Spring 2014  Pt. 3

6/28

'Chris Isaak' Triple Play!

1446 Harmony HBEG VG $1350 Clean, light wear, logo worn, hairline crack at treble f hole, 2" cord melt spot on back, 1" buckle rash on back


1446 Harmony HBEG VG $1295 Clean, light wear, logo intact, pickguard missing, NS Grover tuners


1446 Harmony HBEG w/ OC VG $1025 Clean, light wear, logo strong, stress crack at jack

 

Just to be fair, I've seen his sweet axe in the hands of many a musical luminary...



... and a few not-so-famous folks, too.


Dig our buddy Lawman Mike chatting a bit about a mighty fine1446 he's got at his shop and puttin' it through its paces


Oh, yeah... here's CHRIS!




I always think of the Uke as a Summer instrument...

6/23

Summer's here! Make it a great one!



6/8

Modified Blues... Jesse 'Lone Cat' Fuller was a 'one-man band,' most famous for his "San Francisco Bay Blues," covered by artists from Eric Clapton to Paul McCartney. Browsing through the photos on a great site called rockscenester, I came across a photo of Fuller with the Silvertone logo prominently in the foreground, and then I went a-huntin' for more. Fuller modified his Harmony-built 1427 'Black Beauty' with a 12-string headstock and a metal bridge, and transferred the metal Silvertone logo to the new headstock.


In my research, I found that the guitar had been donated to the Smithsonian collection, although it's not currently on display. The info at the Smithsonian website states that Jesse purchased this guitar from a Detroit Sears in 1962, but this is not possible (at least not as a stock item), as Sears never made a 12-string electric of *any* kind available, and even 12-string acoustics didn't appear until 1967. Looks like a standard neck that's been fitted with a 12-string headstock, and note the bridge assembly has been screwed down to the top. I'd love to see the back of the guitar, especially the neck/headstock area.


Dig Jesse, his modded Silvertone and his 'fotdella,' a foot operated bass instrument that he made and played, workin' out some tunes, including "San Francisco Bay Blues:"


That said, the California guitar company Murph did produce a couple dozen cool Silvertone 12-string electrics on spec for Sears in 1966, but the company folded before Sears could take action to bring them to market. They are now certainly some of the very rarest Silvertones out there.




Steady Rollin' Blues... In the toy department at my local discount mart the other day, I spotted an endcap filled with Mattel's "Jukebox" series of Hot Wheels cars that included Disco, Soul, Swing, Grunge (really, Mattel?) and Delta Blues models. This sweet little Ford Model A 1932 Sedan Delivery caught my eye, and I picked it up for a dollar. When I got it  home and out of the pack, something about the guitar decoration tickled my memory...
Look familiar?


Well, hello, Mr. Johnson!


And, for good measure, the real thing...



 

5/12

"Rare As Hen's Teeth." Well, hen don't have teeth... but we know this non-catalog Supro-sourced Silvertone model does exist! Also, I would like to once again lodge my complaint against those who do not take full-length shots of guitars up for sale.

UNK Supro SBEG VG <$2795 Clean, light wear, logo on pickguard shows playing wear, logo emblem looks good w/ a little oxidation



This is the only confirmed listing I've ever found of this guitar series; a Miami, Florida newspaper ad, Christmas 1958.
Note this one clearly shows the two-pickup version.


5/12

When You've Got A Beautiful Guitar like this, it's a cryin' shame not to take a full-length shot of it.

1384 Harmony HBEG w/ C VG $1899 Needs a dusting, light wear, some oxidation to pickup covers and tailpiece,  'Harmo-Metal' intact, logo intact



613 Kay FTAC G $175 Clean, some wear/checking, 'wind chime' logo strong, NS homemade tailpiece added, tuner buttons shrunk/gone




Here's the flat-Top class of '49, with a Gene Autry, an early round-bottomed 600, and the 613 advertised as the 'best.'


...a very similar K-15 from the 1953 Kay Catalog, from KingOfKays.com...


...and here's a nice K-15 up on eBay right now!


702 Harmony FHAC w/ OC VG $175 Clean, light wear, neck wear at top, 'deco' logo strong, top separating slightly treble side bottom, NS tuners, original care booklet enclosed, date stamp S-56 T, serial #2842H702



1450 Danelectro SBEG VG <$665 Clean, light wear, whammy handle present, logo strong




Here's a little something from 'the trades' for this week in 1964. Hard for me to think of the Rolling Stones as a 'new' band.... but there ya go!



5/8

Robert Johnson, the great bluesman, was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi 103 years ago today.
His recordings initially didn't sell well ("Terraplane Blues" being his biggest 'hit' at just 5,000 copies), but a reissue of some of his sides in 1961 sparked a great interest in his compositions and playing, endearing him to many in the blues, folk and nascent rock community, and influencing artists like Bob Dylan,  Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones. If you don't have any Robert Johnson recordings in your collection, or you're still listening to the 1990 box set, I urge you to get a copy of the recently released 'Centennial Collection.' The remastering is absolutely incredible; you'll find it hard to believe these recordings are eight decades old. Unlike many reissues (Blind Blake, for instance) that rely exclusively on collector's 78s, many of these tracks are sourced straight from the original acetates that Johnson cut in San Antonio and Dallas back in the mid-late 30s.

You've likely seen this picture of Mr. Johnson around for 20 years or so (only two (possibly three) photos of him exist), but I had a little fun with it and substituted a Silvertone 600 model for the Gibson L1 that's really in his hands in the original photo. This is a total impossibility of course, since poor Bob was dead and gone by the time this guitar came around.



5/5

1448 Dano SSEG with tube ampincase VG $500 Clean, light wear, cord keeper still present


1448 Dano SSEG with tube ampincase VG $459 Clean, light wear, early version; strip tuners / two-screw neck attach / triangle legend knobs / no neck tilt


1495 MIJ HBEG Bass VG <$315 Clean, light wear, logo intact, bridge cover missing


604 Harmony FTAC F $31 Sold as project, cracked all the way around body, plenty of wear, logo strong


1482 Dano tube amp VG $425 Clean, some corner wear, back panel missing, new tubes, replacement Jensen speaker, tremolo functional, no footswitch, 3-prong AC mod


1484 Dano tube amp only $280 Needs some TLC, sold as project, powers up, tubes light

 

5/4

May The Fourth be with you!

"An elegant instrument... for a more civilized age... your father wanted you to have this when you were old enough."


5/2

Happy Link Wray Day! Silvertone World is based in Link's birthplace of Dunn, NC. Rockin'!






Some cool shots of Link's Dano 'Guitarlin,' and more!

Dig the story of the finding, confirmation and restoration of Link's Guitarlin.
 

 

Mighty Fine Dano-built 'dolphin nose!'

1415 Dano SSEG VG $435 Clean, light wear, playing armrest wear on bass lower bout, light back of neck wear in 'cowboy cord' area, logo intact, seller peged this one as a 1966 model but the last year the 1415 was listed in the Sears catalog was '62




That 1415 up there would sound pretty good played through this minty number...

1481 Dano tube amp NM $449 Clean, minimal wear, found under a bed, seller says "The original owner bought it and stored it under his bed. It is all original, all the way down to the tubes. I turned the amp on and let it warm up for about 15 minutes, and it's dead silent, no noise! I plugged in and played for a little over an hour, and the results were astonishing."

 

ABBREVIATION KEY:
MODEL # / MANUFACTURER / INSTRUMENT TYPE / CONDITION / PRICE / NOTES
Abbreviations: M-Mint, NM - Near Mint, E- Excellent, VG- Very Good, G- Good , F-Fair, P-Poor, NS- Non-Stock, HBEG- Hollow Body Electric, FHAC- F-Hole Acoustic, FTAC- Flat-Top Acoustic, SBEG- Solid Body Electric, SSEG- Semi-Sold Electric, MIJ- Made In Japan, MOD - Modified significantly from stock, w/ O/C Original / Case, BOA - (related to price) Best Offer Accepted; price shown was asking price, sold for less, DNS - Did Not Sell; used mainly to show an item of interest whether it sold or not.
Unless otherwise noted, I'm rating them by what I see in the pictures and read in the description.

The items depicted on this page are not for sale by Silvertone World. These are reviews of items from completed eBay auctions on or around the date specified.