Studio quality at an insanely low price. This great-playing 22-fret PS-1 Performer came to us direct from a well-known recording studio in LA, where it’s been part of the in-house gear lineup for the last decade or so, during which time it’s been used on countless US radio and TV ads, film scores and other session work. (You can tell it’s a studio axe, with just some light playwear on the front, [mostly on the scratchplate], while the back is almost mint!) We’re well aware of just how good the Performer models are, as we’ve had a couple in before – one in Black and one in a Blue...

The Victoria line was a brand of Buegeleisen & Jacobson, New York, (who also manufactured the prestigious S.S. Stewart guitars, mandolins and banjos). Alongside their own manufacturing capabilities, Buegeleisen & Jacobson also imported some of their lines from top European manufacturers, and had some instruments built for them by several other US makers. Construction on this lovely bowl-back mandolin appears more American than European, and it is very similar to Martin’s turn of the century Style 1 and 00 models, (less so to any specific Washburn model), so it’s highly likely that ...

You can immediately see the Mosrite and Standel connections in Hallmark’s famous Swept-Wing design – Joe Hall designed guitars for both companies back in the day, before setting up his Hallmark production facility in Bakersfield, California in 1966. Hall’s original partner Bill Gruggett, in association with Bob Shade, resurrected the Hallmark line in 2004, and now based in Greenbelt, Maryland, the pair are once more making these fine instruments available to the discerning player. Bought as an investment, this stunning instrument was played for maybe five minutes, and has been...

Here’s a great piece of real vintage American guitar building, at a price anyone can afford. If you want the instant vibe of a vintage axe, but don’t have the bucks to lay out on a ’65 Strat or SG, then this one is for you! Built at Kay’s plant in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, the Vanguard series was brand new for 1965. (The series consisted of three models, with one, two and three pickups) Featuring a Sunburst finish over a solid Maple front and back, with a hardwood core, plus an exclusive new Vanguard single-coil pickup, (“newly designed powerful magnetic pickup unit,” the cat...

Intended as a limited edition tribute model of one the world’s most famous guitars – Steve Vai’s legendary JEM77, which he originally hand-decorated with the same material used for the curtains in his studio, (or his house, or his parent’s house, depending on which story you care to believe) – this guitar was produced as a sample/display model for a Japanese guitar show, with the floral pattern printed directly onto the body and headstock, and although over a thousand people registered interest in this budget model, it never went through to production. Brand new apart from havin...

The original camp ukes were made from barrel hoops and cowhide, knocked together for fireside entertainment as the pioneers’ wagon-trains journeyed into the American Wild West, during the 1800s. By the turn of the century the design had been appropriated by several manufacturers, with Lyon & Healy creating the first of the all timber models during the mid-1920s. Some authorities state that this Gretsch version of the Lyon & Healy design was only produced during 1940, while others suggest they may have appeared as early as 1936 – regardless, this fantastic little camp uke is basi...

Thanks to Jack White of the White Stripes, everyone now knows just how cool these old Airline guitars are. Originally available only through the Chicago-based Montgomery Ward department stores & catalogue company, White’s championing of the Airline ‘JB Hutto’ and other models means the brand is now in big demand all around the world. Built for Montgomery Ward by the giant National/Supro/Valco company, who were also based in Chicago, there was an Airline model for everyone, from acoustics and big bodied jazz boxes to basses and a score of different solidbody electrics. The B...

Built at Egmond’s plant at Best in Holland, and introduced around 1964/65, the EG series “borrowed” the best design features of Fender’s Stratocaster and Jazzmaster models, then gave them a bit of a European twist. Egmond instruments were already famous for having been played by at least two of the Beatles, and as the world was overcome by the electric guitar frenzy surrounding the British Invasion, Egmond found themselves very busy indeed, keeping up with demand. At the same time as they were increasing production quotas, Egmond made big improvements in the quality of their gui...

The majority of instruments in “The Paul” range were the standard, non-Deluxe model, with a one-piece Walnut body – this superb, all original Les Paul model is the more rare slab Mahogany version, complete with an Ebony board, and a killer set of original Dirty Fingers humbuckers. Most likely due to the correct covers not arriving in time, the first 50 or so Paul Deluxes came with ‘Firebrand’ above “The Paul” Deluxe on the truss-rod cover. It didn’t really make sense to use them, as these guitars were not part of the Firebrand range, (nor are they the same as the significantly c...

Martin have only ever produced electric guitars in two brief bursts; 1961 to 1968 and again from 1978 to 82 – this E-18 was built at the Martin plant in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, during the second period. To the best of our knowledge no E-series Sigma/Martins ever made it to Australia at the time, and as these amazing guitars come onto the market extremely infrequently, we pounced on this one in Seattle as soon as we saw it! These days the Sigma brand is Martin’s budget line, but in the seventies it was part of a clever marketing strategy that allowed non-Martin dealers to stock v...

We had a hard time pinning this model down, but our friends at Gibson Customer Service believe it’s most likely a late sixties to early seventies Gibson ‘varsity model’, which would have been supplied to an American college or university music faculty, as part of the company’s long-standing tradition of supporting music in schools. Possibly a more economical version of the TB-100 model, with a Rosewood armrest in place of metal, metal-foil inlays on the Rosewood board, and a more cost-efficient Melody Maker-style headstock shape, it’s also feasible the banjo was made for Gibson ...

Featuring the exact same pickups that Ry Cooder uses on his Strat, it’s no wonder these things are so popular! Compact Maple bodies; multi-ply necks, (sometimes affectionately referred to as the Teisco “million-ply” neck), which never twist out of alignment; the fabulous “space-”, or roller-bridge – not just the perfect bridge for a guitar with a tremolo system, but the luxury of sideways adjustment of each individual saddle, allowing you to set your own string spacing! While not pristine, it is all original, right down to the trem system, which is likewise complete and fully fu...

Now here’s a nice lefty! You’ve possibly seen David Bowie playing his Supro-branded ‘Twin Tone’… Supro, Valco, National and Airline all came out of the same Chicago factory. Airline instruments were the house brand of Montgomery Ward department stores, and were generally identical to National and Valco, except with the Airline logo on the headstock. The original Airline brand didn’t make it out of the sixties, and values have been climbing steadily, particularly since Jack White of the White Stripes made the JB Hutto model so popular. The Hutto model is back in production once m...

In very limited production, for only a few months during 2005 – 2006, the special edition Stratocaster tribute to the famous Southern California (So-Cal) Speed Shop features just a single, mega-hot Alnico humbucker, matched to a volume control and a hardtail bridge – you don’t need nothin’ else. Trust us, these things scream like the end of the world is stomping down the stairs into your rehearsal room! With THE most amazing design work ever to grace a Strat, this So-Cal model is in absolute Mint condition, and comes complete with brand new tweed hard shell case. The brilliant ...

Suddenly everyone is playing a baritone! With heavier strings, and tuned as much as a full octave lower than a standard 6-string, the baritone is like a bass for guitarists, or a guitar for bass players. (Standard baritone tuning is BEADF#B) A classic piece of baritone guitar can be heard on the Beach Boys ‘Caroline No’, plus the Beatles used a Fender VI baritone extensively on the White Album, (‘Back In The USSR’, ‘Rocky Racoon’, ‘Helter Skelter’ and others), Pat Metheny plays an acoustic baritone, John Petrucci has his own signature model MusicMan baritone, Ani Difranco plays sev...