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September 2010

9/4
Looks like TODAY is my 'Labor Day.'
Wow, quite a haul over the holiday weekend, and especially since we're
back to 'every Silvertone, every day,' things are gonna be full up
'round these here parts. Let's lead off the day with a rocket red 1460
whose price took a pretty good trip into orbit.
1460
Teisco MIJ HBEG w/ OC VG $500 Very clean,
light wear, newer Bigsby added (original trem base incl.), seldom-seen
neck plate w/ brown imprint, logo strong, bridge cover present and look
at that shine!
    
Here's a little something I've never seen before; it's the
Silvertone Reverberation Chamber, Model #9614. Dunno who made it, when
they made it or when they sold this odd little puppy, but here it is.
Two leads stringing out the back, there is a speaker in the unit, and
what looks like one lonely control. I'm guessing the brown lead is the
AC, and the white lead is either a line or speaker-level input. It
consumes 50 watts according to the back label, so I'm reckoning there's
a low-power mono audio tube amp behind that Masonite panel, hooked up to
a reverb tank and then into a 6-inch or so speaker. I guess you used
this unit to give your mono records a little 'ambience.' The unit is
untested, and I'd absolutely love to hear what it sounds like.
9614 Silvertone Reverb Chamber
G $123 Grille has
some snags, some edge wear, logo plate and control knob look good, unit
untested
   
1354
Kay HBEG MOD $332
Clean, light wear, replacement DiMarzio humbucker with NS single/double
coil selector switch, trim on logo laminate and pickguard look great,
NS strap button mounted in heel, some surface damage where the top was
cut to receive the pickup
   
1455
Teisco MIJ HBEG w/ OC VG $560 Clean,
minimal wear, logo strong, includes original 'how to care for' manual,
truss adjustment tool, and the end of the box it was shipped in
(originally sold in Hollywood, Florida)
 
1446 Harmony HBEG w/ OC VG
$1000 Clean, Bigsby present, logo strong, repro pickguard
 
1320
Harmony HBEG F $295
Wear all over, 'P' series pickup and bezel intact, pickguard present,
some binding missing, knobs missing, crack on back treble upper bout,
stamped H54, F-52
 
1415 Dano SSEG VG $393
Clean, minimal wear, logo broken at 'S,' playing wear to upper neck and
on bass lower bout, 29-bid skirmish for this one!
  
1482 Dano tube amp
VG $379
Square speaker cutout, tremolo functional, some corner covering rubs
 
1483 Dano tube amp only
VG $150
Found in the 'junk pile,'
re-capped, 3-prong AC mod, light wear, channel one is the 'red channel,'
needs a good cleaning

605
Harmony FTAC VG $95
Clean estate sale find, hardware bright, looks like a 'deco' logo from
the sole photo provided, "Guitar for Dummies" book incl.
 
603
Harmony FTAC $45 Clean, logo not
pictured, seller says has two cracks on front, original box incl.; box
panel stamped 57-603

660
Kay Classical G $80 Wear all over, 'Steel
string' warning scratched out on label.
  
805 UNK
Banjo $80 Some wear to the headstock,
hardware looks good, logo strong. Hey, anyone know who made these?
 
604
Harmony FTAC VG $74 Clean,
light wear, hardware bright, logo not pictured, stamped S-63
604
Harmony FTAC VG $88 Clean,
some wear, hardware bright, stamped F-66 GM

853
Harmony Ukulele $14 Sold as 'project,' side
cracked, wear all over, heel pulling away
  
600 series Harmony FTAC G
$50 Split/damage on backside, otherwise clean, replacement
bone nut and original incl. (loose)
 
Two 1436 guitars in pretty much the same shape. What's the diff?
Description? Probably. Attitude? Definitely.
1436
Teisco MIJ SBEG G $81 Whammy present, looks
good enough from the single photo provided. Seller sez: "I will not play
this guitar and I am not particularly a Silvertone fan."

1436
Teisco MIJ SBEG G $216 Whammy present, logo
missing, edge wear. Seller sez: "In terms of funkadelic 60s Japanese
psycho guitars, if the K-2L is a sleek surf/punk guitar that landed in a
space ship with George Jetson, then by comparison this is a burning
blues rock mojocaster that was spewed up from the depths of the Marianas
trench by Godzilla." Seller also gives a full rundown of what is and
ain't about the guitar. Yeah, he wins.

1310
Valco Lap Steel w/ OC VG $270 Clean,
minimal wear, light rust to tuner plates, serial #X76075
 
615 Harmony FTAC G $48
Edge wear all over, back near neck beginning to separate, logo strong
  
1240
Kay FHAC $16 Busted, disgusted, can't be
trusted... 1240s were odd birds, there were at least three different
styles of this 'borderline' guitar. I call it that because some had
cursive Silvertone logos, some had the block style, and some were
'Space Dots.'

UNK Harmony FHAC G
$115 Clean, wear to fretboard and painted-on fret markers,
logo strong, probably a 612 or 623
 
9/3
Just a handful of Silvertonium today,
but after you check them out, head over to the
Buck
Owens American model page and view some new pictures and new
info about the original Mosrite-designed red, white and blue guitar.
1413
Teisco MIJ SBEG VG $114 Clean, light wear,
whammy present,
'Space Dot'
sticker looks good, cool original box incl.
  
1209
Harmony FTAC G $31 Light wear, some buckle
rash/paint on back,
'Space Dot'
logo strong, unusual pickguard and fret markers
  
856 Harmony Baritone Ukulele w/ OC
VG $139 Clean, minimal wear, binding and
tuners tight, logo strong
  
615
Harmony FTAC w/ OC G $71 Clean, light wear,
case missing handle, new strings

1484 Dano tube amp and
speaker cabinet
G $360 Amp head looks OK, 'crackling' noise comes from both
channels, footswitch incl., but seller indicates rev/trem non-functional
9/2
We're gonna start today with an
official ISTTDS™
(Interesting Silvertone Thing That Didn't Sell). We see these odd mods
from time to time, and the first 'electric' guitar that Sears sold
wasn't really any fancier than this cobbled-together
Frankentone.
604
Harmony FTAC MOD DNS The guitar is in
reasonable shape, and has had its broken bridge modded, a dobro
tailpiece added, some wiring, 'Tele' style and chickenhead knobs added
and a Fralin-rewound 'P' series pickup (complete with original mounting
bezel). The seller had named this guitar "Gutbucket Hank."
   
1448
Dano SSEG guitar only
G $225 Light wear, oxidation to tuner post tips, rust to
screws and jack nut, logo strong. This is a transitional setup;
strip tuners, triangle knob inserts,
3-bolt neck. Is that glitter/sparkles on the pickguard, or overspray?
   
1432 Dano tube amp G
$205 Clean, light wear on top back corners, logo beautiful,
speaker 'shadow' to grille, loud hum at all volume levels
   
2574 Oscar Schmidt Autoharp w/ OC
VG $86 Clean, light water staining on bottom,
spider cracks at tailpiece cover, tuning wrench incl.
  
615 Harmony FTAC P $15
No tuners, no tailpiece, no nut, no bridge, worn, dirty, pickguard
broken at tip, screws rusty, back and front edge splits, logo strong,
neck looks tight
   
1304
Dano SSEB $104 Body, neck, bridge and nut.
Oh, and a can of red spray paint. *sigh*
    
9/1
Rockin' start to September! Some of
the most distinctive Silvertones in the lineup begin our ninth month
and our re-entry into every Silvertone, every day review and pricing
of eBay auctioned items. Let's get going!
1381 Kay HBEG
E $1300 This 'Thin Twin' is one of the best examples
of this terrific guitar I've ever come across. A couple of very small
dings, and super clean. This guitar has aged well, the finish looks
great, the hardware is bright, and the pickguard and headstock colors
are strong.
   
658
Kay FHAC w/ C VG $199 Clean, light
wear, striping looks good,
pickguard present, some fretboard grunge, small logo, block markers
indicate pre-'66 model.
One of the most distinctive Silvertone archtops... we need to come up
with a nickname for it!
   
Oh, Chris, where art thou? Looks like he just finished up
his world tour (though he didn't quite make it to my neck of the woods),
and he's got a well-reviewed
new live album out. Don't know about his talk show; you can still
visit the page for his
Biography
Channel Show, but there is the unhappy message that there are no
upcoming airings scheduled for the show. When you go to try and log on
to any of the discussion boards, you get a 'not found' error.
ChrisIsaak.com still works! I
said all that to intro this auction for the guitar that has inherited
Chris' name as its own:
1446 Harmony HBEG G
$547 Clean, NS bridge, Bigsby
paint has worn off, pickguard
missing, logo missing, NS selector switch surround
  
853
Harmony Ukulele w/ C E $85 Clean all over,
includes Arthur Godfrey 'Uke Player' device with documentation
   
1495 Teisco HBEG Bass F
$208 Knobs and logo missing, NS stop type bridge/tailpiece,
chrome flaking off pickups, some loose binding. There's no number
stamped into the neck plate, so this might not even have been a
Silvertone-branded instruemt. This guitar matches the later decal-logo's
(cursive and block) configuration 1495, but it's possible this was never
branded with 'Silvertone' or a
'Space Dot.'
  
1448
Dano SSEG guitar with tube amp in case
F $280 Guitar has plenty of wear/scratches, amp lights but
otherwise non-functional, NS knob on amp, ampcase structurally sound /
looks OK. Early setup; strip tuners, triangle knob inserts,
2-bolt neck, narrow attach 'pier'
   
Tony the Tiger special on this 604. Check those grain faux
stripes; they're Grrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!
604
Harmony FTAC w/ OC VG $103 Clean,
minimal wear, pickguard shiny, logo
strong, stamped F 63 H
   
752 Kay mandolin P $16
Rough; frets oxidized, tuner buttons shrunken, back cracked and
separating, 'wind chime' logo nearly blown away
    
Here's our first UNKnown of the season!
UNK Kay FHAC VG
$163 Clean, logo strong w/ a little blemish on the 't,' some
edge wear (esp. on back of headstock), pickguard missing, NS tuners,
stamped L2889, N-1
   
If you haven't looked at this past Summer's amazing
auctions, why not visit? It
was a blast; there were lots of great instruments, and I had a great time writing
about the proceedings. There's a lots of fun info in pretty much all of
the pricing archives. I find myself re-reading and referencing them
frequently. Just click any of the links below.

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