websurfer
Joined: May 14, 2007
Posts: 1753
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Posted on Aug 16 2010 01:58 PM
This link was posted over on a Fender guitar forum and I thought it would be of interest here. A custom "surf burst" Jazzmaster made for Dick Dale. Surely the date of '59 is too early?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25150771@N07/4891739477/
I was always interested in the custom blue burst or "surf burst"? set of guitars as featured by the Deltones in "Muscle Bustle" and "Surfin' and a Swingin" here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZlhIQ1c6Os
If this is one of those guitars, I'm really excited to finally see a close up still of the finish.
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JakeDobner
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 12159
Seattle
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Posted on Aug 16 2010 02:11 PM
I would say that is the Jazzmaster featured in that video. I can't see there being two of this finish. It being a '59... I'm not sure about that. Perhaps the neck was '59 and this guitar was refinished later.
I don't follow the market much these days, but I've never seen this color before.
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elreydlp
Joined: Sep 04, 2009
Posts: 1800
Temecula, CA
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Posted on Aug 16 2010 02:16 PM
Hmmmmm...............
This may be the first time I've seen the words "Dick Dale" and "Jazzmaster" in the same sentence!
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Strat-o-rama
Joined: Oct 23, 2007
Posts: 385
Boca Raton, Florida
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Posted on Aug 16 2010 02:31 PM
Very interesting. I've read about those "surf burst" guitars made for DD's band, but had never seen a photo of exactly what they look like. I believe there were three of them: a JM, a Strat and a Bass.
Also, the clip from Beach Party shows DDs white Strat. I always thought it was Olympic white, but it appears to be pearlescent or silver. Poor quality of the video makes it difficult to tell for sure...
Thanks for posting.
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surferXmatt
Joined: Aug 27, 2008
Posts: 1570
New York
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Posted on Aug 16 2010 02:36 PM
Gorgeous color! If that is a '59 then wow.. looks to be in pristine shape.
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bangbang
Joined: Jun 14, 2006
Posts: 183
N.C.
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Posted on Aug 16 2010 02:39 PM
elreydlp
Hmmmmm...............
This may be the first time I've seen the words "Dick Dale" and "Jazzmaster" in the same sentence!
me too ...
— Johnny Rocket
The Monterreys !
http://www.youtube.com/user/THEMONTERREYS?feature=mhum
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Pyronauts
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 1170
Northern CA
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Posted on Aug 16 2010 03:07 PM
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Strat-o-rama
Joined: Oct 23, 2007
Posts: 385
Boca Raton, Florida
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Posted on Aug 16 2010 03:09 PM
You can see the Surf Burst Strat in this trailer. Don't blink, you'll miss it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATWUI1eq3G0&NR=1
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Sonichris
Joined: Mar 06, 2006
Posts: 1907
Wear gloves - I'm in the Rockies
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Posted on Aug 16 2010 03:32 PM
Is the Jazzmaster Nick O'Malley's?
I've seen another picture of the "Deltone" Jazzmaster that was sent back to fender for a custom sparkle finish. metalflake yellow to turquoise with a gold anodised 'guard. The picture was in the new Fender book.
— "You can't tell where you're going if you don't know where you've been"
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websurfer
Joined: May 14, 2007
Posts: 1753
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Posted on Aug 16 2010 03:41 PM
Here's the thread--
http://www.fenderforum.com/forum.html?db=&topic_number=744324&lastpost=2010-08-1614:27:16
The poster doesn't say how he came by the picture or the information.
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Sonichris
Joined: Mar 06, 2006
Posts: 1907
Wear gloves - I'm in the Rockies
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Posted on Aug 16 2010 03:54 PM
I'm pretty sure that is Nick O'Malley's guitar - I vaguely remember seeing him play it with Norm and the Surf Rockers at the Pier a couple years ago.
— "You can't tell where you're going if you don't know where you've been"
Last edited: Aug 17, 2010 09:09:43
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websurfer
Joined: May 14, 2007
Posts: 1753
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Posted on Aug 16 2010 04:21 PM
Wow, very cool Chris. Amazing to think that he has still been gigging with it (if it's the same guitar).
Strat-o-rama
You can see the Surf Burst Strat in this trailer. Don't blink, you'll miss it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATWUI1eq3G0&NR=1
Nice!
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websurfer
Joined: May 14, 2007
Posts: 1753
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Posted on Aug 17 2010 08:17 AM
I found this image on the web. I think this is the guitar Chris was referring to called the Del-Tone Jazzmaster as pictured in "Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970". Obviously the yellowing lacquer has shifted the color, but the metal flake is pretty apparent in the Beach Party videos.
image
So what about the other guitar? I found this post by Nick O'Malley on the forum that could possibly explain it:
http://surfguitar101.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=12068&highlight=omalley
Nick
While we were still at the Rendezvous, Dick asked me to have my Jazzmaster painted light blue, so I did. I still have it and still play it with a smaller group (2) called "Surf Geezers" and a larger group (9) called "Surf Rockers".
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Strat-o-rama
Joined: Oct 23, 2007
Posts: 385
Boca Raton, Florida
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Posted on Aug 17 2010 08:56 AM
Thanks!
I checked the book 'Fender the golden Years 'and found a picture of the Jazzmaster you just posted. The 'burst does seem considerably darker on the edges compared to the turquoise Surf Burst on Nick's JM. There is a B&W photo of DD and the Deltones, and the gray scale rendering looks more like Nick's JM as well--the light blue he refers to in the above post. This darker edged version of Surf Burst may be a second or different version of Surf Burst?
I know this sounds like minutiae, but I find this interesting as a part of surf guitar gear history, and if you look at the historical context, there were not many guitar player at the time playing sparkly custom finishes. There's a handful of country artists and then there's surf guitarists. Didn't Eddie Bertrand and Kathy Marshall also have sparkly custom finishes?
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Brian
Joined: Feb 25, 2006
Posts: 19344
Des Moines, Iowa, USA
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Posted on Aug 17 2010 08:58 AM
Sonichris
I'm pretty sure that is Nick O'Malley's guitar - I vaguely remember seeing him play it with Norm and the Surf Rockets at the Pier a couple years ago.
I was there too and I do remember Nick playing a green JM that looks like the first photo in the thread. I think 1959 was the first year of JM production.
(I think Chris you have a typo, it was Norm and the Surf Rockers, not Surf Rockets).
— Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me
"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea
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Sonichris
Joined: Mar 06, 2006
Posts: 1907
Wear gloves - I'm in the Rockies
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Posted on Aug 17 2010 09:43 AM
Strat-o-rama
Thanks!
I checked the book 'Fender the golden Years 'and found a picture of the Jazzmaster you just posted. The 'burst does seem considerably darker on the edges compared to the turquoise Surf Burst on Nick's JM. There is a B&W photo of DD and the Deltones, and the gray scale rendering looks more like Nick's JM as well--the light blue he refers to in the above post. This darker edged version of Surf Burst may be a second or different version of Surf Burst?
I know this sounds like minutiae, but I find this interesting as a part of surf guitar gear history, and if you look at the historical context, there were not many guitar player at the time playing sparkly custom finishes. There's a handful of country artists and then there's surf guitarists. Didn't Eddie Bertrand and Kathy Marshall also have sparkly custom finishes?
I think the metalflake gold guard guitar in the book might be mis-identified. The author calls it "surfburst" and alludes to D.D. and the Deltones surf burst guitars in a picture, but I don't think they mean to call that guitar a Del-Tone guitar, just an example of metalflake finishes of the time.
Eddie Bertrand told me a great story of going to Leo Fender and asking for a Strat with a metalflake burst finish. They did it in a silver/charcoal finish, and Eddie said it was too pretty, so he gave it to Kathy Marshall. Fender then made him another the way he wanted it, more of a standard 3-tone burst in metalflake.
I read that Fender didn't have the equipment to spray metalflake finishes, so they farmed them out to local car shops. I' don't know if that's true or not.
— "You can't tell where you're going if you don't know where you've been"
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websurfer
Joined: May 14, 2007
Posts: 1753
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Posted on Aug 17 2010 03:20 PM
I wrote to Nick O'Malley directing him to this thread. Here are his comments:
_Hi Scott -
I got my JM in 1959 before I met DD (I met Dick in 1960). It had a sun burst. At DD's direction, my JM was painted light blue. I don't remember when it was painted. I still have it and still play it. And it is still light blue.
I had the JM cleaned up recently by Norm Cowell. Before Norm cleaned it, the sun burst was visible under the blue.
I hope this is helpful.
Nick
_
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Brian
Joined: Feb 25, 2006
Posts: 19344
Des Moines, Iowa, USA
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Posted on Aug 17 2010 04:02 PM
I guess I really don't remember what color guitar it was. I thought it was green, but it could have been blue. Here is a photo from that day, but I'm too far away and you can't really tell what color it is from the photo:
Nick is standing to the right of the bass player. It looks white, and maybe that isn't even the guitar we are talking about.
— Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me
"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea
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websurfer
Joined: May 14, 2007
Posts: 1753
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Posted on Aug 17 2010 04:13 PM
Wow, great shot and great looking band!
Brian
. . . maybe that isn't even the guitar we are talking about.
I know the feeling! 
Ah well, sweet mysteries of life . . . I think I'll quit conjecturing and just enjoy the pretty pictures.
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Strat-o-rama
Joined: Oct 23, 2007
Posts: 385
Boca Raton, Florida
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Posted on Aug 17 2010 04:27 PM
And it's got a tort pickguard.
Mystery indeed.
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