On February 9th, 1964 millions of people watched The Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. Almost overnight countless young kids, both boys and girls, wanted to play guitar. This resulted in a boom in the guitar business.
Savvy marketers knew due to the average household income of that era, families could give their child a US made guitar.
Distribution companies turned to Japan to import shipments of cheaply made guitars and basses which were ‘badged’ with a new brand name. Most of these cheaply made and low quality guitars and basses were sold in department stores and pawn shops.
But there were a few American companies that attempted to buck this trend by producing a quality instrument at a price lower than the well known manufacturers. Though most of these ventures were short lived, they all of them produced some wonderful instruments.
One of my favorites was Koob Veneman of Veneman’s Music Emporium, which was located in Silver Spring, Maryland. Mr. Veneman's store carried a full line of the latest and greatest gear. but this entrepreneur decided to create his own line of guitars and basses under the KAPA brand name.
He used his initial, Koob, and that of his children, Albert, Patricia, and wife Adeline for the brand name.
The guitar bodies were carved in a plant in nearby Edmonston, Maryland, where the parts were also added. The necks, pickups and electronics came from the Hofner Company. Schaller made the tuners.
I recall playing KAPA guitar and have to say it was fantastic. Eventually it became too expensive to manufacture these instruments. KAPA sold it’s assets to Microfrets an Mosrite.
Perhaps the most unusual guitars were hand built by Harvey Thomas, who built Thomas Custom guitars. Harvey Thomas was a machinist for Boeing and loved playing guitar and performing. He and his brother shared a house building business, and later they opened a building supply company. His friends included local Country Western guitar players. He became known for his ability to repair their instruments which led to him creating and selling his own electric guitars. Some of his creations were absolutely wild.
He claimed his decision to build his own guitars was because "he was tired of playing bad instruments."
Harvey Thomas wrote letters to famous guitarists offering to build custom instruments for them with whatever configuration, color, even as many necks as they wanted.
Elger Guitars were the idea of Medfly Music Store owner, Harry Rosenbloom. His store was in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Rosenbloom was on the waiting list for a Martin guitar franchise, but became tired of not being able to obtain approval by the Pennsylvania manufacturer, although Nazareth Pennsylvania was a mere 70 miles away.
Mr. Rosenbloom hired a violin builder, Karl Muller and the builder's brother, Georg to build guitars along with a small team of builders. He combined the names of his children, Ellen and Gerson to come up with the brand name.
This venture lasted not quite three to four years, before Rosenbloom became aware the expense was far too great and decided to import guitars. During this era, 1964 and 1965 the term 'Made In Japan' denoted cheaply made instruments.
Harry Rosenbloom later reached out to the Ibanez guitars, made by the Japanese firm Hoshino. After all, Ibanez sounded like the instruments were made in Spain. Elger Guitars were thereafter made in Japan. I won't go into detail, but this lead to the famous lawsuit, Norlin vs Elger Music.
Did you ever hear of Marph Guitars? Not many remember them. During the era of the guitar boon a Californian named Pat Murphy was father of five very talented children. His children appeared in Los Angeles produced television commercials, and they all could sing. His sons could play guitar.
Pat had been a skilled craftsman most of his life. Murphy decided he could build guitars that were as good as anything out there. He rented a 1200 square foot building, complete with manufacturing area and office. He purchased machinery at auctions, and bought up a pickup coil winding machine.
He hired an engineer to assist him in daily operations. Lumbar was sourced locally, Some of the hardware was purchased through a German company, probably Hofner or Framus. His intent was to call his brand York Guitars, but the name was in use, so he called them Murph Guitars.
He got to display his instruments at the 1966 NAMM show. Among the offerings were The Murph Squire series. This was decades before Fender acquired the Squier string company name. There was also a Murph 12 string model with a headstock similar to a Rickenbacker 12. Sears placed a small order with Murph Guitars. Fender objected to the guitar's offset body shape. By 1967 Pat Murphy's company could not cope with the rigors and finances of running an independent guitar manufacturing business and filed bankruptcy.
Harmony Musical Instruments was started in 1892 by entrepreneur William Schultz. During the early part of the 20th century there was a ukulele music craze. By 1916 Sears and Roebuck had enough demand for ukes that it purchased The Harmony company.
This boosted the company to become the largest manufacturer of stringed musical instruments in the United States. Their sales peaked in the 1964-65 guitar boon years. Harmony had been offering electric guitars since 1939.
They turned out some wonderful electric and acoustic guitars that were reasonably priced. However by 1975 the Harmony Musical Instrument Company shuttered it's door.
Kay Musical Instruments was founded by Henry Kay Kuhrmeyer in 1931. Like Harmony, Kay's headquarters were in Chicago. Kay was a pioneer in the establishment of the electric guitar offering a Spanish style model as far back as 1937.
Much like Harmony, Kay's guitars and basses were sold mainly through department store catalogs. Due to this, companies rebranded Kay guitars with names such as Old Kraftsman, Penncrest, Orpheum, and Truetone. Among the Kay lineup were some iconic models such as The Barney Kay electric (later renamed The Gold K Pro,
The Thin Twin, The Swingmaster, The Vanguard, and The Kay 164 Jazz Bass. By the 1970's Kay was no longer offering USA made guitars. There are some other builders from this era and later years that would be worthy of mentioning, but all met the same fate.
The United States manufacturers paid it's workers a fair wage. In Asian countries many of the builders are (and were) paid per piece. In the mid 1960's Japanese made guitars were for the most part awful. Even those that collect '60's era Japanese guitars have to do a lot of work to rebuild these instruments to make them playable.
In every instance I have cited, the companies that were trying to put forth a better product and compete with Asian builders eventually went out of business due to the cost of manufacturing. However the guitars I have mentioned were treasures and have a provenance associated with a bygone era.
One of the original Mousegeetars in the Disney vault
Today is April 1st, and it’s time to start on a new project. We will need several grades of sandpaper, some varnish remover, different sizes of paint brushes, some wire cutters, and Bondo™.
1961 Gibson ES-335
Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. We will also need a 1961 cherry red Gibson ES-335. I guess we can substitute a newer Epiphone version. If you must.
1961 P.A.F Humbucking guitar pickup
First of all we need to remove that neck pickup. Just set it aside to use for another project. Save the potentiometers too. We next use the Bondo™ to fill the rectangular hole left where the pickup was. Use a scraper to level that adhesive.
Variety of Sandpaper
Now this next part is very important, so pay close attention. We are going to start sanding the guitars’ upper body with 80 grit paper and then finishing with 0000 paper until the surface is smooth as silk,
Cherry wood stain
Afterward we apply some Cherry Red stain from Stew Mac with a rag or cloth. Brush on the upper surface and blend in with a smooth bristle brush the rub the finish in with a cotton cloth.
Cherry Wood Spray Paint
Next apply Stew Mac Cherry Red spray paint to the guitar’s upper body. Do this in a well-ventilated area. I advise that you wear a mask, or respirator so your nasal foliage doesn’t turn cherry red. Chicks really don’t dig that look.
Guitar Lacquer
Once everything has dried, spray a nice thin coat of nitrocellulose lacquer on it. Once it has dried I suggest doing this at least three times.
Mickey Mouse Decal
I have looked and you can buy large Mickey Mouse decals on Pinterest for less than a couple dollars. Very delicately soak the decal in a pan of water and then place your Mickey Mouse decal on the instrument top side carefully covering the upper and lower bouts with Mickey’s mouse-ears.
Once everything has dried, restring you guitar and start playing your favorite Mickey Mouse Club songs. Yes sir, ♫ You’re and honorary Mouseketter! ♫
This is unbelievable Gibson will now be available under the name Xibson, after being purchased and renamed by Elon Musk.
When recording,
guitarists have been going direct into the board for as long as I can remember, letting the engineer and producer shape their sound. Due to digital recording, we now have audio interfaces and apps that include effects, reverbs,
compression, auto tune, and amp types and cabinet simulators. You can use these to record music and even play music live without lugging a heavy amplifier to your gig.
When I was younger,
I used to lug around a 1965 Deluxe Reverb, then later a 1969 Bandmaster with head and
cabinet to gigs. Back then I had to take the back seat out of my VW Beetle to fit the cabinet in the car.
A few years ago when we moved I stored most of my equipment away but for an
old Line 6 Spider 3 and a Roland Microcube which I use at home. I know some of you might scoff at this choice, but the Roland Microcube is a nice bedroom practice amp, and I picked up the Line 6 Spider for less than $40!!
More and more pro players are ditching the amp these days. Unless your venue requires rental from a backline company you can now plug directly into the house sound system and create the sound that you love.
An advantage is no load in, or load out and no repairs if a heavy amplifier breaks down. Many guitarists and bass players have figured this out as of late, and in fact, this practice has been going on for quite a few years.
Towards the end of his career, Pat Martino played through a Clarus Acoustic Image Amplifier directly into the venue's sound system and cabinet. His rider stated a speaker cabinet/monitor must be provided.
I saw Al DiMeola years ago at a guitar clinic. He used a Roland guitar synth, and his signature Ovation, which featured a hex midi guitar connection, was plugged into the guitar synth and then into a small Tascam mixer which had loads of reverb that he ran through the house sound system.
Instead of lugging that amplifier around, you can instead use an analogue pre-amp and power amp pedals, digital
pedals or software through a DAW that emulates the sound of a guitar amp. The
output from the pedal is then connected to the PA system or recording
interface, which enables you to play without a physical amplifier or cabinet
onstage.
This way you get a
consistent, balanced sound, as the DI interface projects the sound the audience hears,
and you hear in the monitor. The stage volume is lower. No more ringing ears,
feedback, or fight with the guy running the mix.
Long cord runs are no longer a
problem. And let’s not forget the load in
and load out. All you are bringing to your gig is your pedal board and a DI connection.
A
friend used to bring his pedal board rig, and a small powered monitor with an
XLR cord that he ran to a direct box. This went into the house soundHe
could hear his guitar in the monitor while the soundman ran the audio. This simple arrangement worked just fine.
To play gigs without an amplifier you will
need a preamp to shape the sound, which can even be your pedal board, or multi-effects unit.
You will also need a power amp to boost the sound, and a direct box to get that balanced signal.
One of my buddies plugs his effects board into Quilter Micro
Block and a speaker cabinet. He gets great results. A friend that owns a music store quit buying used Marshall amps and cabinets. He site the diminished demand for them as there are other ways to achieve that same sound.
There are quite a few power amp pedal such as a Electro Hamonix 22 MM MXR Micro amp or you can use a low watt practice amp. A powered monitor
will work. If you have an interface with a cabinet simulator, well 'Bob’s yer
uncle.' And there are so many DI boxes to chose from. Some are passive, and some are active.
For more than a few years guitarists have been using the Fractal Audio amp modelers and preamp system digital audio workstations or DAW's. The AX-FX iii has eight channels for recording, with EQ, with thousands of cabinet simulations. Brand new it costs $4900.
Another option, perhaps more affordable, are some products from a company called Two Note. Two Note offered the Torpedo C.A.B M+ speaker simulator, which featured a preamp and power amplifier. It has since upgraded it to The Opus which still features amp simulation, cabinet simulation, multi-effects plus pre-amp, and power amp capability for around $300.
The Two Note products use Bluetooth technology to change effects and updates.
The Atomic™ Ampli-Fire is a floor pedal that is an Amp-In-A-Box. It comes with nine preset amp features that include cabinet settings, but you can customize your sound. Channel switching allows you to change on the fly in a live setting. This pedal is perfect for recording too. The Atomic-Fire Box ML-II is current on sale new for $199 USD.
Another option is the Strymon Iridium Amp Modeler, new for $399 USD. This box offers 3 amplifier models, plus nine different stereo cabinet models. This little box includes adjustable reverberation up to 256 milliseconds. The amp models are "Round" based on Fender Deluxe Reverb, "Chime" based on a Vox AC-30, and "Punch" based on a Marshall Plexi (Super lead model 1959).
However there are plenty of other amp simulators on the market.
However one of the most popular and least expensive models is the JOYO FD American Sound Amp Simulator, which is designed to simulate a 1957 Fender Deluxe amplifier. From videos I have seen, this unit performs wonderfully and delivers sounds from clean to distorted and everywhere in between. which can simulate the sounds and cabinet of this amplifier.
This amp-in-a-pedal has the smooth, subtle overdrive everyone expects from fender-style tube amps near full volume, although it can also be used as a clean boost you get more liquid sound.
The circuitry in this pedal is based somewhat on that of a Tech 21 NYC California Blonde Sans amp, which was discontinued and is only available on the used market.
The great thing about the JOYO amp simulator is that it sells on Amazon for only $40 USD.
The Chinese manufacturer Joyo also offers a series of other amp simulators that have the same price point, although the JOYO FD American Sound is by far their best seller.
The JOYO Overdrive Guitar Effect Pedal Amplifier Simulation Distortion Pedal for Electric Guitar - Bypass (Oxford Sound JF-22) emulates the sound of a 1970's British made Orange Amplifier.
The JOYO JF-13 Acetone Guitar Effect Pedal Amp emulates the British Rock Sound of a Vox AC30 amplifier. All of these pedal sized amplifier simulators are available on Amazon for only $40 USD.
If you intend to record or put together a amp simulator board to use in live settings, one important thing to remember is the signal chain for your effects.
For bass players, Joyo offers the Dr. J Bass pedal D-53 that simulates an overdriven mic'd bass amp simulator. This pedal includes a DXL output with ground lift switch.
You definitely want the amp simulator at the end of the chain.
you probably want the tuner at the beginning of the chain so it gets a clean signal from your guitar
as a starting point. As an example, dynamic effects (compressors), filters (wah), pitch shifters, typically go at the beginning of the signal chain.
Gain based effects such as and overdrive/distortion pedals come next.
Modulation effects such as chorus, flangers, phasers typically come next in the chain.
Time based effects such as delays and reverbs work best at the end of the signal chain.
Volume pedals can go at the beginning or end of your signal chain to provide slightly different functionality in different locations in your chain.
I wish you all the best in your venture into leaving the amp at home.
