THE picture shows what may be one of the world’s rarest guitar brands. A Google search today for the name, "ColTone", returned only one guitar reference. It was for "original 60s ColTone bass guitar" at $59.
The item has since been removed from ebay, so a research stream ran dry.
My ColTone two-pickup solid came from a garage sale just a few years ago.
The vendor, who looked to be in his 50s, said he had owned it since he was a kid.
The guitar has similarities to my first electric, an Ibanez two-pickup solid, which I bought through classified advertising in the Launceston Examiner, also in the 1960s.
At the time, the brand, Ibanez, was hardly known. The vendor gave it a French flourish, pronouncing it as "eye-bun-ay", which I blindly followed for a fair while.
The Japanese manufacturer slowly made inroads into the world market and I had to give in eventually and admit "I wuz rong".
A bloke called John Andrews bought my Ibanez in the early 70s and I went on to love a dreadnought acoustic of another rare brand, Bolero. More about that in future posts.
THE ColTone, like my early Ibanez, has a painted maroon body and a thick neck, the timber in which could be the same.
Both guitars seem to say "early Japanese", with about the same sophistication as the "ay" word.
A Google search just after the $20 ColTone acquisition gave another "one reference" result.
A guitarist blogging about his garage band said he loved his "trashy old ColTone".
Unfortunately, our correspondence is somewhere in a heap of back-up discs with vague labels. It may turn up at a later date.
However, he said I was the only other ColTone owner he knew of, after he bought his secondhand in recent years.
He had been unable to get any firm info about them, but someone had suggested "ColTone" had been a rebadging of a Japanese guitar, whose brand I forget. The name started with "T".
A reference to the huge headstock caused a grin through cyberspace, with my correspondent expressing a little amusement. The head, which looks as big as that of a double bass, is quite comical.
THE picture shows another tailpiece I fitted to replace a tin-can tremolo setup that had broken. I have strung it with a mismatched collection, just as the first test, and indications are that it tunes up okay.
No matter how rare this guitar is, I intend to reshape the neck so I can at least have a chance to enjoy playing it.
Any information about ColTone guitars would be welcome.
THAT'S about it for the second of many posts on this site. Thanks for joining me. Readers are welcome to visit my other blog, www.classiecorner.blogspot.com, which focuses on the marvellous world of classified advertising.
6 comments:
Hello, I have just listed an old CoolTone Guitar on Ebay, I dont know much about it, it came from a very old friend of mine, so i know it is very old, maybe you could tell me a bit about it and what it would be worth about!! I also live in Brisbane.
Regards jay
Hi. I realize this thread is very old. Coltone was made by Teisco in the early to mid 60s. There were less than 200 Teisco 6 string guitars imported into Australia. A case maker in Melbourne I think, I have lost the label :p then manufactured cases for them to cater for the bizarre head stock. Everyone agrees they are really rare, I have no idea if that means they are worth anything
Please tell me that someone - other than the junkies that stole it in 1988. Sunburst wierd pots etc... I don't have the serial i lost 4 track et..... it had a great sound but neck issues. If it's the same its played with died pretty, presidents 11 and the huntsman. Completely unsure as to fiscal worth. Many memories.
I have sought information in regards to a much loved classical guitar i have owned since the mid sixties. It is a Coltone. Inside it has a label, its background is yellow and in black (germanic lettering) it reads GUITAR NO.3 COLTONE. Underneath it says. "life is short,art is long. And nature is so profound.To climb this steep musical mountain Be better support for our friends." The last line reads, "Otsuka musical intrument MTgla,then underneath "Made in Tokyo Japan". Close to the neck is the printed seriel number: 20729. The guitar is birch top, 2 piece indian mahogony and grained ebony fret board. Your knowledge is much appreciated. Nick
Please tell me that someone- in 1988 my fiscal worth was of suspect sunbursts of cereal wierd pots which died pretty with my neck issues and the presidents huntsman memories of of the 11 junkies.Still I am completely unsure. As are the many.
I have a coltone electric 6 string guitar with a single pickup. Not sure how to upload a photo of it.
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