A closer look at a Gibson Melody maker from 1964. The Melody Maker is one of Gibson’s best ever selling guitars – despite it’s comparatively low price it didn’t skimp on Gibson tradition: well-built instruments, constructed from the finest materials. The body and set neck are both of South American mahogany whilst the fingerboard is South American rosewood. With a sunburst nitrocellulose finish the Melody Maker certainly looked the part. In fact the Melody Maker had more in common with many higher end Gibson instruments than guitars of a similar price bracket made by other manufacturers. The circuitry was simple; just a volume and tone control for one single coil pickup. See also Gibson Melody Maker shipping figures

This was the last guitar and bass catalogue produced by Vox under the ownership of JMI. The cover features Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, playing his trademark Vox Mark VI teardrop, and features a line up of British and Italian built vox guitars and basses; Vox Phantom, Vox Mark, Vox Spitfire, Lynx, Super Lynx and the Jones’ Stones colleague Bill Wymans signature Wyman Bass. Twelve pages.

Details and information on the Kalamazoo KG2a electric guitar. The beat boom of the mid 1960s heralded a huge demand for electric guitars; youngsters up and down America were looking for affordable, well-built solid-bodies, with modern looks and a great sound. Gibson, better known for it’s high-end jazz guitars, responded by producing the KG guitar and KB bass lines, under the Kalamazoo brand. They were initially modelled on the Fender Mustang, though soon took the shape of the Gibson SG, which was rapidly rising in popularity. The resulting instruments used modern composite wood technology, Fender style construction and actual Gibson hardware. They looked good, played well, and sold in large quantities. See also Kalamazoo KG shipping figures, a 1966 Kalamazoo KG1 (single pickup) and listen to the Kalamazoo KG soundclips.

The Hagstrom Coronado is one of the most distinctive bass guitars ever manufactured; the quirky controls, 32″ scale, and unique shape. The body and neck are mahogany, but with bolt on construction. This 1966 Coronado is one of the later guitars, so does not have the Hagstrom Bi-Sonic pickups, but it is still a great sounding, and highly playable bass. Check out the short Hagstrom Coronado bass sound clips on this site.

Vox catalogues were issued in different parts of the world representing the products available in that region. Guitars and amps were made across three continents throughout the 1960s, but this early JMI newsletter/catalogue was aimed at the British market, and showed guitars and amplifiers available in the United Kingdom. Most are British made, although there are electric acoustics imported from the Italian guitar builder Crucianelli, and some of the solid body guitars are fitted with Italian-made (Eko) necks. Also shows British-built Vox amps, and acessories. Eight pages

Pictures, description and soundclips from a 1973 Fender Musicmaster bass. The Musicmaster bass changed very little between it’s introduction in 1970, and it’s deletion in the early 1980s. Although often regarded as a student bass, the Musicmaster was of high enough quality, both in terms of components and build, to sell to student guitarists and more advanced players looking for an affordable shortscale bass.

The specifications and features of certain Vox guitars were somewhat fluid throughout the course of their production. The Vox Shadow had two pickups at this stage (see other Vox Shadow versions); and is made of a lightweight laminate wood rather than the solid mahogany used on the three pickup Vox Shadow from 1964.

Hagstrom made the hollow-body Concord bass (initially named the Hagstrom Viking bass) from 1965 until 1971. Hollow body basses were very popular during the mid 1960s, with models such as the Gibson EB2, Epiphone Rivoli, Fender Coronado and Guild Starfire basses all capturing the mood of the times. Hagstrom guitars and basses were, of course, built in Sweden, and this was their first hollow-body bass. Check out the short Hagstrom Concord bass sound clips on this site.

Vox made several different guitars with the name Shadow (other Vox Shadow versions); this one from 1964 has a Fender-style mahogany body and three single-coil pickups. Like previous versions of the Vox Shadow, this guitar was meant to resemble the guitar of Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin (who was playing a red Fender Stratocaster at the time). Many a British guitarist learnt on a guitar like this, but although functional, these all-British built Vox’s were not up to the standard of the Phantom or Mark series. There are a few short Vox Shadow sound clips.

Early seventies British valve amplifier, fitted with one 12″ speaker. This is a small 5 watt practice amp, but with some great tones. Page update includes pictures and short demonstration soundclips recorded with various vintage guitars: 1967 Fender Coronado, 1968 Hagstrom H12, 1969 Gibson SG Special, 1976 Gibson L-6S Custom.