OMG what the hell did I just buy ;]]]

[Guildedagain]

I was pretty much resigned to never buying a guitar again the way prices are going, and then I saw her face.

OMG, wth, RARE BIRD alert!

And it's like mint with original gigbag, strap, strings, cord, and it is wild.

I've never seen one. I wasn't even aware of these.

It checked out, they exist. But most are double cutaway and this thing is totally missing the upper horn, neat.

Also the headstock is much more organically shaped than others I found pictures of.

I'm actually totally excited about this thing.

What a conversation piece, and it looks like it should be behind glass in a museum of rare funky guitars.

Enough blather, here tis.

Silvertone 1487 Electric Guitar 1964 -65 Brown | eBay

The guitar has a brown body, Teisco gold foil pickup and built amp and speaker. The guitar has been tested with an amp; it produces excellent sound. The guitar shows little to no signs of use.

www.ebay.com

An article covering these little know guitars.

Transistor-Saurus Rex: Vintage Guitars with Onboard Amps

Flash back to an era when 6-string beasts with names like Teisco, Silvertone, Hofner, Wandre, Cipher, and Maier (quietly) roared.

www.premierguitar.com

And a video displaying its charmingly gritty tone.

 

[Westerly Wood]

is that a speaker built into it? or a fan?

lol

very cool and yes, great tone.

 

[HeyMikey]

Wicked cool. Nice score. That ought to be interesting to say the least.

 

[GGJaguar]

Should be great for busking.

 

[cupric]

That is too cool!

 

[Bonneville88]

I dig it - coolio! Great score!

 

[walrus]

Cool, man!

walrus

 

[geoguy]

Sounds like they squeezed a battery-powered Pignose amp into that guitar body!

 

[Guildedagain]

Seller pics. Like mint unplayed. I just hope there's no rotted batteries inside of it.

The seller sells rather high end very clean antiques, or Japanese things, and things I wouldn't want to ship, like old kerosene lamps with tall fragile chimneys.

 

[GGJaguar]

It's so bizarre and I can't wait to read your review when it arrives!

 

[SFIV1967]

So cool! I saw the Teisco TRG-1 in "History of Japanese Electric Guitars" but never saw the Sears Silvertone 1487. Now looking like on Reverb a few were sold in the past. That Premierguitar article is great.
And yes, looks super clean!

Ralf

 

[adorshki]

"Silvertone Chassis No. 381.14870"
So it self-identifies as a car?

 

[walrus]

Oh, those photos are blowing my mind! What were they thinking with that design? So asymmetrical and messed up, but so cool, too!

walrus

 

[adorshki]

Oh, those photos are blowing my mind! What were they thinking with that design? So asymmetrical and messed up, but so cool, too!

walrus

First thing that popped into my head was Brian Jones' Vox:

Well, after the Mysterion, at least.

 

[Rockabilly_Nick]

Wow, that is very cool! And those style fret markers were revived by esp! I’d have always thought they were esp original if I didn’t see this little beastie! Nice purchase and congrats!

 

[Guildedagain]

Wondering what the scale length is?

The Dano amp in case guitars have one of the shortest scales around, 21 or 22"?

I'm doing this thing where I capo with index finger and play GCAD etc chords with the other fingers, hence my search for an ultra shortscale guitar.

After buying this at a very modest price, I noticed they were selling on Reverb for twice as much easily, which is always nice.

And none of the others with have original accessories like unbranded strings for "Electric Spanish Guitars" with "Vibrant Singing Quality" ;]

 

[Sal]

I love those gold foil pickups!

 

[Guildedagain]

That's an amazing tone test, but it seems like this guy could make a piece of wood sound good ;]

What's really insane about the gold foil pickups was that they emanated from Japan originally, 1st seen in 1954, 1st seen in the US in 1959, which begs the question, who was copying who?

"The earliest guitar I can find that featured gold foil pickups is the Teisco J-1 which premiered in 1954. I can’t find a DeArmond gold foil pickup any earlier than 1959, so it’s likely that Teisco was the first to pull this off. At any rate, these two companies were the leading name in gold foil pickups and remain synonymous with the style to this day.


Despite their aesthetic attraction and unconventional voice, gold foil pickups never found much appeal among serious musicians. In the hands of guitarists like Hound Dog Taylor, James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins, Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, and even Richie Valens, Teisco and Harmony brand guitars have had their share of the spotlight. However, almost every model ever played with prominence has been furnished with more standard electronics.


Why is this? My guess is that to most guitarists throughout history, vintage-style gold foil pickups were simply not powerful enough to hold much of a flame to the more-popular Gibson humbuckers and Fender single-coils. And, though they sound interesting, their tone is overall unlike what people are accustomed to hearing.


That’s not to say they don’t have their niche. In fact, gold foil pickups are a favorite of the eclectic Ry Cooder, so much so that they are the cornerstone of his signature “Coodercaster’s” tone."

Gold Foil Pickups: What are they, and what are they good for? | Stringjoy

What are Gold Foil Pickups? What do Gold Foil Pickups sound like? History, unique tone, and more. Let's dive in.

stringjoy.com

 

[Guildedagain]

So it got here yesterday, Big Brown Truck!

This is what happens when an antique store packs a guitar ;]

But inside, bad news. The gigbag smelled like a cheap cathouse, or worse, toxic. Seller fessed to "washing it with castile soap", why, I dunno, but the bag in is in quarantine in an outdoor shed.

Inside the bag, what couldn't be seen in the pics. Someone went over this thing with a pan scouring sponge, but WHY? It's never been played fer pete's sakes, but someone had to ruin the finish with a green scrubby, why God, why?

Seller is adamant "it's been in the family for 50 years and no one has ever cleaned it", even after I sent pics that look like someone dusted it off with 320 grit wet or dry sandpaper. Really sad.

Strings were prob original, so I felt guilty about cutting them, they had green wrap by the balls. Monstrous .054-013 string set with wound G.

Never had batteries in it so no corrosion.

The fingerboard wood was drier than a popcorn fart, fret ends sharper than the Ginsu knives in the old TV ads "slice turkey so thin your inlaws will never come back" ;]

Here's a pic of the finish damage.

Wife say "how does it play?" as if that mattered somehow. I don't play an incoming guitar until cosmetic issues are dealt with.

I tried to buff some of it, but the finish is harder than the Imron paint they invented back in the day " finish of choice for leading heavy-duty truck, bus, and rail manufacturers."

It's not black, it's a metalflake root beer brown, and the pickguard is 1/16" thick sheet of aluminum. It's really very advanced for it's age.

I suppose I should install a pair of 9V batteries and see if the built in Pignose works ;]

Scale length is a full 24.75" so it's really not a kiddie guitar like I expected.

 

[GGJaguar]

Ugh, sorry about the condition issues. Hopefully you can get it sorted out so you can pop in those 9-volts and hear it in all its glory.