Nbd!

AcornHouse

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Interesting brochure page came up on the ‘Verb for not much $. It’ll look nice framed. Although, it would be worse than useless on the slopes. The headstock would dig in faster than you can say “Bode Miller.”

(Okay, Grot, show your 20 copies of it. :witless: )

1960378b-77a5-4493-b4c7-d0d1aeb5303e.jpeg
 

walrus

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Oh, c'mon! Now I need to see that! Please?!

walrus
 

fronobulax

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Bassists on the back.

MC-5 - Is the instrument to the far right a bass or guitar? Headstock could be a Guild but the body doesn't match anything I can remember. What is it? The one to the left of it could be a JetStar bass.

Lovin' Spoonful - I presume the bass is in the back left. I'm guessing it is not a Guild and the star flare was was photo editing to obscure a competitor's logo.

Are any of the above statements true or false when you have the actual paper and not just a photo?

Thanks.
 

adorshki

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Bassists on the back.

MC-5 - Is the instrument to the far right a bass or guitar? Headstock could be a Guild but the body doesn't match anything I can remember. What is it? The one to the left of it could be a JetStar bass.
What I can guarantee you is that that is not the notorious MC-5 in that photo although I can understand the resolution makes it difficult to read the name.
Let's just say the MC-5's first release was in '69 and they didn't ever wear ties.
Or have a cross-dressing member.
:friendly_wink:
I only bring it up because if it were MC-5 it'd be much easier to search for other images of the band that might reveal the instrument's identity.
I thought it might be a mis-spelled We Five ("You were on My Mind"), because they did have a female singer, but can't find any images of that band using any Guilds.
In any case I think they were temporarily defunct at the time that catalog was released and probably not a good promotional image any more.
As near as I can tell, and logically, I think it must be " Hi-5" but I'll be darned if I remember any hit by a band of that name and absolutely nothing from the '60's comes back in a Google search or Wiki for that matter.
And so once again there goes the potential for finding other images.
I do see what you mean about the headstock at the rear, and it does look like it could have 4 tuning pegs but the round lower bout does belie any Jetstar/Polara-related model I can think of.
I think it's only supposed to be the identifiable S-200 (block fretboard inlays), anyway.
Lovin' Spoonful - I presume the bass is in the back left. I'm guessing it is not a Guild and the star flare was was photo editing to obscure a competitor's logo.
Do you think they'd do that and call attention to anything other than a Starfire bass?:
lovin-spoonful-promotional-photo-of-us-pop-group-about-1966-from-l-BYB4ME.jpg


:friendly_wink:
 

AcornHouse

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Expanding the pic on Reverb (which I wasn’t able to copy) does focus things.
It is “Hi-5”, and it does look like a T-Bird style headstock with 4 bass guitar tuners.
The bass in the Spoonfuls is lost in a flash, but does look Chesterfield-y.

Heres the listing so you can expand for yourselves.
https://reverb.com/item/7164672-guild-1960-s-cut-sheet-brochure
 

AcornHouse

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And, they had a unique connection to The Beatles. Found this on them.
[FONT=&quot]A classic rock and roll tale of a band that was so very close to superstardom, but fell short. The band were regulars at the famous Café Wah, when Beatles manager Brian Epstein walked into the club and signed the Hi-Five to management. Soon after, labels like RCA and Columbia were cutting demos on the band. But when Epstein died at 32 of a drug overdose, the doors that had been opened were slammed shut. It was then that Vanguard, who had also had been interested in the band, offered them a single deal.[/FONT]
And, apparently, that was it.
 

fronobulax

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Thanks. I'm not going to admit I was "wrong" because the whole premise of my questions was that I was having trouble "reading" the image :)

To recap - it is HI-5 not MC-5. The bass is a JetStar, one guitar is its Guild sibling and the other is "interesting" but probably not a Guild.

Steve Boone's use of Starfires has been discussed so the obvious thing is to guess that is a Starfire bass in the Loving' Spoonful photo. But the partially obscured headstock makes the ID inconclusive and, IMO, the portion of the body visible does not look like a red Starfire. It looks like a solid body with possible wear or an "interesting" finish. There might be a control knob visible. So my best guess is that the pictured instrument is not Boone's Starfire but some other bass. A date might also help since the closer the photo is to 1964 the less likely it is to be a Starfire.
 

adorshki

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Thanks. I'm not going to admit I was "wrong" because the whole premise of my questions was that I was having trouble "reading" the image :)
'S why I mentioned the poor resolution myself.
Steve Boone's use of Starfires has been discussed so the obvious thing is to guess that is a Starfire bass in the Loving' Spoonful photo. But the partially obscured headstock makes the ID inconclusive and, IMO, the portion of the body visible does not look like a red Starfire. It looks like a solid body with possible wear or an "interesting" finish. There might be a control knob visible. So my best guess is that the pictured instrument is not Boone's Starfire but some other bass. A date might also help since the closer the photo is to 1964 the less likely it is to be a Starfire.

Epstein died in '67.
IF the HI-5 got a record deal with Vanguard after Epstein's death then their recognizability as an endorsing artist must post date his death.
Also that Spoonful pic portrays a "gritty" enough image to be post-'66 as well.
I still can't get a decent blow-up looking at the Reverb listing but I don't think the flare actually obscures the headstock logo, and I think other photographic artifacts (maybe reflection from a spotlamp?) could explain the anomalies you see.
And I still think it might be a clever marketing "sight gag", enhancing a reflection with airbrush to create a "star fire".
Other wise one would expect a different treatment, since normally that'd be considered a flaw in a promotional photo.
But hey I'm just making my case, absent the actual brochure in hand.
 

AcornHouse

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The clip above was from Steve Allen’s “I’ve Got a Secret”. Their secret was that they were going to get their hair cut backstage. It got them on TV, but at what cost.

Here’s part two where they reveal their haircuts. The last line from Steve Allen is a little too prophetic. As he gestured to the wheelbarrow of hair he says “Wouldn’t it be funny if this was the real star, and their career was finished?”

Um...

 
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walrus

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Chris, are you framing it so the back or the front shows?

walrus
 
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