VISITORS'
GALLERY
GALLERY 8: SELMER DISTRIBUTED FUTURAMA GUITARS & BASSES
VISITORS'
GALLERY
Click on the underlined heading for each guitar to view photographs of
that particular example.
Photo courtesy of Laurence Dickinson.
These are the first Czech solids brought into the UK by Selmer from about 1957/58. They were produced by the Dreokov company in Blatna, South Bohemia using the Trade Name Resonet, under the direction of a Mr Ruzicka. Selmer gave them the name of "Futurama Solid Guitar" in their catalogue.
These are the second phase of
Czech solids imported by Selmer into the UK
from 1959. The Blatna Resonet company had ceased making
musical
instruments, so this role had been taken over by the CSHN company in
Hradec
Kralove, again under the guidance of Mr Ruzicka.
CSHN initially used the trade
name of "Neoton", but this was soon changed to "Jolana". The
Jolana Star I two pickup solid guitar was traded as the Futurama II by
Selmer.
The Futurama III was actually called the Jolana Star II and later Star
III in Czechoslovakia.
These are the third and final distinct phase of Czeck solids distributed by Selmer under the Futurama label. They were again made at the CSHN Hradec Kralove factory, but both basic models had significant (and what look like cost saving) design changes.. By now, the trade name Jolana (model name: Star "#") was used in Czechoslovakia throughout this period.
These guitars were basically the Hagstrom Kent with elements of the Hagstrom II and III models, simply re-badged and sold as Futurama's by Selmer in the UK. Solid red, and light blue finishes were offered, and the guitars were introduced into the Selmer catalogue in 1963. They were still there in the September 1965 catalogue.
Both two and three pickup options were offered in 6 string guitar format, both with vibrato tailpieces, and also a bass guitar. The earlier (c1963) two pickup guitars had a perspex pickguard that covered the whole body front, with a very odd "cheesegrater" section built into the scratchplate between the pickups. The later (c1964) two and three pickup guitars seem to have had a smaller plain plastic scratchplate. In 1965, a different body shape similar to that of a Gibson SG replaced the Strat-shaped body of the previous guitars.
A feature of these guitars was the "Kings Neck", with "expandable stretcher" - a steel truss rod enclosed within an aluminium sleeve. All-in-all, these were good quality guitars at a budget price.
- c1963 FUTURAMA 2 DELUXE (CHEESEGRATER SCRATCHPLATE VERSION) - Courtesy of Guy Audoux, France
- c1963 FUTURAMA 2 DELUXE (CHEESEGRATER SCRATCHPLATE VERSION) - Courtesy of Robert Wake, County Durham, England.
- c1963 FUTURAMA 2 DELUXE (CHEESEGRATER SCRATCHPLATE VERSION) - Courtesy of Grame Fletcher, UK.
- c1963 FUTURAMA DELUXE BASS GUITAR (PLAIN SCRATCHPLATE VERSION) - Courtesy of Guitars & Music Exchange, Manchester, England.
- c1964 FUTURAMA 3 DELUXE (PLAIN SCRATCHPLATE VERSION) - Courtesy of Neil Gill, UK.
- c1964 FUTURAMA 2 DELUXE (PLAIN SCRATCHPLATE VERSION) - Courtesy of John Walsh, Basingstoke, England.
- c1964 FUTURAMA 2 DELUXE (PLAIN SCRATCHPLATE VERSION) - Courtesy of Mick Price, Yorkshire, England.
- c1963 FUTURAMA DELUXE BASS GUITAR (CHEESEGRATER SCRATCHPLATE VERSION) - Courtesy of Ron Mellor, Cheshire, England.
- c1964 FUTURAMA DELUXE BASS GUITAR (PLAIN SCRATCHPLATE VERSION) - Courtesy of Guitars & Music Exchange, Manchester, England.
More "up-market" than the Futurama Deluxe, the Coronados were again made in Sweden by Hagstrom.
- c1965 FUTURAMA CORONADO AUTOMATIC - Courtesy of Lloyd Metselaar, Peterborough, England.
- Mid-1960's FUTURAMA COLORADO 6-STRING BASS (RESTORED) - Courtesy of Matt Armstrong, Edinburgh, Scotland.
- c1965 FUTURAMA CORONADO 6-STRING BASS - Courtesy of Mark Ringer, England.
The Futurama Bassist Major amplifier shown above is featured on the Selmer-Futurama Amplifiers Page.
