Video Demo 1967 Avalon AV-2 Shaggs Double Pickup Bass Guitar Pro Setup Original Hard Shell Case

Today, Lawman Guitars is Presenting..

A Super Cool 1967 Made in Japan Avalon AV-2 Shaggs Model Double Pickup Bass Guitar. I have had and sold three of the Shaggs 6 string guitars but this is the first Bass we have seen. I have seen a couple single pickup models listed in past years but this one with the double pickups is super RARE!!

Never heard of the Avalon Shaggs Guitar? You are not alone. I hadn’t either but when I got the first one, I started researching it and found it has quite the cult following…I heard that Eastwood is going to make a remake of it as they think its so cool..This guitar was made in 1967 or maybe 1968 and its all original. See pics..Comes original from there including the Hardshell case…WOW…Shagadelic!!...

Be sure to check out the video demo we did for this awesome extremely RARE Shaggs Bass Guitar!

Heres some info I found on the web concerning the Shaggs Girl Band..

The Shaggs. See pic 14...Now there was a band that was baad! No, I’m not talking street slang where you’re supposed to flip over the meaning. They were bad. There may never have been a recorded rock band that was worse. Couldn’t sing, couldn’t play, the songs were awful, and they were terribly produced. There’s a CD of their two albums. Check them out for yourself. BAD! In fact, the only GOOD thing that came out of the Shaggs was a legendary guitar and bass, the Avalon “Shaggs” models!

The Shaggs was a family band, basically the idea of Austin Wiggin, Jr., a poor mill hand whose mother once read his palm and told him he’d have daughters some day and they would be part of a band. The Shaggs were the fulfillment of that prediction, sort of American primitive. Hailing from the small town of Fremont, New Hampshire, the Shaggs was made up of Wiggin’s daughters, Betty (16) on bass, Dorothy (Dot, 19) on guitar, respectively, and Helen (20) on drums. Young sister Rachel sometimes also performed. Dot wrote the lyrics and developed the melodies, while Betty pitched in on working out chords and rhythms. Their primary musical influences were Herman’s Hermits, Ricky Nelson, and Dino, Desi and Billy. Austin was manager and named the band. He got the matching instruments from somewhere and the band took lessons until they recorded their first album in 1969. The guitar and bass were Avalons.

Now, these guitars are known as Shaggs models because they’re what the Shaggs played, not because of some big corporate endorsement deal! No one knows who sold the Avalon brand. Mailorder? An area music store? An auto supply store? All possible. Nor who made them. Nothing like them shows up in the reference books. I’m not even sure when they were made, but 1967 or ’68 is a good guess. Japanese guitarmakers were competing with the Europeans early on in the 1960s and some of the earliest ‘copying’ was of European models. By the mid-’60s the EKO Violin guitar and bass, itself a copy of the Hofner made famous by Paul McCartney, was one of the most popular guitars to be honored with imitation. Another model that got imitated early on was the Burns Bison, with its long, pointy, inturned cutaway horns. The Avalon Shaggs were in the Bison mode. Come to think of it, buffaloes are kind of shaggy…

Avalon AV-2T

This guitar became legendary for its extreme design and cool looks—and for its infamous association with the Shaggs. One could write a lengthy, fascinating history of the Shaggs and the value of their music, but let’s focus here on the guitar they made famous.

The AV-2 dates from 1967 through 1968 and was made by Fuji Gen Gakki Manufacturing Corp. (later renamed Fujigen) in Matsumoto, Japan. Yuichiro Yokouchi founded the company in 1960, and the Fujigen factories make high-end guitars to this day. Fuji Gen Gakki was one of the largest manufacturers of electric guitars during the ’60s, and this Avalon model was an original design. At that time, guitar design was primarily left to the engineers, or to the American importers who were looking for a specific style. But this Avalon was actually designed by Mr. Yokouchi. This truly unique guitar was one of only two of his creations to make it to market.

In the late ’60s, Fuji Gen had a new factory, and this model exhibited some of the latest techniques made possible by the facility, such as a thin, highly figured maple veneer over a sandwiched body core. The factory employed some of the finest woodworkers in Japan, and this was a guitar made to look sleek and sweeping at a price point American importers would like. With a wholesale price of $47.50, the guitar was described like this: “Professional quality and workmanship go into this ultra slim necked beauty. Newly designed!”

This Super Cool Avalon has 2 really hot Single Coil Pickups, bridge cover and original Sunburst Finish!! .... Still has all the parts on it including thumb rest, both original knobs and even the original Hardshell Guitar Case.

This bass guitar will Rock you away with its Huge Tone...If you haven't experienced one of these..be prepared to be blown away........This Guitar is ready to go.....It is truly a magical guitar....It plays great and it sounds even better......

It has 2 very hot Pickups, Original hardware, Bridge cover and Mirror Pickguard, and it plays and sounds like you would expect it to...You will not believe these pickups when you get it...I like them a lot!!.

Our Tech did a great job setting this cool Shagster Guitar up. It plays and intonates up the 20 fret neck. Easy playing action that is nice and low. No sore fingers with this one! He even leveled and polished the frets. They look great!

The guitar has number dings and scratches. It has some finish crazing that was raised on the back that we stabilized with a super glue treatment. We also stabilized the headstock bang also with a super glue treatment. Check those pics! The three way switch is a little glitch. It allows you to set either pickup separately and together in the middle position. We cleaned it good and it works but it will need a tap once in awhile. Its vintage!

Now this guitar is beautiful but vintage and used..it is sold as-is no returns, however, I have been hand picking guitars for my customers for over 20 years now and they all loved the guitars I found for them. This cool bass will certainly not be an exception!

Please check my store for other cool vintage guitars, amps and guitar parts!

Lawman Mike at Lawman Guitars