Ministar Travel Guitars

Started by Elantric, September 15, 2013, 07:32:40 AM

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Elantric

#25
http://newatlas.com/bob-wiley-ministar-guitars/20726/

The MiniStar Web site is gone

but many are still on Ebay

Most MiniStar Guitars will require a trip to your Luthier for a fret level and dress - but these unusual guitars sustain well and the modular double neck is the lightest double anywhere.

http://www.musiclandcentral.com/mismfutrguin.html


http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=ministar+guitar&_sop=15&rt=nc

http://www.playawayguitars.com/play_away_guitars_shop.php?itemID=558

Majiken

Awhile back, I was so intrigued by the Ministars, especially their doubleneck concept, that in 2011 I went 600 miles out of my way to meet their global distributor in Golden, CO. I was wondering if it would make sense to offer them here in Europe out of Germany.  The folks were really nice and knowledgable, but easily 90% of all the instruments they had there were pure crap, irregardless of the price :-((.  Bringing them up to snuff and selling them at a considerably higher price, as some folks do successfully with Chinese resoguitars, was not an option-I wasn't going to lose my reputation pushing polished crap! Now, water has gone under the bridge- have they gotten their QC under control, did you guys luck out and get one of the good ones, or (what I suspect most) did you buy them cheap and fix them up yourselves?
Take what you need, put back a bit more, leave the place behind you better than it was before :-)

www.majiken.rocks

Bill Ruppert

I LOVE my Ministars but man they do need set up and some work when you get them.
That is a fact!
The guy Gordon in Co. is out of the picture now.

Then I have done sessions with them!

I have a Lapaxe and that is the smallest yet.

Majiken

Bill, that Folkstar vid on Youtube has some brilliant playing and sound- I am impressed!!!

I have some gig situations where I play guitar and bass, we often make up the setlist on the go, and having to spontaneously take off one axe, put on the other and maybe change again for the next song is no fun. The idea of having a lightweight doubleneck with a bass plus a GK3-equipped Folkstar remains tantalizing! I never realized Thomann carried these as Harley Bentons, but it appears they don't anymore  :-[
Take what you need, put back a bit more, leave the place behind you better than it was before :-)

www.majiken.rocks


Elantric

Bill Ruppert reports:

My friend and genius Bob Wiley inventor of the Ministar guitar died.
I just found out after writing him for two years asking him how he was!
He was very sick and I kept writing hoping he retired and quit the computer.
I talked with him 2 or 3 weeks before he passed. He told me I was a "fine player and I made the Ministar sing like a boid".
He is a legend and I will miss him and his work forever. He was a great player and he sent me stuff he did on video.
Here is just one email from Bob
Also a namm history video.
RIP Bob I love you!


Bob Wiley wrote>
Quote
The Ministar will no longer be in production:
https://www.namm.org/library/oral-history/bob-wiley



I played solo for many years but I couldn't sing.  I always hired a chick or a guy to do the vocals.  I hated pre-programmed songs and Karaoke because I didn't have the freedom to vary from a set pattern.  I designed many products for guitar players including the Guitorgan, (which was the first synth guitar.  I worked with Bob Murrell in Texas to take this product to its possibilities which were severely limited by the innability to bend pitch.  If you bent a string, the note from the synth would jump to the notes above or below the fret location.  Every fret was cut into 6 segments with a wire running from each segment.  By pushing the string against the fret, it would play an organ based sound from the internal electronics.  You didn't have to pick the string.  It would play whenever contact was made between string and fret.  I did develop a string picking sensor later that kept it from making a sound until the string was picked.  This was about the time that string bending took off for guitar players.  Expensive, and limiting to rock players.  You had to "learn" to play all over again to get the sounds to be realistic.)  I invented the Auto-Orchestra for guitar players.  This was the rhythm and accompaniment from an organ.  To control it you had 1 octave of bass pedals, and a volume pedal that had 4 switches at the upper and lower sides of your foot.  With these switches you could control Stop/Start, Major, Minor 7th, Minor 7th, Augmented, and Diminished chords.  On the last versions you could program your own rhythm patterns, fill-ins, intros, and endings.  To play, you would select an appropriate pattern, turn off or on the different background instruments, push on a bass pedal corresponding to the chord you wished to play, and push the start button.  A manual switch you would mount on your guitar allowed you to select fill-ins, verse or chorus, intros, and endings.  During play you could easily modify the sections that were playing.  Using the Auto Orchestra, if you knew the chords to the song, you could play it immediately as you had control of the entire band.  INSTANT ARRANGEMENT!  I wound up using a Pitchrider midi converter on my guitar.  Slow, but it worked.  I went for realism, which means that if I was playing a sax sound, I played what a sax was capable of playing.  If I called up a piano patch, I played the guitar with the same limitations as a real piano.  For a sustain pedal, I used a mercury switch inside my guitar that would sustain any notes played when I tilted the neck upward.  A also had a "CRASH" switch that hit a crash cymbal/Bass Drum together to emphasize and punctuate the music.  I also had switches on my guitar to select the midi voice I wanted at any time.  I designed the "INSTANT HARMONY" which was the first harmonizer to follow chord changes.  The Auto Orchestra provided the chord info from the pedalboards.  There was a switch to turn the vocal harmonizer off and on.   I had over 30 switches on my guitar by the time I decided to stop playing in clubs.

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Elantric

#31
Quote← Blue Moon at the Museum! – April 30, 7:00-10:00 PM
The Electric Guitar Symposium
Wichita holds the distinction of being the first to feature the electric guitar to the world's stage, thanks to the initiative of local guitarist Gage Brewer. His relationship with the electric guitar's inventors in Los Angeles afforded him the opportunity to bring the first examples to Wichita. Already a popular performer, Brewer's introduction of the new instruments in October of 1932 caused a sensation, and soon Wichita was establishing some of the earliest studios and guitar stores in the nation. The exhibit, "The Electric Guitar: Wichita's Instrument!" celebrates our supporting role in what has become the world's most popular instrument.

Symposium Presenters

What is the origin of electric guitar? The question has resulted in so many confusing and conflicting theories that a reasonable answer has been elusive. These presenters of international significance and authority will explode myths, eliminate confusion, and answer contentious questions.

Deke Dickerson – Author, Collector, Guitarist
Expertise: Mid Century guitar culture
Alan DiPerna – Music Journalist, Author
Expertise: Music culture
Wayne Goins – University Distinguished Professor, Director of Jazz Studies, Kansas State University, Guitarist
Expertise: Charlie Christian
Mathew Hill –Author, Scholar
Expertise: Early electrical musical instruments
Emanuele Marconi – Conservator, National Music Museum, Vermillion, S.D.
HP Newquist – Executive Director, National Guitar Museum, Author
Arian Sheets – Curator of Stringed Instruments, National Music Museum, Vermillion, S.D.
Richard Smith – Curator, Fullerton Museum, Author
Expertise: Rickenbacker and Fender Guitars
John Troutman – Researcher
Expertise: Hawaiian Guitar Music History
Lynn Wheelwright – Author, Collector, Guest Curator, Owner of Pro-musician, Clearfield, UT
Expertise: Early electrically amplified stringed instruments
Symposium Schedule

Friday, May 6 • Afternoon Session • 1-4 p.m.

"Wichita & the Electric Guitar," illustrated lecture addressing the coming of the electric guitar, Gage Brewer and its debut in Wichita – presented by Eric Cale, Director, Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum
PANEL DISCUSSION – Wichita Guitar Stories: Gage Brewer, June Frisby, Lowell Kiesel, Milo & Bob Wiley
"The Guitar, Then & Now" – presented by HP Newquist

Friday, May 6 • Authors Event • 5-6 p.m.

Off Site at Watermark Books & Café, 4701 E. Douglas – free & open to the public
Friday, May 6 • Symposium Jamboree • 7-9 p.m.

Off Site at Barelycorn's, 608 E. Douglas – free & open to the public
Saturday, May 7 • Morning Session • 9 a.m.-noon

"Electric Mele: The Hawaiian Pre-History of Electric Guitars" – presented by Dr. John Troutman
"Charles Christian, Seminal Electric Guitarist" – presented by Dr. Wayne Goins
Saturday, May 7 • Afternoon Session • 1-5 p.m.

"The Hidden Story – Electrification of the Guitar" – presented by Dr. Mathew Hill
"Vivi Tone – Recent Discoveries and Revised Timeline" – presented by Arian Sheets
"Diversity in Early Pickups" – presented by Lynn Wheelwright
PANEL DISCUSSION – The significance of various technology and marketing developments in the 1920s through 1930s
Sunday, May 8 • Morning Session • 10 a.m.-noon

"Electric Guitar Culture" – presented by Alan DiPerna
"The Bigsby Guitar Story" – presented by Deke Dickerson
Sunday, May 8 • Afternoon Session • 1-5 p.m.

"Eguitar Origins: So. Cal's Rickenbacker, Kauffman, and Fender" – presented by Richard Smith
"Italian Electric Guitar Manufacturers and the Impact of the American Market" – presented by Emanuele Marconi
PANEL DISCUSSION – Exploding myths and defining firsts
Special Instrument Demonstration
Symposium Tickets

Single Session Tickets – $25 (members $20)
Includes Museum admission. Individual session tickets can be purchased at the door.

Full Symposium Package – $150 (members $125)
Includes all sessions and lunch on Saturday and Sunday.

Make reservations for the full symposium by May 3rd:
Email wschm@wichitahistory.org or call 316-265-9314

The Exhibit

The Museum's exhibit features an exceedingly rare collection of instruments assembled from prominent collections and 16 individual lenders. Artifacts range from the most historically significant to celebrity-owned instruments, including guitars owned by Joe Walsh, Les Paul, Charlie Christian, and Alvino Rey. These artifacts tell the story of the quest for volume and the development of the electrically amplified guitar. Visitors can hear the earliest electric guitars produced at a sound sample station within the exhibit.

Since the "Let'em Hear You Play" exhibit was developed by the Museum in 2002, the Museum has created four exhibits focused on the electric guitar and Wichita's unique role, gaining international recognition for sharing the story of our critical place in music history. Our most recent exhibit was inspired by an opportunity to partner with premier science center Exploration Place, hosting "Guitar: The Instrument that Rocked the World!"

The Museum is indebted to collector and scholar Lynn Wheelwright of Utah for co-curating "The Electric Guitar: Wichita's Instrument!" Wheelwright has been a stalwart supporter of the Museum since 2008, and his scholarship and generosity as a lender have made our guitar exhibits possible.

The Museum is also grateful to The Arts Council, Sharon and Alan Fearey, Matthew Hoofer and Melissa Wefald, Peter and Kay Janssen, Barbara and David Rolph, Sara Sluss and Marty Pawlocki and Lee and Ron Starkel for their support of the exhibit and its programming.



admin

#33
Bob Wiley (inventor of the MiniStar Travel Guitar often seen in Bill Ruppert Videos)  passed away a few years ago.

The factory that built the originals is selling these again on AliExpress - with the Preamp and updated Tremolo ( last known version) $235



https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33042672133.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.987d37d9B30NPY&algo_pvid=9fd603be-fb72-45a5-93b4-e0b26a925269&algo_expid=9fd603be-fb72-45a5-93b4-e0b26a925269-12&btsid=0bb0623216013391665224477eec89&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_


Many other models too
- IMPORTANT - when ordering from AliExpress  - there is a translation barrier  -
PAY ATTENTION TO THE "COLOR"  you have selected - as that is actually the Model Type you are selecting
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000161104966.html

Ministar Bass

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000171719486.html