The Guitar Collection

The Guitar Collection of Guy Mackenzie

Guestbook

Thanks for visiting The Guitar Collection!

If you would like to leave a comment for the Guestbook contact me: guy@theguitarcollection.org.uk

Tremo Twenty

Date: 19th June 2014
Name: Martin
Number: 269

Tremo Twenty Guitar

Good Evening Guy

I’ve just stumbled across an interview you gave on Collectors Club of Great Britain, as I was just trying to find out more about a guitar that belonged to my Dad. The guitar in question is a Tremo Twenty and unfortunately it’s in a bit of a sorry state. It’s repairable though and I fully intend to bring this guitar back to life. My Dad told me that it had a very unique sound and we spent a little bit of time before he passed away, restoring the electrics and machine heads. Anyway, I don’t wish to go on too much about it, but I read with great interest how rare these are and that you know of only 3 in existence so I felt compelled to email and let you know of a 4th, safely tucked away in my loft for the moment but soon to be dusted off and restored fully.

Detail of Tremo Twenty Guitar

Kind regards,
Martin

Guy's Response:

Hello Martin,

Thank you very much for your message. Yes in the Tremo Twenty guise these are very rare and I’ve only seen or heard of two others and one is in a museum in Switzerland. However with a different branding and a natural body there were others marketed back in the day and in fact Brian Eno owned one branded Starway as a first guitar – he wrote and told me so.

Especially as they are so rare, your Dad’s is very interesting and I wonder what colour it is? If you are happy with this I’d love to add your letter to my guestbook along with a picture of the guitar … regardless of the condition it is in now. It will be of interest to my website visitors however it looks.

Yes they do have a great and unique sound and there are of some historic interest too.

All the best and look forward to hearing from you,
Guy.

Martin’s response:

Good evening Guy,

I’m sorry for the long delay in my reply. I found your reply buried amongst other emails and had completely missed it (who said smart phones are the future?).

Attached are a couple of pictures of the guitar I’ve taken for you. You are more than welcome to add them to your guestbook and do with as you please. As you can see the guitar has seen better days, but I really would like to get it up and running again. It’s in need of a new bridge and one of the pick ups has take some dings to the metal. As I mentioned in my earlier email, before my Dad passed away, we restored the electrics inside and we had removed the original bridge at that time with a mind to sourcing a replacement.

Thank you for the information you’ve given me. It’s certainly very interesting, especially the part about Brian Eno owning one.

I hope this email finds you well.

Once again thank you and all the very best wishes,
Martin

JBSG-2

Date: 13th June 2014
Name: Peter
Number: 268

Hello Guy

I was amazed to come across this guitar in your collection, whilst cruising around trying to find any guitar made by John Bailey. Your electric number was made by John for Andrew Townend, a boy I went to school with in the 60s. Andy and I used to play together in a bluegrass band back then. His Bailey, now yours, was, and still is I guess, was a great instrument!

Great collection!

All the best
Peter

Guy's Response:

Hi Peter,

Thank you very much for your email. It was really interesting to hear from from someone in the band and, yes, it is still a great instrument and I’m delighted that is included in my collection.

All the best,
Guy.

Guild Stratford and Grimshaw Guitars

Date: 30th May 2014
Name: Ron Barrett
Number: 267

Hi Guy

I’ve been meaning to send you a picture of my Guild Stratford X350B which is, as you know, very rare. I also include a picture of me in 1985 with my two Grimshaws – The M57 and my custom built Barney Kessel style guitar, which I still have as you know.

Best wishes
Ron Barrett

Shergold 12-string Masquerader

Date: 29th May 2014
Name: Jim Knight
Number: 266

Guitarist Jim Knight with his Shergold 12-string guitar

Hi Guy

It was really good to meet you recently and, as promised, here is a picture of me with my Shergold 12-string Masquerader – which I still use in my act today.

Best wishes
Jim Knight

PS – I thought you’d be interested to see the backdrop to this picture… Carn Brea Castle!

Musima / Rellog Gitona guitar

Date: 21st May 2014
Name: Klive
Number: 265

Musima/Rellog Gitona Electric Guitar

Hi Guy

I have just bought a guitar with Rellog Gitona pick ups and Fenton Weill vibrato arm from ebay (haven’t received it yet tho!).

It caught my fancy, because I collect a lot of early Hofner guitars. But after searching for more details on the internet I saw your page with the Alexis Korner & Cyril Davis photo (the guitar looks exactly the same with original 2 plug cord).

Full Photo of Musima/Rellog Gitona Electric Guitar

Do you have any further details?

Best wishes
Klive

Guy's Response:

Hi Klive,

Thank you very much for your message and may I say I’m very jealous that I didn’t see this as I certainly would have tried to buy it. And if you ever decide to sell please contact me first!

Of course it is a Musima Rellog exactly the same as Alexis Korner’s one and it looks in very good condition too and all the electrics are original. However someone has fitted a Fenton Weill vibrato tailpiece at some time probably in about 1963 – apart from that it looks absolutely original. OK its not a great player but it is a piece of musical history and one of the earliest electrics available for sale in the UK – as no USA built guitars could be sold here until 1959 due to the embargo on imported goods following the Second World War.

All the best,
Guy

Alexis Korner and Cyril Davis

Date: 4th May 2014
Name: Guy
Number: 264

Alexis Korner with Cyril Davis

I’d like to thank one of my Facebook friends for letting me add this great vintage picture of Alexis Korner and his “Rellog” guitar to my Guestbook.

This is of course one of the earliest electric guitars available in the UK, dating from 1958/9, and imported in very small quantities from East Germany. Although I refer to it as a Rellog the body was, in fact, built by Musima and the pickups are Rellog Gitona. Of course it was fairly unplayable by today’s standards with a thick neck etc – but it was one of very few available at that time.

I know of only one other example in the UK and, despite my best efforts, the owner won’t sell it! And you can be sure that I’ve tried my best to buy it!

But if anyone reading this knows of any other or can add any more information, please contact me.

Guy.

Fenton Weill (finished at last)

Date: 4th May 2014
Name: Mark
Number: 263

Fenton Weill Badge

Hi Guy

Just wanted to thank you for the information you gave me on the colour and headstock badge of this Fenton Weill.

After some time I have finally finished it and am now pretty pleased that I finally went for the restoration. I found a bit of the original colour under the scratch plate in the router holes so was able to match it up best I could. The headstock badge was made up from that grainy picture off the internet, it has turned out a little thinner, maybe I should have taken up your offer and looked at your one first. With your advice I managed to source an ivory acrylic sheet!

All the best
Mark

Guy's Response:

Hi Mark,

Thank you for forwarding on the picture of the badge you made – you’ve really done a superb job and I’ll know where to come if I need one!

I’ll be happy to add your email to my Guestbook and if I get any enquiries I’ll pass them on to you.

Best wishes,
Guy

Defil Baston

Date: 4th May 2014
Name: Lukasz
Number: 262

Defil Baston

Hello there

I’m writing from Poland. I wanted to sell my Defil Baston 22 and some guy from the guitar forum send me your site and adviced me to write to you. I’m sending few photos of the bass. The photos were made with my phone and they are quite bad, so if you are interested – please tell me.

Defil Baston Detail

Rock on,
Lukasz

Guy's Response:

Hello Lukasz,

Thanks for forwarding on the pictures of your Defil. Although its not an instrument I’d be interested in I’d be happy to add your message and pictures to my guestbook and, if I get any enquiries, I’ll pass them on to you.

Best wishes,
Guy

1963 Hagstrom Futurama Coronado Automatic (serial number: 568079)

Date: 4th May 2014
Name: Christopher
Number: 261

1963 Hagstrom Futurama Coronado Automatic Electric Guitar

Hello, God dag!

I am writing to ask for some information regarding a 1963 Hagstrom Futurama Coronado Automatic (serial number: 568079) that I have come into possession of. Or rather the remains of this guitar.

The Guitar has been woefully mistreated over the years. The paint has been very badly sanded off, it is missing 2 of the pickups and all of the switches. It still has the original vibrato/tailpiece, the truss-rod cover and machine heads.

Originally I was hoping to refurbish this guitar to its original condition. However it seems that it will be incredibly difficult to find all the necessary parts to do this. So I am thinking it might be useful to others to sell the parts to be used for replacement in other Hagstrom guitars.

I am therefore looking for help finding people who would be interested in these parts – or who can help me source replacement parts to refurbish this guitar.

1963 Hagstrom Futurama Coronado Automatic Electric Guitar

Any help or advice that you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks for your time,
Chris

Guy's Response:

Dear Christopher,

Thank you for your message. As you know these are very rare guitars and only about, I recall, 200 were made so spare parts are going to be almost impossible to find unless you are very lucky. Of course ebay is always a source of spares but I wonder if you’ve contacted Hagstrom?

OK, it’s extremely unlikely that they will be able to help but it would be worth an email.

Also if you intended to sell it, ebay would be the place to try for the same reasons as above. I have no idea what it would be worth but let me know if you do sell and I just might bid on it for the same reason…for spares! And I’d be happy to add your email to my Guestbook and pass on any enquiries.

Best wishes,
Guy

Sakai

Date: 30th April 2014
Name: Frank
Number: 260

Hi Guy,

I too suffer from serious gear acquisition syndrome – I have 45 guitars in my collection. Like you, I find the more obscure and unusual guitars to be far more interesting than the run of the mill Teles and Strats etc.

A couple of days ago, I was walking past a pawn shop in my local town when I saw hung up on the wall a little Japanese Sakai. I just had to have it! Imagine my surprise to find that you have one exactly the same, especially as I’ve never seen one before.

(You can see the Sakai referred to here in the Galleries: Japanese Sakai.)

I know that you are a drummer, but I can tell you that little Sakai has a great tone and plays really well. To think that years ago you used to pick this stuff up in Woolworths for about nine quid! Over the years so much of this stuff has been broken up or chucked away, so finding a good example is becoming increasingly difficult.

Keep collecting Guy, I always find your magazine articles really interesting.

Cheers
Frank

Guy's Response:

Hi Frank,

Thank you for your message. Yes it’s always exciting to find something unusual or interesting hung up in a local shop and, like you, I seldom walk out empty handed!

With the numbers of guitars that you have I would have thought that you’d qualify for an article in Guitar & Bass magazine – would you like me to pass on your contact details to Lars Mullen? Or perhaps you’d prefer to remain “undercover”.

Best wishes,
Guy

« PreviousNext »