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QUIRKY VINTAGE: AMERICAN SHOWSTER NAMM PROTOTYPE # 1 � Bob Cianci
This month’ s installment of Quirky Vintage spotlights a really rare bird, the NAMM prototype of what is apparently the first reissue of the American Showster AS-57. As any vintage car buff will see, the body design is based upon a’ 57 Chevy tailfin, making it, in this author’ s opinion, one of the coolest pointy guitars ever produced. Before we go into the actual features, let’ s look at the convoluted history of the American Showster Company that took place right here in my home state of New Jersey.
Guitarist and entrepreneur Rick Excellente designed and formulated the AS-57 sometime in the early 1980’ s and was granted a license by General Motors to produce a guitar based upon Chevy’ s tailfin design in 1983. The details as to who actually built the initial guitars are a bit murky, but most likely they were assembled by David Schwab, a northern Jersey luthier. Supposedly, a woodcrafter in southern New Jersey carved the first bodies, but his name is lost in the mists of time.
American Showster was originally based in Maplewood, NJ, but moved to Palisades Park shortly thereafter. The first examples utilized one EMG-81 pickup, but later models, such as the one you see here, employed a Strat style pickup layout. Excellente was enamored of the use of metal in his guitars, a trend continued on this example.
Rick Excellente was friends with Bill Meeker and David Haines of the Kramer company( their twisted history is a story unto itself), and it was Kramer who reportedly painted the bodies and entered into a distribution agreement with Excellente. The guitars were shown at the NAMM show around 1984, but not long afterwards, the business deal between Kramer and Excellente went sour, and the rights to the design wound up solely in the possession of Kramer in 1986.
The AS-57 apparently sat dormant for a few years until making an appearance at the 2008 NAMM show in Anaheim, California. And that’ s where this guitar was displayed. Written on the back of the guitar was the following: American Showster, Chris Hoffschneider & Billy Meeker, Prototype # 1, 10-1-07. My guess is, this particular guitar was built from leftover Kramer stock, given Meeker’ s involvement with that company.
The guitar itself retains the classic’ 57 Chevy tailfin appearance, and is painted in a flip / flop purple and green finish that changes color, depending upon your eyes or movement of the guitar itself. It has a C-shaped maple neck and rosewood fretboard, twenty-two medium jumbo frets, Hipshot tuners, a retainer bar that holds the strings in place over the nut, and a bolt-on neck with six screws. The scale is 25.5” with a 12” radius. The body is made of alder and features active electronics, chrome strips, and a simulated tail light used on the original guitar, which is non-operational, unlike the original AS-57s, which featured a working red tail light.
A Fender-style bridge with vibrato is utilized, with three proprietary Strat-type pickups, and a five position switch, along with one volume and one tone control. The input jack is located at the bottom of the tail light assembly.
So, how did it play? Quite well, actually, but it needed a setup and neck adjustment to play at its best, an easy fix for any qualified guitar tech. Outside of one minor scratch on the top, this axe was in near pristine condition. It’ s obvious that the AS-57 really excels as a visual statement. As you can see from the photo, it looks absolutely stunning from a horizontal viewpoint. Any guitarist brave enough to strap one on would make a distinct impression and attract attention playing this instrument on a live gig. I can almost guarantee you’ re not going to see anyone on your local bar circuit playing one.
Why didn’ t the AS-57 catch on? Most likely, it was never marketed correctly and fell victim to inept business dealings, the demise of the Kramer Company, and also by the fact that a large majority of guitarists are inherently conservative by nature and want instruments that look, feel, and sound like they were produced during the 1950’ s and‘ 60’ s.
So, there you have it; the American Showster AS-57: a sharp looking guitar styled after an iconic American automobile that never took off and has now been relegated to the world of six string oddities.
42 May � June 2016 CollectibleGuitar. com