Wandre Twist Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1962)
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Item #13998
Wandre Twist Model Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1962), made in Cavriago, Italy, black sparkle lacquer finish, hardwood body, plastic sheathed aluminum neck with rosewood fingerboard, hard shell case.
"What are those guitars -- man, we don't have those in the STATES!" So spoke Bob Dylan in 1965, captured on film looking into the window of an English music store full of Wandre guitars. These amazingly futuristic and completely original instruments, sold under several brand names in Europe, have fascinated electric guitar fans since the '60s, but many players have still never seen or handled one. All Wandres are eccentric to the extreme; this one has the best of this Italian artist/engineer's concepts wedded to a more functional guitar superstructure than many. The full Wandre story is a book-length epic tale of creativity and commerce, and indeed there is a book by Marco Ballestri available for the curious!
The "Twist" model was in production from 1963 to 1966 after being slowly developed into the market as early as 1962. With any Wandre, as few bore serial numbers, we can mostly date these instruments with context clues from the ever-changing (and often used as available with general abandon in regards to consistency) hardware. This one is seemingly from the early limited production period around 1962; it features the plain engraved flat headstock commonly used from 61-62 as well as a holdover diamond emblazoned Davloli pickup which had been largely replaced by Wandre branded pickup covers by the end of 1961.
The Twist is one of the more "conventional" of Wandre Pioli's 1960s designs, this basic model fitting just one of the Davoli pickups he favored in the cream plastic pickguard/bridge assembly floating over the body. This early version is controlled with just a single space age looking volume knob mounted to the molded pickguard with the jack housed in a raised plastic box just below it.
Wandre's proprietary plastic-sheathed aluminum neck is mounted on a fairly "normal" wooden solid body in a modified Fenderesque mode. Since it's a Wandre, that body is also finished in a subtly glitzy black sparkle lacquer finish. The "W"-badged tailpiece is another of Wandres creations, and this one bears the fairly simply Hofner-style rosewood adjustable bridge found on a fair amount of other European guitars at the time. All Wandre guitars are really unlike any other in both sound and feel. While this basic Twist model is more "conventional" than many of Wandre Pioli's more eccentrically-shaped electric children, it maintains all the signature sonic and engineering features of the line combined with a more solid playing feel than most.
Overall length is 44 1/4 in. (112.4 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 7/8 in. (4.8 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.).
This rather rare guitar has survived in original and largely quite decent condition; all original hardware is intact including the often lost or cracked plastic sheath covering the aluminum neck which results in a significantly more comfortable playing experience. these guitars are often missing parts or have damaged bodies due to the quirky nature of their construction.
The single-unit molded plastic apparatus holding the pickup, electronics, and bridge has been visibly repaired; several sealed cracks radiate from around the pickup, with one off the lower bridge post. These have been secured with transparent glue and are secure but visible. The fragile thin plastic neck sheath shows some checking and discoloration from handwear but is still complete, solid, and smooth to the touch.
The also somewhat fragile jack housing and single volume knob are intact; it appears the original jack is standard 1/4" jack replacing than the 5mm Geloso jack fitted to many Wandres and Italian consumer electronics of the time which are completely obsolete now; this the most common modification of a non-import Wandre. The adjustable bridge with its 6 fretwire saddles is fully intact as is the rest of the fairly minimal hardware.
This single-pickup guitar plays and sounds fantastic even if not particularly versatile with the airy-but-biting sound the Davoli pickup imparts to Wandre's space-age construction. Being a more conventional solid body, this Twist is much sturdier feeling and a bit more aggressive sounding compared to the ethereal semi-hollow designs that make up much of the Wandre line. This is a nice example from the more far-out reaches of '60s guitar design, ready to go in a very solid modern hardshell case. Overall Very Good + Condition.
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"What are those guitars -- man, we don't have those in the STATES!" So spoke Bob Dylan in 1965, captured on film looking into the window of an English music store full of Wandre guitars. These amazingly futuristic and completely original instruments, sold under several brand names in Europe, have fascinated electric guitar fans since the '60s, but many players have still never seen or handled one. All Wandres are eccentric to the extreme; this one has the best of this Italian artist/engineer's concepts wedded to a more functional guitar superstructure than many. The full Wandre story is a book-length epic tale of creativity and commerce, and indeed there is a book by Marco Ballestri available for the curious!
The "Twist" model was in production from 1963 to 1966 after being slowly developed into the market as early as 1962. With any Wandre, as few bore serial numbers, we can mostly date these instruments with context clues from the ever-changing (and often used as available with general abandon in regards to consistency) hardware. This one is seemingly from the early limited production period around 1962; it features the plain engraved flat headstock commonly used from 61-62 as well as a holdover diamond emblazoned Davloli pickup which had been largely replaced by Wandre branded pickup covers by the end of 1961.
The Twist is one of the more "conventional" of Wandre Pioli's 1960s designs, this basic model fitting just one of the Davoli pickups he favored in the cream plastic pickguard/bridge assembly floating over the body. This early version is controlled with just a single space age looking volume knob mounted to the molded pickguard with the jack housed in a raised plastic box just below it.
Wandre's proprietary plastic-sheathed aluminum neck is mounted on a fairly "normal" wooden solid body in a modified Fenderesque mode. Since it's a Wandre, that body is also finished in a subtly glitzy black sparkle lacquer finish. The "W"-badged tailpiece is another of Wandres creations, and this one bears the fairly simply Hofner-style rosewood adjustable bridge found on a fair amount of other European guitars at the time. All Wandre guitars are really unlike any other in both sound and feel. While this basic Twist model is more "conventional" than many of Wandre Pioli's more eccentrically-shaped electric children, it maintains all the signature sonic and engineering features of the line combined with a more solid playing feel than most.
Overall length is 44 1/4 in. (112.4 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 7/8 in. (4.8 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.).
This rather rare guitar has survived in original and largely quite decent condition; all original hardware is intact including the often lost or cracked plastic sheath covering the aluminum neck which results in a significantly more comfortable playing experience. these guitars are often missing parts or have damaged bodies due to the quirky nature of their construction.
The single-unit molded plastic apparatus holding the pickup, electronics, and bridge has been visibly repaired; several sealed cracks radiate from around the pickup, with one off the lower bridge post. These have been secured with transparent glue and are secure but visible. The fragile thin plastic neck sheath shows some checking and discoloration from handwear but is still complete, solid, and smooth to the touch.
The also somewhat fragile jack housing and single volume knob are intact; it appears the original jack is standard 1/4" jack replacing than the 5mm Geloso jack fitted to many Wandres and Italian consumer electronics of the time which are completely obsolete now; this the most common modification of a non-import Wandre. The adjustable bridge with its 6 fretwire saddles is fully intact as is the rest of the fairly minimal hardware.
This single-pickup guitar plays and sounds fantastic even if not particularly versatile with the airy-but-biting sound the Davoli pickup imparts to Wandre's space-age construction. Being a more conventional solid body, this Twist is much sturdier feeling and a bit more aggressive sounding compared to the ethereal semi-hollow designs that make up much of the Wandre line. This is a nice example from the more far-out reaches of '60s guitar design, ready to go in a very solid modern hardshell case. Overall Very Good + Condition.
