and is currently listed on eBay with a starting price of $6,500.
Thanks to Andrew K for bringing this guitar to my attention.
I couldn't possibly comment on how this vintage Silvertone guitar might sound, but it's certainly a head turner with several Mosrite-inspired design elements (reverse offset body with German carve, angled neck pickup and angle to the top of the neck) and with those crazy slider volume and tone controls. It looks like the original trem is all present and correct too.
Despite the Silvertone brandname it's certainly a Japanese-made instrument, although with the various Japanese manufacturers of the 1960s era, it's often hard to pinpoint who made what as hardware and designs were often common to more than one factory. Personally, I think it looks more Kawai than Teisco, but that's just a hunch.
Currently listed on eBay UK with a starting bid of £299, and with just over a day to go before the auction finishes (as I type this).
I'm not averse to 6-in-a-line headstocks on acoustic guitars. Fender, for example, have used Strat-like headstocks on their acoustic guitars since the 1960s, and I always quite liked that look. But a pointy 1980s jobbie like this? Perhaps my lack of approval stems from the fact that I never liked pointy headstocks like these on ANY guitars, let alone a poor unsuspecting dreadnaught-styled acoustic.
But of course such things are subjective. Even though I hate it, someone else will probably love it. If that person is reading this blog entry, they may like to know that this guitar, located in Georgia in the USA, is currently listed on eBay and has a starting price of $145.
Gperc is a percussion for electric guitar. It is a removable plate attached to the upper part of the guitar.
Various percussion sounds are made by the standard guitar playing, and strumming techniques used
by guitarists.
This is an innovative musical concept, and a totally new musical instrument invented by French
guitarist/guitar teacher Frédéric Riedel.
The Gperc sound is a natural percussion sound. It is the result of the percussion plate vibrations
captured by a piezoelectric pickup. Gperc does not involve any simulation nor any percussion sound
samples of any sort.
Imagine how Gperc could open up new musical horizons... Imagine a Gperc guitarist playing guitar, and
singing on an intimate stage... Imagine the dialog that could rise between a Gperc guitarist, and a
percussionist... Imagine the source of inspiration of a guitar/percussion arrangement at the very first stage of
songwriting...
That's the kind of horizons that Gperc could open up.
Why a crowfunding campaign?
Launching a innovative product is more than ever a real challenge. So we thought we could seek help from
the guitar lovers, and innovation lovers out there. The principle of crowdfunding is simple. The owner of an
innovative and/or a creative project call people for contribution to their project following 2 principles :
Any contribution is important to build a project, even the smallest.
The production of a first batch of Gperc kits for electric guitars.
Research & development fora more flexible Gperc attachment system.
Research & development for the future versions of Gperc, especially a version for
acoustic guitars.
If the goal is not achieved at the end of the campaign, then the contributions are fully repaid to the
contributors.
If the goal is achieved at the end of the campaign, i.e. July 2nd 2013, then the Gperc will come to life to
conquer the world and open up new musical horizons!
More information about the Gperc crowdfunding campaign on Ulule
The value of the compensations increases as the level of contribution increase.
First levels of contribution: Gperc goodies and accessories.
Intermediate levels of contribution: a Gperc unit for electric guitars (stratocaster and telecaster body shapes).
High levels of contribution: an electric guitar equiped with a Gperc. The Gperc will be installed by a luthier.
(The guitars equiped with a Gperc are: a Cort G210 or a Tom Launhardt TC61 -Telecaster body shape - or a
Tom Launhardt ST612 -Stratocaster body shape)
Meinel und Herold was a renowned German late 19th century accordion and harmonica company that later turned into a music instruments mail order distributing company - though they didn't build them, their violins, flutes or mandolins were as sought after as their previous instruments.
They eventually got involved into electric guitars and had them built by East-German Migma - as I assume was this beautifully eccentric electro-acoustic archtop - the finish is original and quite cool.
If you've ever considering dipping a toe or two into the world of fretless guitar, then you could do a lot worse than snap up this Gordon Smith SG-styled fretless guitar, currently listed on eBay UK with a starting bid of a very reasonable £299 and with no bids at the time of writing (approx 13 hours to go before end of auction). It's a one-off handcrafted custom build from this acclaimed British maker from Partington, near Manchester. What's not to like?
And while we're on the subject, check out the below video by Guthrie Govan in which he answers all the questions you may have had about playing a fretless guitar but were too afraid to ask. It really is an excellent introduction to the subject.
