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Hello all, I've been out on tour the last three weeks and missed out on the forum during that time. I got to see a few of the forum members out at the shows (hey, Mel!) and it's always good to geek out with fellow guitar nuts when I see you all in person.

Last month forum member Geoff Stitch had some videos and discussion about his late 60's Gruggett Stradette, well Geoff and I worked out a trade when i was in San Francisco and I brought her home to join the rest of the Bakersfield woodpile.

The Gruggett Stradette is a shape that is not for everyone, but I dig it! I think it's wild, crazy, and original. Bill always talks about how this particular guitar won the "Ugliest Guitar Contest" in Guitar Player magazine back in the 80's, but it was actually the "Miss Off-The-Wall" contest--and there's a big difference. Unusual--YES. Ugly? I don't think so!

The fact that this one is in blue Martian sunburst just makes it better, as far as I'm concerned. I'm happy to finally own an original Gruggett from the 60's, thanks Geoff!

Bill also recently told me an anecdote I had never heard before--when he finished making these things in the 70's, he sold some of the bodies and necks to a man in a wheelchair, who put together a few under the "GIT-FIDDLE" name. I think that's the best description of the Stradette yet! Has anybody ever seen one of these labeled "Git-Fiddle?" If so, i want to see it.

Glad to be back--

Deke

Deke Dickerson wrote:Hello all, I've been out on tour the last three weeks and missed out on the forum during that time. I got to see a few of the forum members out at the shows (hey, Mel!) and it's always good to geek out with fellow guitar nuts when I see you all in person.

Last month forum member Geoff Stitch had some videos and discussion about his late 60's Gruggett Stradette, well Geoff and I worked out a trade when i was in San Francisco and I brought her home to join the rest of the Bakersfield woodpile.

The Gruggett Stradette is a shape that is not for everyone, but I dig it! I think it's wild, crazy, and original. Bill always talks about how this particular guitar won the "Ugliest Guitar Contest" in Guitar Player magazine back in the 80's, but it was actually the "Miss Off-The-Wall" contest--and there's a big difference. Unusual--YES. Ugly? I don't think so!

The fact that this one is in blue Martian sunburst just makes it better, as far as I'm concerned. I'm happy to finally own an original Gruggett from the 60's, thanks Geoff!

Bill also recently told me an anecdote I had never heard before--when he finished making these things in the 70's, he sold some of the bodies and necks to a man in a wheelchair, who put together a few under the "GIT-FIDDLE" name. I think that's the best description of the Stradette yet! Has anybody ever seen one of these labeled "Git-Fiddle?" If so, i want to see it.

Glad to be back--

Deke

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g143/ ... dette1.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g143/ ... dette2.jpg

http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g143/ ... C07644.jpg

Deke,

I don't DARE hijack this thread, so please PM me if there are any plans
on you doing any playing anywhere in Florida in the future....THANX!!!

Congratulations on the trade!!

Deke Dickerson wrote:...Bakersfield woodpile.

............good to know the Bill Gruggett Stradette is in good hands

Hi Deke and congrats!

Paul

I've always really like these guitars. Looks like a satanic violin. the blueburst is awesome!

This makes little sense, but the Stradettes (I own a Hallmark one and love it) always remind me of this bit at the end of the old Firesign Theater album:

"Be with us next week when Nick Danger meets . . . THE SCARAB!"

This guitar is what The Scarab would play.

--Jim

BTW Deke, were those the same pickups that were used on the early fiberglass Standel guitars????

Congratulations Deke!

Did Bill make all the Stradettes by himself or did he have help? I know there weren't many built, but how many variations are there? I've seen photos of one at the Kern County Museum website with a scroll headstock, different pickups and a Celeb style trem.

As near as I can tell (and Bob, if you can shed further light, let me know):

The very first Stradette was made in the Mosrite factory, had a scroll headstock, and actually said Mosrite on the headstock. That's the one that's in the Bakersfield Kern County museum. It was quite different from the production models in that it had a carved top, scroll headstock, etc.

The first batch of Gruggett Stradettes were made in the hallmark factory in Arvin in 1966 and 1967. They had the same pickups and hardware as the Hallmark Swept Wings. The pickups had exposed polepieces and tortoise shell plastic.

Bill must have made up way too many bodies and necks, anticipating demand, because he would keep making these things in small batches for years to come.

The second batch, which was around '69-'70, used lots of leftover parts, like the Standel pickups, some used the Standel vibratos too. That's what my blueburst is, one of the second batch.

Bill kept making Stradettes here and there, including one last batch in 1976.

Bill told me that when he was finally "done" with them, that he sold the remaining stock to a local guy who was in a wheelchair, and that this guy made a few under the name "Git-Fiddle."

Artie from Front Porch actually wound up buying the remainder of stock from a yard sale (correct me if this part of the story is wrong, Artie), and sold it back to Bill! So a few years ago when Bill made a few handmade Stradette reissues, he used original 60's bodies.

Best guess is that there were 40 or so Stradettes made in 1967, and a hundred or so made over the years after that. I've heard Bill say "a couple hundred," but they just don't pop up for sale often enough for there to be that many.

Deke

Hey Deke! I am glad you got the blue Stradette!

Here is the Stradette history in a nutshell.

The very first Stradette was a bass built while at Mosrite in 1965. Bill was dreaming about a new guitar that he could design and build, that would set the mod generation into a tizzy. His favorite band at the time was the Beatles (I have a picture of Bill with a Beatles wig on holding a 1963 Ventures bass he gigged with), and thought he could mix a Mosrite and a Hofner together and based on the popularity of the Beatles and the Ventures, he would have an instant hit product! However,the world was not yet ready for the Stradette.

He wanted the Stradette to be better than the Hofner. He created the scroll headstock, and along with the solid chambered design and a Mosrite pickup it had more tone, it had more of a good bass tone and less of a "thud honk" ala Hofner. Shortly after this creation Bill quit Mosrite in 1966 and started his tenure at Hallmark Guitars with Joe Hall and Andy Moseley.

The first Stradette 6 string guitar built was made at Hallmark and was built out of Alder and a bunch of Mosrite fretboards glued together to create the solid rosewood top. Bill made a German carve on this model and the bass only. All others were pressed tops. This bore the Hallmark brand on the violinesque headstock. This guitar now lives comfortably with Joe Maphis's doubleneck and various Bakersfield artist's guitars in the Kern County Museum in Bakersfield. A good while later the owner of this 1st Stradette 6 string guitar had Bill change the headstock plastic plate to bear the Gruggett logo as he wanted people to know Bill had built the guitar.

Joe Hall let Bill work on the Stradettes at Hallmark when time permitted.

All remaining Stradettes that were created in the 60's and 70's did not have the scroll headstock, only the first two were created this way. It is alot of careful hand work. The early Stradettes had Standel vibrato's and Hallmark pickups and bridges. Very few parts were Mosrite, I believe it was only the strap buttons and switches and bridge saddles. By the 70's Bill was taking the leftover bodies and putting what ever Bakersfield parts he could find on them. Standel pickups were a clear indication of a 70's model.

When Bill joined Hallmark again in the late 90's we were building hand built guitars only at the very beginning. Bill built the Stradettes and I built the Swept-Wings. Bill had a dozen of leftover bodies from the 60's and these were used for this run. No other original pieces existed, just bodies. All of these new Stradettes had scroll work on the headstocks and the Hallmark logo with hand wound pickups and alot of fancy appointments. I would dream up the finishes and find fancy plastic for the bindings and pickguard and pickup covers, and send all of the materials including hardware to Bill. All of these models featured the new Hallmark Shade vibrato ( the very first were sandcast as we were not yet set up for die cast) and hand made bridges. Andy Moseley has the very first one built. Andy was excited to see the Hallmark brand up and running again and purchased the very first one to help us and wish us luck. Thank you Andy!


Long live Bill Gruggett and the Stradette guitar!

Bob Shade