Guyatone Bass 1966

Here's a really interesting one...it's a 1966 Guyatone Bass and I have no idea what model it is. But it's wacky and weird and really cool all at the same time. I found this for a whopping $40 at the Oceanside Swap Meet and left the parking lot feeling like the cat that ate the canary. Going to swap meets and garage sales and thrift stores hoping to find a gem is a LOT more about perseverance than anything else. I have been lucky enough to find some really cool items at these places, but more often than not I come home empty handed. But on those rare occasions that you do score big, you just can't help but feel like it's all worthwhile.

When I got this bass home I started trying to figure out what it was. There was no logo on the headstock, though later I noticed that there is the very faint mark left of a large "G" which can be found on old Guyatones. There are a lot of similar instruments to the Guyatones (though not this one) with a large "K" for Kent that look like the same art department made the logos. There was a sticker on the back of the dong-shaped headstock that just said, "Electric Bass No. 99-9920." It was actually in very good condition except for one area on the side that had lost a fair amount of finish. Otherwise it seemed good (more on that later). I took a bunch of photos and sent them to Mike Robinson over at My Rare Guitars. Mike is also the creative genius behind Eastwood Guitars and just happens to be an all-around nice guy. Mike knows a lot about these weird old guitars and has a lot of them for sale...be sure to click the first link and check out his archives of '60s and '70s oddballs.

Mike wrote back to inform me that from the looks of the inlays on the neck, and from his past experience with another similar instrument, he thought it was a Guyatone. It was only at that point that I recognized the faint outline of the G logo and confirmed that Mike was dead on. With this new knowledge at hand, I snapped a few more photos of the weird headstock, the odd bridge with actual cotton-like padding and a large screw holding things in place, and I listed it on eBay.

This thing was heavy, awkward to play, and although it was a great find, it was never something I was seriously going to keep for long. It was really more of a money maker.

To cut to the chase, the bass sold for a couple of hundred bucks (or somewhere in there...I don't remember exactly) and I shipped it out. Everything seemed to be in order. After about a week I got a not very nice email from the guy that bought it. He was really pissed off that "I had ripped him off...the neck was warped and bowed and the instrument was useless." I was really taken aback. I know a little something about guitars, but I would never claim to be anything close to a guitar tech or an expert of any kind. However I really think I would have noticed a warped and twisted neck. Since the bass was long gone and I couldn't inspect it myself, I just had to take the guy's word for it that I had made a colossal mistake and sold a faulty instrument. I don't remember the exact details, but I think we came to an agreement about how much I needed to refund him to make it worthwhile for him to try to get it fixed. Hopefully he ended up being happy about it...I really don't want anyone feeling ripped off from an eBay transaction. I know how I have felt about certain guitars that didn't meet my expectations.

Now to the question I ask myself about each and every instrument...would I want it back. I'll keep it short: no! Hell no, in fact. Heavy, uncomfortable, not great sounding, difficult to change strings, penis shaped headstock...need I go on? I think not.

Sho-Bud Diamond Model Acoustic Guitar

Here is one that I wish I had back but I can visit anytime I want to. I wrote a previous post about a Sho-Bud Club Model guitar that I bought that got me started into the obscure world of Sho-Bud acoustics. As mentioned before, at the time, there was next to nothing on the internet about these guitars other than a listing in the blue book of guitar values and a couple of mentions in forums about people owning one or the other of the five models. So, I started a website about them not only hoping to gather info for Sho-Bud acoustic owners, but also for my own greedy purpose: to buy these guitars from people who are interested in selling and go to the internet to find out info. I figured if I am the "expert" on these guitars, people will come to me when they want to sell.

Well my little pretties, the evil plan worked! Once. Sort of. I got an email from a guy who was interested in selling his guitar on eBay and was gathering information. I provided him with what I knew and figured at least I knew the guitar was going to be on sale on eBay. Otherwise I might have missed it. Long story short, I won the guitar for a decent price and was on my way of completing my goal of owning one of each of the Sho-Bud acoustic models. There is the Club Model, the Diamond Model, the Heart Model, the Spade Model and the Grand Slam model...the granddaddy of them all. Problem turned out to be: I've never seen any of the other models for sale except for a Heart Model which I was outbid on at the last second. Ouch. That one cured me of attempting to collect them all. I came to the conclusion it was never going to happen.

At that point, I decided to sell the Club Model, which I did, and to give the Diamond Model to my very good friend and amazing guitarist Dave Quillen. I have played with Dave in a couple of bands and although he has amazing electric gear, he'd never been able to spring for a nicer acoustic. I decided this was wrong and that as much joy as Dave has given me as a fellow musician, the least I could do was to put a really nice acoustic guitar in his hands one way or the other. Our current musical conglomeration, The Small Pox Mountain Boys, are an acoustic group of eight musicians who take turns playing in different configurations. So, getting a good guitar in Dave's hands was somewhat of a selfish move on my part as well. Dave sounds good, I sound good. Pretty simple.

The hard part was actually letting this one go. The Sho-Bud acoustics that were made in the 70's are really nice instruments. They were made in Japan at a time when the Japanese factories were kicking the USA factories asses. A lot of the knock-off guitars of the period are really fine instruments and these definitely fit that description.

In fact, every forum posting I found from Sho-Bud owners consisted of the owner bragging about how his guitar sounded as good as a Martin for a fraction of the price.

I think one of the reasons that these don't come up for sale often is basically that no one wants to let them go.

The Diamond model features rosewood sides and a 2-piece back with a spruce top and mahogany neck. It is based on a standard Martin dreadnought size and shape and plays beautifully. The inlays on the neck of all the Sho-Bud acoustics feature hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades and look very cool. On the headstock is an inlay of the particular model shape...in this case a Diamond. The inlays themselves are not the highest of quality up close..definitely not abalone and pearl. They appear to be some sort of synthetic material. There is an inlay at the 12th fret with the name of the model.

This guitar sounds fantastic, especially in the hands of Dave. At some point during my ownership of the guitar I installed a Sunrise pickup in it coupled with a Sunrise preamp. I'm not sure the Sunrise is for everyone, although they get amazing reviews by their owners and are used by tons of big named pros. But on this guitar it absolutely sounds great.

So, the guitar now resides with my buddy Dave and I get to see it every time we play a gig. Even though I now own some very nice acoustics, I'd love to own another Sho-Bud at some point. Maybe someday it will happen.

Cort Jim Triggs TRG2A Model

Here's an interesting one for you. Ever wish you could own a nice old Gibson ES-175 or a 335 or a Gretsch but you just can't afford it? I happened across this guitar on Craig's List and was immediately intrigued. I had read with some skepticism the reviews of Cort product in magazines like Guitar Player that painted a picture of a guitar company with a reputation as an "affordable" brand, but one that actually made nice quality instruments. Now I have known the name Jim Triggs over the years as one of the top luthiers in the jazz box business, with instruments costing in the tens of thousands of dollars. This guitar seemed like it just had to be one of those sleepers that sneak in under the radar and sound like a million bucks. I was right.

I answered the ad and apparently I was the only one. The guy was very happy to have me come look at the guitar. Super nice guy probably in his mid to late 50s who very much enjoyed the playing of guitars. He had bought this Triggs model a few years earlier and it never left the house. It practically looked brand new. But he had inherited a very sweet 1930s Martin OM size guitar and he just wasn't playing the Cort any more. We plugged it in and gave it a test run and I was sold. This particular guitar was one of a limited edition 2003 100th Anniversary of NAMM model. Normally Cort made this guitar in black and in transparent orange, but this Anniversary model came in a beautiful tobacco sunburst. It featured two humbuckers and a Bigsby, with a 16" wide body that is 1 7/8" deep. It had a nice spruce top and maple back and sides and it really could pull off everything from jazz to rockabilly to whatever you wanted to throw at it.

Now, being a Telecaster guy, I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. I'm not a jazz player by any means and cool rockabilly licks are something I only dream about. I have to admit, the first thought I had when I saw it advertised was that it was a smokin' deal and I could probably resell it for a profit. But the more I played it around the house the more I liked it.

I kept trying to talk myself into keeping it.

I actually felt kind of bad thinking about the guy who had previously owned it. I'm sure he sold it to me thinking it would be mine for many years to come. But I really had something else in mind and was banking (quite literally) on the fact that I could make a little extra off this guitar and put it towards something else. The bank finally won the argument and it went on eBay. I did make a nice profit on it, but it was a little bittersweet, both sweet and bitter, bitter and sweet.

I really do wish I had this one back. What a beautiful guitar that played exceptionally well. In retrospect it was a great lesson for me. Open your eyes along with your ears and don't be afraid to go outside the box of familiar instruments. I'm sure whoever bought this one from me on eBay got the last laugh. Whatever it was that I used the money towards is now long gone and who knows when you'll run across another one of these.

Fender FR-48 Resonator

Haven't you always, maybe secretly, wanted an old 1931 National Duolian that you can sit out on the porch and play old time blues on? What if you can't afford the three grand for an old (or new for that matter) National but you still want to at least try to play some old swampy music? What I did was find myself a nice, used Fender chrome resonator for about $250. It took me awhile, but I finally came across one in my price range and scooped it up. It didn't have a case, but the guitar was in excellent condition.

These things weigh a ton...I don't recommend taking them on a long mountain hike just so you can strum Rocky Mountain High in drop D tuning. Being Fender, they couldn't help using the script "F" logo for the F-holes, which makes them very obviously what they are. The first time I saw this, being a graphic designer who does a lot of marketing, I thought, "What a great idea!" The more I have seen them though, I have to admit I am less excited about the idea. The neck felt very good and the guitar was very playable.

But what about sound? I had played some of the wood body Fender resonators over in one of those odd cedar rooms at Guitar Center they call the acoustic room. You know the one...there's always two high school kids sitting around the center post actually playing songs together...usually an acoustic version of Staind or something.

There is another older guy sitting in the "high end" room playing the opening riff of the Beatles' Blackbird over and over.

They have some Ovations and Ibanez acoustics in the main area and one token Applause mandolin, two acoustic basses, a messed up banjo and...a Fender resonator. Go to Guitar Center today and check it out and see if I'm right. Anyway, I've played the wood bodies and they sound pretty bad. Thin and weak and no volume. But the metal bodies sound pretty decent for the money. They are what they are...better than a Dean, but not as good as a National.

Like I said, this one came without a case, so I took a cheap chipboard case and decided to try to make my own case with a little mojo. I went to a fabric store and bought some purple fur and a glue gun. I carefully cut out the fur to fit and started hot-gluing it in. Getting the lid to close was a little tricky and I had to go back and do a little surgery on the fur, but all in all it came out good and funky...just like I wanted. I gathered up all the stickers I could find and put them all over the outside of the case and it looked just like something that had been sitting around for a good long time.

I wanted to use this guitar at gigs...I have a handful of bluesy/country songs in alternate tunings that this guitar sounded great on. However, I just didn't want to get into miking the guitar and I didn't want to spend the money and do the surgery required to put a pick-up in a resonator. So, as usually happens with me, I lost a little interest and wasn't playing it all that much. I thought it would be a good one to just hang onto and pull out for little jam sessions, but eventually I always start looking for ways to come up with a few hundred bucks for something else. So, like most (but certainly not all) of my guitars, it went up for sale online. I actually sold it for $350, which not only covered the price I paid for it, the crappy case, the purple fur and the priceless mojo I injected into it...it also made me just a little extra profit.

Now and then, when I head over to Buffalo Brothers, I mozy on over to the resonator section and pick up an old National or a Beard and I think about the affordable Fender I used to have. Man, I wish I had that one back.