For my build, I decided to use three vintage Valco pickups, and thankfully the guys at Guitar Kits make reproduction pickup mounts (Valco pickups are slightly longer than standard humbuckers). I’m so glad to see a company resurrect guitars like these with success, and what I also like is that these kit guitars are so customizable. The idea is just great, and it seems to me like they’ve been in business now for at least four or five years. Whenever I email the crew over there I always talk with a nice guy named Dan, and basically what Dan and the guys decided to do was reissue these fiberglass bodies as kits. But luckily for all of us the boys over at Guitar Kits USA noticed a disparity and decided to help all us out! Pic of the back, with easy to remove body screws and grommets. So it goes, and thankfully I’ve gotten to the point in life where I’m not bothered by who can afford what. There are plenty of players and guitar nuts that all bemoan the high prices on vintage guitars, and it often seems like that 1% that’s often talked about when it comes to the wealthy in America also applies to collectors who’ll shell out huge amounts to own a rare guitar. I soon became so hooked on the sound of these Valco guitars that it was like an addiction! But I was a poor college student with virtually no income, so I slowly watched the prices creep up and up and by the time I had a job, these guitars were just about out of reach financially for the average player. Around 1994 I bought two solid wood body Supro guitars and right around 1998 I bought my fiberglass Supro Dual Tone. As with the other Valco guitars, the necks didn’t have truss rods, but the pickups sounded great and the guitars were easy to take apart and repair. Guitars like these Airlines could be had on the cheap if you could find them. In their day, the fiberglass models didn’t sell too well, and as the 80s came around everyone wanted super-strats and neon colors and solid state amps. Custom truss rod cover, courtesy of Dano! They were made in Chicago by the Valco company, and the Airline branded models were sold through Montgomery Wards stores and catalogs. These “fiberglas” models began replacing and mixing with regular wooden guitars around 1962 and lasted until about 1967. Just two of the little unfair things is that the Oblivians never became as huge as the White Stripes, and the other is that these guitars are now super expensive! One day I’ll research and write about the Valco fiberglass guitars, and figure out who designed these radical things, but for now I’ll just give you the basics. There’s whole lots that isn’t fair in life. I would have never guessed that just a few years later Jack White would buy one of these from Jack Oblivian and these Valco fiberglass guitars would be worth thousands. I always figured I’d break them! I saw two of these in the late 80s, early 90s (a map and this body style, often called a Jetson or Hutto model), and I recall the prices being $400 for the map style and around $300 for a white, three pickup Jetson model (with a factory Bigsby!!!). These “plastic” guitars were one of those weirdos that I just couldn’t wrap my mind around (I don’t think many players of the 1960s could either) at the time. There were so many guitars I saw in my youth that I would sooner laugh at than consider great guitars. Notice how easy it is to route and lay out the design and electronics?īeing born in 1973, I was able to just catch the tail end of affordable vintage guitars. Before I praise these guys, let me tell you a little about the Valco fiberglass history and my back story with these guitars. It’s definitely my favorite guitar and it’s the one I use most often, mainly because of the sense of accomplishment I feel for creating this darn thing! I’m also very proud of the guys who started creating these fiberglass bodies again, and their great website is here at Guitar Kits USA. I’m serious! I felt such pride putting this guitar together, sourcing all the parts, and laying out the design. Building this guitar was probably one of the most fulfilling musical experiences of my life.
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