Other electric models include: HOFNER ELECTRICS: Committee, Verithin 66, Ambassador, President, Senator, Galaxie, HOFNER BASSES: Violin bass, Verithin bass, Senator bass, Professional bass GIBSON ELECTRICS: Barney Kessel, ES-330TD, ES-335TD, ES-345TD, ES-175D, ES-125CD, SG Standard, SG Junior, SG Special GIBSON BASSES: EB-0, EB-2, EB-3 - plus a LOT of acoustics branded Gibson, Hofner, Selmer and Gianniniīy the end of the 1960s, a decision had been made to move Epiphone guitar production from the USA (at the Kalamazoo plant where Gibson guitars were made), to Matsumoto in Japan, creating a line of guitars and basses significantly less expensive than the USA-built models (actually less than half the price). This catalogue saw the (re-)introduction of the late sixties Gibson Les Paul Custom and Les Paul Standard (see page 69) and the short-lived Hofner Club 70. Selmer were the exclusive United Kingdom distributors of Hofner and Gibson at the time, and this catalogue contains a total of 18 electric guitars, 7 bass guitars, 37 acoustics, and 2 Hawaiian guitars - all produced outside the UK and imported by Selmer, with UK prices included in guineas. Scan of 1968/1969 Selmer guitar catalogue (printed July 1968), showing the entire range of electric and acoustic guitars distributed by the company: guitars by Hofner, Gibson, Selmer and Giannini. Many of the basses designed at Fender have changed very little in the following years, a testament to the strengths of the original concepts. This lead to the introduction of some low-priced models, the Fender Telecaster bass in 1968 and the Fender Musicmaster bass in 1970. Companies were closing down, or moving production overseas. Combined with a generally poor economic climate in the US, guitar sales were going down. Although it had just one pickup and simple controls, it was a great bass, and sold well.Īs the Sixties turned into the Seventies, the American guitar manufacturers started receiving real competition from Japan. Unfortunately they were poorly received, and another commercial flop.īut another bass introduced in 1966 did fare better, the short scale Fender Mustang. Hollow-body guitars were all the rage in the mid 1960s, and inspired by the likes of the Gibson EB2 and Epiphone Rivoli, Fender hired designer Roger Rossmeisl to create the Coronado bass in 1966. Neither sold in particularly large numbers. The next basses were less successful Fender tried a six string version, the Bass VI in 1961, followed by a 5 string bass the Bass V in 1965. The Jazz bass was another very big sauces, appearing right at the beginning of the decade, and like the Precision, is still in production today. Other vintage Fender bassesīut Fender did produce other bass models the 1960s saw a massive boom in guitar-buying, and Fender experimented with different ideas. The Precisions portability is demonstrated here, by showing it inside an upright acoustic bass case. 1958 advertisement for the Fender Precision bass.
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