KAPA MINSTREL 1958 - CUSTOMIZED. PURPLE SPARKLE. Only 1. Rare. Showstopper. Only 1.

International Guitar Museum · Home of the Richard Davis Collection

1968 KAPA “MINSTREL”

Purple-Sparkle Teardrop  ·  Made in the U.S.A.

Rare  ·Single-Known Example in This Finish·  Professionally Restored by Tonesmith Guitars

This instrument is offered by the International Guitar Museum, Durham, North Carolina, which now houses and curates the Richard Davis Collection — a twenty-seven-year assemblage of more than 900 guitars and 200 amplifiers spanning 225 brands across twelve countries. Like every instrument that passes through the Collection, this guitar is registered with the International Musical Instrument Registry (IMIR) in Luxembourg and is conveyed with a transferable Certificate of Authenticity and Title of Ownership.

Museum founder and curator Rich Davis writes:

“From my personal collection of vintage KAPA guitars, I am offering another of my rare ‘Minstrel’ teardrop-shaped instruments — and this one is special. The Purple Sparkle finish is an incredible, vibrant purple  metal-sparkle fade, and in all my years I have never encountered another Minstrel in this finish. To my eye and experience, it is the only one. These are amazing guitars; they sound and they play, I think, better than the instruments that inspired them. And these Höfner pickups are loud and wild.”

THE ASSIMILATOR: KOOB VENEMAN AND THE KAPA STORY

The 1960s were a decade of innovation and imitation in the worldwide guitar marketplace. One maker would innovate; another would copy that innovation. And then there were the assimilators — builders like Koob Veneman, who watched the trends form from behind the counter of his own store and turned what he saw into instruments of his own.

Veneman ran Veneman’s Music Emporium in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. Much of his stock came from German and Italian importers, and those relationships gave him direct access to first-rate European components. From the trends crossing his counter he drew the molds for his own line. Look at a KAPA and you think Fender, VOX, Gibson; play one and you hear echoes of those names — but you also feel a build quality that rose above most American makers of the era. Veneman built the bodies in his own plant and assembled them with the best hardware he could source: Höfner electronics, Schaller tuners, quality tremolo units.

This model arrived soon after the Rolling Stones and other British Invasion bands appeared on American screens carrying VOX teardrop guitars. Veneman saw the appeal immediately and answered it with his own teardrop line, which he named the “Minstrel.” In Rich Davis’s assessment, the result outplayed its inspiration.

ABOUT THE KAPA GUITAR COMPANY

KAPA Guitars was founded in 1963 by Koob Veneman, a Dutch immigrant and the owner of Veneman’s Music Emporium. With the British Invasion in full swing and the guitar boom at its height, Veneman wanted his share of the market and decided to build a unique line of his own.

His plan made use of the import connections his store already enjoyed: he ordered components from European suppliers and assembled the instruments in Edmonston, Maryland, at a plant on 46th Avenue, where the bodies themselves were made. The necks, pickups, and electronics originally came from the German manufacturer Höfner; the tuners were supplied by Schaller. In keeping with Höfner’s design conventions of the period, the guitars typically carried two slider switches governing the on/off function of the pickups.

The name “KAPA” is an anagram Veneman built from his family: K for Koob, A for his son Albert, P for his daughter Patricia, and A for his wife Adeline. Later his brother joined the family business.

Two design hallmarks define the marque. KAPA necks are ultra-thin — very much a 1960s preoccupation, when players wanted speed and makers, somewhat oddly, equated that with slim necks rather than low action. The bodies are likewise thin compared with Fender and Gibson, much like a VOX. KAPA went out of business in 1970, and its assets were sold to Microfrets and Mosrite — a small world indeed.

THE TONESMITH RESTORATION

For this instrument, Rich Davis enlisted the experience of Kevin Smith of Tonesmith Guitars, who delivered a full rejuvenation of one of the original Minstrels. Smith completely disassembled the guitar, cleaned the electronics, re-soldered loose joints, cleaned and polished all hardware, dressed the frets, and cleaned the fretboard. The neck and headstock received a fresh clearcoat finish, while the original headstock logo decal was preserved exactly as it was.

The result is a 1968 guitar that is stunning in appearance and shimmering in tone — a vintage Minstrel brought back to playing life without losing its identity.

SPECIFICATIONS

Maker

KAPA Guitars (Koob Veneman), Edmonston, Maryland, U.S.A.

Model

“Minstrel” — teardrop body

Year

1968

Origin

Made in the U.S.A. (assembled with imported HOFNER Germany components)

Finish

“Purple”-sparkle fade refinish.

Body

Thin solid body, teardrop profile

Neck

Ultra-thin profile; fresh clearcoat applied during restoration

Headstock

Original KAPA logo decal preserved; refinished in clearcoat

Pickups

Höfner, per KAPA’s documented sourcing

Controls

Slider switches for pickup on/off (Höfner-style 1960s layout)

Tuners

Schaller

Restoration

Kevin Smith / Tonesmith Guitars

Rarity

One of a kind.

CONDITION & DISCLOSURE

The guitar is offered in fully serviced, playing condition following a complete professional restoration by Tonesmith Guitars. In the interest of full and honest disclosure: the Purple sparkle body finish is original to the instrument; the neck and headstock were refinished with a fresh clearcoat during the restoration, and the original headstock decal was retained in place. Electronics were cleaned and re-soldered, hardware cleaned and polished, frets dressed, and the instrument set up to play. It presents as a restored, all-functional vintage example.

PROVENANCE STATEMENT

1968 KAPA “Minstrel” —Purple Metallic  Teardrop

I.  Instrument Identification

A 1968 KAPA “Minstrel” teardrop-shaped electric guitar in a Purple-sparkle finish, built by Koob Veneman’s KAPA Guitars in Edmonston, Maryland, and assembled with Höfner-type electronics and Schaller tuners in keeping with the company’s documented construction. The original headstock logo decal is present and intact.

II.  Chain of Custody

Held within the personal vintage KAPA collection of Rich Davis, founder and curator of the International Guitar Museum, and now offered through the Museum as part of the curated Richard Davis Collection.

III.  Restoration Record

Fully restored by Kevin Smith of Tonesmith Guitars: complete disassembly, electronics cleaned and re-soldered, hardware cleaned and polished, frets dressed, fretboard cleaned, and neck and headstock refinished in fresh clearcoat with the original decal preserved. The Purple Metallic sparkle body finish is original to the guitar.

IV.  Registry & Certification

Registered with the International Musical Instrument Registry (IMIR), Luxembourg, and conveyed to the buyer with a transferable Certificate of Authenticity and Title of Ownership.

CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY

International Guitar Museum  ·  Home of the Richard Davis Collection

This certifies that the instrument described herein — a 1968 KAPA “Minstrel” teardrop electric guitar in Purple fade metal-sparkle finish — is an authentic instrument from the Richard Davis Collection, curated by the International Guitar Museum of Durham, North Carolina, and registered with the International Musical Instrument Registry (IMIR), Luxembourg. A transferable Certificate of Authenticity and Title of Ownership accompanies this instrument upon transfer.

_______________________________

Rich Davis

Founder & Curator, International Guitar Museum

TERMS & CONDITIONS

Does not come with a hardshell case. The instrument will sh