Wandre Doris Solid Body Electric Guitar (1966)
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Wandre Doris Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1966), made in Cavriago, Italy, Banana Yellow finish, hardwood and plastic body, aluminum and plastic neck, black hard shell case.
"What are those guitars -- man, we don't have those in the STATES!" So spoke Bob Dylan in 1965, captured on film looking into the window of an English music store full of Wandre guitars. These amazingly futuristic and completely original instruments were sold under different brand names in Europe through the 1960s. They have fascinated adventurous electric guitar fans since then, but most players have never seen or handled one. A few models were briefly marketed in the US just prior to the guitar boom period but they are extremely rare in this country. All Wandre instruments are eccentric, sometimes to the extreme. The solid-body "Doris" combines Italian artist/engineer Wandre Pioli's unique engineering concepts with a more conventional (and functional) guitar superstructure than many.
The Wandre story is a book-length epic tale of the endless battle between creativity and commerce, and there is an (unfortunately rare) 2014 book "WANDRE-The Artist Of The Electric Guitar" by Marco Ballestri available for the curious; this exact "Doris" is pictured at the bottom of page 147. This is the final version of the "Doris" model, somewhat redesigned from an earlier even more eccentric iteration in 1965-6. Like some other Wandre offerings (notably the Brigitte Bardot "BB" model) this one is named after a woman, in this case the mistress of Wandre's French distributor!
This plastic-sheathed "Doris" is slightly more conventional than most of Wandre Pioli's 1960s designs; his proprietary plastic-sheathed aluminum neck is mounted to a fairly "normal" shaped solid body with a sort of warped, flattened Stratocaster shape with a reverse offset bottom edge and Burns Bison-like curves to the cutaway horns. Since it's a Wandre, that body is made of molded plastic sections over a small wood core; in this case molded in a rare Banana Yellow on top with a black back. The top has a raised plastic ledge around the outer edge.
"Doris" is equipped with three of the excellent sounding Davoli pickups Wandre favored mounted in a conventional top-mounted, back-painted clear plastic pickguard screwed solidly to the body; many Wandres have some sort of floating electronics assembly. This is decorated with silver flourishes, including a dot-accented border, stars, the Wandre crest and "Doris" in large "Follies Bergere" script across the lower edge. The pickups are controlled by a bank of on/off 2-way lever switches with master volume and tone knobs, with the pickguard helpfully marked above them. The chrome knobs are the same style used on some Eko-made Vox guitars, but with a color-coded yellow rubber ring around the top.
Wandre's proprietary aluminum neck is sheathed in black plastic, topped with a mutant-Fender slotted headstock carrying the openback tuners on an aluminum strip screwed to the bass edge and a Wandre logo on the face. The fingerboard is rosewood, bound and inlaid with large plastic dots. The tremolo system is a unique Wandre creation, with a thin tubular arm mounted offset below the post. The metal-and-plastic fixed-saddle bridge on this guitar appears to be a replacement; from the look of it the instrument was originally fitted with Wandre's "strung-under" bridge and sprung mute system. Many players found that an awkward setup and they have often been removed.
"Doris" is pretty much unlike any other guitar in both sound and feel. While somewhat conventional compared to many of Wandre Pioli's more eccentrically-shaped electric children, it maintains all the best sonic and engineering features of the line combined with a more solid feel than most. It plays and sounds fantastic, with the airy-but-biting tone of the Davoli pickups but sturdier feeling and a bit more aggressive sounding compared to the ethereal semi-hollow designs that make up much of the Wandre line. This "Electrical Banana" colored Doris is a cool and fine playing gem from the most inspired oddball of Italian '60s guitar design, ready to go.
Overall length is 40 3/4 in. (103.5 cm.), 14 in. (35.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/8 in. (2.9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 in. (635 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This very rare guitar has survived in better condition than many of Wandre Pioli's 1960s creations; they are largely made of fairly thin-gauge plastic after all! The instrument is largely original; these guitars sometimes suffer due to the quirky nature of their construction. The rare Banana Yellow finish plastic top and the outer black plastic sections of the body and neck are fully intact with no cracks or repairs, showing light scuffing overall but free of any major imperfections. The back-painted clear plastic pickguard has a tight crack running from the lower treble pickup screw to the uppermost switch that is visible but not causing any functional problems. The fragile thin plastic neck sheath (often cracked or completely missing by now) is complete, solid, and smooth to the touch looking practically new.
The hardware is largely original but as noted we believe the bridge to be a period replacement, although Wandre parts are often inconsistent at best even from the factory so it is hard to be 100% sure. There is a small screw behind the bridge that once held the mute assembly, and the plastic cover over the rear trem section is a later plastic approximation of the missing original.
The pickups and wiring appear all original the covers show some plating wear but everything works as intended and sounds superb. The frets show very little wear; the instrument appears little played over the past 60 years. This is a very fine playing and fabulous sounding guitar despite (or because of) its eccentric construction, and it's a pleasant surprise to most who play Wandre's creations for the first time to discover the world-class sound and feel of these truly original guitars! This yellow "Doris" lives in a more modern oversize dreadnought case; Wandres often originally were sold only in flimsy gig bags that have often gone missing by now. Excellent Condition.
"What are those guitars -- man, we don't have those in the STATES!" So spoke Bob Dylan in 1965, captured on film looking into the window of an English music store full of Wandre guitars. These amazingly futuristic and completely original instruments were sold under different brand names in Europe through the 1960s. They have fascinated adventurous electric guitar fans since then, but most players have never seen or handled one. A few models were briefly marketed in the US just prior to the guitar boom period but they are extremely rare in this country. All Wandre instruments are eccentric, sometimes to the extreme. The solid-body "Doris" combines Italian artist/engineer Wandre Pioli's unique engineering concepts with a more conventional (and functional) guitar superstructure than many.
The Wandre story is a book-length epic tale of the endless battle between creativity and commerce, and there is an (unfortunately rare) 2014 book "WANDRE-The Artist Of The Electric Guitar" by Marco Ballestri available for the curious; this exact "Doris" is pictured at the bottom of page 147. This is the final version of the "Doris" model, somewhat redesigned from an earlier even more eccentric iteration in 1965-6. Like some other Wandre offerings (notably the Brigitte Bardot "BB" model) this one is named after a woman, in this case the mistress of Wandre's French distributor!
This plastic-sheathed "Doris" is slightly more conventional than most of Wandre Pioli's 1960s designs; his proprietary plastic-sheathed aluminum neck is mounted to a fairly "normal" shaped solid body with a sort of warped, flattened Stratocaster shape with a reverse offset bottom edge and Burns Bison-like curves to the cutaway horns. Since it's a Wandre, that body is made of molded plastic sections over a small wood core; in this case molded in a rare Banana Yellow on top with a black back. The top has a raised plastic ledge around the outer edge.
"Doris" is equipped with three of the excellent sounding Davoli pickups Wandre favored mounted in a conventional top-mounted, back-painted clear plastic pickguard screwed solidly to the body; many Wandres have some sort of floating electronics assembly. This is decorated with silver flourishes, including a dot-accented border, stars, the Wandre crest and "Doris" in large "Follies Bergere" script across the lower edge. The pickups are controlled by a bank of on/off 2-way lever switches with master volume and tone knobs, with the pickguard helpfully marked above them. The chrome knobs are the same style used on some Eko-made Vox guitars, but with a color-coded yellow rubber ring around the top.
Wandre's proprietary aluminum neck is sheathed in black plastic, topped with a mutant-Fender slotted headstock carrying the openback tuners on an aluminum strip screwed to the bass edge and a Wandre logo on the face. The fingerboard is rosewood, bound and inlaid with large plastic dots. The tremolo system is a unique Wandre creation, with a thin tubular arm mounted offset below the post. The metal-and-plastic fixed-saddle bridge on this guitar appears to be a replacement; from the look of it the instrument was originally fitted with Wandre's "strung-under" bridge and sprung mute system. Many players found that an awkward setup and they have often been removed.
"Doris" is pretty much unlike any other guitar in both sound and feel. While somewhat conventional compared to many of Wandre Pioli's more eccentrically-shaped electric children, it maintains all the best sonic and engineering features of the line combined with a more solid feel than most. It plays and sounds fantastic, with the airy-but-biting tone of the Davoli pickups but sturdier feeling and a bit more aggressive sounding compared to the ethereal semi-hollow designs that make up much of the Wandre line. This "Electrical Banana" colored Doris is a cool and fine playing gem from the most inspired oddball of Italian '60s guitar design, ready to go.
Overall length is 40 3/4 in. (103.5 cm.), 14 in. (35.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/8 in. (2.9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 in. (635 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This very rare guitar has survived in better condition than many of Wandre Pioli's 1960s creations; they are largely made of fairly thin-gauge plastic after all! The instrument is largely original; these guitars sometimes suffer due to the quirky nature of their construction. The rare Banana Yellow finish plastic top and the outer black plastic sections of the body and neck are fully intact with no cracks or repairs, showing light scuffing overall but free of any major imperfections. The back-painted clear plastic pickguard has a tight crack running from the lower treble pickup screw to the uppermost switch that is visible but not causing any functional problems. The fragile thin plastic neck sheath (often cracked or completely missing by now) is complete, solid, and smooth to the touch looking practically new.
The hardware is largely original but as noted we believe the bridge to be a period replacement, although Wandre parts are often inconsistent at best even from the factory so it is hard to be 100% sure. There is a small screw behind the bridge that once held the mute assembly, and the plastic cover over the rear trem section is a later plastic approximation of the missing original.
The pickups and wiring appear all original the covers show some plating wear but everything works as intended and sounds superb. The frets show very little wear; the instrument appears little played over the past 60 years. This is a very fine playing and fabulous sounding guitar despite (or because of) its eccentric construction, and it's a pleasant surprise to most who play Wandre's creations for the first time to discover the world-class sound and feel of these truly original guitars! This yellow "Doris" lives in a more modern oversize dreadnought case; Wandres often originally were sold only in flimsy gig bags that have often gone missing by now. Excellent Condition.