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Ovation Haters - My Response
I am dedicating this to my friend Michael W. Cristiani, who passed away unexpectedly on May 31st, during the time I was writing this article. I have known Michael since the mid-1970's when we went to...
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Made In Japan - The History of Matsumoka Industrial
Matsumoku Industrial was established around 1900 as a woodworking manufacturer. However the company is best known for the guitars and basses it built.Shortly after WWII the Singer Corporation...
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Teisco Guitars
Teisco MJ-1I have an old guitar that my Dad gave me back in 1965. He owned a grocery store, and took it in as pawn from a customer that could not pay their bill. Although there was no metal name plate...
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Guyatone Guitars
The Japanese guitar industry has a very interwoven history. One of the earliest guitar manufacturers in Japan, Guyatone began production in 1933.Guyatone GuitarsMatsuki Seisakujo, the name of the...
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Lorrie Collins of The Collins Kids RIP
Lorrie Collins - 2000One of Rock-a-billy's greats has passed away. Lorrie Collins, the beautiful half of the Collins Kids, died on August 4th as the result of a fall. She was 76.Many folks now may not...
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Tokai Guitars
2018 Medicore Guitar Player MagazineI used to be an avid reader and subscriber of most of the guitar publications.From the Tokai CatalogI recall that sometime in the late 1970’s I came across...
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The Gibson Nighthawk - A Very Unique Gutiar
The Gibson Nighthawk represents a very unique guitar that combines aspects of the Gibson family of guitars with features one would find on a Fender Stratocaster.1993 Nighthawk CST3The Nighthawk was...
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Line Six Amplifiers
1978 Speak and SpellDigital signal processing has been used in the audio field for some time. Perhaps its first usage in a consumer product was the Speak and Spell, which was developed by scientists...
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Fender Bullet Guitars
1981 Fender BulletThe Fender Bullet guitar was designed in 1981 as a low cost student instrument to take the place of the Duo Sonic and Music Master. 1981 Ad For Bullet Guitar with 20 watt Harvard...
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Kustom Amplifiers and Guitars
1960's Kustom CatalogIn the late 1950’s Charles "Bud" Ross was playing in a band. He was familiar with electronics and was also somewhat of an entrepreneur.In 1958 Ross made his first attempt at...
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Line 6 - The POD - The Modeling Pedals - The Variax
Marcus Ryle & Michael Doidic 1985Marcus Ryle, and Michel Doidic were acoustic engineers and designers that worked for the synthesizer manufacturer Oberheim. They eventually went on to co-founded...
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Bizarro World Guitars
Bizzaro World ComicsWhen I was a little guy I loved comic books. Superman/DC comics came up with Bizarro World, which was a cube shaped planet where everything was backwards. The planet was named...
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The Fender Bass VI
Although referred to as The Fender Six String Bass, Fender actually named this guitar, The Fender VI.In the late 1950’s, the Danelectro Company developed the first six string bass guitar called the...
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Tempo, Univox, Giannini, and Westbury Guitars
World War II factory effortAs far back as the mid 1940’s companies have been importing guitars to the United States. This possibly began after World War II, when U.S. manufacturers were busy...
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Some Very Unique Guitars from 2017 and 2018
A lot of StratocastersWith all the Strats, Teles, Les Pauls and Martin dreadnought versions out there, you might think we may never see any new and original guitars any more. But buck up lil' camper....
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Kay Guitars and Amplifiers
The Kay Musical Instrument Company was one of many early musical instrument manufacturers in the United States. The Kay company was officially established in 1931 at Chicago, Illinois by Henry Kay...
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Roy Clark - His Life and Guitars
Roy ClarkRoy Clark was one of the best entertainers, and funniest guitar players ever, He was a consummate, multi-talented showman. He was a most influential member of the Country Music industry, and...
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Super Strat Creator and Builder Wayne Charvel's Home and Workshop Destroyed...
The remains of Charvel's home and workshopA number of reports are in the new regarding the Camp Fire tragedy that has affected so many people, but in particular well known luthier Wayne Charvel....
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George Harrision - February 25, 1943 to November 29, 2001 - His Guitars
The Last PIcture of George HarrisonGeorge with his Futurama GuitarGeorge Harrison played a myriad of guitars throughout his career with the Beatles. Starting out in January of 1960 with a...
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Remembering John Lennon's Guitars - On The Anniversary of His Passing
The Beatles on Ed SullivanOn February 9th, 1964 the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, and changed the world of guitars forever. Each member played a distinctively different instrument.The...
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