CALLING ALL VALCO, SUPRO, AND NATIONAL NERDS!!! HELP ID!

[VintageGuitars_89]

Look at this neck. It came off a frankenstine guitar. It is Reso-Glass. Has non-original 60s Grovers. It shows no markings, but is repainted red (originally black). Has very beautiful and distinctive MOP/Aggate inlays. Also has the famous Valco gumby headstock. Weighs a ton!!! Please help Id the make/model it belongs to so I can auction this thing off!

[Michael Ambrose]

Yikes... what happened to that heel???

Okay, the whole "set neck" thing TOTALLY threw me off. What happened to that axe, someone took the neck and just glued it on the body?

Looking at the configuration of the underside of the heel, I can safely say that its the same neck I've got on my 1964 Glenwood.... but I've seen the same inlays on several different models. So, bottom line, there's no way in holy hell you'll be able to pinpoint the EXACT model it was taken from. They ALL, from the top to the bottom, had the same "button" bolts-in-a-row configuration.

That was the thing about Nat/Valco... interchangeable parts. Everything is cut the same, configured the same... neck bolts, pocket size, et al.

(By the way, the inlays are Pearloid and Abelone, not agate.)

So whats the deal there? I'm so jazzed by your guitar!! Did someone just fill in the bolt holes before "setting" the neck? Or are they still present? Where'd you find this beast? Whats the story on the body?

Make with the details already!!!

[VintageGuitars_89]

[VintageGuitars_89]

Ok, here's the body. i don't recognize the shape from a Kay, but it looks similar to some. Check out the wbwb binding! That's gotta narrow it down to a few companies, but which one??? Don't mind the wood filer, I'm in the process of undoing the original owner's idiot mistakes! Check it out! Any clue??

[simonm]

hey - I see you've got the neck on the eeb now - I'm watching with interest as I have a v similar neck (same heel, 2 screw holes, but with the plainer early Supro headstock), and not sure if I should sell or wait for a body that might never materialise.

[VintageGuitars_89]

Yup, sure do! i was offered $50 to close the auction, but it's gotta be worth more than that! There's really nothing to compare it to, but I was guessing $150 for it. Any clue on the body? It's really got me mystified!

[simonm]

If it wasn't for the binding I'd maybe suggest Alamo - seems to ring a bell, but fancy binding wasn't their style. Looks a bit Framus-like to me also, but I guess it's more likely to be American..

edit: Alamo - check this one out, not the same but some family resemblance? maybe it's just the red, but it's semi hollow too
http://www.myrareguitars.com/ealamofiesta.html

I think Alamo used a Harmony-style 3 screw joint - any sign of that? They also had narrow necks - looks like the neck pocket on your baody has been widened?

[VintageGuitars_89]

The Alamo seems semi-similar. I almost guarentee that once I get the non-original finish off someone will know what it is. That bright red finish throws people off easily. I've had some people say it's a Magnatone product because it's a color similar to others. It's a very good refin, and it threw me off at first, but imagine it in a natural finish. Framus would make sense. Somebody's gotta have a picture of the guitar, though!

[VintageGuitars_89]

I may have found it! Check out page 9 of the 67/68 Kay catalogue. Did they make a guitar version of that bass??? The K5922.

[theehman]

[VintageGuitars_89]

I'm pretty sure I'm right about the Kay also. Nothing else is even all that similar. The electronics probabl aren't original to the body, though. This Kay would have been post-kleenex pickups. Also, the body was originally a one pickup, given that there's no hole for a selector (even though there's a hole everywhere else. lol.) Either way, I'm building the ultimate surf guitar out of it. Keeping the pickups, making a custom-shaped white pearl pickguard, painting the body seafoam green, bigsby vibrato, and matching neck with white pearl headstock overlay. It's gonna be one groovy axe. i'll post pics as the project goes.

[VintageGuitars_89]

Well, who really cares what it USED to be. Here's a rough blueprint of what it's GOING to be...

[Riotonsunset]

How did your project turn out? I used to have Valco/Kay sorta like that It was made for Western Auto under the Truetone name.