Favourite unusual or non-standard guitar

[PMowdes]

Something a little off-topic but what the heck.

I'm a bit of a fan of unusual and non-standard guitars and I was wondering what everyone else lusts after when not thinking about stomp boxes???

I'm currently trying to track down a Fender pawn shop supersonic (or a squire vista supersonic), dunno what it is about it but it just seems to hit my buttons.

[Neil mcNasty]

When not building pedals, I build Cigar Box Guitars.
I guess that qualifies as a non-standard guitar...
But mine differs a little bit from the others, since I fill the box with hardwood and use pretty good guitar pickups, so that they become more like a electric guitar and is not as prone to feedback issues when performing on stage.
Here's one of the previous builds, now belonging to my good friend Lars-Erik Schjerpen from the band "Metal Heads With Broken Hearts" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifM8M_3wJHI)


Regarding Lusting for a Guitar:
When I saw the "Kent - Videocaster" guitar on ebay, I simply could not resist buying it. I just had to get it!
The sales pitch was brilliant: "enough switches to confuse a NASA employee"
I took a chance, and I was not disappointed! It plays great and sounds dirty and nice with a wide spectre of sounds that you can get out of it.
Here is a picture I found on the web of a sunburst version (mine is brown):

[Frank_NH]

That's easy...the Yamaha SGV!

[rocket88]

While not really an oddball perse, but something fairly rare and unique.

It's the only 5-string bass Leo Fender designed before his death, and was a total flop. Only 400 made, not because they sound bad, but because the neck is a think neck, a little thicker then a p-bass, so some found it uncomfortable to play. I was lucky enough to literally steal this on eBay for a mere $400 that I bid just for shits n' giggles thinking I would never win. For me fits my hands like a glove, and is a tone monster.

 

My other oddball would be the Gibson RD Artist basses. Made during the time gibson and moog were owned by the same company, so they decided to have them make some joint creations. Sorta looks like a firebird bass. Strange controls due to the crazy moog active electronics. I also grabbed one that's the only white one, refinished by Gibson in 1980, that I'm refinishing because the paint was literally falling off when you touched it.



Guitars I have to say anything danelectro. I have such a love for them, I actually own 3, my favorite being the hoodad. Come on, who doesn't want lipstick humbuckers that can be split? Mine is exactly like the blue one on the left.

[Beaker]

Ooh! don't get me started!

Neil that Hagstrom/Kent is great - I just love everything Hagstrom - though I don't own one anymore.

Love Danelectros - got a Mod 6 and a DC bass in silver sparkle to boot.

Also got a silver sparkle DiPinto Belvedere Deluxe

DeArmond Jetstar with added Bigsby, and a Jetstar Baritone.

There's more, but I don't want to bore anyone!

Even my normal guitars are hot-rodded - I've got lipstick pickups in my Tele for example.

[tabbycat]

Beaker wrote

Ooh! don't get me started!

Neil that Hagstrom/Kent is great - I just love everything Hagstrom - though I don't own one anymore.

Love Danelectros - got a Mod 6 and a DC bass in silver sparkle to boot.

Also got a silver sparkle DiPinto Belvedere Deluxe

DeArmond Jetstar with added Bigsby, and a Jetstar Baritone.

There's more, but I don't want to bore anyone!

Even my normal guitars are hot-rodded - I've got lipstick pickups in my Tele for example.

top call on the hags and the jetstar, beaker. i think guilds in general are much underrated.

re the hags, were yours new (reissue) or vintage? and what are your thoughts on the necks?

i play a hayman 1010 (with vintage high gain hums) as main main (the shergolds that the joy division boys played were basically haymans simplified and rebranded) and i have never found another neck so absolutely perfect in every way. but i have heard the hags also have very slender fast necks.
i can't do gibson shovel handles and even a lot of fenders i find too deep c-ish. i'm a lazy player so do the wrap-around (cheeky) with my thumb to cover top e instead of index-across for bar chords. but that requires skinny, esp further up the board.

just noticed the post i made in this thread disappeared. edit fail. will dig them out again.

re "There's more, but I don't want to bore anyone!"

not bored at all. get them up with pics. you have excellent taste.

[strewel_peterson]

These two show the evolution of my own non-standard preferences - all the bomb-proofness of Teles, combined with the wonderful Jag/Jazz shape. The black one has a slightly downsized body, which suits me a bit better than the standard size, and is nice and light. The finish is super-high-tech black ink stain followed by several coats of Danish oil: using this method, even I can make the body look and feel good!

[Travis]

The Yamaha SGV is so cool, and that yellow color is so beautiful! Always wanted one of those!

As for my "unusual" guitar lust, I'm lusting after a Gretsch Astro Jet and a Fender XII

As for my favorite "unusual" guitar, nothing that I have is too crazy, but the winner for me would be my Rickenbacker 660

[rocket88]

man beaker i'm so happy someone else shares my love for the rediculousness of danelectros and lipstick pickups. there's just something so cool about them and their sound.

got to say those tele-guars are neat. i've been thinking of making something like that for awhile now, just no time to do. they look as good as i always thought. i want to make one with these pickups. supposed to be like a P90 but tele shaped. i can just picture running them through a big muff for glorious fuzzy goodness.

frank, that yamaha is gorgeous, and that colors just makes it even cooler.

neil, love that guitar. i just looks like it takes fuzzes like champ. and don't get me started on your cigarbox guitar, just so cool.

[PMowdes]

tabbycat wrote

Beaker wrote

Ooh! don't get me started!

Neil that Hagstrom/Kent is great - I just love everything Hagstrom - though I don't own one anymore.

Love Danelectros - got a Mod 6 and a DC bass in silver sparkle to boot.

Also got a silver sparkle DiPinto Belvedere Deluxe

DeArmond Jetstar with added Bigsby, and a Jetstar Baritone.

There's more, but I don't want to bore anyone!


Even my normal guitars are hot-rodded - I've got lipstick pickups in my Tele for example.

top call on the hags and the jetstar, beaker. i think guilds in general are much underrated.

re the hags, were yours new (reissue) or vintage? and what are your thoughts on the necks?

i play a hayman 1010 (with vintage high gain hums) as main main (the shergolds that the joy division boys played were basically haymans simplified and rebranded) and i have never found another neck so absolutely perfect in every way. but i have heard the hags also have very slender fast necks.
i can't do gibson shovel handles and even a lot of fenders i find too deep c-ish. i'm a lazy player so do the wrap-around (cheeky) with my thumb to cover top e instead of index-across for bar chords. but that requires skinny, esp further up the board.

just noticed the post i made in this thread disappeared. edit fail. will dig them out again.

re "There's more, but I don't want to bore anyone!"

not bored at all. get them up with pics. you have excellent taste.

Talking of Hagstrom's the Condor is a bit of a beast

 

[notnews]

the squire vista- series guitars from the 90's are amazing guitars... the Super Sonic and the Venus (designed by Courtney Love, I've read..) are great. The Venus came in a 12- string and is also great.

Re: lipstick pickups... I had always looked down on them. I owned a suitcase-in-amp Silvertone 1446 (I think that's the number, but it's one of those black and white guitars with the fabric sides and lipsticks for pickups), and I never really liked the sound of it. The neck felt great, but I could not for the life of me find a good sound out of those lipsticks..

..that was until I saw Grizzly Bear open up for Radiohead outside of Boston a few years ago. The lead singer/guitarist for GB played a vintage Japanese guitar similar to my Silvertone.. it had lipsticks too.. and his tone was fucking solid. He was even playing thru an AC30 that show which is the amp I use. He was able to get this super jangley yet reverby and washed-out sound that was sharp and crisp yet ethereal at the same time.

Since then I've kept my eyes out for a lipstick- equipped guitar that fits me and my style.. after that show I know one must be out there.

[notnews]

Hey Neil.. that Videocaster is freaking cool.

Have you ever traced out the wiring around the pickups and knobs and switches? I'm curious to see how everything under that pickguard is connected... Are all those switches for presets like with the Jaguar? If you have a moment, the next time you change strings or have a chance to get the pickguard off I'd love a pic of what's going on under there.. or even better a wiring diagram or schematic! I know that's a lot to ask.. just figured I'd throw it out there.

Cool axe man.. nice find.

[Beaker]

Zach - yeah, a Danelecto DC bass with flatwounds is a thing of clonky sonic beauty, as well as looking the bomb.

Tabbycat - Yeah the Hayman/Shergold necks are super slim - my son has a Shergold 12 string.
Hagstrom necks are very, veryslim, you would like them. Mine was an original, I really don't know how the reissues compare.

Notnews - GFS make lipstick tubes that are a drop in for a Strat. They are dirt cheap, and suprisingly good. They are what I have in my Tele. Don't forget Stevie Ray Vaughn's "Charly" Strat had Dano lipstick tubes.

Neil - that cigar box guitar is smoking!

Have to say, every guitar mentioned so far gets a big thumbs up from me!

[Neil mcNasty]

Good idea about tracing the circuit of my Kent - Videocaster. (It's a vintage, not reissue)
I had a look at it when I got it, because one of the pickups was not working (pickup 2 from the neck, and it is still not working...).
I guess it's time to have a second look at it. My conclusion at the time was that it needed re-winding, but it is quite some time ago, while I was still a bit clueless about electronics.
I'll snap some pictures and do a trace while I'm at it.
The switching is split in two main sections (Neck and Bridge zones) with on/off switches for each pickup, and a (group) switch that makes it sound thiner. I suspect that it goes via a small cap to filter out the lows, since there are only two wires coming from each pickup, so it is not a half-coil split function, as far as I could tell...
Each pickup group has a Tone Control wheel next to the switches and a Volume Pot for each group.
Also, the pickups within each group is phase inverted, so you can imagine the amount of variety of sounds I get out of it.
The neck is a bit thick, but not too extreme.
And YES! It Loves Fuzz Pedals!

The Humbucking Lipstick concept really got me thinking... I'll have to try that on one of the upcoming Cigar Box Guitar builds.
At the moment I'm finishing one that has two lipsticks wired via a 3-way slide switch (Jazzmaster style switch) that has both pickups active in all 3 positions: Parallel, Parallel out of phase, and in Series.
The Series wiring is insanely loud and pushes my amp into overdrive all by itself.
It is quite funny having such an extreme sound coming from such a small guitar, makes me laugh every time I switch to it...

[Beaker]

Neil, take a look at these then - 4 conductor so loads of options:

http://www.guitarfetish.com/Pro-Tube-Lipstick-Guitar-Pickups_c_110.html

I've ordered loads of stuff from Guitar Fetish, and never been charged import duty - (I'm in the UK). GFS seem to put $19.95 value on the postage label every time!

[rocket88]

Those gfs pickups are surprisingly good, and not just chase they're dirt cheap. I have a set of the surf90s in an old japanese guitar I redid, and old crown. I've wanted to do a sg style guitar using one of their bodies and necks, which happen to be mahogany, but can never pull the trigger, it's too cheap.

Neil, and anyone on the otherside of the pond needs/wants something from this side of the planet don't forget that you can always ask me and I'll get them to you if it's cheaper then buying from a place here and them sending it out.

[M. Spencer]

+1 on the Fender XII

My tastes stray into Mosrite territory (or more realistically the 70s FujiGen and Matsumoku knockoffs which are much more affordable) but any weird '60s Teisco/MIJ Badge with 4 pickups under $250 is in danger of becoming part of my arsenal.

Picked up one of these last year, a Bruno Royal Artist 12 string - sounds so good but the intonation is a nightmare.

   

[Travis]

That looks awesome Maurice. I've seen those pickups on a lot of different old Japanese guitars. They sound rad! Bad intonation not so rad lol

And on the subject of the Danos, have you guys ever tried the Dano double neck? My buddy had one and it was so cool. The 12 string side with those pickups just sounded so bitchin. It sounded really unique and cool with fuzz

[Frank_NH]

That Ric is awesome!  Someday, I gotta try a Ric 12 even though I know I'll hate the skinny neck...

[Travis]

Thanks! The neck on the 660 has an extra 1/8" of width, and is available as a 12 string

It feels similar to a Gibson but different because of the glossy fretboard. I think the normal Ric profile feels good too, but this is a little easier to play for most people