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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Dick Dale custom "surf burst" Jazzmaster?

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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.

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.

Hmmmmm...............
This may be the first time I've seen the words "Dick Dale" and "Jazzmaster" in the same sentence!

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.

Gorgeous color! If that is a '59 then wow.. looks to be in pristine shape.

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

awesome color!

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

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"

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.

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

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!

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".

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?

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

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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"

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
_

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:

image

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

Wow, great shot and great looking band!

Brian
. . . maybe that isn't even the guitar we are talking about.

I know the feeling! Confused

Ah well, sweet mysteries of life . . . I think I'll quit conjecturing and just enjoy the pretty pictures.

And it's got a tort pickguard.
Mystery indeed.

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