Of the many weird guitars from the 1960s, the Italians are my favorites. , Vox, Crucianelli, Wandre, and Gemeli..
. it’s hard to keep up. The Welson company, like its Italian neighbor EKO, produced guitars under many names and even made a few models for Vox and Wurlitzer.
Welson was founded in the 1920s, in the city of Castelfidardo, by Orlando Quagliardi. The company made accordions but switched to manufacturing as demand for the instrument increased in the ’60s. The 1964 Kinton V3 model shown here reveals that Welson was a fine instrument maker, even though the delightfully cheesy accordion-style celluloid wraps – among numerous other features – might suggest otherwise.
The 10-inch headstock is an eye catcher, as are the three large chrome-covered pickups, the flank of accordion-style pickup selector buttons and the diamond fretboard inlays. But mamma mia, that finish! This example features gold rectangles interspersed with black blocks, and the sparkles in the gold really pop under stage lights. Combine all that with the offset cutaways and unusual body shape, and you’ve got a lot of weird in one guitar.
The 22-fret neck has a zero fret and is painted gloss black, as is the headstock. It’s chunky, like an ’s neck, and has a rosewood fingerboard. Although this model is standard scale, I’ve strung it as a baritone, using D’Addario nicklewound (.
014–.068) strings, which work great with the neck’s tension. No extra adjustments were necessary.
I’ve tuned .
