My First Electric.

[OLDEREK]

1961 Butlins Bognor Regis National Talent Comp.........AC 15 TV Front on right, AC 15 Copy on left which I still have with just the Goodmans speaker in it

BUTLINS.JPG

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[ecca]

Is that you with the Colorama ?

[OLDEREK]

Yep, thats me...........................

[John Boyd]

My first electric guitar was a locally manufactured Jansen Jazzman 1.
The brand existed from the late 50s until the 70s when imported instruments were much easier to acquire. Jansen had a reputation for building quality guitars and amps - in fact both are quite highly prized by collectors today. The guitar bodies were maded from NZ Kauri and I think the necks from NZ Beech timber.
I don't remember too much about my instrument ( it was a three toned sunburst model unlike the pic) and I later sold it to fund a Jansen Jazzman 2 which was modelled after the Fender Jazzmaster. In fact at the time, I believe Jansen imported Fenders.
In the early 60s I moved on to the 'real deal' - a 62 Stratocaster - in Fiesta Red of course!
Cheers,
JB

[JimN]

Hagstrom II with flatwound strings & Hagstrom 26
Kurt F

It's a dead ringer for the Futurama. Were they one and the same?

The earliest guitars sold (in the UK by Selmer) under the name "Futurama" were made in Czechoslovakia and were variously labelled "Grazioso" and "Resonet" outside the UK. Selmer added a couple of cheap Japanese-made guitars to the range and called them the "Freshman" and the "Sophomore".

Later, the Czech and Japanese guitars were discontinued and the main part of the range consisted of Swedish-made Hagstrom guitars (the "II" and the "III", as well as a two-pickup bass), in a slightly-evolving design. There was still a Czech guitar in the range - the "Duo", which was cheaper than the Hagstroms - about 60% of their prices.

The Hagstrom guitar played by Kurt was identical to the one sold as a Futurama .

JN

PS: For a good overview (with a history and pictures and everything), see:

http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/hofnerfs/futurama/fut.html and
http://www.vintagehofner.co.uk/hofnerfs/futurama/futgall.html

[Bill Bowley]

My first electric guitar was a locally manufactured Jansen Jazzman 1.
The brand existed from the late 50s until the 70s when imported instruments were much easier to acquire. Jansen had a reputation for building quality guitars and amps - in fact both are quite highly prized by collectors today. The guitar bodies were maded from NZ Kauri and I think the necks from NZ Beech timber.
I don't remember too much about my instrument ( it was a three toned sunburst model unlike the pic) and I later sold it to fund a Jansen Jazzman 2 which was modelled after the Fender Jazzmaster. In fact at the time, I believe Jansen imported Fenders.
In the early 60s I moved on to the 'real deal' - a 62 Stratocaster - in Fiesta Red of course!
Cheers,
JB

John,

I well remember the Jansen guitars that appeared from time to time in Sydney guitar shops in the early '60s, always highly thought of amongst the guitarists that I knew -their main problem in Australia IMHO was that they were priced at not a lot less than the Fender stuff that was in abundance, and of course when the Burns line hit the shops the problem (for Jansen) only got a bit harder I think. Most of the ones I saw being used in Oz came 'over the ditch' with NZ Groups, like Ray Columbus and The Invaders for instance (As seen in this clip -the 12string I'm sure is a Jansen).

My first electric was a '62 Fender Strat (sunburst), the guitar being a 'must have' to upgrade from my acoustic at the time to allow me to join one of the local 'surf music' bands as was then ((62-63) the rage in Oz.

[cockroach]

Hi Bill & John,

Yes, there were a few Jansens that made it to South Australia- there is one still today for sale in a music shop in the city(Adelaide)..a sunburst Strat type.

I remember trying a chap's Jansen Jazzmaster style job in the '60's...very nice, but quite expensive back then, as Bill said.

I think the 12 string Strat type used by the Invaders was definitely a Jansen, a guitar also featured on the NZ band The Librettos' cover of Paul Revere & the Raiders US hit 'Kicks' - which song my band covered as I had an electric 12 string at that time (about 1966)

I saw Ray Columbus and the Invaders , who were the 'local' support band on a 1964 package tour show which featured The Searchers (with Burns 12 string), Del Shannon and Peter & Gordon...

[Bojan]

In Belgrade in the late fifties and early sixties the only guitar that you could buy locally were Czech guitars called "Jolana" . . .