MAGNATONE MK VII

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:37 pm

What the!>!>!??!??!

Shouldn't this go under "Others"?

Well, hold on there. We know that Paul Barth had a long and productive relationship with Rickenbacker, lasting from the ownership of Adolph Rickenbacker, through the early FC Hall years.

Barth, following his parting ways from Rickenbacker, produced guitars for sale under the "Magnatone" brand.

I recently ran across the picture (below) of an early Magnatone MK VII guitar.

I was surprised at how much the body resembles a Rickenbacker 325; the headstock could also be a modded Rick headstock.

Is it possible that these Mark VIIs were built at Electro String?

ozover50 · Post by **ozover50** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:20 pm

Definite similarities there Paul. Looks kinda nice although I'd prefer a 'softer' look with the headstock - slightly more rounded corners at the tip of the headstock. The pickguard looks a little bit 'Stratish'. Hard to tell but the pup looks a little 'Higainish' also.

Cool...........

BTW.... when I first read your post I read it as 'Paul Barth owned Adolf Rickenbacker'..... took me 3 or 4 takes to work it out!!

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 3:35 pm

Knob locations are very "450". Single-ply guard like some older Ricks, too. I agree that the headstock is pretty awkward. The pickup does look like a Rick hi-gain, but would have predated these by a few years. This guitar is from roughly '65-'66 and is a budget-type instrument.

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:23 pm

Paul, back around '67 I had a Barth 6 string that I am positive was a very cheap guitar with a baseball bat neck. I believe it was made in Japan, though I am not sure. Did Paul Barth ever sell under his own last name and could mine be one from his company? It is long gone from my possession.

mfb · Post by **mfb** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:20 pm

Looks a lot like this one, doesn't it? Especially the p/guard in my opinion.

http://www.chandlerguitars.com/555.html

8mileshigh · Post by **8mileshigh** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:27 pm

I was talking to a guy today who lives one block from the Rickenbacker factory and has done for over twenty years. He was blown away when I told him the factory was just around the corner! He said he has a Paul Barth guitar (somewhere!). He said he hasn't seen it for twenty years or so - but he remembers it had Rickenbacker hardware on it. He said he'd try and dig it out. He didn't seem like the tidiest person - he might need a shovel

He also has a 60's 12 string. Routed out for humbuckers. All hardware changed and get this.......12 individual tuners (yep - each one different). Oh and a whammy bar added. He said he'd call me when he found them. Sounds interesting!

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:43 pm

I 1st met Paul Barth in the mid 60's thru Doc Kauffman. I learned he worked for Electro String and was the designer of quite a few Rickenbacker Guitars during the 50's. I have owned one of these Magnatone Guitars since the late 70's. Mine has pot date codes of June 1960, and is all original. It has almost the same shape as a 1958 325 Capri. The pickup pre-dates the Toaster and is the same pickup that was used on the electric guitars pre 1957. Paul was a very interesting fellow who moved to the Riverside California area after he left Rickenbacker. He had his own shop that was behind his house just off Hiway 91 that is now a 6 lane freeway. He lived a simple life, built and sold his own name brand guitars that resembled the work he did while part owner of Electro String Rickenbacker. I've also owned several of these Barth Guitars which were much like the Kremo Kustom Guitars that Doc Kauffman built during that time and era in So. Calif.

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 7:04 pm

http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/DaleFortune/?action=view&current=000_0204.jpg
My son and I..He's holding a 1937 7 string solid Mahogany Electro steel Guitar, and I'm holding the 1960 Magnatone.

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 7:32 pm

A friend who works in a downtown Portland music store, also has one of these Magnatones. He has modified his with a newer Rick 6 way bridge that sits on the bridge base plate perfectly. These are full scale single pickup guitars that sound incredibly awesome and have that simple Esquire control set-up with 1 vol/tone and 2 way switch.
Paul's Guitars and Basses were made in Riverside California with the trademark name: Barth
For those of you who remember the Forum neck thru body guitar I built several years ago, I used this exact same body shape for the guitar.

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 7:40 pm

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b53/DaleFortune/000_0494.jpg
I built this for my Grandaughter several years ago as a Forum project. It is an exact replica of the Magnatone except for the extras. I used 2 High gain Pickups and a Bigsby B-5 for the Tremolo. Looks and sounds great.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:13 pm

There is currently a Mark VII for sale on Ebay. Strange as I haven't seen one there in over a year.

Seems like Dale and the Ebay seller are both correct on the vintage of the one shown above--it's a '59 or '60 and quite a different animal from the ones sold from '65-'68, which seem to look very Japanese (Teisco, Kingston) and have much cheaper hardware. This would be the "baseball bat neck" that you're referring to, John.

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Mon Jul 09, 2007 8:39 pm

Paul...What are you doing up so late at night?

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 11:25 am

In retrospect, I sure wish I'd kept that old Barth. I gave it to a roommate who took it back to Waco.

robbo63 · Post by **robbo63** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:46 pm

A search on Rickenbacker on Gbase turns up a Magnatone MkIII, it's been there a long time.

http://www.gbase.com/Stores/Gear/GearDetails.aspx?Item=857397

Dale, I really like that one you built for your granddaughter.

dale_fortune · Post by **dale_fortune** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 3:03 pm

She loves it also. These Guitars put a new light on the original designer of the DBL. cutaway Rickenbacker 300 Series type guitars. Doc Kauffman had told me long ago that Paul had designed most all the Rickenbackers from the 50's, including the body shape of the Bass. I can't confirm that because I never asked Paul when I had a chance to back in the 70's before he passed away. Doc had also said that Roger had built and designed the acoustics during the 50's but never mentioned anything about Electric Guitars. I will ask a good friend of mine, Richard Smith if he has any information on this. Possibly some of the people that worked with him at Fender during the 70's might shed some light on the subject.