Remember _______ guitars?

[Torment Leaves Scars]

Hey, remember those guitars made by "X" manufacturer that you haven't seen in a long time?  Ever wonder if they're still around?

What are some of those guitar brands you remember as a kid, or you just haven't seen in a really long time?

I remember J.B. Player guitars.  I think I've played one or two, but they failed to make an impact either way, good or bad, for me.  I also remember a buddy of mine had a Westone, or something.  I haven't seen them in a while, either.

So, what ever happened to J.B. Player and Westone?

 

[erogenousjones17]

I had a Saturn acoustic as a kid. It was my uncle's and was really beat up, but I used to whale on it. Didn't know how to play, let alone tune, but I loved that guitar. Never seen one since.

My parents found it in the back of a closet and threw it out a few months ago. Threw it out. I was not amused.

 

[m4rk0]

High end Westones are some of the best guitars made in the 80s
I have a couple that are great, and at least 2 other models are on my "list"
I always wanted one because of one of my favorite guitarists in the 80s, Trevor Rabin.

anyway, they were made by Matsumoku for St Louis Music and they moved production to Korea (I think there was a fire in the Factory) but they lowered the quality and eventually changed the brand name to Alvarez and I think their Current Chinese Crap is branded Austin.

I have one of the set neck models, the Spectrum FX:

because of:

in the process of Refinishing this bass right now:

some of the others I have:

this one is made in Korea, but still one of my favorites:

 

[Mor Paul]

Authentic Hendrix!

 

[bagman67]

How 'bout them Signature guitars Alex Lifeson was rockin' in the '80s?
Can't even find a photo using Google - apparently "signature" ain't sufficiently unique of a term.

 

[Kublai]

Hentors?

Oh, ok. Signature was the brand.

 

[Jusatele]

Bartell

actually many older players here may have played one with out knowing it
they were the guitar you bought out of the JC p\Penny or Sears catalog retagged

Plus they made a line of really nice guitars they sold under the Bartell name
came out of Riverside Ca
Early to mid 60s,, they were a good guitar and have even been written up by Guitar world back in the 90s as a significant contribution in the evolution of the modern electric guitar.

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

I can remember seeing "Harmony" guitars in the catalogs for the now-defunct department store, Service Merchandise.  At the time I didn't know anything about guitars and was convinced Dave Murray from Iron Maiden played one.  :tard:  Nowadays, I obviously know better.  :laughing3:

For some reason, and maybe I'm wrong, but I'm also almost sure I remember seeing "Dean" guitars in those catalogs.  :icon_scratch:

 

[pabloman]

How about Memphis guitars. I had 2 when I was 13. One was a strat that was a 2 piece alder body with a large headstock. It was cool. The second was a plywood shredder with a floyd. I put the floyd and the humbucker on the strat and the rest is history. I haven't had a stock guitar since!

 

[bagman67]

I still see Memphis guitars show up in the cheapo department of local music stores, on craigslist, and in local pawnshops (at ridiculous prices).  They ain't dead yet. 

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

I remember wanting a "Lotus."  It was a Les Paul shape, and I just knew the shape as "Ace Frehley's guitar."  I knew "Ace Frehley's guitar" cost like $2000, and this one was $200.  I thought I had found a deal!  :toothy12:

 

[bagman67]

I remember wanting a "Lotus."  It was a Les Paul shape, and I just knew the shape as "Ace Frehley's guitar."  I knew "Ace Frehley's guitar" cost like $2000, and this one was $200.  I thought I had found a deal!  :toothy12:

I remember banging around the two or three music stores in San Angelo, TX, when I was getting ready to buy my first electric.  The choices were pretty limited - Arbor and Lotus were represented, and Memphis, as well... and there was one Gibson Melody Maker with the one single coil.  My friend talked me out of them all, demonstrating what was crappy about each.  We did a weekend trip to Houston and I it was then that I finally bought the Ibanez at Evans Music City when my friend demonstrated that all the crappy things that were true of the San Angelo crop were not true of the Ibanez.  I have since, however, completely lost my taste for cherry sunburst.  I find it garish.

 

[Cagey]

I was probably a little luckier than some in that I lived in a fairly dense neighborhood, so there was plenty of examples of what was good and bad. Garage bands were all over the place, and there was lotsa gear to drool over even if I couldn't get out to the various "Disneylands" of retail distribution. Still, there used to dozens of music stores in the days before Guitar Center. So, we knew about Lotus and Hondo and Kay and "Star(whatevers)" and "(whatever)Stars, ad infinitum. Back then, the Japanese were turning out wild-assed guitars by the boatload, some better than others (relatively speaking). Nothing real, though.

It always came down to Gibson or Fender. Maybe a Gretsch if you were feeling charitable. Anything less than that, the best you could do was be polite.  It's probably why I bitch so much about Gibson now. Massive disappointment. Who likes losing their faith/trust? That's not awarded easily. It's serious business. People who make lifelong commitments divorce over losses like that.

 

[elfro89]

My dad used to rock a Shergold Masquerader.

 

[pabloman]

Does your dad rock any smaller resolution pics?? :icon_jokercolor:

 

[Cagey]

I suspect many people don't ever do a "preview" of their post(s) before they commit them.  I doubt they'd allow many things I see to stand if they knew what it looked like in real life.

 

[stubhead]

I have an Aria Pro II that's the exact same shape as Marko's 1st Westone, because of course they were all Matsomoku-made. There are dedicated collectors and websites for these, which unfortunately means there are fewer and fewer pawnshop & garage-sale "finds." Aria, Westone, Electra... they were all designed by a particular brand, and then executed to the best of the Matsumoku workers' ability. Sometime the price point was low, sometimes the design was bizarre, but sometimes they came up winnersl.

http://www.matsumoku.org/guitars.html

And "Fernandez" were Fender clones, the same company cloned Gibsons as "Burny", and Tokai cloned both. This process is alive and well, there are factories all over China, Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia who will make anything you want - they may be making toasters one week, and Ibanez or "Michael Kelly" guitars the next. And they may have multiple production lines set up, one with the best craftsmen and materials, and the others... not so hot. The oversight and price points can be at any level of quality. The Chinese "Eastman" guitars are supposed to be great jazz boxes, not just good.

I had a DeArmond M75 guitar made in Korea in 1999 that was a close version of the $2000 Gretch Duojet - "DeArmond" was Guild's Asian line, but they imitated Gretch. (?) It was a fine guitar....

I traded it off to get Gleamo, but I now have another Korean-made, 1999 guitar that's a killer - a Schecter C-7+ seven string. There are enough details to convince me they were made in the same place, the serial number's on a gold sticker, the binding, the routing... I don't even know what factory, but they were doing nice work.

And when Fender bought Guild, they used the Korean "DeArmond" parts up on some Squier "Elite" models, though not the Squier "Esprit" Robben Fords.... I would be happy to bang into one of the Korean-built Fender "Showmaster" set-neck 24-fret superstrats at  a good price. If the frets fret and the tuners tune and the pickups pick up the rest is in the gravy, not the name on the headstock.

 

[elfro89]

ha! Don't blame me if your screen is so small you can't see the whole picture

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

I have an Aria Pro II that's the exact same shape as Marko's 1st Westone, because of course they were all Matsomoku-made. There are dedicated collectors and websites for these, which unfortunately means there are fewer and fewer pawnshop & garage-sale "finds." Aria, Westone, Electra... they were all designed by a particular brand, and then executed to the best of the Matsumoku workers' ability. Sometime the price point was low, sometimes the design was bizarre, but sometimes they came up winnersl.

http://www.matsumoku.org/guitars.html

And "Fernandez" were Fender clones, the same company cloned Gibsons as "Burny", and Tokai cloned both. This process is alive and well, there are factories all over China, Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia who will make anything you want - they may be making toasters one week, and Ibanez or "Michael Kelly" guitars the next. And they may have multiple production lines set up, one with the best craftsmen and materials, and the others... not so hot. The oversight and price points can be at any level of quality. The Chinese "Eastman" guitars are supposed to be great jazz boxes, not just good.

I had a DeArmond M75 guitar made in Korea in 1999 that was a close version of the $2000 Gretch Duojet - "DeArmond" was Guild's Asian line, but they imitated Gretch. (?) It was a fine guitar....

I traded it off to get Gleamo, but I now have another Korean-made, 1999 guitar that's a killer - a Schecter C-7+ seven string. There are enough details to convince me they were made in the same place, the serial number's on a gold sticker, the binding, the routing... I don't even know what factory, but they were doing nice work.

And when Fender bought Guild, they used the Korean "DeArmond" parts up on some Squier "Elite" models, though not the Squier "Esprit" Robben Fords.... I would be happy to bang into one of the Korean-built Fender "Showmaster" set-neck 24-fret superstrats at  a good price. If the frets fret and the tuners tune and the pickups pick up the rest is in the gravy, not the name on the headstock.

A friend of mine has something like a 1950s or 1960s Aria guitar.  It's very nice!  I wish I still had a pic of it.  I'll have to ask her to send me one.

 

[Ddbltrbl]

My first guitar was a 60's Silvertone from Sears & Roebuck like this.

It was pretty much a piece of K-rap. But I didn't know any better and thought it was the greatest thing ever.

Maybe I still don't know any better, but I totally agree with Stubhead on the Matsumoku guitars. I picked up a late 70's Aria Pro II PE-600. I loved the quality workmanship, the great feel and the simple elegance. When I got it plugged in to a good amp after I got it home, I discovered it also had some really hot & crunchy stock pick-ups that also clean up nicely as you roll back the volume knob. I heard someone claim the bodies were Poplar, but I'd swear mine is Mohogany though it is hard to tell for sure through the brown finish. Either way, it has great sustain and after all these years, it is still one of the best guitars I've ever played! I doubt I will ever let it go. It also has great set of wood inlayed knobs! I've never seen anything like them accept on other Aria PE models. :icon_thumright: