Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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Harvester
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Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by Harvester » Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:15 am

Hey folks, this one belongs to a customer of mine who has a great collection of euro beauties ( he plays them too ) ...

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i spent ages fiddling with the switches and repairing one of the pickups.
all the foam rubber cushioning in the switching bay had decayed as per usual, so the switches were free to travel too far and lose connection or pop up unexpectedly in mid-song like the ones on my eko 1100 bass )

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sounds great now that we removed all of the 'tone shaping' caps and resistors that were in line with both pickups ( the neck pup was basically a 'bass guitar' tone ... not much use in a garage rock band, probably was a big his on the iatlo 60's accordian circuit )

we opted not to refret it, even tho the frets are tiny and banjo-ey ( these photos are from before the fretdressing ) i once saw a crucinelli guitar being refretted in a shop, the black acrylic fretboard fell apart into a lot of little pieces like a jigsaw puzzle once the frets were pulled ...

also the shrink wrap finish on the necks of these things can catch flash-fire if you buff them a little too hard
i've never done it personally - i stepped down the speed on my buffer when i saw this thing coming.

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ducati factory caps.

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and one of those elegant shaped trems that turn up on a million euro guitars, works quite well too ...

here she is all set up and polished ( and with a new little gold panel in the 'off switch' )

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cheers, AP

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Re: Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by Bloke on the water » Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:21 am

I'd run a Geiger counter over that before I got too close.
So where does it Turt?

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Re: Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by quarterpound » Mon Mar 19, 2012 4:59 am

pickguard is In. SANE. so cool. where is Diabolik, to come play this thing??

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Re: Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by SignoftheDragon » Mon Mar 19, 2012 8:16 am

That thing is sexy-hot! For some reason I am drawn to the acrylic fingerboard.

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Re: Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by Sklivas » Mon Mar 19, 2012 9:14 am

:? :?

Thank you!! This thing is beyond cool, I love the pearloid fret board. It would be funny if the the dots in it were made of wood :)
What does the switch with the "O" on it do?
HIGH SPEED, AMPED UP AND LOUD

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Re: Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by pacemaker » Mon Mar 19, 2012 10:51 am

Fretboard and headstock are hot, hot, HOT :-*

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Re: Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by willc » Mon Mar 19, 2012 12:09 pm

That thing is so badass.
Everything about it screams 60's.

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Re: Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by antisymmetric » Mon Mar 19, 2012 2:22 pm

My great-grandfather was from Florence- I'm sure that means that I should inherit this guitar, will be pursuing all legal avenues to that end. :wacko:
Watching the corners turn corners

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Re: Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by rustyshackleford » Mon Mar 19, 2012 4:54 pm

Well, my grandfather was Italian so I beat you in line of succession (consulting attorney as I type).

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Re: Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by antisymmetric » Mon Mar 19, 2012 4:58 pm

:squint: >:(
Watching the corners turn corners

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Re: Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by Tonebender » Mon Mar 19, 2012 7:48 pm

Very cool, I dig over-sized headstocks.

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Re: Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by tonewoods » Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:20 am

Wow, that's the first one I've seen with the vibrato arm intact...

I've got this one, and need to get an arm for it:

http://www.offsetguitars.com/forums/vie ... 14&t=54994

Yours looks suspiciously like a JM or Jag arm?
If "yes", did you have to re-thread it for metric, or ?...

Thanks for all the great pics--wonderful guitar....

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Re: Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by Harvester » Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:28 pm

hey guys, yep it's fantastic all right :derp:

the arm is not original, it;s just a jag/jazz kind ... i can't remember if it had been modified, maybe just filed a little at the end to fit the trem.

AP

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Re: Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by Malcolm Ramone » Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:33 am

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My later 60s Galanti Gran Prix! :w00t: I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Italian guitars! Not the most playable instruments. This one actuallty plays great, and doesn't have a bunch of tone sucking caps or 50K pots! I had another about 20 years ago, it had solid chrome pup covers, really tinny. I'd love an Eko someday! -Adam

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Re: Marinucci Sparkle ( 1960's Italy )

Post by Harvester » Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:25 pm

mmm those pushbuttons ^ are pushing my buttons !

my eko ( again )

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AP

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