Klira Model 300 Model Solid Body Electric Guitar, c. 1965, made in Germany, blue Polyester finish, hardwood body, laminated jhardwood neck, rosewood fingerboard, black gig bag case.
The world of German guitars from the 1960s is vast and still somewhat unexplored. The connection of Hofner to the Beatles and Framus to the Rolling Stones has given these builders a certain immortality, but there were numerous others including Hopf, Roger and Klira that are far less well remembered, especially here in the US.
This baby blue guitar is a typical offering from the latter maker, in the semi-Fender style that dominated European solidbodies in the early 1960s. It mounts two possibly Schaller made pickups on a thin Strattish body, controlled by the same two-lever, one knob circuit Framus used on the well-known Star-Bass. The neck is Fender like as well, and very similar to contemporary Hofner solidbody practice. The openback tuners have nifty pearloid crown shaped buttons.
This is a basic but nifty little guitar, good playing and sounding with a fairly versatile tone circuit and a simple but surprisingly functional vibrato. The main attraction is perhaps the lovely sonic blue like polyester finish, but as budget 1960s solidbodies go this is a real gem.
Overall length is 38 3/4 in. (98.4 cm.), 13 1/2 in. (34.3 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/8 in. (3.5 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 in. (610 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.). This is a slightly scruffy little guitar cosmetically but structurally excellent and a good player. The body finish has some typical heavy checking but the neck is lacquer and relatively clean. There is scuffing and some general residue in areas and some corrosion to metal parts but overall nothing too bad. The headstock logo appears to have fallen off but otherwise the guitar appears all original. The neck is straight, the truss rod works (some of these do not!) and the frets have only light wear making this a far more playable instrument than many of its Euro- and Japanese contemporaries. Overall this is a fairly nifty find in a period solidbody, a funky-but-chic piece of the Grand Teutonic guitar tradition. Overall Very Good + Condition.
