Paul Barth had a guitar company?

[coolhandjjl]

Something like this oneon ebay?Several good pictures of it.

The crested wave is plainly there!

[jingle_jangle]

Do you mean "cresting wave"? Or are you describing a "post-cresting" condition?

This is a "cresting wave" Rickenbacker:

Note the hook ("crest") on the bass horn.

[libratune]

How does one attach pics to this forum? So I can post pics of the guitar right here. Thanks, Manny

Here's the link to the "FAQ" section of the Forum: faq.php

For instructions as to how to post pictures here, look under "Formatting and Topic Types -- Can I Post Images?"

Welcome to the RR Forum!

[jingle_jangle]

Manny has one post. Then he faded...

[coolhandjjl]

Do you mean "cresting wave"? Or are you describing a "post-cresting" condition?

This is a "cresting wave" Rickenbacker:

Rick 1959 425 1.jpg

Note the hook ("crest") on the bass horn.

Sorry, I did mean cresting wave, but never knew it to refer to the actual hook on the top horn. I guess the one I linked has just a wave. Thanks!

FWIW, my 17 year old bass teacher saw a backward bass clef in the headstock's cresting wave.

[jingle_jangle]

I once saw Paul McCartney in a piece of toast...

[antipodean]

I once saw Paul McCartney in a piece of toast...

Should have kept it Paul - would have fetched gazzilions on ebay.....

[egosheep]

What exactly was Paul Barth's legacy at Rickenbacker? I have read that he designed the Combo 800... was that all him, or a collaboration between him and Roger Rossmeisl? I always think of the German carve as a Roger influence but I could be wrong.

[apossibleworld]

Oh didn't realize that this thread was going on here. I've been trying to pin down the story of Paul Barth for a while. He did a lot more at Rickenbacker in the 50s than he's given credit for. The german carve is Rossmeisl, but many other features are Barth designs. Like dual truss rods and zero frets, to begin with. There's a lot of intermingling between all the southern california companies... Semie Moseley is bound up in it too.

Manny isn't quite correct though. It's possible that Barth was using old pots from a box, but the Barth branded guitars aren't from before 1955. That would throw off the whole chronology of american 20th century guitar history, and it doesn't make logical sense in the scheme of things... to have a dual cutaway design like that. Barth was instrumental in designing the Capris, and then used some aspects of that design in his later ones. Also the Magnatone guitars from 1956/57 are a whole different animal, and have a lot to do with this story. I have a feeling that Barth was consulting for them before he was officially employed by them.

James - thanks! I've emailed Dale. I would love to really get to the bottom of this story.

Also, my friend is writing a couple pieces on Magnatone history in Vintage Guitar, and I've contributed a good bit of info to it. It starts in the next issue, I believe.

[Copernicus]

Although this thread seems to have been abandoned, I'd like to add my two cents worth to the Barth Story.
I'm a native of the Netherlands, but lived in the Los Angeles area from 1962 to 1967. Shortly after moving back to the Netherlands, I received a letter from a buddy, John Wintersberger in El Monte, saying he'd bought a guitar that he thought might be a Rickenbacker. An enclosed polaroid showed a guitar whose body and head shape were indeed slightly reminiscent of a 325 Capri, but whose pickguard, pickups and hardware suggested otherwise. As the logo had been removed from the headstock and the guitar was resprayed metallic blue, John didn't have a clue what kind of guitar it was and neither did I.

I'd forgotten all about this mystery guitar until 1978, when I visited John in El Monte and asked him whatever happened to his 'Rickenbacker'. He told me he still had it lying around somewhere and eventually found it in his garage, gathering dust. Closer inspection confirmed my thoughts: Definitely not a Ric. Bolt on neck, cheapo fiber glass pickguard, weird-looking pickups, flimsy tuners, brown bakelite knobs and a semi-hollow body that, when tapped, suggested Danelectro-type construction: wooden frame with glued-on masonite or plywood back and top. All in all, not much of a guitar, but I kind of liked its shape and asked John if he would sell it to me. He said no, "but you can have it". Curious as I was to the guitar's ancestry, I decided to get a second opinion at Rickenbacker in Santa Anna where I was greeted by Francis Hall himself, a friendly elderly man who first showed me all the treasures in his little Rickenbacker Museum and then inspected my guitar. Mr. Hall told me it wasn't "one of theirs" but mostly likely something made in the sixties by Semi Moseley, a former employee who had 'borrowed' a few of Rickenbacker's ideas for his own Mosrite guitars.
With the 'Mosrite' in my suitcase, I flew Back in Holland, where I further dissasembled and then stored it with the intention of eventually restoring it back to its original state (whatever that was). Unfortunately and much to my dismay, when I finally got around to it years later, I could no longer find the body and can only surmise it was lost when moving house.

It wasn't until this morning, after accidently stumbling onto the very informative Rory Gallagher site, that I found out my 'Mosrite' is actually a Barth and, apart from the blue metallic refin, identical to Rory's 1962 Model 200
For those interested: http://rorygallagher.com/#/archives/guitars There's a zoom option.

[libratune]

Thanks for the info. Very cool.

Best to scroll using the top slider to get to 1962 model 200.

[paologregorio]

the listing's been removed, so for those of you who had no idea what these guitars looked like (I didn't either), here you go.

It's okay, not all that exciting a guitar from my perspective, but if it was made in the 50s then I suppose it's pretty advanced for its time, though far less so than say a Stratocaster, IMO.

[libratune]

I can still access it. Use the thumbnails on the top, it's about 20 in. Look for "1962, model 200."

That said, Paul's photos actually show a cleaner example that appears to have the same features as the one on the Rory Gallagher site.

[Copernicus]

Now I know where Chandler got the inspiration for their 555 Ltd Edition:

[libratune]

I have a 360-12 MG 1965 that was refinished by Barth Guitar Shop. There's an old paper sticker inside the soundhole; the photo only shows part of it. The address is in Riverside, CA.

This guitar is one of my favorite Rick 12ers. The refin was nicely done, though you can see from the darkened octave channels on the headstock that it is a refin: