RCA VICTOR MUSIC MESSENGER
In the 50's and 60's the only chain that sold electric guitars that you could get and if you were lucky could even touch were the Sears Roebuck department stores. Even in a medium size town you had nothing or you might have a Mom and Pop Music store and in small towns zero. The most popular TV set in America was RCA and most towns had one or two stores that sold those along with radios and vinyl records. Having a guitar to sell through those stores was a good idea. So RCA went to RCA Victor Japan who worked out an arrangement with the now famous Matsumoku to design and produce a guitar.
It is a bolt on 25 1/2" scale and has a maple neck with rosewood fretboard and an alder body just like a Fender.
Expect to pay $800.00 USD for one in great shape.
WHY WOULD YOU WANT ONE?
A fun retro guitar but why would you want one.
Well first the maker has a pedigree so the guitar is well put together using good quality parts.
In this case the wood used is identical in age and quality to a 60's Strat.
In short killer 'bones'
You can replace the bridge PU and tuners and you will have a killer sounding guitar.
It has very little collectors value it will only go up with inflation. So ...modding it will kill it with collectors but not with players. It will be irrelevant as both will only pay the going rate which will be the same for either camp.
This 1954 H88 Stratotone Doublet is mine
Under that paint is a set maple neck and a solid ash body.The guitar came with a rosewood acoustic style
bridge it would not intonate and it sucked up the sutain.
The bridge is bent steels so it it does not look like the
guitar did not come with it. I could have used a Gibson
tune o'matic but it would look hot rodded and out of place. The bridge is a Fender Mustang :-)
The cover on the neck PU is a period correct Rickenbacker style 'toaster' PU cover. It too does not distract from the whole vibe. Under the PU is a Duncan
PAF hummie. I play Metal! Yes Metal! At a gig a few players are often there staring at it with a silly grin on their face.
One chord from this guitar thru my Plexi takes out the back wall! I love seeing these guys with their smug smile gone and their jaw on the floor. It has a longer sustain than my LP.
HOT ROD THE RCA
So what would I do with the RCA if I had it?
Well as usual I want it to be a sleeper. Look like a pussy but push your face in like a gorilla having a bad day, when you crank it!
It has an acoustic guitar style strip tuners. I have the same set on my Silvertone. They are very stiff to move but they stay in tune perfectly and they never slip. I would leave them alone or replace them with the same. The bridge is terrible. It might take some creativity to mount but I would again use a Mustang bridge. It is often the case that these old PU's sound pretty good. If so I would leave the neck PU. I would swap out the Bridge PU for a Ducan Red Devil mini hummie. It is fatter sounding then all but a very, very few full size hummies. It sounds dead killer! You could not ask for it to look more like the than the original than this. Pots and wiring are optional.
When your done it ain't gonna be an Ibanez Steve Vai Ferrari ...but it will be an
RCA ...65 Shelby Cobra 427 Competition !!!
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Nice post about fun retro guitar and it's parts and function, which is very informative for me. Thanks for sharing such kind of information about fun retro guitar and flamenco guitar chords.
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