odd fender acoustics

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Fri May 09, 2008 2:20 pm

for some reason there is a guy here in town that has sparked my interested in all the old fender acoustics from the 60's
and i was wondering if i knew all the modles or if i were forgetting some of them.
anyone have a complete(ish) idea of years of production and certain features?
so far these are the ones i know about.
malibu
kingman
sonoran
palimino
villager
shenandoah
newporter
is that all of them?

Justin J · Post by **Justin J** » Fri May 09, 2008 3:41 pm

supposedly they made a classical guitar, but i've never seen one.

James · Post by **James** » Fri May 09, 2008 3:44 pm

This could make a great wiki page. Shortscale and real.

There doesn't seem to be much info on them around so to collect it in one place is a great idea.

Justin J · Post by **Justin J** » Fri May 09, 2008 3:49 pm

jim shine has some info about them on his site.
it'd certainly be nice to accumulate more info, though. these really are at the butt end of fender collectability.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Fri May 09, 2008 4:06 pm

yeah but bubbles if you watch them, alot of them are comming unglued, and its nice becuz they are all solid wood guitars and repairing them would be a breeze, plus, give it 20 years and the nicer peices will be worth something just from the wood getting its voice.
i have been waiting for a cheapo one to come up that i can restore for easy and stick it under a bed for a few years.
the info i have on the malibu is pretty vague.
first year late 66-70(some appear later but its hard to tell for sure)
re-issued in 85/6-89(there may be some later modles but i have not seen any)
re-re-issued 2006-present
i have seen the ogs in colors like black, natural, wildwood, and dark mohogany, i have even seen a later modle with a nice burst on it.
the body style, bracing and overall build was different everytime they re-issued them.

Justin J · Post by **Justin J** » Fri May 09, 2008 4:15 pm

i've actually been looking for one of the classical ones ever since i started studying classical guitar.
i'll bet you can get one really cheap. it'd be nice to get one of the ones with brazilian rosewood back and sides.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Fri May 09, 2008 7:10 pm

its rather easy to score a cheapo braszilian back and side classical,
usually anything pre68 or so will suffice, even if its crap the wood is nice.
i wouldn't mind getting ahold of one of thier archtops for cheap,(produced in the mid-late 90's)
supposedly they worked with benedetto a bit to get certain design aspects of it.
never seen one in real life but i have seen a few catalogs with them in it.

DGNR8 · Post by **DGNR8** » Fri May 09, 2008 7:29 pm

Look at this used electric blue Squier acoustic for $100. Hard to say no at a price like that. Very Wallace Stevens.

I cannot bring a world quite round,
Although I patch it as I can.

I sing a hero's head, large eye
And bearded bronze, but not a man,

Although I patch him as I can
And reach through him almost to man.

If to serenade almost to man
Is to miss, by that, things as they are,

Say it is the serenade
Of a man that plays a blue guitar

benecol · Post by **benecol** » Fri May 09, 2008 7:30 pm

A friend at work has a 60's Fender Malibu - it doesn't play nicely. I'll take some pics, if you want? He's always after selling it...

tribi9 · Post by **tribi9** » Fri May 09, 2008 7:59 pm

He's even willing to bargain!

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Sat May 10, 2008 6:52 am

im willing to fork out some cash if its worth it.
they essentially the perfect acoustic, you can work them, and repair them easily.
how much does he want, what kinda shape is it in?

Jagermeister · Post by **Jagermeister** » Wed May 14, 2008 11:09 pm

I like the idea of the bolt on (shimmable) neck, as if you look at any normal cheap (or expensive) acoustic that doesn't play right, it's because it's warped to the point that the neck angle isn't correct, if it ever was in the first place...

I have a bunch of old acoustics where the top has caved inward and there's no way to file the saddle down so that it can at least play right despite being fucked up... Having an adjustable neck could save those.

I actually really want one of those old things, they look cool as hell too.

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Wed May 14, 2008 11:13 pm

acoustics are wierd,
they are made with a bit of relief alreadyin place(most acoustics are made to accomodate a voice) aka the hump behind the bridge.
and the great thing about those old fenders is that they are solid wood(generall spruce tops, mohognay back and sides)
and the shimable neck makes work/ repiar work that much easier.

Jagermeister · Post by **Jagermeister** » Wed May 14, 2008 11:36 pm

Acoustics always frustrate me.

I had a weird, but BEAUTIFUL 70s Hawaiian made thing, with this herringbone binding all over it and a really artfully put together back made of different pieces of wood glued together... blocks/binding, sounded great actually...

But it had a caved in top that just made it play like shit. When I looked the manufacturer up on the internet, it turned out whatever company had designed it incorrectly, without enough bracing, and it couldn't be strung up to standard without weird, awful things happening. So I gave it to a friend who wanted to play. I miss it.

I have a 70s Yamaha slothead 12 string that also has a caved in top, probably from having so much tension on it and just being left in a case for so long that way... Sounds ok, but hell to play. If I lowered the saddle any more, the strings wouldn't contact the bridge

Neck relief is fine, despite a broken truss rod...

The most frustrating thing is that whenever I read about problems with acoustic tops, it always has to do with them pulling OUTward rather than inward, as all mine seem to.

My best acoustic is this:

It's an MIC Crestwood (not the Robroe kind) that I got new for $80 in Devil's Snowy Asshole, New York. I played it and thought it would be more like $500, til the guy told me it was their cheapest guitar, so I bought it and let it rattle around in the back of my rental car, then in an airplane overhead bin without a case, and it came to CA playing as well as it did. The hilarious thing is that it seems to be all solid wood.

Its black painted mystery wood fretboard screams for blockage

robert(original) · Post by **robert(original)** » Wed May 14, 2008 11:40 pm

well i just had this peice in my shop and it sounded pretty good and played nicely aftwards.
it had a plastic bridge and an ebonized fretboard.