My second offset - Silvertone 1478 Reissue

[Sweetfinger]

Welcome to the forum! That is a really nice guitar. Is there a reason the bridge is at an angle unlike the TOM on a fender that sits straight? Is it just a quirk of making it vintage spec or is there a reason for that?

The original Fender bridges were straight so reissues are usually straight even if it's a different style of bridge. The Harmony bridges were angled, so reissues would look more correct angled. With the angle, there is more room for adjustment on a Tune-o-matic. If you put it straight, the saddles at the ends would be at the end of their travel.

[Mechanical Birds]

The original tort on these was so sick

Always wanted one but couldn’t ever find one for a price I could feel good about. Would try a reissue but really wish they’d have used the Hagstrom instead of the Bigsby

[TagoMago]

I got one of these recently for a stupidly cheap price and as cheapies go, it's great.

It was 2nd or 3rd hand but I didn't need to do anything to it except put new (flatwound) strings on it and adjust the intonation. I bought it from an online dealer so no chance to try it before buying, so there was always a chance it might turn out to be a bad move. But it's ace, I love playing it. I'm not much of a trem fan usually, and especially not Bigsbys but I needed a trem-equipped guitar for surf and cumbia stuff and this turned out to be the one.

A pal has an original 60s one and he almost sold it to me but he had a change of heart and ended up keeping it. That was like a different guitar, leagues ahead of the reissue. I loved the cheapo trem on it, also the wooden bridge and the pickups on it were amazing. If I could get a wooden bridge for mine I'd do it. Otherwise, for a couple of hundred notes, it's a great guitar. Tempted to look for another cheap one and hard tail it. (Sorry, purists!)

[jthomas]

I played an original Silvertone (Harmony built) 1480 (like the 1478, but with red plastic holographic inserts in the pickups and a metal adjustable bridge) back in the late 60s and early 70s)... before devoting myself to college. I loved that guitar cranked unto a cranked amp. I have difficulty describing the pickups, but the last time I tried to put words to the sound... the best I came come up with was: punchy, loud flat response across frequencies. People have described the tone as lo-fi... which is probably what I was trying to say.

Anyway, the guitar was owned by the bass player and I had it on a very extended loan. I had to give it back and then, for years, I lusted over that guitar. That was the primary reason that I became a member of OSG. When I came out on the other side of school (more than 1 degree, so several years later) I snagged a 1478 in the mid 2000's. Later I found a 1480 in 2019. Both are pretty worn, but hey... that's just street cred.

These are great guitars IMO. Not for everyone, of course. The neck is kind of like a table leg.. but it's easy to play. Frets are micro-thin and the and the poor old celluloid pickguards have shrunk. After I got the 1478 it occurred to me that the poor old guy was kinda fragile and I should treat him like the grandfather that he was.

Then when the Samick-built 1478 reissues came out (like described in the OP) I got one to save my vintage 1478. As others have noted, it is a different guitar... thin neck (like an SG) and pickups that are probably closer to P90s ( I wish that somebody would tear into one and post the results). I have bounced back and forth between liking it and thinking, "meh." That said, I put it on a couple of nights ago and decided that I liked it. I don't have much (any) humidity control down here in the bat cave and I have a little fret sprout that must be dealt with at some point.

That's the story. Carry on.

[jthomas]

Here is what the 1480 looks like. Note the metal bridge.

https://reverb.com/item/33041696-silver ... s-redburst

[Sweetfinger]

Then when the Samick-built 1478 reissues came out... pickups that are probably closer to P90s ( I wish that somebody would tear into one and post the results).

What do you want to know? I haven't opened one of the ones on my instrument but I've opened other pickups with the same design from the same Korean factory. The bobbin is like a miniaturized P90. There's no keeper, and I was able to fish a test lead in and measure continuity from a magnet to housing. There is none, so these have two thin ceramic bar magnets (as opposed to the Harmony reissue gold foil and "mustache" pickups available from Allparts which have similar (but not identical) design with alnico magnets).
These are pretty well waxed.
Readings measured 5.5K, 1.61 H for the bridge and 5.5K, 1.62 H for the neck. They are the same polarity, north up. The inductance was measured with the trusty old Extech LCR meter. Both have 50mm E to E pole spacing.

[jthomas]

Thanks Sweetfinger. You answered my question without knowing what the question was. I suspected that they were P90-ish in design, but they seem a little less smooth-jazzy than the P90's I have in the 2 guitars I have with P90's. (an Epi 56 goldtop with some replacement pups and an Xaviere Jazzmaster-type with P90s). The Silvertone reissue pups seem to have more drive, or something.