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SHOW YOUR DISTRESSED FINISHES!

#6,001
Dynacord said:
David Davidson at Well Strung Guitars does it again. Yowza.

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Very special - there couldn't have been many special orders like that. I've read those were farmed out to local hot-rod shops in Fullerton who did those car-show over-the-top sparkle finishes. Dick Dale, Buck Owens and some surf bands among them.
 
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#6,002
JIO said:
Very special - there couldn't have been many special orders like that. I've read those were farmed out to local hot-rod shops in Fullerton who did those car-show over-the-top sparkle finishes. Dick Dale, Buck Owens and some surf bands among them.
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Most of the sparkle/metal flake jobs were done by Dennis Swiden in the back of his family's furniture shop.

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#6,003
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#6,004
Dynacord said:
David Davidson at Well Strung Guitars does it again. Yowza.

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Absolutely stunning. Well Strung has consistently had some major winners in their shop which is no surprise considering they are able to source from the world’s largest private collection of vintage guitars in the world, Songbirds Guitar Museum out of Chattanooga, TN.

Songbirds Guitar Museum closed in 2020 and was rebranded and reopened as Songbirds Guitar & Pop Culture Museum. They maintain 550 instruments of the original collection of over 1700. You’ll notice the bass you posted is in their video here.

 
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#6,005
SJLee said:
Absolutely stunning. Well Strung has consistently had some major winners in their shop which is no surprise considering they are able to source from the world’s largest private collection of vintage guitars in the world, Songbirds Guitar Museum out of Chattanooga, TN.

Songbirds Guitar Museum closed in 2020 and was rebranded and reopened as Songbirds Guitar & Pop Culture Museum. They maintain 550 instruments of the original collection of over 1700. You’ll notice the bass you posted is in their video here.

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It's somewhat circular. David Davidson (owner of Well Strung - an acquaintance/virtual friend) was curator of that collection at Songbirds and largely who put it together. Best collection of vintage custom color/metal flake basses of any store in the world. David was also at We Buy Guitars on 48th St in NYC which was legendary in its own right. They had the '63 J (with later maple P bass neck) that Jaco played on his instructional video (it also had the original '63 neck with it - belonged to Jeff Andrews who loaned it to Jaco - I got to play that there in the 90's). We Buy was the place I saw my first ever legit 50's "Mary Kaye" (blonde with gold hardware) Strat - for the nosebleed price of $1,100.
 
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#6,007
Dynacord said:
It's somewhat circular. David Davidson (owner of Well Strung - an acquaintance/virtual friend) was curator of that collection at Songbirds and largely who put it together. Best collection of vintage custom color/metal flake basses of any store in the world. David was also at We Buy Guitars on 48th St in NYC which was legendary in its own right. They had the '63 J (with later maple P bass neck) that Jaco played on his instructional video (it also had the original '63 neck with it - belonged to Jeff Andrews who loaned it to Jaco - I got to play that there in the 90's). We Buy was the place I saw my first ever legit 50's "Mary Kaye" (blonde with gold hardware) Strat - for the nosebleed price of $1,100.
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Yes, there is a documentary about Songbirds that came out last year that talks about David’s involvement. It’s worth a look if you have not seen it.

That’s interesting about the J bass in Jaco’s video. I’ve always wondered what the story was on that bass and how it ended up with a maple board neck.

It paid to get in the game early with the vintage gear. I remember walking into a vintage guitar store in the mid 2000’s that had a 65 J bass in Fiesta Red, matching headstock for $3600. A few years later the local Guitar Center had a 66 J in LPB, matching headstock, blocks & binding for $4800. I could see the trend then but was timid about having that much money tied up in a bass. Now I wish I had pulled the trigger on both.
 
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#6,008
Dynacord said:
Just amazing stuff in that video. They do mention David right in the intro. I've handled at least two of those guitars (the rosewood neck Strat Vince Gill is holding and the maple neck, black anodized guard Jazzmaster prototype).
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I hadn’t realized Songbirds had reopened until recently and plan to make a visit this summer as they are only about a 4 hr drive away. I’ll be sure to take lots of photographs!
 
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#6,009
SJLee said:
Yes, there is a documentary about Songbirds that came out last year that talks about David’s involvement. It’s worth a look if you have not seen it.

That’s interesting about the J bass in Jaco’s video. I’ve always wondered what the story was on that bass and how it ended up with a maple board neck.

It paid to get in the game early with the vintage gear. I remember walking into a vintage guitar store in the mid 2000’s that had a 65 J bass in Fiesta Red, matching headstock for $3600. A few years later the local Guitar Center had a 66 J in LPB, matching headstock, blocks & binding for $4800. I could see the trend then but was timid about having that much money tied up in a bass. Now I wish I had pulled the trigger on both.
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Will have to check out the documentary.

Yeah, the Jaco bass was borrowed from Jeff Andrews. Great player in his own right (RIP as well).

Those were both good prices that late. Even by the mid 90's the Fiesta would have been more than that if all original and the LPB would have been right in that range. I still kick myself over a really clean LPB/matching headstock/green guard J for $900 at Voltage Guitars in Hollywood in 1985. Prices really jumped from '85 to '95 IME and then just kept rising (except for a fall in 2008).

It's all too much money for me now - and far more risk in the vintage game as the 'tells' used to be much less known and fakes have gotten far more convincing. I can appreciate stuff like in the post as a kind of art and for their relative rarity. I tend to think refins are the best value as players and the value has also really gone up on them as well.
 
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#6,010
Dynacord said:
... far more risk in the vintage game as the 'tells' used to be much less known and fakes have gotten far more convincing.
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Dynacord said:
I tend to think refins are the best value as players and the value has also really gone up on them as well.
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Rumbleseat Music mentioned getting burned by someone who sold them 3 refinished pre CBS J basses. They sold them off and it was the first time I saw refins go in the +20K range.

Btw, they have an absolute beauty of a 60's tele bass in Pink Paisley.

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#6,011
Dynacord said:
...Those were both good prices that late. Even by the mid 90's the Fiesta would have been more than that if all original and the LPB would have been right in that range...
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Just remembered the shop name. It was Gil at Southworth Guitars in Bethesda, MD. The Fiesta Red J was player grade in terms of finish and I do not know if it was all original. If it were, it would easily go in the 20's now.
 
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#6,012
SJLee said:
Just remembered the shop name. It was Gil at Southworth Guitars in Bethesda, MD. The Fiesta Red J was player grade in terms of finish and I do not know if it was all original. If it were, it would easily go in the 20's now.
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I had a super clean '65 Fiesta Red. Sold it to Jeff Ament in the mid 90's. Here it is with him on one of their shows here in Poland:

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Great condition, completely original, light and sounds really, really good.
 
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#6,014
SJLee said:
Absolutely stunning. Well Strung has consistently had some major winners in their shop which is no surprise considering they are able to source from the world’s largest private collection of vintage guitars in the world, Songbirds Guitar Museum out of Chattanooga, TN.

Songbirds Guitar Museum closed in 2020 and was rebranded and reopened as Songbirds Guitar & Pop Culture Museum. They maintain 550 instruments of the original collection of over 1700. You’ll notice the bass you posted is in their video here.

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Great video! So much cool stuff.
 
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#6,015
Dynacord said:
I had a super clean '65 Fiesta Red. Sold it to Jeff Ament in the mid 90's. Here it is with him on one of their shows here in Poland:

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Great condition, completely original, light and sounds really, really good.
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That is gorgeous! I opted for a FSC 64 RI. Frank Cunetto relic. Not in the same league but a little easier at the time on the pocket book.

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#6,019
SJLee said:
Thank you! It was built for Norm's Rare Guitars and put together by John Cruz.

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The Cunetto relics were light in comparison to some that are out there today. More like the Journeyman relic but without the light crackle in the finish.

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That's just super nice. A really beautiful bass there. Someday I'll have something from the Custom Shop maybe. I'm really content with what I have but still a guy needs a reason to get up and go to work, so someday.;)
 
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