Micro-Frets Calibra I Model Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar, c. 1969, made in Fredrick, Maryland, cherry red lacquer finish, maple body; maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
Some of the most unique and original American guitars of the late 1960's and early 1970's came out of Frederick, Maryland, where the small Micro-Frets company built their beautifully engineered if slightly oddball fretted offerings. This Calibra I thin hollow body guitar is one of the company's signature instruments. It carries many of the firm's trademark design elements, including a light semi-hollow body, white plastic-encased pickups, and the patented Micro-Nut, which allows harmonic compensation at the headstock.
At the other end of the strings is the "Calibrato" vibrato unit, the heart of Micro-frets legend; this is a floating vibrato and bridge assembly which allows individual tension adjustments for each string, theoretically allowing entire chords to be raised and lowered while remaining in tune. The Calibrato was originally offered as an add-on for existing guitars; in some ways the Micro-frets line was designed around it! The Calibrato was advertised as having "Precise Pitch modulation" and includes the "microsonic bridge with sustained harmonic action and floating power" -- you know that HAS to be special!
The hollow body is built in two pieces meeting at the rim finished in a brilliant cherry lacquer, while the maple neck is natural with an unbound rosewood fingerboard. Tone, volume, and pickup select controls are carried on a top-mounted pickguard. Tuners are the original openback Waverly strip and the sculpted space-age headstock also carries the brand logo and model name.
This is a very good playing guitar with a slim neck and bright, responsive pickups. The sound is crisp and hi-fi with surprising depth when needed; the tonal range is impressive. This model was one of the company's more popular guitars; several prominent country artists endorsed the line in the late 1960's and this is the model used by Carl Perkins, among others. Micro-Frets may have had a fairly short history (although the company has seen a recent revival attempt) but the high-quality, well-engineered instruments they left behind are very fine examples of American guitar ingenuity and worthy of the attention of both players and collectors.
Overall length is 42 1/2 in. (108 cm.), 14 in. (35.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/2 in. (3.8 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.).
All original with only minor playing wear, no visible damage or repair. A really nice example with the original HSC. Excellent + Condition.
