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Greetings from Brazil

Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 2:44 pm
by -90-
Greetings, fellow Mosrite lovers!

Rodrigo "90" Kothe here, typing from Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. I found out about this forum at surfguitar101, which I frequently read and very occasionally post at - too much action in there for me to actively follow, I´m afraid.
I first got interested in the unique look of Mosrites because of Johnny Ramone. But seeing and listening to the Ventures is what really made me go crazy about those guitars. Alas, I still don´t own a Mos, but if things go my way I might get me a Hallmark Custom 60s in the very near future, and later on have fun building clones with a luthier. :mrgreen:
I also play surf / instro with my band, Cochabambas. Brazilian band, bolivian name. Go figure.
Besides my love of Mosrites, the offspring of Leo Fender and weird guitars in general, I´m into brazilian electric guitars from the 60s as well. Although they were primitive to say the least and OK at their best, I´m still crazy for a particular model, the Giannini Supersonic. So crazy, in fact, that I´ve dedicated a blog to it. Drop by and look at the cool pictures, never mind it being written in portuguese. And congratulations to whoever had the idea of setting this forum in the first place. Cheers!

Re: Greetings from Brazil

Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:05 pm
by dubtrub
Howdy Rodrigo, and welcome to our forum. If you decide to go with the Hallmark Custom '60 I think it will be an excellent choice. Looking forward to you participation.

Re: Greetings from Brazil

Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 3:23 pm
by -90-
dubtrub wrote:Howdy Rodrigo, and welcome to our forum. If you decide to go with the Hallmark Custom '60 I think it will be an excellent choice. Looking forward to you participation.


Thanks Dubtrub. I´ve heard (or rather read) nothing but good things about the Hallmarks so far, and at the current exchange rate it´s a pretty good deal even with custom fees. Hardest part is which color to choose

Re: Greetings from Brazil

Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:29 pm
by dubtrub
-90- wrote:So crazy, in fact, that I´ve dedicated a blog to it. Drop by and look at the cool pictures, never mind it being written in portuguese. Cheers!

..........and here is the translated version. ( I hope) Giannini Supersonic

Also I listened to your band on myspace. Nice sounding surf group.

Re: Greetings from Brazil

Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:42 pm
by -90-
Gotta love babelfish, hilarious translation. That´s why us translators will never be out of work :D
but just in case anyone is curious, the supersonic - a hybrid of a jag and a strat, or an improved strat rather - was probably the best brazilian made guitar in the 60s. There were serious restrictions to imported goods up to the early 90s around here, so young aspiring musicians had to make do with whatever was available. You can even make one yourself, if you take a strat style guitar and saw the horns off you´re halfway there. :D
Heck, if I were in the US I´d buy a MIM strat and do just that. :twisted:

Re: Greetings from Brazil

Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 8:50 pm
by Dennisthe Menace
Welcome to the Forum Rodrigo!
WoW! Giannini! Pardon my ignorance, but is this the same Manufacturer that made the
Acoustic Guitar that had a Half Kidney Bean Shape Body on the bass side (for a lack of
a better description) and a regular acoustic style on the Treble side? I'm not all that
familiar with their Electrics if it is the same Company, but our Keyboard/Rhythm Guitarist
has such a model from the early 70s, and it is an awesome guitar!
http://www.hotstringsguitar.us/catalog/GWSCRA6-P-EL.jpg

Re: Greetings from Brazil

Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 10:40 pm
by -90-
Hey Dennis

You´re right, they are the same factory which built that quirky acoustic, the "craviola", designed by the late great player Paulinho Nogueira and turned into a cult instrument by Jimmy Page.
A reasonable number of those were exported to the US in the 70s, and around the 00s they started making them again.
http://www.giannini.com.br/eng/inst_brazil.asp
On 4 non blondes´ "what´s going on" video you can also spot a craviola on the hands of Linda Perry.
Funny story was, when they started making those again the code name for the Craviola Pro model was CRAP :lol: , fortunately they changed it.

Re: Greetings from Brazil

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 7:48 am
by Dennisthe Menace
-90- wrote:Hey Dennis

You´re right, they are the same factory which built that quirky acoustic, the "craviola", designed by the late great player Paulinho Nogueira and turned into a cult instrument by Jimmy Page.
A reasonable number of those were exported to the US in the 70s, and around the 00s they started making them again.
http://www.giannini.com.br/eng/inst_brazil.asp
On 4 non blondes´ "what´s going on" video you can also spot a craviola on the hands of Linda Perry.
Funny story was, when they started making those again the code name for the Craviola Pro model was CRAP :lol: , fortunately they changed it.

Wow, Paulinho Nogueira was A PLAYER!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27_vZxpl-2U

Re: Greetings from Brazil

Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 8:50 am
by -90-
Dennisthe Menace wrote:
-90- wrote:Hey Dennis

You´re right, they are the same factory which built that quirky acoustic, the "craviola", designed by the late great player Paulinho Nogueira and turned into a cult instrument by Jimmy Page.
A reasonable number of those were exported to the US in the 70s, and around the 00s they started making them again.
http://www.giannini.com.br/eng/inst_brazil.asp
On 4 non blondes´ "what´s going on" video you can also spot a craviola on the hands of Linda Perry.
Funny story was, when they started making those again the code name for the Craviola Pro model was CRAP :lol: , fortunately they changed it.

Wow, Paulinho Nogueira was A PLAYER!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27_vZxpl-2U


He was one of the greats of the "brazilian guitar" school - guys who felt at ease playing either classical pieces or more popular styles such as samba and choro. This one is probably Nogueira´s most well-know piece
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIt9lwaT1Jc&feature=related

And here´s a personal favorite: Baden Powell. It has been said that the history of Brazilian guitar can be divided in two eras: before Baden Powell and after Baden Powell. I missed the opportunity to see him playing live in São Paulo once and regret that badly, he died shortly after :oops:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWqsuGu2FM8

There used to be a video of him playing Monk´s "round about midnight" on Youtube, but I´m afraid it was removed.