Description
The FBass Hammertone Deluxe 12 Sunburst electric guitar, or Mandotar 12 is a very interesting instrument. Built in George Furlanetto’s FBass workshop in Hamilton, Ontario and drawing from the 1964 – 1968 Vox Mando Guitar or Octave 12, these are like a solidbody electric 12 string with a capo at the octave fret. The size and layout is much like a mandolin.
The FBass Hammertone Deluxe seen here dates to 1993 and carries the FBass logo, as opposed to Hammertone. As a Deluxe model, the top cap is a Maple bound, bookmatched, flame Maple on a Mahogany back. The neck is Maple with an Indian Rosewood fingerboard; the scale length is 15.75 inches (400mm) with a zero fret. The head plate appears to be a Richlite type material.
For hardware, the tuners are vintage Fender / Kluson style models with slotted Safe-Ti posts. The bridge is a 12-saddle, 'hard tail' model with six strings going through the body and six to the back edge of the bridge. The electronics start with Kent Armstrong mini-humbuckers, leading to a three-way pickup selector, master volume and tone controls, and an output jack.
The finish is clear satin for the neck and body back and sides, with a gloss cherry sunburst top.
This instrument is in overall very good condition, showing some light signs of actual use and light fret wear. It plays quite well and has a clear, rich tone.
Sold with an FBass branded, Levy’s gig bag.
Still listed as in production, the Hammertone is available in two versions, Standard and Deluxe. The Standard uses a solid Ash body and single coil pickups, the Deluxe has a Mahogany body with figured Maple cap and mini-humbuckers. Both versions use a 15.75 inch scale Maple neck with Indian Rosewood fingerboard.
Here’s George Furlanetto on the Hammertone:
“Our Hammertone series of guitars, named after our beloved hometown “The Hammer”, is a 12 string electric guitar/mandolin hybrid. These little gems produce lovely shimmering chime, much like a traditional mandolin, but offer the familiarity of a 12 string guitar—simply tuned up an octave.
Each Hammertone is handcrafted in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada by our team of skilled luthiers, many of whom have honed their craft with us for 15+ years. All of our carefully selected lumber is aged in-house and never used prematurely. Whether it takes a few months or a few years, we’ll only use lumber with a moisture content of 5-7%. This means most of the moving our wood does is in our hands, not in yours. We source our tone woods from local mills, while our exotics are sourced globally and are fully CITES & LACEY compliant. To complete our builds we only use quality components with our pickups made by Kent Armstrong, bridges and tuners by Gotoh, and our custom strings sets by D’Addario.”
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There are no refunds or returns on used items unless authorized in advance by a Twelfth Fret Sales Associate at time of sale. View Our Full Terms Here |
DETAILS:
- Instrument Model: Hammertone Deluxe Mandotar 12
- Instrument Manufacturer: FBass by George Furlanetto
- Instrument year: 1993
- Instrument Finish: Gloss Sunburst top, Clear Satin Back and Neck
- Instrument Class: Used
- Instrument serial number: 370165, built during 1993 in Hamilton Ontario
- Country of Origin: Canada
- Instrument Condition: Very Good
- Playing Condition: Very Good
- Right-handed
- CITIES Documentation Required: No
- Instrument Weight Imperial: 6.908 lbs
- Instrument Weight Metric: 3.14 kgs
- Scale Length Imperial: 15,75 in
- Scale Length Metric: 400 mm
- Nut Width Imperial: 1.898 in
- Nut Width Metric: 48.23 mm
- Case included: Yes
- Case original: Yes
- Case Type: FBass Branded Gig Bag by Levy's
- Items in Case: N/A
- Consignment: Yes
- Product ID: 190358
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There are no refunds or returns on used items unless authorized in advance by a Twelfth Fret Sales Associate at time of sale. View Our Full Terms Here |