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anyone own a Mark Farner style 60s Messenger guitar ?

garywright

garywright

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could be a knock off Tom ..I know zero about Messengers ...I will say that the few reissues that I've seen have had small humbucks and these appear to be original style pups and original type paint rather than the newer translucent green ...I think it may be a vintage one but a different variation from Mark's ..but I ain't gonna bet on it :ganz


..just read the YouTube comments ..guy claims this rare model was called The Magna
 
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garywright

garywright

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Midnight Blues said:
You know, that reminds me Kris, I don't think Mark got much credit for what he did besides playing guitar (he didn't get much credit for that either which is unbelievable to me)? He had/has a phenomenal voice, could play harmonica and was a really good keyboard player, not to mention his song writing ability.
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ahhh ..that's it Mark ..sing it brother ! :dude:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zOC1vAldWds

man's movin and groovin ala Sammy Davis Jr.
 
Midnight Blues

Midnight Blues

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Tom Wittrock said:
Not sure what you mean here.
Mark's guitar had only one sound hole? One what? :wah
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I was referring to the built-in fuzz, similar to the Messenger in the video that Gary posted. Farner's came with one built-in.

With regard to the one in the video Gary posted, could be they didn't put sound holes in the newer ones where they built-in a fuzz?
 
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Midnight Blues

Midnight Blues

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garywright said:
yeah me too, but my preference would be the metallic pea green
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But of course!
thumbs.gif


The white one doesn't look too bad either.
 
S

SixStrRzr

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I've got some experience with these. I believe the first ones that were made in 1967 had the fuzztone circuits. The 2nd year, the fuzz went away and the guitar became stereo. (The 2nd switch switched from mono to stereo). Very small frets, like the 60's Mosrites. The back of the aluminum neck has a surface that is some sort of paint, which makes it more like a wood neck. That aluminum neck would be kind of cold to play if this "paint" wasn't there. Pickups were low output single coils (like Dearmonds) that helped give the Messenger its sound, along with the metal neck.

The red finish was called "Rojo Red", and the green "Midnight Green" (if I remember). At a guitar show 20 years ago, I saw a nice natural finish one, but this might've been a one-off.

They were a little hard to play, but probably because I mostly played Gibsons. I did get used to it after spending some time with it.
 
garywright

garywright

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thanks for that info ..do you have a couple pix you could post ?
 
S

SixStrRzr

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garywright said:
thanks for that info ..do you have a couple pix you could post ?
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I'll post a few in a couple days or so. I have a red one and a sunburst one, both with changed pickups. Also have a red Eastwood (which is a great playing guitar.)
 
Tom Wittrock

Tom Wittrock

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The one I sold almost 40 years ago came in today for a restring and set up.
See through cherry red and no fuzz tone. Mono wiring.

I'll try to get photos in a few days.
 
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Tom Wittrock

Tom Wittrock

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Back for a visit after almost 40 years!
Only readable pot date is 4th week of 1967.

DSCN4545.JPG


DSCN4551.JPG


DSCN4546.JPG


DSCN4553.JPG
 
Tom Wittrock

Tom Wittrock

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Looks like the neck was painted white over the aluminum, then several coats of black.
Inside the control cavity I saw the start of a second jack hole. Maybe they made some stereo at the same time? :hmm
 
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