GALLERY: Born in the Sixties - Electric Guitars

1962 National Studio 66 Model
A great playing guitar with "Gumby" headstock and Brazilian rosewood fretboard. It's Sea Shell Pink with a seashell-shaped pickup that sounds like a big Tele. Even the most jaded audience member will do a double take when see they see this guitar on stage. Photo courtesy Willies American Guitars, St. Paul MN.

1962 Wurlitzer Gemini
Wurlitzer Guitars were made in Neodesha, Kansas from in the sixties and seventies, when the company began to import them from Italy. This guitar's serial number is 410741; under the neck on the body there is a date stamp of 1962. Loaded with twenty-first century features like true stereo, tremolo bridge, bound fretboard, tone switches (jazz or rock) and a pickup blender, the '62 Gemini has futuristic retro-cool to burn. From the collection of Bill Nix and Bill Nix, Jr, Marion, Iowa

1965 Rickenbacker Model 1993
Rickenbackers were sold in the UK in the sixties through the distributor Rose, Morris. The features of the Rickenbackers made for Rose, Morris (like this guitar) differed subtly from the American versions. The most notable change was a traditional "F" shaped soundhole, compared to the "slash" soundhole of the U.S. models. This Rose, Morris Rickenbacker Model 1993 has features are similar to those of a 330/12 except for the body binding on the top and back, this style of binding was used on the original 360s before the change to a rounded top in mid-1964. Photo and information from Dave's Guitar Shop.

1960 Fiesta Red Fender Stratocaster Serial #49005
This custom color Strat from the Dave's Guitar Shop collection is a hardtail Strat in Fiesta Red. With the up-charges for custom colors and no tremolo, the guitar would've retailed around $272.47. It features a Brazilian rosewood "slab" fingerboard and non-original "double line" mid-sixties Kluson tuners.

1969 Fender Rosewood Telecaster
This amazing rosewood Telecaseter is just like the one George played on the roof of the Apple headquarters during the last live Beatles appearance. It features a solid rosewood body sandwiched between a two-piece lamination. The neck is also solid rosewood and features a maple plug in back for truss rod installation. It's capped off with an original poly finish. Photo courtesy of Doug Youland at WillieÑ?s American Guitars.

1965 Sonic Blue Fender Jazzmaster
This Jazzmaster is shown in great condition in one of Fender's most sought-after custom colors, Sonic Blue, with a matching headstock. Photo courtesy Rumble Seat Music.

1966 Mosrite Venutres Model
This 1966 Mosrite Ventures MK I similar to the MK II that Johnny Ramone used. Mark I Ventures like this one retailed for $400-$450 brand new and featured a bolt-on maple neck, rosewood fretboard, two high-output single-coil pickups, with the neck position being slanted, a Vibramute tremolo, and a Roller Matic bridge. Photo courtesy Elderly Instruments.

1967 Musicraft Messenger Guitar
This Messenger guitar features ahead-of-its-time features like a magnesium-aluminum alloy neck, stereo output, and a built-in fuzztone circuit called the Tone Messer. The pickups are D'Armond single-coils that can be sent to separate amps through dual output jacks. Messenger guitars were played by Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad. Photo and information courtesy Ken Settle.

1961 Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster #A36092
This rare Gibson archtop was one of eleven natural ES-5 Switchmasters made in 1961. The ES-5 features thee PAFs with a 4-way selector and three tone and volume controls. The sharp cutaway debuted this year. The guitar originally featured a Tune-o-Matic ABR bridge, but this model has a Bigsby vibrato and Grover tuners. Photo and information from Dave's Guitar Shop.

1961 Fender Stratocaster Tahitian Coral
This custom color isn't found in any Fender catalogs from the era, but was noted on an old piece of masking tape found under the pickguard. Proof that this color is factory original can be seen after unscrewing the neck. An area of paint from the body has stuck to the neck leaving a bare spot in the neck pocket that is an exact match to the glob stuck to the neck. Photo and information from Dave's Guitar Shop.

1965 Gibson SG in Pelham Blue #505348
This SG Standard has features common to 1965, including a narrow 1 9/16" nut, chrome-covered pickups and Vibrola, nickel ABR-1 bridge, and a small pickguard. This SG is painted in the popular Pelham Blue Poly ("Poly" indicates a metallic finish, not polyurethane), which was introduced along with nine other custom colors when Gibson's Firebird series debuted in 1963. Pelham Blue Poly was originally a lighter version of Fender's Lake Placid Blue, but it tended to turn a greenish color with age. Photo and information from DaveÑ?s Guitar Shop.

1965 Fender Jazzmaster
This 1965 Fender Jazzmaster was purchased in 1965. After the original owner passed away in 1968, the guitar sat nearly untouched until early 2010 when the original owner's wife passed away. The guitar has the original flatwound "Spanish" guitar strings on it and very little wear on the gloss neck finish. The traditional Stratocaster knobs, celluloid pickguard, and clay-dot inlay suggest that the guitar may be from the 1964-1965 transition period.

1963 Gibson ES-335 "Green Burst"
This one-of-a-kind vintage block-inlay ES-335 was ordered from the factory in this custom Green Burst finish. The original owner ordered it to match his car.

1961 Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentleman 6122
The Country Gentleman featured this month has all the features typical to 1961: a 17-inch wide body with a slim two-inch depth (shrunk from 1958's 2 inches), gold plated U.S. Pat. 2892371 Filtertron pickups, a brushed aluminum Gretsch "V" cutout Bigsby, closed f-holes, gold plated Grover Imperial tuners, zero fret (added in 1959) on an ebony fingerboard with Neo Classic (thumbprint) inlays, a nameplate with serial number on the headstock, and a gold plated bar bridge. Photo and information from Dave's Guitar Shop.

1965 Gibson ES-355 Mono Sparkling Burgundy

1965 Gibson ES-335 Mono Sparkling Burgundy
From mid-1959 until the model's discontinuation in 1982, the ES- 355 was regularly fitted with a stereo output and a tone selector switch called a Varitone. A mono version remained available until 1970, but it was produced in smaller numbers than its stereo counterpart. This guitar is made even more unusual by its color: Sparkling Burgundy. The standard color for an ES-355, until walnut appeared in 1969, was Cherry Red. Only a few examples in other colors are known to exist. Photo and information from Dave's Guitar Shop.

1966 Gibson Firebird III Non-Reverse
This near-mint Firebird III features factory original Frost Blue finish. Photo courtesy Rumble Seat Music.

1968Ð¿69 Red Paisley & Blue Flower Fender Telecasters

John Frusciante's Fender Jaguar
Fender debuted two new finishes in 1968 to appeal to the hippie movement. Paisley Red and Blue Flower finishes were accomplished by sticking patterned wallpaper to the bodies and spraying clear polyester over the top. The original Fender ad copy for these models was also given a hippie-esque tone: Paisley Red Pulsates with every beat and swirls in a blinding carousel of color forms and tones. Photo and information from Dave's Guitar Shop.

1965 Sonic Blue Fender Stratocaster #104234
This rare 1965 Sonic Blue Strat has details common to Strats made during this transitional period. The November 1965 neck date shows that this is one of the last small headstock Strats made until the 1980s. Other traits include Gold Transition Logo (designed by Fender photographer Bob Perine), pearloid position markers, double line Kluson Deluxe tuners and an "F" stamp neck plate. This guitar also came stocked from the factory with large frets (often seen in 1965). Photo and information from Dave's Guitar Shop.

1966 Fender Jaguar
This 1966 Fender Jaguar features a rare candy apple red finish with matching headstock, gold hardware, and a maple fretboard with pearl block inlays and black binding. Photo courtesy Blue Chip Guitars, Concord, NH.

1962 Gretsch Chet Atkins Tennessean
Gretsch introduced the Tennessean in 1958 with a bright red stain, and revamped the line in 1962, the year this guitar was made. The burgundy stain has faded to a warm, reddish nutty color, and thereÑ?s a slight buckle rash on the back. The rosewood fretboard shows a fair number of playing hours, but it's in terrific shape and still plays great and sounds fantastic. From the collection of Bill Nix and Billy Nix, Jr.

1960 Gibson SG TV (Les Paul Junior Style) #0 9101
This SG TV model represents a transition period for Gibson. The double-cutaway shape was introduced to the Les Paul TV and Junior in 1958, and the name was changed in 1960 to SG (solid guitar) TV. The pointed cutaway SG would be introduced the following year. Photo and information from Dave's Guitar Shop.

1967 Rickenbacker 450 XII
This is a super clean 1967 Rickenbacker 450 XII, featuring two Toaster pickups, large white pickguard, rosewood fretboard with dot inlays and double line Kluson Deluxe tuners. Photo courtesy of Rumble Seat Music

1969 Fender Thinline Telecaster
The first major change to the Telecaster happened in 1968, when Fender decided to build a lighter alternative. The result was the Thinline Telecaster. New appointments on the Thinline included a 12-screw pearloid pickguard, a semi-hollow body, and a bass-side f-hole. Instead of using a cap on the body, Fender sliced the back from pieces of ash or mahogany, routed out chambers, and then put the pieces back together to form the finished semi-hollow body. The rear-routed guitar weighs about seven pounds and has a maple neck and fretboard, a six-pole single-coil in the bridge and a metal-covered single-coil with two visible height adjustment screws in the neck position. It also included Fender's original raised-side bridge with brass saddles and throughbody stringing. The guitar shown here is a 1969 model that has been refinished in fiesta red and modified with chickenhead volume and tone knobs. Photo courtesy Jeff Sadler of guitarphotographer.com

1960 Fender Telecaster Serial #60312
This Tele from the Dave's Guitar Shop collection has all the features common to early rosewood fingerboard Telecasters. It has a Brazilian rosewood "slab board" fingerboard on a slim maple neck (seen until mid-1962), clay dots (seen until 1964), single ply white pickguard (seen until 1963), and an ash body with an almost opaque creamy blonde finish.

1965 Candy Apple Red Fender Jazz Bass
This "custom color" 1965 Candy Apple Red Jazz Bass is a perfect example of what Fender was offering at the time. The company had experimented with concentric pots and four individual string mutes in the early sixties, but returned to the classic configuration in 1963. Photo and information from Dave's Guitar Shop.

1964 Gibson J-45 Serial Number 215778
This J-45 has features common to others produced in 1964. It has an adjustable bridge (introduced in 1956), large frets (1959), a cherry sunburst finish (1962), and mahogany back and sides with a spruce top (standard since the end of WWII). The red tint of the cherry sunburst has faded to an almost golden color, which is common on J-45s made from '64 to '66. Photo and information from Dave's Guitar Shop.

1968 Fender Coronado II, Wildwood I Finish
Fender's take on a double cutaway hollowbody was the Coronado, released in 1966. The line included single and dual pickup models (Coronado I and II). Pictured is a stunning 1968 Fender Coronado II model, with two De Armond pickups and optional tremolo. It sports a Wildwood I finish. The Wildwood finishes were obtained by injecting colorful dyes into beech trees, and three varieties were available. Photo and information from Dave's Guitar Shop.

1967 Gibson ES-335, Burgundy Metallic
This ES-335 is a rare find: a 1967 model with block inlays in Burgundy Metallic. Gibson only produced this color from 1966 to 1968, and except for the Grover tuners, this one's 100% original. Everything from the trapeze tailpiece to the humbuckers and the case are just as they were in '67. Photo courtesy Route 66 Classic Guitars.

1964 Fender Stratocaster Lake Placid Blue Serial #L20674
Besides having a stunning Lake Placid Blue finish, this February 1964 guitar has other features that make it very desirable: Spaghetti Logo (phased out in '64), clay dots (replaced by pearloid dots in Ñ?65), single line Kluson Deluxe tuning machines (replaced by double line Klusons during '64), and a greenish celluloid pickguard (replaced by white in '65). Photo and information from Dave's Guitar Shop.