Vintage Hollowbody Guitars

willo

Had a crush on Harmony guitars since I found Marc Ribot played one on Tom Waits' 'Real Gone'. Still an amazing tone. Then I saw him play it live in his Albert Ayler cover band, I forget the name.

But the prices have gone steeply up for what would just be a nice variety guitar. I don't think they'd ever become my main guitar. If I was in the market now I'd look at Eastwood, Rivolta (made by Eastwood, I believe), or some of the newer re-released Harmony's (made in the Heritage USA factory).

chickenbonejohn

willo said:

Had a crush on Harmony guitars since I found Marc Ribot played one on Tom Waits' 'Real Gone'. Still an amazing tone. Then I saw him play it live in his Albert Ayler cover band, I forget the name.

But the prices have gone steeply up for what would just be a nice variety guitar. I don't think they'd ever become my main guitar. If I was in the market now I'd look at Eastwood, Rivolta (made by Eastwood, I believe), or some of the newer re-released Harmony's (made in the Heritage USA factory).

There's huge difference between the original Harmony, Kay guitars etc and the re-issues by Eastwood. The new guitars are just like any other Chinese made guitar, same thick glossy finish, same timbers, same hardware, but they just look different to other modern guitars. I have two, a solid body twin pickup Stratotone re-issue and an Airline Folkstar resonator re-issue. They are nice guitars but feel nothing like an original. The originals had poplar necks and birch bodies, so are very light, construction was pretty sloppy and the finish is very thin and quite shoddy, all in all nothing like a modern guitar. The appearance of the re-issues is cool and by and large they are vice free and pretty neutral in terms of sound and playability - the same definitely cannot be said for the originals. You either love or hate them, and some of them need a lot of work to get them playable. If you can manage to "bond" with one, they are great.  It's cool to turn up at a gig with a $50 guitar and make music with it...a coolness and vibe that no big name masterbuilt relic can come close to!

lovestrat74

Sounds like I need to come to one of your gigs @chickenbonejohn ;;

Unfortunately even the dogiest of dogs can't be had for 50£ anymore. 

@TheMarlin I might take you up on that offer

TheMarlin

lovestrat74 said:

Sounds like I need to co.e to one of your gigs @chickenbonejohn ;;

Unfortunately even the dogiest of dogs can't be had for 50£ anymore. 

@TheMarlin I might take you up on that offer

it’s in for a setup and a fresh set of 11’s. Should be done for the weekend. 

I can drop it off to you next week, and you can hang onto it until the new year if you like. 

You can also take my Gretsch G5420 as well if you like. 

guitars4you

OilCityPickups said:

guitars4you said:

You can play them _ But by and large they need to be 'under played' if that makes sense - You won't find them easy to play in a flashy solo style aka SRV/EVH etc - Yet you look at the likes of Freddie Green and what he played to be a chord/rhythm maestro and it does question any of our views above - Either these guys were better than we thought - Or they just happened to find a better example to play 

Like @penn 's Hohner above - They look so cool - But don't expect them to handle like a modern PRS

I have to admit with the Hofner President... I tore out the standard tuners and fitted Schallers, and in the end opened up the top to take two DiMarzios ... yes I admit to guitar butchery ... but I sold it to a mate who still has it, and I built some new pickups more in keeping for him a few years ago ... penance done :-) 

Great when you could buy them for £100/200 and convert and have some fun - I can even recall them in junk shops for £50 or so

But not a project option at today’s prices

jumping@shadows

Here’s a clip of the guitar that’s prompted this thread fwiw:

https://youtu.be/O0wtS1Y1cfY?si=gLivBkB6_GOju60z

It’s a vibey combo- fully hollow with very bright/articulate single coils which like to take off into feedback, small frets and a big neck plus the Bigsby, so is ‘of a breed’.
For John Lee Hooker style roots/blues it’s ideal, for Dapp Kings style clean R’n’B/soul it’s perfect, for a driven alt country thing I reckon it’d be a load of fun, but yeah, it’s not a modern ‘performance’ guitar you’re gonna shred on, but someone has clearly put a couple hundred hours of play wear on it over the last 60 odd years, so it’s served them well enough :-)

I gigged a ‘58 Silvertone U2 as my main guitar for a couple years- compressed fibreboard body, Poplar neck and bobbin-less pickups crammed into repurposed lipstick tubes, and it was laughably great sounding. 

Same goes for a trashed ‘48 Gibson L50 with a P90 hogged into the top- absolutely not a versatile or sophisticated guitar, but impeccable for old blues and funk, so horses for courses as they say! 

Jalapeno

Checkout German Vintage Guitars as Kay, etc weren't really available in the UK.

I agree Hofner in particular are silly money.

I got this Framus Black Rose a while back (no pickup)

I'd also recommend Gibson ES125, which are still reasonabley priced (compared to 175s & L5s which are mental money)

williaaaam

Not exactly budget anymore but love my 1958 Guild Aristocrat. Completely hollow too. If you can get any old Guild with a Franz p90 in it they sound amazing...

Penn

Jalapeno said:

Checkout German Vintage Guitars as Kay, etc weren't really available in the UK.

I agree Hofner in particular are silly money.

I got this Framus Black Rose a while back (no pickup)

I'd also recommend Gibson ES125, which are still reasonabley priced (compared to 175s & L5s which are mental money)

That’s what my guitar is just rebadged.  They did the electronic plate like on mine on the Framus to. The pickups are really low output and very quiet. I had to modify it as the jack was a funny little odd one that didn’t work with anything. 

Jalapeno

Lots of old German guitars look similar - Framus, Hoyer etc

lovestrat74

williaaaam said:

Not exactly budget anymore but love my 1958 Guild Aristocrat. Completely hollow too. If you can get any old Guild with a Franz p90 in it they sound amazing...

Very nice! There's one on Reverb. Only 5.5k! 

AlbertC

I’ve demoed a few old Harmony Meteors and Rockets. They’re nice guitars but I found the earlier ones I tried didn’t have the same solid feel as my late 60s Meteor which has the larger sized moustache goldfoils. It’s a lovely guitar and would recommend one without hesitation if you could track down another. 

Penn

Jalapeno said:

Lots of old German guitars look similar - Framus, Hoyer etc

Yes but… this is an interesting read

https://gypsyjazzuk.wordpress.com/gypsy-jazz-uk-home/uk-luthiers/aristoneguitars/

Nitefly

Penn said:

Jalapeno said:

Lots of old German guitars look similar - Framus, Hoyer etc

Yes but… this is an interesting read

https://gypsyjazzuk.wordpress.com/gypsy-jazz-uk-home/uk-luthiers/aristoneguitars/

Indeed it is! 

Mention in it of Jack Duarte reminded me of a magazine I used to occasionally buy in the 1960's, called BMG (Banjo, Mandolin, Guitar), of which I believe he may at one time have been the editor - he certainly contributed to the "Guitar" section of it.

*edit*  I see someone has digitized hundreds of issues of BMG as downloadable pdf files, link here: https://classic-banjo.ning.com/page/bmg-magazines

spir4L

The great guitarist Pedro Martins from Brazil uses a vintage Teisco that has a surprisingly good tone and sound, at least in his hands! 

Here a video:

It seems to be a 1966 model, I am actually surprised it stays in tune I must say

susbemol

spir4L said:

...a surprisingly good tone and sound, at least in his hands! 

And that really is what makes the most difference when something sounds good or bad.

musicman100

guitars4you said:

p90fool said:

Play some, seriously. It's usually an underwhelming experience to say the least, and even budgeting for a decent refret presupposes the frets are in the right place to start with. 
They can often be improved for sure, but make certain that the carcass is 100% rock solid or it'll just end up as wall art. 

Tend to agree - Like the original posting, I kind of like the idea of such 'old dogs' - Like some of the original recordings played on such guitars, but in most instances, when I've played one, they are a dog to play - Most 'retro' style replicas, be they from the far east, USA, or even hand built replicas leave them for dead in my opinion

To find a good player you need a 'players grade' example whereby someone has already 'upgraded' it 

I recall an old customer of both my Grandad and Dad, who owned an original late 50's Golden Hofner - Top of the range jazz box from Germany - And fine examples today are fetching 5 digits - I've known the customer for over 40 years - He gigged 2/3 nights a week in a 4 piece dance band - quick steps, fox trots etc and a few pop songs thrown in with The carpenters Goodbye to Love giving him the chance to shine - I only heard him play a bit in the shop - Knew him to be a competent player in that format - But had never seen the guitar - About 2/3 years ago he brought it in to the shop with a jack socket wiring issue and as me if I could look at it - I was excited to do so as I'd heard so much about this guitar - All I can say is that I was surprised and astounded as to how un-playable it was - I'd struggle to play even the easiest boogie boogie riff on the E+A strings - It was a bitch to play - So how he had managed to play 1000's of gigs on it, I'll never know

That’s interesting Mark, we have a golden Horner and it’s very playable 

musicman100

lovestrat74 said:

After seeing the recent FS thread from @jumping@shadows I am having some serious GAS issues with regards to "budget" vintage hollowbody guitars. 

I will never be able to afford a Fender or Gibson from the "golden" era, so if I ever did buy vintage it would probably be one of the other brands like, Harmony, Silvertone, Kay etc.

I love the gritty, lo-fi, blues tone of guys like Dan Auerbach, so thinking something with goldfoils would be a fun guitar to make some noise with.  I also like the fuller, rounded neck profiles attributed to these guitars.

I am aware that these brands were student/entry model instruments back in the day so I am not expecting custom shop quality.

Have you owned or had any experience with a vintage guitar of such ilk? If so, what are your thoughts? What would you recommend based on your experiences?

Oh... and pics would be good

Don’t be fooled by the fact that it’s old so it’s good. Just like any guitar some r good some r bad, you need to play them 

jacklawtey

The best hollowbody bargains out there are still Guild Starfires I reckon. I got my ‘64 Starfire II for something like £1,300 a few years ago. That ship may have sailed. 

three_little_birds

I really like the 60s starfires.  The IV and V are my favourite especially with the mini humbuckers.