You don't see one of these everyday
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 5:15 pm
by KRamone27
Re: You don't see one of these everyday
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 7:17 pm
by TerryTNM
I've seen this very guitar at least twice on eBay. It is really cool. One would have to think that there should be quite a few of these guitars out there. Looking at the large casting that makes up a good part of the guitar. The cost of producing a piece like that you'd think it was more than a prototype. Does anyone no more about this model?
Re: You don't see one of these everyday
Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2009 8:40 pm
by Deke Dickerson
This particular guitar I think is a one-off, probably the same one that was in the Downbeat ad (shown in the ebay auction). I remember seeing this very guitar when Steve Soest had it about 6-7 years ago.
Definitely built by the Standel factory up in Bakersfield, which had a short life, maybe 1964-1967. They took out this ad for the Ventures-shaped guitars but to this day I've only seen the one marked "Standel" (this same guitar that's in the ebay auction) and at least half a dozen that were very similar that were "re-branded" Hallmark guitars (I even wrote a Guitar Player article on the "Double Branded Hallmark/Standel" guitar). I think the guys guess that there were 12 of these is probably about right.
A year after this one was made, Standel was making a bunch of the "Custom" and "Custom Deluxe" solidbody and hollowbody electrics, which are quite common to see, so my best guess is that these 1965 models were sort of a failed attempt at launching the Standel guitar line, which then got off the ground a year later with a redesigned body shape and slightly less cumbersome metal plate to house the pickups in.
Deke