Micro-Frets Golden Melody Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1969)
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Micro-Frets Golden Melody Model Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1969), made in Fredrick, Maryland, serial # 1411, Black-Yellow sunburst finish, maple body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, original black tolex hard shell case.
Some of the most unique and original American guitars of the late 1960s/early '70s came out of Frederick, Maryland, where the small Micro-Frets company built their beautifully engineered if decidedly offbeat fretted offerings. The line was the brainchild of one Ralph Jones, a self-taught engineer and inveterate tinkerer. Jones first perfected what he called the "Calibrato" vibrato unit in 1965, designed to enable individual tension adjustments for each string, theoretically allowing entire chords to be raised and lowered while remaining in tune. After failing to interest established manufacturers in the device, he went the next step and with financial help from his former employer started his own guitar manufacturing firm.
Micro-Frets was launched in 1967, by the following year the small factory was producing a fairly extensive line of utterly unique semi-solid electric guitars. Collectors have identified three major stages in their evolution from the earliest models through the company's demise in 1975, dubbed type 1, 2 and 3 depending on the construction and fittings. This instrument is a "Type 1-B" Golden Melody, a semi-hollow body guitar with a two-piece maple sandwich body routed from the inside, with both halves clipped together but without the "Tempered Masonite" center gasket used on the earliest models. Micro-Frets serial numbers appear to start at either 1000 or 1100; in either case at #1411 this is a fairly early model, somewhat rarer than later pattern guitars.
Jones called this construction the "Tonesponder" body; Micro-Frets rivals the UK's Burns firm in coming up with snazzy names for guitar parts. A universal feature of the company's instruments is the patented Micro-Nut, which allows harmonic compensation at the headstock and individual string height adjustments. This sits on a maple neck with an unbound rosewood fingerboard inlaid in an eccentric multi-dot pattern. The single-sided headstock is a swooping Fender/Bigsby inspired shape, fitted with openback Waverly strip tuners. The headstock has a decorative metal disc on the ball end, a brand logo and model name decal and a metal plate screwed on above the nut which appears redundant as the truss rod adjusts as the body end.
At the other end of the strings is a simple stamped metal tailpiece; this Golden Melody lacks the "Calibrato" vibrato unit, the heart of the Micro-Frets legend. It does substitute a large metal "M" logo plate on the lower body, waggishly dubbed the "seagull" by fans of the brand. The fairly stout bridge is an improvement on the earlier Rickenbacker-inspired quadruped unit mounting on two rather stout pins adjustable for height. The saddles are adjustable for length; this earlier version of the bridge does not use the knurled locking wheels added later. The oddest feature (more or less, take your pick1) is a built in FM transmitter which supposedly eliminated the need for a cord, IF you had the receiving unit. This is controlled by the small 3-way frequency selector knob on the upper bout; there is a small hatch on the back for the battery. We don't have anything to receive the signal, so can't say if this guitar is still broadcasting; in any case a patch cord into the jack works just fine!
The maple body is finished in a sort of Fender Antigua relative with darker brownish/black edges and a creamy center. The spray work on this guitar is a bit sloppier than other Micro-frets we have had, with a certain amount of "shadow" creeping over to the sides from the 'burst. The two interlocking maple body halves are rounded at the edges with a single stylized F-hole filled in with brown fabric. The two tone and master volume for the twin pickups are carried laterally on the top-mounted pickguard, which is bi-level in the Rickenbacker mode with a triple laminate upper section; earlier models had 4 rotary knobs. A selector switch is mounted to the body behind this. The pickups themselves are DeArmond single-coil units with adjustable poles; the next year Jones would perfect his own pickups with help from Bill Lawrence.
This rare early Golden Melody is a cool example of the factory's widely varied output, an eccentric but well-made and fine playing guitar with a slim comfortable neck and bright, responsive pickups. The sound is crisp and hi-fi with surprising depth when needed; the tonal range is impressive. "Micro-Frets: the Personal guitar" was the company slogan, highlighting the extensive adjustability of nearly every component. A number of prominent country artists endorsed Micro-Frets in the late 1960's including Carl Perkins, Buck Trent, Tommy Cash and the Statler Brothers. Micro-Frets had a fairly short history but the high-quality, well engineered instruments they left behind remain totally unique, fine examples of American guitar ingenuity and worthy of the attention of both players and collectors.
Overall length is 42 1/2 in. (108 cm.), 14 1/8 in. (35.9 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 9/16 in. (4 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 in. (610 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This sharp looking and easy playing guitar remains relatively clean and all original, showing only light general wear overall. The eccentric 2-tone body finish has some very fine checking and small dings and dents (mostly to the edges) but no really major wear. The top has one deeper ding just below the "tail" of the "seagull". The back of the neck is clean except for a couple of tiny dinks and a deeper ding up behind the nut. The metal hardware has some light corrosion here and there. The frets and fingerboard have hardly any wear and playability remains excellent. This is a fine example of a super cool "Antigua" Micro-Frets, quite a rarity in the original HSC. Overall Excellent - Condition.
Some of the most unique and original American guitars of the late 1960s/early '70s came out of Frederick, Maryland, where the small Micro-Frets company built their beautifully engineered if decidedly offbeat fretted offerings. The line was the brainchild of one Ralph Jones, a self-taught engineer and inveterate tinkerer. Jones first perfected what he called the "Calibrato" vibrato unit in 1965, designed to enable individual tension adjustments for each string, theoretically allowing entire chords to be raised and lowered while remaining in tune. After failing to interest established manufacturers in the device, he went the next step and with financial help from his former employer started his own guitar manufacturing firm.
Micro-Frets was launched in 1967, by the following year the small factory was producing a fairly extensive line of utterly unique semi-solid electric guitars. Collectors have identified three major stages in their evolution from the earliest models through the company's demise in 1975, dubbed type 1, 2 and 3 depending on the construction and fittings. This instrument is a "Type 1-B" Golden Melody, a semi-hollow body guitar with a two-piece maple sandwich body routed from the inside, with both halves clipped together but without the "Tempered Masonite" center gasket used on the earliest models. Micro-Frets serial numbers appear to start at either 1000 or 1100; in either case at #1411 this is a fairly early model, somewhat rarer than later pattern guitars.
Jones called this construction the "Tonesponder" body; Micro-Frets rivals the UK's Burns firm in coming up with snazzy names for guitar parts. A universal feature of the company's instruments is the patented Micro-Nut, which allows harmonic compensation at the headstock and individual string height adjustments. This sits on a maple neck with an unbound rosewood fingerboard inlaid in an eccentric multi-dot pattern. The single-sided headstock is a swooping Fender/Bigsby inspired shape, fitted with openback Waverly strip tuners. The headstock has a decorative metal disc on the ball end, a brand logo and model name decal and a metal plate screwed on above the nut which appears redundant as the truss rod adjusts as the body end.
At the other end of the strings is a simple stamped metal tailpiece; this Golden Melody lacks the "Calibrato" vibrato unit, the heart of the Micro-Frets legend. It does substitute a large metal "M" logo plate on the lower body, waggishly dubbed the "seagull" by fans of the brand. The fairly stout bridge is an improvement on the earlier Rickenbacker-inspired quadruped unit mounting on two rather stout pins adjustable for height. The saddles are adjustable for length; this earlier version of the bridge does not use the knurled locking wheels added later. The oddest feature (more or less, take your pick1) is a built in FM transmitter which supposedly eliminated the need for a cord, IF you had the receiving unit. This is controlled by the small 3-way frequency selector knob on the upper bout; there is a small hatch on the back for the battery. We don't have anything to receive the signal, so can't say if this guitar is still broadcasting; in any case a patch cord into the jack works just fine!
The maple body is finished in a sort of Fender Antigua relative with darker brownish/black edges and a creamy center. The spray work on this guitar is a bit sloppier than other Micro-frets we have had, with a certain amount of "shadow" creeping over to the sides from the 'burst. The two interlocking maple body halves are rounded at the edges with a single stylized F-hole filled in with brown fabric. The two tone and master volume for the twin pickups are carried laterally on the top-mounted pickguard, which is bi-level in the Rickenbacker mode with a triple laminate upper section; earlier models had 4 rotary knobs. A selector switch is mounted to the body behind this. The pickups themselves are DeArmond single-coil units with adjustable poles; the next year Jones would perfect his own pickups with help from Bill Lawrence.
This rare early Golden Melody is a cool example of the factory's widely varied output, an eccentric but well-made and fine playing guitar with a slim comfortable neck and bright, responsive pickups. The sound is crisp and hi-fi with surprising depth when needed; the tonal range is impressive. "Micro-Frets: the Personal guitar" was the company slogan, highlighting the extensive adjustability of nearly every component. A number of prominent country artists endorsed Micro-Frets in the late 1960's including Carl Perkins, Buck Trent, Tommy Cash and the Statler Brothers. Micro-Frets had a fairly short history but the high-quality, well engineered instruments they left behind remain totally unique, fine examples of American guitar ingenuity and worthy of the attention of both players and collectors.
Overall length is 42 1/2 in. (108 cm.), 14 1/8 in. (35.9 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 9/16 in. (4 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 in. (610 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This sharp looking and easy playing guitar remains relatively clean and all original, showing only light general wear overall. The eccentric 2-tone body finish has some very fine checking and small dings and dents (mostly to the edges) but no really major wear. The top has one deeper ding just below the "tail" of the "seagull". The back of the neck is clean except for a couple of tiny dinks and a deeper ding up behind the nut. The metal hardware has some light corrosion here and there. The frets and fingerboard have hardly any wear and playability remains excellent. This is a fine example of a super cool "Antigua" Micro-Frets, quite a rarity in the original HSC. Overall Excellent - Condition.