NGD - Eko J56 12-string Acoustic....

[PorkyPrimeCut]

It arrived & it's a beauty. It sounds absolutely gorgeous!!

Firstly, it's not a Ranger but an earlier J56. OK, it's built exactly the same as a Ranger but this puts it in the '65 - '68 bracket.
There's a serial number but I'm struggling to find any online resource to help date it more accurately. Not even Mr Brandoni knows.
The body is in fantastic condition. No hideous laquer cracks like a lot of these guitars were prone to having. Just a couple of honest dings.
The neck is straight as an arrow, lovely inlays & pretty good repro tuners (that will be changed to original ones soon).
The pickguard is missing but there's no damage from it being removed, just a paler tide mark where the guard used to be.
Again, I can get a NOS period correct (b/w/b) guard for it. They only cost £8 from Brandoni.
I think I did well for £100 + £8 postage.

More pics over the weekend, no doubt....

[UlricvonCatalyst]

Groovy. Looks like you have a janglesome weekend ahead of you.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

Groovy. Looks like you have a janglesome weekend ahead of you.

[PJazzmaster]

WOW! love it! MOAR pics please!!!

[PorkyPrimeCut]

I've just found a comment on a different forum saying:

"I have a J56/1 12 String (SN: 326432) that I have been banging around since I bought it new at
the House of Guitars in Rochester, NY. I paid $129 for it on Dec 6, 1967...."

His serial number is around 1500 higher than mine so I'll assume mine's from the same year.

More pics...







The tuners aren't bad at all. I've no idea what they cost the seller but I might sell them on to re-coup some of the money I'll spend on the original nickel ones.
Half the bridge pins are non-original. I've a spare set of 6 somewhere I could throw in but that'll leave me short still. Instead I might buy some nice dark wooden ones.
Something else I've noticed is the gorgeous patina on the body binding. Very reminiscent of my old '59 Gibson ES125T. This things aged well in all the right places.
It's also missing a strap button at the bottom. Again, I think I've got a spare knocking around somewhere so it's no big deal.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

Question:

If I changed the aluminium section of the bridge to a wood strip (or bone?) and used wooden bridge pins would it affect the tone?

It already sounds great but I'm all for small cosmetic alterations to enhance it even more.

[Ticker]

I would think so. I bet it's got a real zing to it now. Those tuners really pop in a nice way - are the originals the same construction?

[PorkyPrimeCut]

I would think so. I bet it's got a real zing to it now. Those tuners really pop in a nice way - are the originals the same construction?

I believe so, yes.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

Question:

If I changed the aluminium section of the bridge to a wood strip (or bone?) and used wooden bridge pins would it affect the tone?

It already sounds great but I'm all for small cosmetic alterations to enhance it even more.

I always go for brass bridge pins on my acoustics, and I know for a fact that they 'improve' the tone and sustain. I haven't tried them myself, but I believe rosewood ones are also a step up from standard plastic ones. I would guess that a new bone bridge saddle would be an enhancement too, especially as the block on there just now looks 'not right' to me. Here's a pic of what they usually look like:



It looks like yours has been messed with, possibly after the original saddle fell out.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

I always go for brass bridge pins on my acoustics, and I know for a fact that they 'improve' the tone and sustain. I haven't tried them myself, but I believe rosewood ones are also a step up from standard plastic ones. I would guess that a new bone bridge saddle would be an enhancement too, especially as the block on there just now looks 'not right' to me.

It looks like yours has been messed with, possibly after the original saddle fell out.

I was thinking the same myself.

I've seen a few of these over they years but never one with a slotted metal bridge.

My Ranger VI actually has what looks like a plastic bridge that's buckled inwards over time.
I might look at getting them both swapped out, bridge & pins. It's all completely reversible so I'm cool about doing it.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

I just found these on eBay....



Identical in every way to the ones on this guitar. The seller told me he'd bought new tuners & I'm starting to think he might've bought them from this seller. I might even contact him to ask. They're described as NOS in the auction. I'll double-check with Brandoni on Monday but if they're the real deal I'll be more than happy. These are £40 tuners.

It's likely that they were manufactured for a later model than mine but, hey...

[PorkyPrimeCut]

After more digging around I finally came up with what I reckon is a completely unmolested J56.
I reckon I can put all the research to bed now as this looks to be pretty accurate. There are a couple of surprises.

The original b/w/b pick guards had a little cowboy detail.....




The original tuners would've been these cool "cyclone" tuners, not all-nickel ones.....




Pretty close to the serial on mine.....




That funky all-metal bridge seems to be an original feature too.....



I'm not going to concern myself too much with getting this vintage correct, especially as it's doubtful the pickguard I'm getting will have that cowboy design on it (although you never know). I'm looking more into turning a great sounding guitar into a really great sounding guitar so bridge adjustments are definitely on the cards.

For the record, I've a feeling mine (and the one pictured here) is a 2nd version J56. There are plenty of images floating around of early 12-strings (and 6-strings) with a plain black painted headstock & a simple white painted EKO logo. They're also listed as having ebony fretboards & simpler dot fret markers.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

Interesting. I've never seen that Ranger 12 dude before. I assumed yours had a typical Eko trapezoid neck plate too, unlike the one pictured; is it just the angle that makes it look like that?

I guess the transition between models and years may have been similar to Fenders, with necks etc. being from different production eras. As you probably know Eko's original Recanati factory was destroyed in a fire around the time of the J56 transitioning to the Ranger name. I would guess the last of the cowboy scratchplates went up in smoke, but you never know.

Good luck finding the nice old plastic button tuners if you decide to swap over. I'll look out for a set for you if you don't find any at Brandoni.

[UlricvonCatalyst]

For the record, I've a feeling mine (and the one pictured here) is a 2nd version J56. There are plenty of images floating around of early 12-strings (and 6-strings) with a plain black painted headstock & a simple white painted EKO logo. They're also listed as having ebony fretboards & simpler dot fret markers.

They did make other 12-string models too, so some of the pics you've seen may be of those. I found this out the hard way after sending a set of tuners to an Australian guy restoring a Ranger XII as the spacing was completely different and they didn't fit.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

Interesting. I've never seen that Ranger 12 dude before. I assumed yours had a typical Eko trapezoid neck plate too, unlike the one pictured; is it just the angle that makes it look like that?

I guess the transition between models and years may have been similar to Fenders, with necks etc. being from different production eras. As you probably know Eko's original Recanati factory was destroyed in a fire around the time of the J56 transitioning to the Ranger name. I would guess the last of the cowboy scratchplates went up in smoke, but you never know.

Good luck finding the nice old plastic button tuners if you decide to swap over. I'll look out for a set for you if you don't find any at Brandoni.

My neck plate's the same as the one pictured - rectangular (50mm x 65m).

Good point about the Fender comparison & the likelihood of mismatched parts (not to mention the factory fire making older parts scarce).
Funnily enough, I looked at the Eko catalogues on the FetishGuitars site & the little cowboy dude is present on the first Ranger VI's but not the XII's....



As there's no mention of the J54 & J56 in the actual catalogues I'm at a loss as to whether it was an original feature or not.
In all honesty, I prefer the blank b/w/b pickguard and the all-nickel tuners, although those plastic ones are pretty stylish.
As I'm trying to get the best sounding 12-string I can (with likely bridge mods) I'll not get too carried away with finding vintage correct parts.