Vintage 1960s Hallmark "Swept-Wing" Electric Guitar - Red with Hard Case, Extremely Rare and Original!
#011106, made in Bakersfield, CA c. 1966-1968.
Extremely rare Hallmark electric guitar, Hallmark was originally only in business from 1966-1968, founded by Joe Hall, a former Mosrite employee. Only about 100 of this model were believed to have been made from this era, whose design was inspired by Bob Bogle of The Ventures. In recent years the company was re-vamped by Bob Shade, with many modern ones partially made in South Korea and finished in the US.
As you can tell, it has a very Mosrite-influenced design if you look at the headstock, hardware and pickups. The "Swept-Wing" shape is very futuristic and is reminiscent of the Star Trek symbol. Has a bolt-on maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, 25.5'' scale. The originals also had either alder or mahogany bodies, this one appears to be alder, with nitro finish. For reference, Vintage Guitar magazine has an article online about the Swept-Wing. This particular guitar is also featured in the book "The Strat in the Attic: Thrilling Stories of Guitar Archaeology" by Deke Dickerson.
As far as condition it's good, with checking, some dents/dings throughout (see pictures) and fret-wear but appears to be all-original and in functional condition. Single volume and tone controls with vibrato. The pickup selector switch is a bit stiff back and forth, and there is a slight drop in volume between the neck and bridge pickups. Most hardware looks to be intact, we only noticed a missing acorn cap nut on the bridge for the high E string (see pictures).
This one's a local consignment, and originally came from a shop in Wichita, KS owned by Milo Wiley, one of the first Fender dealers ever! Perfect for a vintage guitar collector, a unique piece of guitar history!
We believe the case was originally for a Fender Bass VI, but the guitar fits well in it.
Weight is 7 lbs, 5 oz.
Please let us know if you have any questions.
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EDR