1950s Bellini South African 'Township' Accoustic Guitar

[lauren]

Just found this on ebay and very intruiged.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1950s-Bellini-South-African-Township-Accoustic-Guitar_W0QQitemZ170174140871QQihZ007QQcategoryZ2385QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Anyone know anything, coz feel GAS attack comin on.

Stackabones?

[daklander]

Interesting. Wonder if it'd be worth a neck reset? Maybe one could get by with a lower bridge???

 

By the way, I can't find anything about Bellini Guitars prior to the '60s.

[lauren]

techie skills whatsover, i guess i should steer well clear...

 

Interesting. Wonder if it'd be worth a neck reset? Maybe one could get by with a lower bridge??? By the way, I can't find anything about Bellini Guitars prior to the '60s.

[Terry Allan Hall]

If you lower the bridge by careful sanding and use light guage strings, it could be a sweet-heart...

 

When I was in Africa (late '70s), these were very highly regarded by those of "modest means"...

[lauren]

that sounds easy enough even for me. :)Would love to know more about your time in Africa and did you ever play one of these?

 

 

If you lower the bridge by careful sanding and use light guage strings, it could be a sweet-heart... When I was in Africa (late '70s), these were very highly regarded by those of "modest means"...

 

[Stackabones]

Cool lookin' git!

[Terry Allan Hall]

that sounds easy enough even for me. :)Would love to know more about your time in Africa and did you ever play one of these?

 

Peace Corps, in what is (currently) called The Democratic Republic of

Congo.

 

There was a guy the next village over, Danny N'Tuompa, who had a "Township", and we got to be good friends...on Saturday night, everyone would congregate at the grounds of the Mission and party hearty...Danny'd have his Township, I had a Yamaha (and later, a "Gibsum", made in Calcutta ), there was a few who played koras (see 1st pic) and home-made guitars built from gas cans (2nd pic) and various drums and other percussion instruments and one of the missionaries played cello...we made a fine racket!

 

The Township is very similar in quality to one of the better Kay, Regal or Harmony guitars...a well-made "budget" instrument.

 

The biggest obstacle to being a guitarist oveer there was finding good strings...many used bicycle brake cables, which they would unstrand and restrand to appropriate thicknesses, and if a string broke, it would get re-tied until there was nothing left!...I made a lot of people happy when I sent off an order for 3 dozen light guage steel sets and a dozen nylon sets and gave everyone a few sets for Xmas...still do, in fact (sent off a few boxes last week).

 

Danny, btw, emigrated to Houston (about 4-5 hours south of where I live)and we get together a few times a year to reminisce, pick a few and drink his home-made "tsambala" (the Congolese version of "white lightnin'" )

 

 

[lauren]

enough stories to write a book, thank you for telling that tale, i love it, especially the guitar strings, makes you wonder why we all fret (ha ha) about which strings to use!!!