Tag Archives: bizarre

Pick Your King – 1968 EL-12 Crown Durango Professional 12-String Electric Guitar

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Crown 12 1During the 1960s, 12-string guitars were just CRAZY popular!  There were tons of big name bands using 12-stringers including the Beatles, Byrds, Hollies, Who, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and Bob Dylan.  It could probably be argued that 12 strings were the “kings” of the guitar hierarchy, and actually created a bridge to the acoustic folk boom of the Vietnam War era of the late 60s. Then again, I wasn’t born until the 70s so what do I know!!?!!?Crown 12 2This particular guitar had a big ‘ol body that was extremely lightweight, and it resonated beautifully.  It was the perfect guitar body to accentuate the 12-string “ringing” qualities.  That almost built-in chorus sound.  Really beautiful actually.  This guitar was a true survivor from the late 60s and was in excellent condition.  But the poor old gal had been strung with heavy gauge acoustic strings and the neck (as usual) was in bad shape.Crown 12 4Speaking of the neck, it had the most gorgeous piece of rosewood I’ve ever seen.  Check out this fretboard!  The whole guitar had an air of true quality because the binding work was great, and the overall finish of the guitar was top notch!  The one downside with this Crown guitar was that it was “head-heavy”, since the neck seemed to weigh more than the body.  It balanced kinda weird.Crown 12 3Now about that Crown name, these king-like badged guitars seemed to appear sometime in the late 60s.  Although the Crown Professional name was being used through the 60s, when this particular, simple badge appeared on the headstock, the guitars definitely contained an uptick of quality.  I usually find that all these Crown guitars were built with longevity in mind.  Crown 12 5Take a look at this guitar!  It’s just beautiful!  The finish was done in some sort of dappled red and really looked like a fine piece of furniture or something.  Wow.  The pickups read out at a healthy 5.34k at the bridge and 5.27k at the neck, and used a toggle switch (which is always nice).  And of course I have to point out that violin or cello shaped body which was all the rage thanks to Hofner and the Beatles.Crown 12 6The top and bottom of the body had a wonderful curve in the wood, and the cutaways were all tastefully done with multi-binding.  The body wood had all this crazy figuring and I swear if this were made in the USA it’d be worth thousands of dollars.  I wonder how much this cost in 1968?  There are Crown catalogs out there but I’ve never seen one yet.Crown 12 7The headstock also had a cool carving reminiscent of the late 60s Teisco guitars, but this one wasn’t built by Teisco or Kawai or Guyatone.  In fact, I’m still not sure who built this one but I have my suspicions.  If you own the Japanese Bizarre Guitar book, check out page 64 and you’ll see this same model.  Apparently some of these were sold in the Japanese market as well.  Any way you slice it, these late 60s Crown models were just great guitars with tons of potential.  And I need to point out the usual suspects since Dano at Happy Guitar Repair got this old gal singing again, and Mike Dugan gets to let ‘er rip.  Check out the video below….

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You Say Sekova, I Say Segova – Early 1960s Kawai Electric Guitar

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Segova Kawai 1

Ah yes, the Japanese brand name game can usually result in total confusion as people struggle to figure out who made their mystery guitar.  What I’ve learned over the years is not to focus on the headstock name, but rather, focus on the build clues to figure out the maker.  Take for instance this old Kawai made electric.  On the headstock, there was just a remnant of a logo that showed SE…., and the rest was torn off.  Segova Kawai 3

So which name was it?  Years ago I would’ve focused on solving that mystery.  Like, who was this “mysterious” Segova dude?  Or was Sekova a factory in Japan?  Let me tell you peeps, it don’t matter a hill of beans!  What’s more important is to notice the pickups, knobs, and neck plate on this guitar to learn where it was born.  And from there, this old geetar could’ve had any number of names on the headstock.Segova Kawai 5Check out that 5 screw neck plate.  We always called those “tombstone” plates, and Kawai used them a lot in the early 60s.  It was kind of a bad design, since the necks and bodies were attached, like a pseudo set-neck, the finish was applied, and then the neckplates were screwed in there.  And that one screw set right into the neck heel.  So why was this a bad design?  First, the reinforcement rods were not adjustable.  So if the neck goes screwy, it cannot be removed easily without ruining the finish around the joint.  Later on Kawai stopped finishing the joint area and that allowed for much easier adjustment.  But in the early days, this is what they used.Segova Kawai 4

The sad part of that design was when a guitar’s neck went sideways, people either ruined the guitar trying to fix it, or the guitar simply went into the trash.  People are always talking about old guitars like these as “slide monsters“.  Of course, you know what that means!  But if you have a good, old-time tech in your area, or within shipping distance, these necks can be saved.  And to bring an old guitar like this back to life again is a noble deed, dude!Segova Kawai 2

Now the real beauty of these guitars can be found in the pickups.  You know, there’s a common conception that these old Japanese guitars used poor electronics with really microphonic pickups.  But in the early days of Kawai, they used really good electronics and nice wiring.  And the pickups, there were plenty of guitar makers in the US, UK, and Europe that used totally poor pickups.  You have to remember that the 1960s were still the early days for many guitar makers who were still honing their craft.  Anyway, these particular pickups sound great and can be found on a few different Kawai made guitars.  People always talk about gold foil pickups, but these pups come from the same era and sound every bit as good.  AND they have none of the cache’, so you can buy these much cheaper and get your own sound!  Here’s Mike jamming out to an old Joe Cocker tune, check it out!  Those pups sound great!

The Lively One!!! 1964 St. George EP 85 Electric Guitar

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St. George EP85 1This is one cool old guitar!  A full hollowbody, on the smaller side, this littler bugger combines hot pickups and a severely resonant body.  Holy crap man, this guitar just wants to take right off!  It takes a steady, skilled player to control a guitar like this but back in 1964, guitar players were strumming similar Gibson models and learning the ropes of good tones.  When you’re willing to put in a little work, of course!  Isn’t that where the best playing comes from anyway?St. George EP85 2Both pickups read out identical at 3.95K, but these early single coils have a unique construction and just sound super raw, very touch sensitive.  Real good vocal range.  So many people scoff at these old Japanese pickups, but so many of them sound so good!  If you think about it, designing and winding a pickup isn’t really that sophisticated.  But hey, I’m not here to convince you, just enlighten.  Or something like that…anyway, the knobbies and pickguard are dead giveaways for a Kawai guitar.  In fact, this model is listed in the 1963 Kawai catalog.St. George EP85 4

I’m not sure if Kawai actually made this one in their factory, or farmed it out, but either way the guitar is built really well.  In fact, very well when you consider the time it was made.  Kawai had several similar models like this during the early to mid 60s, but these models were soon shelved.  Basically, if you ever find one of these you can safely bet it’s pre-1965.St. George EP85 5

The set-neck construction had a solid joint but a non-adjustable truss rod.  But alas, the combination of time and heavy gauge original strings strung to pitch just wreaked havoc on this poor neck.  I’d almost given up on getting this old gal playable, until Dano got a hold of this one.  WIth some wood clamps, a heat gun, a can of beer and a prayer, friggin’ Dano saved this wonderful guitar from a life of wall hanging!  St. George EP85 6Everything is totally serviceable on this guitar, even the tuners!  Hey, I guarantee someone could spend the rest of their lives picking away on this guitar and be totally happy.  With a slide, this thing just sings.  Using a slide on this guitar is a good thing too since you have almost constant contact with the guitar.  Believe me, this one’s a howler!  The pickups aren’t really microphonic, but the body just vibrates with sound….it’s crazy!  I’ve never played a guitar like this.  Maybe the closest would be my old Gibson ES125?  It must be the small body, but this guitar just resonates wonderfully.St. George EP85 3Good ‘ol St. George is up there on the headstock, and that name belonged to George’s Music Stores in upstate New York and Hollywood.  They imported a ton of Kawai made guitars throughout the 60s, and this is one of the earliest models.  So there it is, another great old guitar salvaged by a mad genius and played by the man with the biggest heart this side of the Mississip!  BIG thanks to Dano at Happy Guitar Repair and Mike Dugan for showing what this guitar is capable of.

Searching Hy and Lo – 1966 Hy Lo Model 2103 Hoshino Gakki Guitar

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HyLo Ibanez 6

For about six years in the 1960s, the Hoshino Gakki company (better known by their most popular brand, Ibanez) produced guitars at their Tama plant in Japan.  And yes, it was the same place that produced the early Tama drums.  The factory churned out some really kooky designs and this Hy Lo model 2103 is a good representation of the kook factor!  The segmented guard is very reminiscent of the early UK Burns guitar design.HyLo Ibanez 5Most of the Tama made guitars had their share of quirks.  For instance, many of the clear celluloid pickguards they used tend to deteriorate over time.  And the thicker guards they used, like on this Hy Lo, were prone to shrinking.  But some of these Tama models had cool little details like sparkle inlays on the pickups, small puffy labels (remember those old puffy stickers?), and some cool graphics.  Plus, this particular tremolo is one of my favorites from the old days!  The switches almost always seem to be a source of frustration when it comes to tech work, and honestly they were some of the worst to come out of Japan.  The switches never seem to be fully off, so unless you sink some work into them there is always this tone “bleed”, especially since the wiring is parallel.HyLo Ibanez 4Notice that strip of darker wood running through the headstock.  That was sorta a Tama trademark, as was the small metal label often nailed to the headstock.  These guitars were made under a few different names (like Maxitone) and most had this small label with similar graphics.  These Tama made guitars were also imported into many European countries, and it seems like the wackiest designs were destined for locations outside the USA.  Serious collectors spend lots of time searching all over the world for those rare little weird nuggets of Tama guitar design.HyLo Ibanez 2 Hoshino made quite a few different models and the identifier is often located on the back of the headstock via that small sticker, which ALWAYS seemed to fall off!  But the necks on these feel very fine, just a little chunky, and the bodies were almost always made of solid wood.HyLo Ibanez 1Notice that little “Japan” stamp near the neck heel?  And check out this subtle belly contour.  And you have to take note of that trapezoid neck plate, that’s a definite Hoshino marker.  This guitar is on the light side and balances real well.HyLo Ibanez 3

I haven’t seen too many of these model 2103s, so I’d say that this is a rather rare model.  I’ve seen maybe three in about five years.  Of course, that doesn’t mean they’re not floating around out there.  It just means there ain’t too many of them!  At least we have this one documented for posterity.  Dano at Happy Guitar Repair made this one playable, and Mike Dugan makes it play.