Cool 70's Japanese Hollow Body Guitar

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday as my mate dropped me off at my new flat after a band rehearsal, he asked me if I could do some electronic repair work on a cool 70's Japanese hollow-body guitar, he wanted me to sort out a problem with the guitar's DeAmond Pickup which was making a noisy crackling sound, the DeAmond pickup system is apparently the same type that Vic Flick used on one of his guitars, now, for those who don't know who Vic Flick is, he's the guitarist responsible for the famous twangy guitar riff in the original James Bond 007 theme from Dr No, I thought that it would be cool to start a thread about the guitar and post a pic of it for you to check out, so here it is:

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The body of the guitar has white binding on the front and back edges too, the finish looks like it could have been done in Shellac, maybe one of you out there might be more knowledgeable about it, anyway, I think it looks cool.

sure is a cool old beasty

Very interesting, looking forward to more pics.

I'll get some more pics of the guitar posted for you guys then, including a closeup of the DeAmond pickup.

Here we go, more pics for you to check out:

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I think it's probably 1960's. The closest I can find to the distinctive F-hole style is the old Japanese Nardan brand.

Some more pics:

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And one more:

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How about those tuning pegs??? Plenty of slippage I presume. They look like something straight off an acoustic from the same era as does the nut too.

Waz, remember that it was an acoustic to start with. The DeArmond pickup is very much as aftermarket attachment, though if it is a Nardan, they could be bought fitted with a similar (but more basic) add-on Teisco pickup.

I had a good look at the nut, and believe it or not, it's actually only there as a string-guide because there's a Zero-Fret about 6.5 mm away from the front-edge of it, and yes, those tuners don't look like the originals, my guess is that the originals were worn-out and got replaced by the current ones at some stage.


Do you reckon that the finish on it is Shellac, or could it be a synthetic varnish of some sort?

And yes, the set of strings on the guitar feature a wound G-String, the B and high E-String are plain un-wound types, not sure what gauge they are, but they look most appropriate for the guitar.

From the cracking, it looks very much like nitrocellulose.

And, yes, replacement tuners. The originals, (given the mid-tuner spacing holes) would probably have been the 3-on-a-strip type.

Hopefully I can get the pickup electronics all working properly tomorrow, if so, I'll give it a tune up and see how it sounds through the clean channel of my Marshall amp, might even record a demo too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

And, yes, replacement tuners. The originals, (given the mid-tuner spacing holes) would probably have been the 3-on-a-strip type.

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I reckon so too, certainly looks that way.

Update:

Good news, I managed to fix the DeAmond pickup system and it's all working as it's supposed to, there were a couple of ground connections in the control box that had broken, I re-soldered the wires back together and now there was a good clean signal, I also gave the two control pots a clean with some contact cleaner which cleared up the crackliness, anyway my mate's really happy now.

Looks pretty cool eh doc

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Andy40

Looks pretty cool eh doc

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I reckon, what would be even cooler is if Pitbull Guitars had something similar to it in the range of kits on offer, where the body and neck are all pre-made, ready to be glued together, and all that's required to finish it is just some sanding, shaping the headstock, and then applying the finish before installing the electronics, the guitar definitely has that woody hollow-body tone.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Simon Barden

The closest I can find to the distinctive F-hole style is the old Japanese Nardan brand.

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I would love to see that f hole design on a ESB-4. Very unique and very cool