MICRO- FRETS
GOLDEN MELODY
1969
Very Early Model
EXTREMELY RARE
UNDERVALUED & COLLECTIBLE
UNAPPRECIATED.
NOW CUSTOMIZED BY TONESMITH.
MICRO-FRETS
guitars are, I believe, iconic American built electric guitars that were
“futurist in the past” and true creations of the genius of their designers and
builders.
And
they are number 2 on my list of the “TOP TEN Most Unknown, Unappreciated, and Undervalued”
guitars in the vintage guitar marketplace. They are special and magical and
should be in the collection of every guitar lover and player in the world. But
that cannot happen because there are so few of them left (maybe-but just
maybe-less than 3,000 were built). That is why, early in my collector
history, I searched for guitars of this brand and bought as many of them as I
could. Those are the guitars I am now selling.
THE MICRO-FRETS GUITAR FOR SALE IN THIS LISTING IS AN EXAMPLE OF
MY RETRO RENOVATION PROJECT WHEREIN I AM ASKING KEVIN SMITH OF TONESMITH
GUITARS TO TOTALLY REBUILD AND CUSTOMIZE MANY OF MY VINTAGE GUITARS. THIS ONE IS AMAZING.
For this one, Kevin ,
1.
totally disassembled the guitar
2.
repaired electronics as needed
3.
refretted the guitar
4.
added quilted maple top
5.
added tortoise binding with black and white checkered accent binding
on top
6.
refinished guitar in beautiful sunburst
7.
upgraded pickguard to “pearl”
8.
upgraded control knobs to metal
OTHER DETAILS
OUR
ID: 1O76
SN:
1587
MODEL:
Golden Melody
STYLE:
1.5 Two hollowed out body halves that locked together without gasket.
YEAR:
1969
BODY
WOOD: Hard wood. With Sound Chamber.
TOP: Quilted Maple top added
TOP
BINDING: Tortoise with black/white accent.
NECK
WOOD: Maple.
FINGERBOARD:
Brazilian Rosewood.
NUT:
“Micro nut”
TUNERS:
“6 on a stick” open back.
TAILPIECE: Fixed.
HARDWARE:
Micro-Frets handmade, custom machined.
PICKUPS: The
super cool DeArmond pickups (2)
CONTROLS:
Volume and Tone.
COLOR: Sunburst
CONDITION:
Excellent (like new)
Comes
in gig bag.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE Micro-Frets Company
The
Micro-Frets Company was started by Ralph J. Jones in 1967 in his Wheaten,
Maryland, USA workshop.
These
guitars featured some of the most unique features of any US built guitar.
Among
those are:
A.
The GENUINE “CALIBRATO” Vibrato System.
1.
Calibrated string movement adjustments.
2.
Can adjust system to work with any gauge of strings.
3.
Can modulate pitch.
4.
Retain tuning on all strings at all modulation level at
higher or lower pitch levels.
5.
Keeps strings in tune at all pitch levels.
6.
Makes string tuning more precise.
B. The BODY.
1.
Carved from select SOLID woods. Not plywood or veneer.
2.
Has carved out hollow body making it a true acoustic guitar.
3.
Traditional cut with larger lower bout and smaller upper
bout.
4.
By carving out the inside of a solid block of wood with a
lathe tool, a “sound chamber” is created that provides unique resonance and
tonal response not available in other electric guitars.
5.
No sound holes. The designer of the MICROFRETS “unique sound
chamber” discovered, after a lot of research that a sound hole actually
“decays” the acoustic tone of a guitar.
C. The NECK.
1.
The elliptical shape of the “speed line” neck is the “finest
in the industry” and “immediately feels familiar to the player”.
2.
Featured on the neck is a precision scaled fingerboard.
3.
The neck is labelled “Stringbender” because its shape and
design and fret size allow the player to more easily bend strings when playing.
D. The “MICRO-NUT”
1.
Exclusive to only MICRO-FRETS guitars is the patented “Micro
Nut”. It is considered to be the most revolutionary product ever invented for
an electric guitar.
2.
The “Micro Nut” makes the Micro-Frets guitar “the most
precise tuning guitar” available.
3.
It features FIFTY-TWO (52) different parts. It is an
engineering marvel. (Read more about how it works below).
These
are amazing innovative guitars with many unique features and structural
characteristics. Please read more about these guitars below as told first hand
by one of the luthiers in the original MICRO FRETS workshop.
Information about Micro-Frets Guitars from “Guitar Attack”
online.
The Truth about Micro-Frets Guitars
by Dan X, a designer & former employee of the defunct Micro-Frets Co.
There have been a lot of questions over the years about the Micro-Frets guitar
Company on Grove Road, Frederick, Maryland. I have also read a lot of things
about the Company, written by guitar collectors that are not true!
I lived in Rockville, Maryland at the Monroe Street Apartments. I would drive
to Frederick every morning to a job that I loved!!!! I would go to work so fast
that the telephone poles on Route 355 whizzed by like pickets in a fence. Make
a left on Grove Road and pull into the parking lot on the left. (Now called the
Auto Trim Co., but still on Grove Road.
Here was the building layout when it was Micro-Frets : You go in the front
door, to the left was a door that led to the guitar room. That's where we kept
2 of every model of guitar that we made. There have been some very famous
people in the room -- Buck Trent, Carl Perkins, and Mark Farner, to name a few.
You come out of that room back into the hall and on the right was the secretary
`s office. One of the secretaries that I remember best was a girl about 18
years old named Deloris Schrower, We called her Dee! I had a BIG crush on
Dee!!! The next off was where Mrs. Huggins, wife of the head of the company
Marion Huggins worked. The next office was Marion Huggins' office.
You're wondering by now -- where is Ralph Jones? We're not there yet.
Down the hall past Huggins' office you went through a door. Take a left turn
and there was the Machinist. I can't remember the Machinist's name, but Ralph
Jones worked there sometimes. In front of that was the metal buffing booth. You
have to remember most of the parts on the new guitars were Aluminum!!
Down from that area was a hole in the wall by the steps. Billy Boggs worked
there! He did the fretwork. Billy use to pick with Chet Atkins on the road.
Over in front of him was the body lathe, where we hollowed out the bodies. In
front of that was the overhead pin router where we cut out the bodies. Farther
back was the pickguard pin router.
Pete Lagocky, a rock picker, ran that for a while until he just about lost a
finger!! Around the corner was the table saw where the pickguards & Pickup
pieces were cut out. Back to the steps and up the stairs, just at the top, was
the shipping booth. Now this is one big room the whole upstairs was open.
To the right was the electronics area. Do a 180 and you would see the paint
area. A Magician by night, Painter by day -- a guy called the Amazing Tracy!!
He painted the guitars. Beside him was where Mary Jones, the wife of Ralph
Jones worked. She sanded between the coats of paint. A real beauty for her age!
Everyone wanted me to try to talk her into keeping the plant open. Believe me I
tried. I even tried to get out on a date. Didn't work because I wasn't good
looking enough, I guess. But I will tell you this she was a nice lady.
Down from there to the right was the body and neck wood sanding booth. A little
Blond worked there named Linda. She looked like a small child but she was
beautiful 19-year old. Do a 180 and you're looking at the guitar assembly
stations. There were two of them. One of the stations was mine. A Hippy named
Larry worked there also. He was a hard rock picker as well. He quit and I had
them put this female assembler over by me. She was a great person and did her
job well.
Just behind me was Woody Free. Woody assembled the sound hole pickups. His son,
my Boss, was Gary Free. Gary was the plant Supervisor/custom builder/guitar
designer. Then there was me, Dan Electricbanjoman, guitar assembler &
custom builder/designer.
Now who was Ralph Jones and where did he work in the factory? He worked the
whole factory, and he was at every station at some time everyday making things.
He was the creator of the Micro nut, Calibrato, and the FM wireless system.
We made the first FM guitar, called "The Orbiter". It was a Swiss
cheese model -- front & back & white center piece. There was an FM box
that came with that guitar, so you could set the box on top of your amp. The
guitar had an antenna that came out of the upper cutaway. I walked down the
stairs and out the door one day picking one of those, half way down the street
to where the red light is now on Grove Road. It still picked me up through the
metal wall to the amp upstairs.
We had wild names for the guitars but we all helped name them. Gary, Woody, and
I designed the newer bodies, Micro Nut, and Calibratos. We had three different
guitar styles: The Swiss Cheese, The Twin, and The Single.
First were the Swiss Cheese Models. They were really wild looking, like from
outer space, hence the space names like Orbiter, Golden Comet, Calibra,
Wanderer, and Spacetone. Ralph designed these guitars. They had Gretsch guitar
pickups with a metal case. Huntington ( mine), Signature (mine), the Stage II,
the Swinger solid body guitar, the Husky solidbody Bass, and The Spacetone
(Woody and Gary Free) -- those were our guitars of the 60`s
Ralph Jones died and we kept the older guitars there for a while. All of a
sudden the order came up to clean them up and get them out! So we sold those
out fast. Some of those went overseas to England, Germany, France, Japan, and
China. One of those shipments sank in the Atlantic.
These were the guitars of the 70's. At that time we bought our pickup formula
from a guy at the Rickenbaker Guitar Company in California. We made the pickups
out of White Plexiglas, and a few Black ones as well. Mrs. Jones did all the
guitar pickup wire wrappings by hand. She had a booth 8 feet square. It was a
big secret so they kept the curtain closed.
We would work all day and sometimes for no pay on the weekends. We redesigned
the pickups, the bodies, and revamped the Micro Nut and Calibrato units.
The rumor is that the guitar just didn't sell so we had to close. NOT TRUE!!!
We closed about four years after Ralph Jones died. Marion Huggins was the money
man. He wanted to keep the place going, and would have if it were up to him. I
would still be there making guitars! Mrs. Jones wanted the company to close
with her husband. "It's his invention", she used to say. "I
don't want anybody to take credit for it. I want to get my money back out of
it, and I just want this place to just go away."
There was a court trial, I think in Frederick, Maryland. There would be a case
on file. Jones v. Huggins Micro-Frets Corp. It is probably public domain now
because it's been 30 years. Mrs. Jones won the case. I watched people's jobs
get cut one at a time. They cried as they walked out the door! I was one of the
last ones to leave, and I cried too! We made thousands of great guitars, and
were getting to bring out a couple new ones that Gary, Tracy, and I were
drawing up. Our sales were good all over the USA, Canada, and the world. Our
Patent covered all countries. Nobody could make the Micro-Frets nuts and
Calibratos but us! Now I hear that a company in Japan is buying up all the
guitars. They plan to make the Micro-Frets again. So the older USA made ones
will be real collectors now.
We
were all musicians in that factory, and we ate across the street at a 50's
style restaurant called the Pontiac Inn. We would always eat lunch
there, and sometimes dinner. We were a very open about trying new things. If it
was weird we liked it. To us every guitar was different -- every guitar was the
Batmobile! It was great fun. If you like customizing guitars, then you should
have been there son! Pretty girls and great people to work with.
Life at Micro-Frets in Maryland was a guitar customizer's heaven on earth.
There was me and one other guy who put the guitars together. During the last
year the other guy quit and I had them hire this nice looking young girl guitar
picker. She was with us until early 1973. I was the last one left. I worked the
last two weeks for free putting the guitars together before the company was
auctioned.
We were all working musicians. I played some with Waylon Jennings and Dottie
West while I was there. Gary Free had his own local Blues & Jazz band.
BODY STYLES (and configurations).
A. STYLE 1.
1.
The older (first) Micro-Frets style had a 3-piece body. Some
of those had the Volume & Tone controls under the pick guard. As we changed
the body we changed the pots and position. The Calibrato and the Nut were also
changed three different times. The pickups were changed twice; The Golden
Melodys eventually became the Spacetone & the Stage II.
2.
Two piece body with particle board side gasket. This
gasket was screwed onto one half of the body and clipped onto the other half.
The gasket, while eye catching, added a good bit to the weight and didn't serve
any other real function. 3.
3.
DeArmond pickups. I've heard that other types were used but
haven't seen any examples (not counting the Style 2 and 3 'Lawrence' pickups).
4.
Bi-level white pickguard with volume and tone controls
attached. Controls were adjusted using nylon wheels instead of more traditional
knobs.
5.
Guitars without the Calibrato featured a giant
aluminum 'M' on the body.
6.
Tuning gears were generally open style, 6 on a plate
7.
Cloth was used to cover the sound hole on many models.
8.
Bridge tailpiece combination had shorter distance between
the bridge and the end where the strings attached.
9.
Bridges featured aluminum saddles that had intonation
adjustment going through with a spring to keep it in place similar to Fender.
B. STYLE 1.5.
Style
1.5 features all of the Style 1 mentioned details with the differences:
The side gasket is now gone and the two piece body with visible seams are
joined together with clips.
C. STYLE 2.0
1.
The second body style was two-piece and we took out the
grill cloth from the (F) hole.
2.
Two piece body with visible seam.
3.
Bi-level pickguard with clear upper level and white
lower level.
4.
Volume and tone knobs are now located on body.
5.
Calibrato version 2 which features a large leaf spring
to provide counter tension. Strings attached to a one piece tailpiece.
6.
Large, white, rectangular 'Lawrence' single coils
pickups now used. These were designed by Bill Lawrence and built by MICROFRETS
in house. These pickups had more output than the DeArmonds and were
substantially larger with a plexi housing.
7.
No aluminum discs or 'M's.
8.
Bridge/tailpiece combinations had longer distance between
bridge and where strings attached on non-tremolo models.
9.
Bridges now have aluminum saddles with nuts added on
to the intonation adjustments screws. This allowed the intonation to be set and
somewhat locked in place by tightening the nut up against the bridge. Simple,
but practical.
10. Schaller
tuners standard.
D. STYLE 3.0.
1.
The third style was made two-piece but glued together to
look like a semi hollow body. There were many different body shapes and names.
For example, The Huntington, The Signature, and Signature Custom, which were my
designs. Then there were the Orbiters, Comets , and Spacetone which were Ralph
Jones' designs. The Swinger, Huskybass, & Stage II were Gary Free's design.
The Sound Hole pickups for acoustics were Woody Free's design.
2.
Except for the Swinger guitar and Husky bass (which were
solid body), the inside of the guitar was cut out with a wood lathe. If you
look inside you'll see the cavity was cut out like a record with the center
circle and outer edges of the body. That's what the bridge is setting on -- a
round center.
3.
The body is held together with slide clips. To take it apart
you take off the neck, hold the guitar facing you standing up on the end of the
bout, and lightly slam the backside. That will slip the two parts apart! You
put it together the same way only turn the body face away from you.
4.
Bodies are still two piece but are glued together with no seam that can be felt
(though it can be seen on models with translucent finishes
5.
Introduction of the Speedline neck which addressed the
problem of being able to bend notes up the neck that earlier models often had
due to the small, low frets and rounded fingerboard.
6.
Introduction of the Swinger model which wasn't a typical
model in that it is was a solid body without the 'doughnut' routing.
E. THE BODY.
The
body was solid on the outer edge, and a 4 to 5 inch center under the bridge was
solid. This was true on all the guitars to make them lighter except for some of
the older Swiss cheese bodies like the Orbiter and the Golden Comet.
The newer bodies were cut out on a lathe. I cut some of these out as well. We
cut out a doughnut from the inside, with the solid sides and the very center.
This helped in the distortion ability but not much. The hollow body didn't
affect the overall tonal ability of the guitar.
F. THE MICRO-NUT
Someone
asked me," What makes the Micro-Frets guitar different from the
others?" Most other guitars have a tunable bridge that sets the harmonics
up to the twelfth fret. The Micro-Frets has the Micro-nut. It's 52 pieces of
adjustable nut. Each string can be adjusted up or down in height, which is
convenient as the weather changes. This is especially true if you're very picky
about you string height. As for back and forth, the back and forth is what sets
the harmonics above the twelfth fret. The guitar was totally in tune all the
way up the neck. The stainless-steel rollers don't roll, but they let the
string slide across without sticking. There are little ears that stick up just
behind the roller that allow you to set the width of your strings.
G. THE NECK.
The
necks were called Speedline necks because they were the thinnest around at
that time. Made of solid maple, most with rosewood fingerboards (some with
Maple fingerboards), the necks were fantastically quick! But it was always my
opinion that the frets were cut too low. We at the factory always argued about
that.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS.
Buyer has 72 hours from receipt of this guitar to try it
out. If, for any reason, Buyer decides
he, or she, wants to return this guitar, no problem. Just
let us know and then repack it in the same box it was shipped. Buyer will pay cost of shipping it back to
us.