Silvertone 1449 Reissue

Gary Blanchard

Gary Blanchard

beloved, local musician
So I was excited to hear about this, but disappointed in the actual product. One thing I liked about the original was the white plastic strip on the sides of the body, which is missing on this. It also is a bit more "rounded" or beveled than the original. I guess I'll skip it, and hope to find a good deal on an original some day.
 
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I have a 1449 but it's not in playable condition right now. Of course, "playable" is kind of a relative term with these.

In all honesty, I think the updates are improvements. The tuners and rosewood bridge on the original really are weak spots. I agree they should have kept the cool 50s/60s diner countertop side trim, though.
 
I wonder how accurate the pickups are. I was all excited about the Eastwoods when they came out but it seems like they just have some kinda generic Artec pickup with the "correct" cover on em.
The cool tones were about the only redeeming feature on most of these Junkers.
 
I had a mint Jupiter that I found at the flea market in the original case, and bartered the guy down to 25 bucks. I sold it recently for almost 600. It was fun to play because it looked cool. It didn't sound all that great and the originals weren't the best quality. I would have to think the reissues are better playing and sounding guitars.
 
Sorry, Gary -- I like to play guitar, not fight them! I had such bad experiences with mid-60s Japanese guitars back in the last-60s-to-early-70s that I now have no desire to check out a recreation.
 
The 1449 guitar my friend owned and I got to play back in 1967 was one of the best guitars I have ever played. The action was fantastic and, providing you didn't try to use the amp-in-case, sounded great. Maybe his was an exception, but I liked playing that much more than the Gretsch he traded up for.
 
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