Two major issues defined the progress of electric guitars for most of the seventies. 1) Companies outside North America vastly improved the quality of their guitar. 1962 Fender Telecaster Blonde Here is a super cool guitar. Two major issues defined the progress of electric guitars for most of the seventies. 1) Companies outside North America vastly improved the quality of their guitar. 1962 Fender Telecaster Blonde Here is a super cool guitar.
The Seventies was the era of Classic Rock, so it’s not surprising that so many new guitar brands were flourishing then. But it was a less innocent time than the Sixties, and it soon became known as the “Lawsuit Era”. Here’s all you need to know about all the best, the most badass, and the most copyright-infringing guitars of the time.
Led Zeppelin helped to popularise the Les Paul in the 70’s, when many great copies were made
Two major issues defined the progress of electric guitars for most of the seventies. 1) Companies outside North America vastly improved the quality of their guitar manufacturing and 2) Companies inside North America – namely Fender and Gibson – took their eye off the ball and did exactly the opposite.
By this time, many guitar manufacturers from the Far East had 10+ years experience under their belts, and the improvement in quality began to shine through. Univox, Kawai, Silvertone and Domino were starting to deliver guitars that – from a price / quality point of view – were beginning to eat into the markets that Fender and Gibson dominated. Not only was the manufacturing quality improving, but the quality of the REPLICATION was reaching new highs. The lawyers at Gibson started to get restless, and young guitar players like myself were also getting restless… I could not wait to go out and buy a UNIVOX Les Paul for 1/5th the price of the real thing! Damn, it was so inexpensive that I could almost afford to smash it on stage! Cool! But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.
Towards the end of the 1970’s, Fender and Gibson were loosing market share. That is why we hear so much about the “Lawsuit ERA” guitars. Late in the seventies, Gibson Guitars won a legal battle for patent infringements, which over time, shut down all but a few “copy” guitar manufacturers worldwide. This allowed some elbowroom for Gibson and Fender to rethink and retool their operations to fortify their position in the market. To avoid the same problem happening again, Gibson bought Epiphone and started building some very nice Imported Copy Guitars! Fender opened facilities outside North America under different brand names like Squier.
GIBSON LES PAUL COPIES
Here is a typical selection of 1970’s Fender and Gibson copies. These were all imported from Japan under different brand names. Also a sweet ’74 Gibson Les Paul 55.
Vintage 1970’s Hondo II Les Paul Electric Guitar
Vintage 1970’s Gibson Les Paul 55 Electric Guitar
Vintage 1970’s Silvertone Telecaster Electric Guitar
INSPIRED BY MOSRITE
Here is a selection of Mosrite copies from the seventies, along with one original Mosrite. The GM Custom is actually all original Mosrite parts built by a former employee, Gene Moles, after the Bakersfield Mosrite factory closed. The Univox guitars are popular today because Kurt Cobain of Nirvana used one. I also have some additional Mosrite copies farther down this page, some listed under the 1960’s guitars and the best one on the 1980’s.
Vintage 1970’s Univox Hi-Flyer Electric Guitar
Vintage 1970’s Gene Moles Custom Mosrite Electric Guitar
If you like those guitars but can’t find a vintage one, Eastwood Guitars is currently reissuing several of these designs: check these Eastwood Mosrite reissues.
Morris Guitars History
The Ventures were very popular in Japan and that is why so many Mosrite copies were made during the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Few of them, however, compare to the real thing as shown on the 1980’s guitar page.
KAWAI GUITARS
KAWAI was one of the better quality manufacturers to come out of Japan in the seventies. Here is a nice selection of their guitars. My favorite is second from right. This guitar is absolutely MINT. It belongs in a museum. Hmmmmm. I guess it is!
Vintage 1970’s Kawai ES-175 Electric Guitar
Vintage 1970’s Kawai Electric Guitar (with 4 pickups)
Vintage 1970’s Kawai Electric Guitar (with 4 pickups)
Kramer Guitars Serial Number Search
Vintage 1970’s Kawai Electric Guitar (with 3 pickups)
Eastwood – once again! – have reissued a legendary Kawai model, the Eastwood SD-40 Hound Dog, a fantastic re-creation of the Kawai used by bluesman Hound Dog Taylor.
MORE LES PAUL COPIES
Here are some additional examples of Les Paul reproductions from the 1970’s. On the left is a very nice Hondo Deluxe 748 Mark II. Flame top, set neck, humbuckers… all that you would expect from the real thing at 1/8 the price. Next to that a blonde Sekova, a sunburst Hyundai, a Tobacco Sunburst from Univox. Lastly is a fantastic Tokai Set Neck with the historic Sunburst Finish. This is an incredibly nice guitar. The 70’s Tokai’s go for nearly the same price as a real Gibson these days. Once you play one you’ll know why.
Vintage 1970’s Hondo Les Paul Les Paul Guitar (set neck)
Vintage 1970’s Hyundai Les Paul Electric Guitar
Vintage 1970’s Tokai Les Paul Electric Guitar (set neck)
MORE JAPANESE WONDERS
Here is a grab-bag of assorted 1970’s guitars, mostly from Japan.
Vintage 1970’s Silvertone Telecaster Electric Guitar
Vintage 1970’s Tempo Electric Bass Guitar
MORE MOSRITES
A few years back I wrote up a piece about my pursuit for the perfect Mosrite copy. Scattered across the 1960’s through the 2002’s guitar pages you will find almost two dozen different attempts. Here are some of the 1970’s acquisitions. On the left, a nearly perfect 1972 Mosrite Ventures Model. Mint. Next to that are a pair of Univox Hi-Flyers and a Silvertone Slider. This guitar is pretty cool because a) it has a wicked flame fiish and b) it has an individual slider volume for each pickup. This allows for a wide variety of tone setups because you can dial in as much or as little of each pickup you want.
Cool.Somewhere along the way I decided to build my own Custom Mosrite Copy. I wanted to put together a guitar that had the Mosrite look but was built for repeated abuse as a stage guitar. It started with as Silvertone shell, just the body and neck. I put Gibson Tuners on it for stability. Next I selected some wild vintage EKO screamer pickups that were extracted from a deceased EKO 700 4V. Then I had a custom pickguard made at WD Products in Florida. New pots, switches, bridge, etc and a few days locked in a room. Voila! A one of a kind Mosriteko.
Vintage 1972 Mosrite Electric Guitar
Vintage 1970’s Hagstrom Electric Bass Guitar
Vintage 1970’s Custom Mosriteko Electric Guitar
SOME FORGOTTEN GEMS
An early 1970’s Conrad Strat and a Lotus Les Paul. The Conrad and the Aria are extremely well build guitars while the Lotus is most certainly not. However, I have a Lotus on my 1980’s page that is fantastic! Next to that is an Inter-Mark frmo Japan. Well built guitar, MUCH better than most semi-hollows from this era. You can’t tell from the picture but this thing is HUGE! 18″ across the body where an LP is about 12″. next to that is an old Lyle SG.
Vintage 1970’s Aria Burns Copy Electric Guitar
Vintage 1970’s Inter-Mark Electric Guitar
Vintage 1970’s Fender Lead II Electric Guitar
Vintage 1970’s Microfret Calibra II Electric Guitar
Vintage 1970’s Norma Barney Kessel Electric Guitar
Morris Guitar Serial Number 220279
Vintage 1973 Hayman Made in England Electric Guitar
Vintage 1970 Hohn Electric Guitar
Vintage 1970’s Epiphone Crestwood Electric Guitar
Vintage Guitars Info's
Rickenbacker (Rickenbacher)
Vintage Guitar Info.
Morris Guitar Serial Numbers
Contact the Vintage Guitar Info Guy.1963 Rickenbacker 360-12 string
with 'old' (pre-6/64) body style.
- Thin Hollowbody Ricks (models 310 to 375)
- Thin Fullbody Ricks (models 330f to 375f)
- Thick Hollowbody Ricks (models 381 & 385)
- Solidbody Ricks (models 400 to 1000)
Rickenbacker Information:
Introduction.
1956 Trade show:a model with a Model 400, in pink.
- Rickenbacker was the first company to successfully market electric guitars. Pre-WWII lapsteels and pre-WWII spanish models are collectible, but reallymore for historic reasons than for playing. Post-WWII lapsteels areinteresting, but not to the extent of the pre-WWII models.
The most interesting Rickenbackers are the hollowbody models. In particular,the 1958 to pre-June 1964 models with the old style (squared edge) body shape, 'stove' or 'TV' knobs, and gold pickguard are the most interesting to me personally. The marketplace has a different idea though -The newer 1964 and later hollowbody modelswith checked binding and sparkle fingerboard inlays are collectible,because of their association with the Beatles, Byrds, and other1960's super groups (though personally I don't really enjoy thesenewer models). The 'export' models are also collectible.
- For the most part, solidbody Rickenbacker guitars are pretty low on thesocial guitar ladder. They don't really have a 'sound', and haven'tplayed a big part in electric musically history. Therefore their valuesare pretty low.
Here's the inside of a 330/340/360/370 series Rick. The body is a solid pieceof wood routed out from the back. Then a separate back is glued on. This is whya neck set is so expensive on these guitars; you must remove the back to resetthe neck. So if the bridge has no more downward room, the Rick is essentiallytrash (the cost of a neck set is often more than the value of the guitar).
(much like Fender did to their maple fingerboards). Because of this,
they can wear much like a Fender fingerboard. But the wear is much less
noticable because of the dark rosewood. This guitar is a 1960's Rick 330.
General Rickenbacker Specs.
- Pickups
- 1932 to 1943: Horseshoe pickup, 1 1/2' wide, magnet wraps over strings.
- 1946 to 1971: Horseshoe pickup, 1 1/4' wide, magnet wraps over strings.Discontinued on most models in 1957 and replaced by the Toaster pickup.But some lapsteels still used the Horseshoe pickup until 1971.
- 1957 to 1970: 'Toaster' pickup, looks like the top of a bread toaster.The classic Rickenbacker pickup that produces sound most associated with Rickenbackers.
- 1968 to 1990s: Hi-Gain pickups. Hi-Gain pickups were first introducedon the 381 model in 1968, when the 381 was reintroduced (though some early 1968model 381 guitars did have Toaster pickups). Other models phased in these pickups in 1969 and 1970. By 1970 most models had Hi-Gain pickups.
- 1960 to present: 'Rick-O-Sound' stereo (extra jack) on deluxe models (usedToaster or Hi-Gain pickups, depending on the model/year).
- 1956 to 1963: Gold back-painted clear Lucite.
- 1964 to present: Thick white plastic.
- 1958 to present: Split level pickguards on hollowbody models.
- 1956 to 1963: 'TV' or 'Stove' knobs, large diamond gold knobs with raised black thin center section.
- 1964 to present: Black knobs with edge indents.
Pickguards.
Knobs.
Note the 'TV' knobs, gold pickguard, and
squared edge body.
- Trim and Fingerboard Inlays.
- Standard Trim: dot fingerboard inlays, no fingerboard binding.
- 1957 to 1970 Deluxe Trim: Triangle inlay goes completely across fingerboard.
- 1964 to 1970 Deluxe Trim: Sparkle crushed pearl fingerboard inlays.
- 1970 to present Deluxe Trim: Triangle inlay does not extend completelyacross fingerboard, non-sparkle inlay material.
- 1934 to 1949: 'Rickenbacher' is spelled with an 'h', not 'k' in the 'bacher' portion of the name.
- 1950 to present: 'Rickenbacker' spelled with a 'k'.
Logo.
Rickenbacker pre-WW2 Horseshoe pickup.
- 1956 to 1959: Yellow to brown sunburst finish.
- 1960 to present: 'Fireglo' sunburst yellow to red.
- 1960 to 1980: 'Autumnglo' sunburst red to brown.
- 1958 to present: 'Mapleglo' natural finish.
Finishes.
Rickenbacker Serial Numbers (How to Find the Year).
Rickenbacker serial numbers are the easiest way to find the yearfor a particular instrument.- 1932 to 1954 serial numbers
- Number example: #(#)C####
- Number is stamped on the jackplate or bridge.
- Numeral(s) before letter designate model: 4=400 or 425,6=600, 65=650, 8=800.
- Letter (represented by 'C' in above example) is type of instrument:C=combo (guitar), B=bass, M=mandolin, V=3/4 size.
- First numeral after letter is year.
- Last 3 numerals are number series.
- Each model has its own series.
- Example: 65C7123 = 1957 Combo 650, 4C6123 = 1956 Combo 400.
- Exceptions:
- Model 450 have 4C####A configuration.
- 3/4 size models have V###, V#### or ####A thru Oct 1960, first numeral is still last digit of year.
- Basses have B#### configuration.
- Mandolins have M### configuration.
- Some examples have #C## configuration. Dateable by serial number.
- Serial numbers on these early models are unreliable. Some dating can bedone by patent numbers printed on the guitar. This would be the earliestpossible date of the instrument.
Solidbody Serial Numbers, 1954 to September 1959.
- Solidbody (except 3/4 sizes) Serial Numbers, Sept 1959 to Oct 1960.
- Number configuration: #(#)A###.
- Only 3 numerals after letter. Numbers do not contain date information.
Right: The serial number on a 360. The 'GD' atthe top of the jack means April 1967.
- Hollowbody Serial Numbers, 1958 to October 1960.
- Number configuration: #A## (early 1958), or #A###.
- Numeral before letter is number of pickups (2 or 3).
- Letter (denoted by 'A' in above example) is 'V' for vibrato, or 'T' for standard tailpiece.
- 1958 range of numbers seen: V80 to 3V254.
- Highest Capri series number in 1959: 2T835.
- First Capri series number in 1960: 3V706.
- Series (last 3 numerals) starts over with 001 in January 1960.
- Letter 'R' replaces 'T' or 'V' on deluxe models only: June 1960.