The Twelfth Fret ~ Since 1977 ~

Poplar

❌SOLD❌Airline Pocket Bass by Valco, Black 1964

❌SOLD❌Airline Pocket Bass by Valco, Black 1964

Here is a rarity,  an Airline Pocket Bass by Valco, Black dating to 1964, a short scale bass regarded by some as one of the best recording basses ever made.  The Airline Pocket Bass was built from 1962 to 1968 at the Valco shops in Chicago, Illinois, along with other Valco brands including National and Supro. Valco also branded their instruments for other companies, many of which were distributors or catalog retailers like Montgomery-Ward and Sears Roebuck. Valco amplifier production followed the same pattern but their customers included established builders like Harmony, Gretsch and Kay.

Vintage
Price: $1,500.00 CAD

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❌SOLD❌ SS Stewart Model 4024 Archtop Guitar Sunburst, 1930s

❌SOLD❌  SS Stewart Model 4024 Archtop Guitar Sunburst, 1930s

Here’s a lovely piece – from the early 1930’s, an SS Stewart Model 4024 archtop guitar, built by either Regal or Harmony and sold through Buegeleisen and Jacobson, owners of the Stewart brand. The SS Stewart company, named for Samuel Swain Stewart was a major producer of banjos between 1878 and 1904, and was bought by B&J (Buegeleisen and Jacobson) a few years after Stewart’s death. Over the years, B&J shifted to producing mostly guitars with the brand, had many companies build the actual instruments including Chicago Musical Instruments, who also built Harmony, Kay, and Silvertone brands.

Vintage
Price: $1,499.99 CAD

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❌SOLD❌ Lyon & Healy Washburn Oak Parlor Guitar, 1920s

❌SOLD❌  Lyon & Healy Washburn Oak Parlor Guitar, 1920s

Around the start of the twentieth century, Lyon & Healy were one of the larger musical instrument builders in the USA, with Washburn being one of their brands. This Lyon & Healy Washburn Oak parlor guitar, built in Chicago in the 1920s, is an example of the instruments available at that time. It features a ladder-braced Spruce top and Oak for the sides and back. The heavily V shaped neck with slotted peghead is likely Poplar, while the fingerboard is a dyed, hard and tight grained wood like Maple.

Vintage
Price: $999.99 CAD

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❌SOLD❌ Kay Old Kraftsman Red Devil K592 Thinline Electric Red, 1962

❌SOLD❌  Kay Old Kraftsman Red Devil K592 Thinline Electric Red, 1962

Here is a very cool piece from 1962 – a Kay Old Kraftsman Red Devil model K592, the top of the Speed Demon line, built for the Spiegel catalog and direct mail company. This model was built between 1962 and 1965. Kay began in 1931 as the successor to the Stromberg-Voisinet, which was itself the 1921 successor to the Groeschel company, founded in 1890. Based in Chicago, Illinois, for a time Kay was one of the largest instrument builders in the USA, and supplied many catalog companies and department stores.

Vintage
Price: $850.00 CAD

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❌SOLD❌ F Bass Fretless Bass, Maple and Poplar, 1982

❌SOLD❌ F Bass Fretless Bass, Maple and Poplar, 1982

This F Bass Fretless bass uses three woods – Flamed Maple for the neck, Poplar for the wings, and African Blackwood for the fingerboard. It uses a neck-through construction. For hardware, Schaller tuners are at the head, and a Leo Quan Badass bridge with a riser. Electronics are passive and consist of a Aguilar AG4J-HC pickup in the bridge position, paired with a Hi-A (High-Asymmetry) pickup in the neck position. This bass originally shipped with a Seymour Duncan Jazz pickup in the bridge position.

Vintage
Price: $1,895.00 CAD

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❌SOLD❌ National Val Pro 82 Vermillion Red, 1962

❌SOLD❌ National Val Pro 82 Vermillion Red, 1962

The National Val Pro 82 was the single-pickup version of the ‘Map Body’ Val Pro line, built during 1962 and 1963 by Valco in Chicago, Illinois.  National itself began in 1927 with the invention of the Resophonic guitar, but in 1928 the original builders – the Dopyera brothers – left to form Dobro, and in 1932 the Dopyera’s bought a controlling interest in National and merged the two companies.

Vintage
Price: $1,750.00 CAD

This instrument has sold

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THE TWELFTH FRET

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