1964 Silvertone 1478 Electric Guitar w/ Case & VIDEO – DeArmond Pickups

We are Eclectic Sounds / aka: eclsounds – a store front in Portland, Or. We are open 7 days a week from 11 – 5 PST (by appointment)

This may be the nicest 1478 you will every play and see. It’s a gem through and through. Comes with original case.

Weight: 7lbs 14oz

 

Neck:  Super chunky neck with 3-ply binding & black side-dots.  Brazilian rosewood fingerboard & mother of pearl block inlays.  1 3/4″ nut width; 24″ scale length.  Neck is straight & truss rod functions.

Body:  Offset, solidbody in two-tone sunburst finish.  Tremolo tailpiece with cover & simple rosewood bridge.  4-ply large tortoise pickguard.  Guitar weighs 7 lbs 14 oz.

Pickups:  DeArmond single coils with “diamond” tops. Dual volume & tone controls with 3-way toggle switch.  All electronics are in good working condition.

 

The Harmony-built ‘Silhouette’-based
1478 had as long a run as the 1477, initially appearing in the same 1964 catalog listing as the ‘Bobkat’-based guitar. With its Jazzmaster good looks, all-around bound fingerboard, fancy block fret marker inlays, snazzy gold silkscreen logo to match the gold translucent knobs, and the first of this series out of the gate with a vibrato tailpiece made the 1478 the ‘better’ guitar of the bunch. At the end of the run, the model split into some color and hardware variations.

 

In 1959, Joe Fisher became the principal musical instrument buyer for Sears. He stayed in the position until 1968 and eventually became a vice president of the company. He had a big impact on how the Silvertone line developed in the ’60s. He could see the demand for guitars growing and he worked with his guitar suppliers to develop instruments with features that young players wanted at prices they could afford. It was through his effort that Silvertone emerged as the leading brand for garage band guitarists. In the mid-’60s a Fender Strat sold new for around $300. A good starter Silvertone could be had for around $80. The math made sense to thousands of players.

During the ’60s, Silvertone tapped many of America’s guitar makers. Names  like Harmony, Kay, Danelectro, Supro, Valco and National all made guitars under the Silvertone name. Some of these were nearly identical to those that wore the maker’s name and others were developed specifically for Silvertone.

 

 

( Due to people taking advantage of eBay / Reverb return policies; wanting to “try out and/or pilfer parts”  we can no longer take returns on used gear unless it arrives damaged. Sorry for this inconvenience. We test and guarantee all gear to be 100% working unless stated otherwise )

Come play this gear in our shop!