How rare is the 'Bert Weedon'-model?

Steve Hook

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Hi everybody,

I have a quick question about Guild's 'Bert Weedon'-model, which as far as I know was only produced between 1963 and ca. 1965 - has anyone here (especially forumites from the UK) actually seen one of these (for sale)?
I'm pretty sure that Hans Moust has one of these rare birds in his collection, but has anyone else here actually ever seen one? The only pic I've ever seen of this model was in the wonderful publication "Classic Guitar Of The 60's", but I have yet to find a pic or reference of another example on the web..
 

matsickma

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Hi,

Actually I have seen two on ebay over the years. The last one was on ebay within the last year. It was a bit worn looking but still in good condition. I ended up missing the auction. It sold for around $700! The guy offering it on the auction didn't realize his SF5 was a hollow body model until near the end of the auction as I had him check it out and he suprisingly confirmed it was hollow. He didn't post that info on the auction. And naturally, having this great insider info, I missed the auction and the chance at a reasonably priced hollow body SF5! :cry: Note: the guitar for sale didn't have a pickguard so the Bert Weedon logo wasn't on the guitar.

M
 

hansmoust

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Steve Hook said:
I have a quick question about Guild's 'Bert Weedon'-model, which as far as I know was only produced between 1963 and ca. 1965 - has anyone here (especially forumites from the UK) actually seen one of these (for sale)?
I'm pretty sure that Hans Moust has one of these rare birds in his collection, but has anyone else here actually ever seen one? The only pic I've ever seen of this model was in the wonderful publication "Classic Guitar Of The 60's", but I have yet to find a pic or reference of another example on the web..

Hello Steve,

All the ones that are in my database were in England and Canada, which is not surprising since the distributors for Guild in the UK, Boosey & Hawkes, also covered Canada. I don't think the Bert Weedon Model was ever offered in the US. When I was doing the research for the book I interviewed the owner of one of the bigger music stores in England and he claimed that they could not sell the Guild 'Bert Weedon' model. At that time (remember the Beatles were the 'big thing') nobody in his right mind wanted to be associated with Bert Weedon, so eventually the store owner ordered new pickguards (without the Bert Weedon name) from Guild hoping that it would help selling the guitars. That is why the very few Bert Weedon models you might come across, have the Bert Weedon name on the label and the truss-rod cover, but not on the pickguard.

matsickma said:
Actually I have seen two on ebay over the years. The last one was on ebay within the last year.

Mike, you probably didn't take notes of those eBay auctions, did you?

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

hansmoust

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Re. That is why the very few Bert Weedon models you might come across, have the Bert Weedon name on the label and the truss-rod cover, but not on the pickguard.

That should read: That is why some of the very few Bert Weedon models you might come across, have the Bert Weedon name on the label and the truss-rod cover, but not on the pickguard.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

Steve Hook

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Thanks a lot about the info, Matsickma and Hans!
I was actually wondering the same about possible notes that might have been saved by someone 'in the know' about the past eBay-auctions, and I would especially love to see some pics of other examples that are still out there, if possible.
Hans, would you also happen to have photos of 'Bert Weedon'-models in your database and if yes, would you be willing to share some, if possible?

The example that is pictured in "Classic Guitars of the 60's" was made in 1963 (and it might be a one-off model, as its description states that it belongs to Mr. Weedon himself) & looks very, very nice - it has a bright red colour & features white DeArmond Dynasonic-pickups plus a Guild vibrato, however I would guess that standard/later models were equipped with Guild-humbuckers...
 

hansmoust

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Steve Hook said:
Hans, would you also happen to have photos of 'Bert Weedon'-models in your database and if yes, would you be willing to share some, if possible?

Steve,

The good photos I have in my database are of Bert's personal guitar and of the one that I own, which is pictured in 'The Guild Guitar Book'. The book you mentioned shows Bert's personal guitar with Grover Imperial tuners, which were added by Bert at a later date. Here's a photo of Bert with the guitar when it still had the original Kolb tuners.

[img:518:591]http://www.guitarchives.nl/fotos/BertWeedon_1.jpg[/img]

The example that is pictured in "Classic Guitars of the 60's" was made in 1963 (and it might be a one-off model, as its description states that it belongs to Mr. Weedon himself) & looks very, very nice - it has a bright red colour & features white DeArmond Dynasonic-pickups plus a Guild vibrato, however I would guess that standard/later models were equipped with Guild-humbuckers...

Even though Bert's personal guitar is the earliest known example, I do not think it was a one-off model because of the features you mentioned.
This particular guitar was manufactured during a transition period when Guild was changing a lot of the specifications and hardware and consequently all Guild guitars that were made later had different features, like different pickups, different pickguard, different headstock shape, different volume & tone knobs and different machine heads.
The Duane Eddy DE-500 and DE-400 that were developed during this same period, also went through the same changes and later models do not look the same as the DE-500 that Duane Eddy originally got from Guild. But Duane Eddy's personal DE-500, just like Bert Weedon's 'Bert Weedon', was just a regular production model with features that were standard during that particular period. I've seen a few other Bert Weedon models and they also had the DeArmond pickups, so Bert's guitar was not the only one to get these pickups.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

Steve Hook

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Hans,

thank you very much again for sharing the above info and that pic of Mr. Weedon, it's very much appreciated.

Since I unfortunately don't have the 'Guild Guitar Book' (yet) I have at the moment unfortunately no access to the info that accompanies this model's description in your book, so if you don't mind I have some further questions about this model - is there information available about the start of the collaboration between Guild and Bert Weedon, i.e. did the company approach him to develop this guitar, or did the company offer him one of the new models they had recently developed, and asked him to be the endorser of this new model in the UK and Canada?
Also, as I understand from matsickma's first post, the 'Bert Weedon'-model was completely hollow - is this indeed the case?
Lastly, was this model equipped with Dynasonics during the entire production-run, or were they also available with humbuckers at the last stage of their production?

Many thanks again for your help and all the best,

Steve
 

matsickma

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Hi Hans,

The first Burt Weedon guitar I saw was probably 5+ years ago. It had a red finish. I was just starting to research the difference between the various Guild models and recall the description in the auction made extra references to the uniqueness of the guitar because it was hollow. I also seem to remember that it came without a Bigsby. Special order?

The one I saw last year had the finish removed and was a natural color. I remember it look a bit worn so I didn't give it a lot of attention until I noted it was stated to be a early 1960's model. I remembered the reference in your book about the model only being made in the circa 1963-4 period so I sent the guy a question near the later part of the auction. He was suprized to note the guitar was hollow and different from other starfire 5's. As I think about this now it seems odd he didn't know the guitar was hollow. This must mean he was not a player owner but someone who picked it up to sell.

I can't remember the pickups on the earlier one I saw but I do know the one on ebay last year had humbuckers. I remember checking your book and noting the difference. Had that guitar had Dearmond PUPs it would have received a lot more attention.

I didn't think it likely I would have saved ebay info on these guitars but I did check. Unfortunately I didn't have a record.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Mayby others here at LTG recall the auction or was the winner. It may have been noted in a earlier chat- i'll check back and see if I can come across a reference to it.

M
 

hansmoust

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Steve Hook said:
is there information available about the start of the collaboration between Guild and Bert Weedon, i.e. did the company approach him to develop this guitar, or did the company offer him one of the new models they had recently developed, and asked him to be the endorser of this new model in the UK and Canada?

Steve,

The collaboration between Guild and Bert Weedon was initiated by Boosey & Hawkes who, as I mentioned in my earlier posting, were the distributors for Guild in the U.K. Bert Weedon was already playing a Starfire III and it looks like they more or less used Bert Weedon' name for an instrument Guild was about to come out with. Pretty much the same situation as what happened with the Duane Eddy guitar.

Also, as I understand from matsickma's first post, the 'Bert Weedon'-model was completely hollow - is this indeed the case?
Lastly, was this model equipped with Dynasonics during the entire production-run, or were they also available with humbuckers at the last stage of their production?

Yes, it was completely hollow but during the mid-'60s the Starfire V was still referred to as the Bert Weedon Model in the U.K. Guild literature and it is at all possible there are some Starfire Vs (with the centerbloc) from this period that have the Bert Weedon model designation on the label.

You should be able to find the answers to most of your questions in 'The Guild Guitar Book'. Amazon.com lists the softcover version for only $ 20.00 so if you're really interested in Guild history, you should do yourself a favor and get a copy of the book.

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

Graham

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hansmoust said:
When I was doing the research for the book I interviewed the owner of one of the bigger music stores in England and he claimed that they could not sell the Guild 'Bert Weedon' model. At that time (remember the Beatles were the 'big thing') nobody in his right mind wanted to be associated with Bert Weedon, so eventually the store owner ordered new pickguards (without the Bert Weedon name) from Guild hoping that it would help selling the guitars.
Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl

Why was that Hans?
 

hansmoust

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Graham said:
hansmoust said:
At that time (remember the Beatles were the 'big thing') nobody in his right mind wanted to be associated with Bert Weedon

Why was that Hans?

Hello Graham,

Those were the words the owner of the music store in England used. I would think it was pretty much the 'cool factor'. The Beatles were cool and Bert Weedon was not!

Sincerely,

Hans Moust
http://www.guitarsgalore.nl
 

Kap'n

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hansmoust said:
You should be able to find the answers to most of your questions in 'The Guild Guitar Book'. Amazon.com lists the softcover version for only $ 20.00 so if you're really interested in Guild history, you should do yourself a favor and get a copy of the book.l

Absolutely. This is THE definative book on Guilds up to the mid 70's. Great content, and lots of great pictures, with some especially drool inducing ones of M-75 Aristocrats.
 

teleharmonium

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To elaborate on the uncool aspect of the guitar, for anyone that isn't familiar, Weedon was the author of very successful guitar books for beginners which are cited by many 60s British rockers. He also had previous marketing deals for other guitars which were cheap imports, much lower quality than the Guild model that bore his name. So it would be kind of the equivalent of having a Mel Bay model guitar, or even Esteban (sp?) ; strapping one on would bring the connotation of being a beginner, or kind of clueless about cool guitars, at least drawing snickers from other musicians.
 

Graham

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Ahh, more perspective, thanx Mark.
esteban.jpg


Esteban, huh?

That's harsh. :shock:
 

Kap'n

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I wasn't around to watch 50's British television, but I've seen inteveriews with Jeff Beck who mentioned that Bert Weedon used to do instructional guitar on televsion.
 

Steve Hook

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Hans, many thanks (again) for the answers you provided about this model, it's very much appreciated.
You can b.t.w. be assured that purchasing the 'Guild Guitar Book' is very high on my current 'to do-list', so in future I won't have to ask questions here if the answers can (very probably) be found in your publication. :wink:

Thanks again for your help,
Steve
 

Graham

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Steve Hook said:
You can b.t.w. be assured that purchasing the 'Guild Guitar Book' is very high on my current 'to do-list', so in future I won't have to ask questions here if the answers can (very probably) be found in your publication. :wink:

Thanks again for your help,
Steve

You know Steve, I have the book, and a beautiful book it is, signed too, but I still like to ask questions. :D
 

Karl Teten

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The Beatles, as did many Merseybeat groups, in the early 60's used Bert Weedon jazz guitar picks. There are early photos of Lennon with a Weedon pick stuck in his guitar strings.
 
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