Did the Bell Musical Instrument catalogue mean much to you?

[JimN]

For those who have an aversion to Facebook, I have now uploaded the 1965/1966 Bell Musical Instruments catalogue to Flickr. Not every last page - I have not copied the pages which gave details of HP deposits and repayments, but certainly all the equipment pages.

If you go to this URL, you ought to be able to scroll through the catalogue from the front cover onward.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29785641@N07/8839925007/in/set-72157633710706232/

JN

PS: Right-clicking most images enables higher resolution and (much) larger image sizes.

[cockroach]

Thanks Jim for putting that catalogue up in that easier accessible format! Fascinating!

I recall sending for the earlier editions in about 1962 (green cover?) All I could do was dream then....

Interesting the difference in retail prices between brands and models etc- some stuff looked good value, other stuff not so!

I recently checked out a website on those Broadway guitars, and the quality on many those models (especially the solidbodies) was dreadful! We young teenage lads made solid body guitars as a project in my 1964 secondary school woodwork class which were better built from better materials!!!

But I suppose anything was better than nothing back then...unlike these days.

Must admit, my first proper guitar was a Hofner Club 40- and despite its shortcomings in some areas (only one pickup, and that was not much good sound-wise) it was a very high quality little guitar, very well made, beautiful finish, lovely neck etc- but it cost poor old Dad much more than the only other budget model in the shop that day- a lower quality Teisco with two pickups, vibrato arm etc!

[davec]

Jim, that's a fascinating read.

I bought the Arnold Hoyer 12-string (page 5) in 59 or 60. It became unplayable as the top eventually bellied outwards (it was ladder-braced not X-braced) and the action got higher and higher. It wasn't economic to fix it so about ten years ago I gave it to a mate who was happy to stay around the first three frets. As far as I know he's still got it.

DaveC

[51 Relic]

Great read yes it did !

Selmer 222 first guitar aged 8 followed by the Rapier 33 , had that guitar for years . Both obtained from the music shop in North Street Romford Essex close to the Burns Factory .

[apache]

My goodness.
Two things remembered having looked the catalogue.
My first "real" guitar, a Hofner Congress later fitted with a framus pickup, and
Nick Manoloff's Guitar method........... Still have the book (two, I think).
Oh and I remember going to Reed's music shop off Rye Lane Peckham every week after school for lessons.
Memories are a wonderful.
Thanks for the thread Jim
All the best
Harry

[Mikey]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

I learned the rudiments on the Consetta (page 2) at 8 gns and with the help of dear old Bert's book. The guitar actually belonged to my brother who bought it on a whim but never took to it. By the time he wanted it back I could play a bit and had progressed to the Big Timer jumbo, a few pages further on in the catalogue. It was awful, you could have driven a bus along the neck without touching the strings....but I thought it was great. A year or two and a few more pages later and I managed to persuade my dad that I'd be a much better player if he would act as guarantor for the purchase of a red Futurama III De Luxe on HP. Well he kept his part of the bargain!

What would we have done without Bells? Ah, happy days.

[GoldenStreet]

I'm trying to remember how we got them. Were they advertised in music papers of the day and you wrote away for one?

Bells of Surbiton (Jack Larkin!)... I first saw it advertised in the TV Times and persuaded my dad to buy me a 14gns Consetta guitar (Czech made, I think) for my 14th birthday.

Bill

Having disposed of my catalogue years ago, it was nice to be reminded via JN's catalogue upload that the Consetta actually cost 8gns, not 14 as I thought I remembered... must have confused the price with my age at the time!

Bill

[doubler]

As soon as I got through the door, from school, I pounced on my copy The Watkins Rapiers were like nothing I had seen before. I now have one in my collection. They have a neck like the proverbial cricket bat but, they play like a dream and, what a sound!!!!!!!! I also have a photo copy of an early Bell catalogue somewhere. I miss the excitement of those times.


Regards Roger(doubler)

[neil2726]

I remember a gang of us from school always used to send for the latest Bell's catalogue, although I dont think we bought anything from them at the time - it was something to drool over! I did make a purchase from bells some years later - a Shaftesbury (Rickenbacker copy) 12 string!