Vintage Guitar Website Vintage guitar, bass guitar and amplifier information. Electric and acoustic. Info and photos of instruments and amps by companies like Fender, Gibson, Guild, Vox, Gretsch, Ampeg and Rickenbacker, as well as many smaller brands. Forum, catalogue scans, vintage adverts and restoration advice.

1966 Hagstrom Coronado IV bass

The Hagstrom Coronado is one of the most distinctive bass guitars ever manufactured; the quirky controls, 32" scale, and unique shape. The body and neck are mahogany, but with bolt on construction. This 1966 Coronado is one of the later guitars, so does not have the Hagstrom Bi-Sonic pickups, but it is still a great sounding, and highly playable bass. Check out the short Hagstrom Coronado bass sound clips on this site.

1964 UK Vox precision in sound catalogue

Vox catalogues were issued in different parts of the world representing the products available in that region. Guitars and amps were made across three continents throughout the 1960s, but this early JMI newsletter/catalogue was aimed at the British market, and showed guitars and amplifiers available in the United Kingdom. Most are British made, although there are electric acoustics imported from the Italian guitar builder Crucianelli, and some of the solid body guitars are fitted with Italian-made (Eko) necks. Also shows British-built Vox amps, and acessories. Eight pages

1973 Fender Musicmaster bass

Pictures, description and soundclips from a 1973 Fender Musicmaster bass. The Musicmaster bass changed very little between it's introduction in 1970, and it's deletion in the early 1980s. Although often regarded as a student bass, the Musicmaster was of high enough quality, both in terms of components and build, to sell to student guitarists and more advanced players looking for an affordable shortscale bass.

1963 Vox Shadow

The specifications and features of certain Vox guitars were somewhat fluid throughout the course of their production. The Vox Shadow had two pickups at this stage (see other Vox Shadow versions); and is made of a lightweight laminate wood rather than the solid mahogany used on the three pickup Vox Shadow from 1964.

1967 Hagstrom Concord bass

Hagstrom made the hollow-body Concord bass (initially named the Hagstrom Viking bass) from 1965 until 1971. Hollow body basses were very popular during the mid 1960s, with models such as the Gibson EB2, Epiphone Rivoli, Fender Coronado and Guild Starfire basses all capturing the mood of the times. Hagstrom guitars and basses were, of course, built in Sweden, and this was their first hollow-body bass. Check out the short Hagstrom Concord bass sound clips on this site.

1964 Vox Shadow

Vox made several different guitars with the name Shadow (other Vox Shadow versions); this one from 1964 has a Fender-style mahogany body and three single-coil pickups. Like previous versions of the Vox Shadow, this guitar was meant to resemble the guitar of Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin (who was playing a red Fender Stratocaster at the time). Many a British guitarist learnt on a guitar like this, but although functional, these all-British built Vox's were not up to the standard of the Phantom or Mark series. There are a few short Vox Shadow sound clips.

WEM Clubman Mark 8

Early seventies British valve amplifier, fitted with one 12" speaker. This is a small 5 watt practice amp, but with some great tones. Page update includes pictures and short demonstration soundclips recorded with various vintage guitars: 1967 Fender Coronado, 1968 Hagstrom H12, 1969 Gibson SG Special, 1976 Gibson L-6S Custom.

Gibson / Monzino (Italy) guitar catalogue, 1971

Gibson / Monzino guitar catalogue, 1971. America saw numerous promotional publications from Gibson in the first years of the 1970s, but new models were coming and going at such a rate, that some never made it into print. Just one US catalogue was printed in 1971: the Low Impedance for High Performance mini-catalogue, which contained just the Gibson Les Paul Recording guitar, and the Gibson Les Paul Triumph bass. However other countries were producing their own literature, capturing a snapshot of the Gibson range not seen in print in the US. This brochure was printed by the new Italian distributors, Monzino, and shows several instruments yet to be seen in US catalogues (the SG range in particular) and one that would never make it: the Gibson SB400 bass.

Supro guitar catalogue 1966

The 1966 Supro guitar, bass and amplifier catalogue ran to just 8 pages, and featured featured the Supro Arlington, Supro Lexington and Supro Normandy solid body ranges, the Supro Stratford, Supro Carlisle, Supro Clermont, Supro Croydon thin lines, and two basses, the Supro Pocket bass and the Supro Taurus bass. There were also 14 different Supro amplifiers.

Gibson Victory MV series

The Gibson Victory MV (multi-voice) guitars were launched towards the end of 1981, with a production period lasting just over two years. There were two models, the Gibson Victory MV2 and the Gibson Victory MVX. Both were very fine passive guitars with maple bodies and set maple necks. They had coil-tapped pickups for either humbucking or single coil sounds, but neither managed to give Gibson the Victory they required in terms of sales.

1964 1965 Fender catalogue

Entitled Fine Electric Instruments, the 1964 1965 Fender catalogue was circulated from mid 1964, and despite being just eight pages long, contained a large number of guitars, amplifiers and other instruments. This was the first catalogue to show the new Fender Mustang guitar, which was available in normal or 3/4 scale at that time. This catalogue was included in the 1964 annual guitar issue of Down Beat magazine (July), massively increasing the potential readership, both in America and worldwide.

1965 Vox catalogue

With 'Beatlemania' and the 'British Invasion' firmly underway, Vox needed a US distributor for it's products. Enter the Thomas Organ Company. This 1965 Vox guitar and amp catalogue was the first issued by the Thomas Organ company for the US market. It features a few Italian-made guitars, as well as a lot of British made ones. In contrast, the next catalogue features almost exclusively Italian instruments.

Hagstrom 12 (F-12S)

Details, images and sound clips of the Hagstrom 12, solid body electric twelve string. Also known as the F-12S in the United States. There are obvious similarities to the Hagstrom II and Hagstrom III, but without the Hagstrom tremolo. All have the famous Hagstrom low action, and fast-playing neck.

Vox Bassmaster

The Vox Bassmaster was one of numerous early Vox guitars styled, at least vaguely, on Fender instruments. As an entry level bass it wasn't bad. It had a very thin neck, and along with it's short, 30" scale, made an ideal students bass. It was British made, but a forerunner to later Italian models. Have a look at a 1963 Vox Bassmaster, and a 1965 Vox Bassmaster, with sound clips.

1969 Gibson SG Special

The Gibson SG came in several varieties; and the Special is a typical 60s Gibson in many ways. Naturally, it has a mahogany body with a set mahogany neck, in true Gibson style. The pickups are typical Gibson single coil P90s, and the control layout, too, is classic Gibson. Have a closer look, or check out the SG Special soundclips of this guitar, through various vintage amps.

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