Post ALMOST anything you want thread

$85 ? Wow. At least NASA is cheaper than Disney. You can always go to the big Ron Jon's in Cocoa.

 

Nope, The Big Diz is $60! Universal Orlando's $135. We checked that day for all three.
And yeah, I'm not a surf fan, but I always liked the surf shop logos, a connection to the Sixties. If I go there, I'm definitely picking up bumper stickers for Babe and Roger.

 

Just as you enter Fl. there are places to buy discount tickets for all of the venues. They are $90 each.

 

I'm seeing double. I think, I'll start laying off the booze

 

Watch this video on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/v/dNpdRjeSVPGES6zu/?mibextid=9bzTRr&startTimeMs=9000 a lot of major flooding in northern New England yesterday, and isn’t the water supposed to be on the inside of the truck

 

1963 Sears Fall-Winter Catalog, Guitars Section.



Top 2: Danelectro-built Silvertone 1448 (the 1 pickup model) and 1449 (2 pickup) models. I have a 1448, and it's almost laughably cheaply built, but it's a hearty laugh that's still considerate. The guitar still holds together and sounds great. Its body is Hollow inside; it has a Pine Frame that's stapled together, then the front and back are Masonite. The spot where the strings end (the bridge and tailpiece area) has a block of Pine sandwiched between the front and back.

Bottom Left: Kay-built Silvertone similar to the Kay Vanguard model. Right of that is a Harmony-built model, then the 4 on the right are a Harmony, Kay, probably a Harmony, and a Harmony.

I don't know Harmony models very well.

 

When you figure-in monetary inflation, that wasn't small money for those guitars. Especially, by how you describe the way they were put together. Back then, people would save their money in a bank, before going to Sears for getting one of those. At those prices, I'm wondering if paying more for a Fender Stratocaster or a classic Gibson would have been money better spent and worth the wait

 

What's interesting to really note is that the way those were built, it nearly mirrors that of hollow-core doors.

 

but it was easier for mom to buy it on layaway or payment plans. My mom and aunt bought Sears guitars and band instruments for me and my cousins that way. Hey, they worked!

 

Introducing credit cards hid monetary inflation and introduced poverty. The latter through drawing attention away from one's financial balances

 

No, it's not a small amount; the 1448 model (top left) was about $700 in equivalent. Both of the black ones on the top came with an amplifier, though, which was built in to the carrying case.

As for the construction, though, I was just speaking for the construction of the 2 black ones on the top. Those two (the 1448 and 1449 models) were built by DanElectro in New Jersey. That's typical 1950s - 1960s Danelectro construction, and they still do sound pretty good for their cheap construction, besides holding together fine without much trouble. I've also heard that Danelectros usually have their necks stay straight, where other cheap makes don't always turn out so good after decades.

The other guitars on the bottom were made by Kay and Harmony, separate companies in Illinois which didn't build with the same construction that Danelectro did; they had other ways of cheapening theirs. Both Kay and Harmony had Solid Body Guitars available, but for those in the ad, I only know the Kay on the bottom left to definitely be solid. The next two in line, going from left to right, might also be solid but I don't know for sure.

All of the guitars shown have a relatively minor flaw (or character, if you want to be slightly inaccurate in tuning) to them that can be fixed; a lack of accurate String Intonation, even when adjusted for in stock form. First, an introduction to what Intonation is: it's like tuning a car to run most smoothly, without sour spots. When Intonation is set properly, the string will play at exactly the same pitch at the 12th fret as it does when you're not holding a string down. If intonation is way off, it can be a whole note higher or lower than what it should be at the 12th fret. (Frets divide the finger board into sections for different musical notes.)

The problem that all of these guitars have is that at the bridge (where the strings are anchored against the guitar's body,) there's just one saddle. The one saddle holds each of the 6 strings, and then the one saddle can be set for the intonation to be approximated for all strings, but it's not precise. Ideally, you have either 3 or 6 saddles so you can adjust each one for the intonation to be accurate. But with this, you might have one or two strings that aren't quite right at the 12th fret, but are close.

I have a rough shape 1448 model here (I parted it together with the body of one and the neck of another, plus other parts that generally fit the original character of the guitar.) I won't kid you, it's a beater, but there's the beauty of it - "the dents are already in it." I don't have to worry about damaging vintage equipment this way.

You may notice that I cut the saddle into 3, so I could move the wooden pieces for accurate intonation. It works fine this way.

 

I buy my cars that way, so as to not lose sleep at night