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Post by toom on Jan 8, 2012 11:27:24 GMT
I have a Continental style N single cone resonator, made in 1998, signed by Günther Lenz . I bought it recently, having been told by the seller it was made in the Czech Republic. I have now been told by somebody else that Amistar stopped making guitars for Continental in 1996/7. Amistar do state this on their website.
Did Hans Graf sign the guitars made in the Czech Republic and Günther Lenz those made in China?
I have written to both Amistar and AMI find out where it was made.
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Post by Michael Messer on Jan 8, 2012 12:41:44 GMT
Hi Toom,
Nobody has quite uncovered the whole story of what happened, but I believe that not many Continental guitars were made in the Czech Republic and Germany, and that most were made in China. If not the guitars, the bodies and cones.
This accounts for so many connections in Shanghai with those guitars and the brand name. We buy Continental cones for our MM and Busker guitars and the moulds used to make the backs of our guitars and the fronts of the Tricones, are (I believe) the ones used to make Continentals. Also, I have received sample/prototype guitars from my workshop with the Continental-style Tricone headstock design. There are other similarities in the build and build quality.
Nobody is very clear about this and every owner of a Continental guitar wants to believe that theirs is a 'real' one built in the Czech Republic.
My guy in Shanghai claims to have been behind much of what was built under the Continental banner. In fact most Shanghai-built resonator guitars over the past 20 years have come from the same group of small workshops; neck builders, body factory, cone factory...etc.
One of the problems in tracing this history is that 'most' of the western companies that he dealt with, had no interest in the guitars or the people who made them, so they were supplied guitars and no other communication happened. In 25 years of working in the guitar industry in Shanghai, I was the first customer he had ever met!
Shine On
Michael.
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Post by toom on Jan 8, 2012 12:58:49 GMT
Indeed! Oh well, this has made my Sunday more interesting. Perhaps I'll get a reply from Amistar or AMI, but I somehow doubt if it will be conclusive.
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Post by toremainn on Jan 8, 2012 17:10:02 GMT
This is taken from the Amistar website :
AMISTAR HISTORY.
The idea began soon after the New Year of 1991, when I got my hands on a pre-war Tricone metal body National to use as a sample. It took us most of that year to research various materials, technologies, moulds, and construction techniques.
Then in December 1991, we made our first two Tricone bodies becoming the first on the market since the ending of the 2nd World War!
The New National Co. made some single cone, wooden bodies at that time. They started producing the tricones bodies beginning 1993-94. Our first Tricones (under the Continental brand name – were assembled in Munich by the AMI GmbH.) were exhibited at the NAMM Show in Los Angeles, California at the SAGA booth.
Those were an absolute Sensation! Everyone wanted one immediately!
That was the beginning of it all.
Following the next year we made new moulds and introduced the Single cone and Single cone Cutaway models.
During the year 1996-97, we had ended the Continental production line, with the AMI Company. Soon afterwards, we started our own production line under the AMISTAR brand name and the first complete AMISTAR guitar was born in August 1997. I took 2 guitars to the NAMM Show in January 1998 and made our first distribution agreement for the USA!
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Post by Michael Messer on Jan 8, 2012 18:29:35 GMT
That story is not (IMO) quite as accurate as it could be. It misses out the fact that Hans Graf (who I believe to be the founder of Continental) had only ever seen a square neck Tricone and that I (and I think Mark Makin) provided information and maybe some drawings of a round neck Tricone. It didn't seem important at the time, it was just another person asking for information about vintage Nationals, and for that reason my memory of the calls and what took place, is somewhat hazy.
While they may have been the first on the market, it was actually Alan Timmins & Mark Makin who built the first brass bodied nickel plated Tricone since the demise of National, which was in 1988. It was Alan & Mark who provided National with their first 'T' bridges for Tricones.
I don't think there will ever be a definitive history of the Continental company and where and when those guitars were made.
Shine On
Michael.
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Post by toom on Jan 8, 2012 19:08:03 GMT
There's certainly a lot of misinformation about Continental guitars. AMI (who supply them) wrote the following -
According to a German dealer, the bodies are now made in China, the necks made in Hungary, then the guitars assembled in Munich. Is it legally acceptable to say the guitars are hand-crafted in Munich? It certainly says that on the label inside my Continental. Even the older guitars were built in Czechoslovakia, the necks in Japan, then assembled in Germany.
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Post by toom on Jan 8, 2012 19:42:44 GMT
www.amistar.cz/pdf/grandgtr.pdfHans O. Graf and Günther Lutz went to Frantisek Javurek in 1991 with a 1928 squarenecked National tricone, and asked him if he would make one. He'd never seen or played one before, but agreed, saying, "I’m a crazy guy, why not?" In 1991, the first Continental resonators appeared. The bodies were made in Czecheslovakia, the necks in Japan, and they were assembled and set up by Günther Lutz in Munich (I'm sure it said his surname was Lenz in another article I read). There's a photo of the young Bob Brosman with the first Continental tricone.
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Post by Michael Messer on Jan 8, 2012 20:33:22 GMT
It is legal to buy components in the far east, assemble them in Freedonia, and label the product 'Made In Freedonia'. I know this is so because I researched it for my own MM guitars.
Shine On
Michael.
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Post by toom on Jan 9, 2012 9:57:53 GMT
I've had a reply from Amistar - Hi Philip, thnx for your email. This guitar was not made by Amistar, sorry. Sincerely, Franta Javurek and AMI - Hallo Herr , alle Continental Gitarren werden in unserem Hause (AMI-GmbH siehe Website www.ami-gmbh.de ) in München zusammen gebaut. Der Korpus kommt aus China und die Hälse aus Tschechien. (all assembled in Munich. Body from China, necks from Czech Republic) Mit freundlichen Grüßen Andreas Doms Oh well, you live and learn. It's still a good guitar. I'm a little annoyed with the previous owner for saying it was made by Amistar, but I'm sure he believed it was. |
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