The lesser or more obscure brands / guitars you've owned.

[tapper mike]

Thanks I was trying to remember the name of them. Back when they were new I was looking at the model with the Roland GK installed (parker fly type) I almost bit but... I wanted to take the action down and the saddles were already as far down as they were going. Two months of looking and someone else bought it. I turned my attention to something else and then bought a Parker P44 (Korean import) instead.

[rp314]

my first guitar - but a silver one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFfmGOedc2U

My first guitar was also a Teisco but more something like this one:


I'm not sure how obscure they really are but in terms of lesser, mine probably was...

[Bombadil]

This one, more or less, but sort of a burst, mostly black.

The neck was like a baseball bat. It was a hand-me-down from my best friend's older brother. It was stolen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9smTfeTxo_U

[toonertik]

First guitar I owned was in 1967, a second hand Vox teardrop... traded that for an Italian slim hollow body jazz style... can't remember the name.
Then one of these Rapier 33... I bought it direct from then in Chertsey
http://www.watkinsguitars.co.uk/rapiers.htm

The guitar got "lost" sometime while I was travelling for 11 years ;(

[codec_spurt]

my first was an Alamo El Dorado, be worth at least 500% more than I paid for it now



Meanwhile as far as the topic goes, I have to throw in my Daion Power Mark XX





Tremendous craftsmanship

As soon as I saw that Daion Power Mark, I thought Matsumoku.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsumoku

Did a quick search and came up with this:

https://reverb.com/item/5709521-daion-p ... umoku-ohsc

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/what-t ... 479/page-2

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/423338433700519566/

https://www.mylespaul.com/threads/daion ... xx.304776/

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ ... -502693702

https://www.harmonycentral.com/forums/t ... r-mark-xx/

...

The through body woodwork is unmistakable. Especially the tones (colours) of the wood used. That deep Cherry - light Mahogany blend is very distinctive. Plus the fixtures and fittings.

What a guitar!

I had never heard of this guitar before (for all my research on things Matsumoku), or at least it is one of the lesser known 'brands' they knocked out. And they sure did knock out quite a few 'brands' from there, for sure.

And I bet it plays like a dream and sounds like an angel.

Kudos!

I really hope you still have that guitar in your collection, and will never, ever, think of parting with it. That is a serious part of guitar history right there, and one that many would pay a pretty penny to get hold of. Don't!

Tremendous craftsmanship

You got that right!

[codec_spurt]

My first ever guitar was a Bass. A 'Morris'.

Bought in the late 70's in the Middle East. A superb Fender Precision copy.

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/anybod ... is.493742/

They did Jazz basses too:

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/morris ... cs.495495/

I researched them for a bit. They were quite well known and still fetch a decent price if you have one to sell. I talked to the guy on that Japanese import/export site and he confirmed this. A really fantastic instrument that I know is still in the same hands of the person I sold it to all those decades ago. He loves it. He's moved to another part of the world now, but still cherishes it. So that is something!

I then got a 'Moon' guitar. Turns out it was probably Japanese made at the time. There is about 10 or 20 companies called 'Moon' that make guitars, some going back to that era in fact. I won't bother dredging up my research. It was a great guitar. Les Paul. White with black binding:



It even had the perfect Diamond Pearloid insignia on the headstock. A total unashamed rip-off!



Except it had the 'Moon' insignia. This was no Chibson!

It was made of Plywood and heavy as lead. But it played pretty good. It was a stunning guitar.

[resynthesis]

Kawai Aquarius - nice sounding single coils (I'm told they may have metal baseplates but I've never been arsed checking)
Ovation UK II - was my main guitar for donkey's years and I'm so used to the neck it's still my fallback when I get fed up
Shergold Custom Masquerader - didn't get on with the neck so my brother has it
LeFay headless bass - monstrous
Kramer Duke bass - weird headless thing which, I'm told, may have belonged to Richard Sinclair (who is from this neck of the woods)

[thecontrolcentre]

My first electric guitar was a red hollow bodied semi-acoustic with 2 humbuckers. I can't for the life of me remember what make it was ... i paid about £45 second-hand for it in the mid 80's. It was part exchanged for an Ibanez Melody Maker a few months later ...

[Peter - IK Multimedia]

Got this, 'Jay Turser' hollowbody off a mate at work a bit back. Apparently a US company - built in China. Used it on a few things, but it's main function I've found for me is that it sings like a bastard with the ebow, like no other geetar I've ever used. Weird, but good.

jayturser.jpg

I remember when Turser guitars hit the market. The store owner said they where cheap and flawed as all get up but first time buyers couldn't help themselves. He had a lot of returns so he had to stop selling them.

I have a green Jay Turser strat copy sitting next to me right now, one of my super-cheap guitars that I don't feel bad about bumping into things or knocking over. It probably works well for me as a knockaround/grab-and-go guitar because I immediately replaced the tuners and pickguard and did some minor electronics and general cosmetic and functional "tune-up" work on it when I bought it. It is surprisingly loud unplugged, too, which is nice for a quick practice session.

[Hink]

huh...my warmoth gets bopped around, gets knocked over and I'm eh, it's the warmoth and it happens to be my favorite guitar

[fairlyclose]

my first guitar - but a silver one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFfmGOedc2U

My first guitar was also a Teisco but more something like this one:


I'm not sure how obscure they really are but in terms of lesser, mine probably was...

mine was a shocker - I had to stand on the neck to get the strings down to the fretboard. I've seen better action on a pedal steel guitar. Back then - 70s - It was almost a trope of learning electric guitar that the first guitar you get is almost impossible to play. Cheap guitars now are so much better.

[acousticglue]

Had a Global JC Penney strat ripoff at 15. Had a Kramer aluminum neck bass which I still miss.