{"product_id":"wandre-roby-semi-hollow-body-electric-guitar-1962-13984","title":"Wandre Roby Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1962)","description":"Wandre Roby Model Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1962), made in Cavriago, Italy, black with sparkles finish, laminated wood body, aluminum neck with rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Wandre story is an epic book-length tale of the battle between creativity and commerce, and there is an (unfortunately rare) 2014 book \"WANDRE-The Artist Of The Electric Guitar\" by Marco Ballestri available for the curious! In the wake of some wildly eccentric designs like the extreme cutaway Rock Oval and the wildly sculptural Rock 6 by 1962 Italian guitar artist Wandre Pioli was convinced to put a few more generally marketable instruments into production, largely at the suggestion of his distributors. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe \"Roby\" extreme double cutaway design debuted in 1962, for a Wandre Pioli creation a relatively conventional looking instrument designed for maximum sonic appeal and improved playability. It named for Wandre's newly born second son; like many of Pioli's designs is was \"inspired\" by an extra-musical concept, supposedly subliminally conjuring up a small child with open arms! Like the contemporary Gibson SG (which may have \"inspired\" it as well) the Roby neck was largely free of the body, although the body does have a large heel section somewhat impinging access above the 14th fret. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe just-over 15\" wide but thin hollow body is made of light plywood with a gold glitter-speckled black coating. This design was offered in several guitar versions and a bass was added to the line in 1963. This is the original deluxe variant of the Roby with three excellent sounding Davoli pickups and vibrato; when new it was Wandre's most expensive guitar at 135,000 Lira. A few Roby guitars briefly were briefly imported by Don Noble to the US; this one is marked \"Export\" so may be one of them which would have been listed as the \"Roby Colortone\" in his catalog. It may also have originally been sold elsewhere in Europe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBesides the unique aesthetics, the most trailblazing feature Wandre guitars is the bolt-on aluminum neck. Over a decade before Travis Bean or Veleno, this instrument features a thin, rounded aluminum core neck set into wood body with a cradle making it adjustable for angle with a screw. The rosewood fingerboard has a zero fret and multi-color plastic inlay illustrating (from top to bottom) the Wandre logo, the crest of Cavriago where they were made, a red banner with \"mod. Roby\" engraved and an \"Export\" logo, indicating it was destined for sale outside Italy. This model has the white plastic neck sheath which many feel offers a more traditionally playable feel than the raw aluminum. The aluminum-trimmed slotted mahogany headstock is bolted to the neck, with sheathed Davoli-made tuners on either side and an aluminum nut spacer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThree chrome Davoli pickups are mounted solidly in a molded white plastic pickguard sub-assembly partially recessed into the body, the whole assembly adjustable for height via four screws. The controls are housed in a separate modular molded white plastic sub-assembly sunk into the lower body at an angle. These consist of color-coded master tone and volume knobs and three white accordion style push buttons to engage the pickups singly or in any combination. The original output jack is a regular 1\/4\" phone plug style for the non-Italian market, housed at the back of the electronics assembly with the knobs mounted above. These are Wandre's plastic \"space age\" style with an additional round metal sheath around the sides. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe bridge is a Hofner-style slotted piece but milled from aluminum rather than rosewood with 6 fretwire saddles, adjustable for height on two posts. The strings run back to the proprietary Wandre vibrato assembly sunk into the body with a tubular plastic-tipped arm and a decorative stamped metal \"W\" logo screwed on behind. There is a silver-and-blue Wandre logo sticker on the side of the body in the upper cutaway; we don't know if it was originally situated there, was moved from another location (unlikely) or simply added along the way. There are no other brand logos on the headstock or body, just the \"Davoli\" stampings on the pickups. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the three pickups can be combined in any combination the range of tones is greater then many Wandre offerings; overall this is one of his best sounding and playing instruments; if not the most visually striking it still looks and feels like no other maker's creation. We particularly like the slightly strangled twang of the two back pickups together! The Roby offers the best playing and engineering features of the Wandre line combined with this extra sonic versatility, another rare, wonderful and iconic piece of the Wandre puzzle, unique as they all are and simply a cheerfully fun instrument to play.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eOverall length is 41 5\/8 in. (105.7 cm.), 15 1\/4 in. (38.7 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5\/8 in. (4.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3\/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5\/8 in. (41 mm.). \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis rare guitar has survived nearly 65 years in very nice condition, showing only fairly light wear and tear. Wandre instruments are often missing parts or have damaged bodies due to the quirky nature of their construction; this one has survived in very solid and all original condition.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe plastic sheath covering the aluminum neck has some staining and shows tight stress marks along the centerline and some shrinkage along the fingerboard extension but has no deep feelable cracks or chipping. The headstock has some nicks and dings but no really heavy wear. There are some long checking lines, small dings, scratches and dents to the body covering, but overall it is fully intact and presents well. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe single-unit molded plastic pickup holder is fully intact with no cracks or breaks, as is the somewhat fragile plastic electronics unit housing with the tone and volume knobs mounted on it. Both have some light discolorations and scuffing but have survived better than many. The bridge with its 6 fretwire saddles is fully intact as is the rest of the hardware including the unique and impossible-to-replace vibrato arm. Overall the metal has some tarnish and scuffing but again nothing too severe. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis triple-pickup guitar plays very well and sounds great, quite versatile and one of the most easily usable of all Wandre instruments. It is particularly versatile with the Davoli pickups imparting a unique sound in any combination. Wandre's space-age construction sometimes results in a fairly ethereal feeling guitar but this chunkier-feeling semi-hollow model is a solid-feeling player, ready to go in a modern hardshell case. Overall Excellent - Condition.","brand":"Wandre","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59122796331148,"sku":"13984","price":5750.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0672\/8702\/3756\/files\/01_56888656-10ca-452d-98e9-85b7f9743712.jpg?v=1789500838","url":"https:\/\/retrofret.com\/products\/wandre-roby-semi-hollow-body-electric-guitar-1962-13984","provider":"RetroFret","version":"1.0","type":"link"}