Ibanez PGMFRM1 Paul Gilbert Fireman

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Proving once again that Gibson aren't the only ones who can do reverse body designs, here we see an Ibanez PGMFRM1 Paul Gilbert Fireman, the signature guitar for the Mr Big guitarist. With a set neck, korina body and three DiMarzio Area '67 pickups, the body is based on a flipped around Iceman with a little tweaking to create a lower horn.
This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs!
This example, one of a very limited edition, is currently being offered for sale on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $6,999.99 - which, I'm afraid, puts it into the realm of the serious collectors only.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Zenta vintage semi-hollowbody bass

guitarz.blogspot.com:

This late '60s Zenta semi-hollowbody shortscale bass is quite an interesting one. The angled neck pickup (and the end of the fingerboard) looks to be distinctly Mosrite-influenced, whilst the symmetrical shape and the S-holes combine to present an attractive instrument. Although the seller refers to it as a Zenta, the headstock clearly proclaims "Felt" (although looks suspiciously as if it were done by hand) but no mention is made of this in the eBay listing.
This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs!
Currently listed on eBay with a starting bid of £225.

Edit: As Greg Cadman points out on our Facebook page, it's probably a copy of a Martin guitar (this one for instance, complete with the S-holes!).

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Ideal vintage semi

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Hi Gavin

Been reading your blog for well over a year now and I just love it.

I have an oddball early 60s Japanese Semi Hollow Body Gretsch White Falcon Knock-off.

I have found next to nothing about this guitar. The manufactuer dates of production etc. I haven’t even come across any info other than this: http://www.ludlowguitars.com/item/falcon-copy-1960s

Well mine was a gift from the guitar gods. Found her in a trash can on the side of the road all in pieces. I put her back together this past fall and I gotta say that she might just be the sweetest player I have ever had. Great tone out of the single coils... nice action and a fast neck to boot. Perhaps someone out there knows more about these??? Would love to find out more about where in Japan this came from!

Keep up the great work!

This post originates at http://guitarz.blogspot.com - beware of those damned scraper blogs!

Scott

If anyone knows any more, please tell us using the comments. More photos in the comments, by the way! - GLW

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

ESP Doraemon (slight return)

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Firstly, before I comment on the lovely guitar pictured here, I'd like to apologize for our brief hiatus. Blogger were having technical issues and whilst they were sorting these out, somehow, Thursday's blog posts went missing.

According to Blogger all missing posts have now been restored across their network of blogs... but not on Guitarz, so it seemed.

However, I was able to cobble together something to replace the missing post about the Argentinian Morgan guitar from what little text I had already copied over to our Facebook page.

As to Bertram's post about the Hoyer solidbody, ironically I was able to reconstruct that from one of those dreaded scraper blogs! Which doesn't stop me from wanting to eradicate said scraper blog from the face of the blogosphere. Seriously, these scraper blogs are one big headache, and now I am up against the 4th one I've had to wage war with since the beginning of April. If anyone has any good workable ideas about how to contend with this menace, then please contact me, I'm all ears. But I am going through the official channels, reporting them to Google Ads, etc - trouble is that takes time to sort out.

Anyway, long-term readers of the blog may recognize the ESP Doraemon guitar which we originally looked at in December 2008. Still, it bears repeating because it is such an oddball guitar, and we now have many more readers who may have missed it first time around.

Japan is the source of some particularly wacky guitars, but I think for me, this is my favourite. Unlike many novelty guitars - particularly those of the cartoon character with built-in speaker variety - it actually sounds pretty damned good as this video (below) will testify.

Doraemon himself, eponymous star of a Japanese manga comic series which first appeared in 1969, is a robotic cat from the 22nd century sent to aid schoolboy Nobita Nobi.

As to the ESP guitar, it certainly wouldn't win any prizes for ergonomics! Nevertheless, I would love to have one, if only for kitsch value.

Thanks to Bill Cesavice who saw this auction on eBay. ($519.99 Buy It Now price, if you're interested).

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Ibanez JS Chromeboy Joe Satriani signature

guitarz.blogspot.com

You may like or not like Ibanez guitars and/or Joe Satriani's music, but you can't deny that an all-chrome finish looks really cool, whatever the guitar, can you?

Bertram

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Merlin/Greco Arthur Smith Country Squire

guitarz.blogspot.com:

In August 2010, Bertram posted a Guitarz blog entry featuring a 1960s Merlin/Greco 921 guitar, which prompted reader Jim Garcia to submit the above photos. Jim writes:

I just picked up that same guitar, except it has a different pickguard (I'm thinking the white one [on the guitar we featured before] may be a replacement, maybe from the Greco), the pg on mine has semicircle cutouts that wrap around the curved bottoms of the single coil pickups - the material is black with cream binding, and it says "Arthur Smith" (in gold script) "Country Squire" (in Abalone script). Arthur Smith had a hit in the late forties with "Guitar Boogie", as early an example of rock n roll guitar that you will find. The model was distributed through Lowe's from '62 to '64 from what I've read and been told. I had thought the Merlins were made by Teisco but it's likely all the Greco/Teisco parts got interchanged.

Hey Jim, thanks for filling in another piece of the big jigsaw puzzle that is the history of the electric guitar!

As always, we want to see your guitars, and the more unusual they are, the better! (I think we've all got the measure of what Strats, Teles, Les Pauls, SGs, etc, are like by now, but if yours is an intriguing variation on a theme then it's still good!)

Keep 'em coming, folks!

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!