All things "Buddy" Milne! NZ/Commodore/Royal/Ludwig more?

[rod]

HI all,

thought this better go in vintage as I reckon all his stuff will be pre 1980! I'm new to the forum and joined to try to find out more about my own lost "Bunny" classic. A semi under the name of Ludwig. For more pics please see my post in this thread.."Ludwig semi. Coolest guitar in the world?"
Basically it's only through researching this guitar I found out about Bunny. My information is that he was a sheet metal worker who produced commodore lap steels, solid guitars and basses. He brought his metal working expertise into play with custom castings for tremolos, switchgear and other hardware, also he made his own pickups. The Ludwig is apparently one of only very few hollow bodies he ever made.



for more please follow this link:
http://s1115.photobucket.com/albums/k541/roduez/

BAsically I'd love for anyone with any Commodores, more Ludwigs, Royals or any thing else Bunny related to post here. I think it would be cool to pool some knowledge, pictures and more information about a clearly remarkable talent! All comments, corrections facts and trivia welcome for the Bunny Milne appreciation society!

Please get involved...

Cheers,

Adam

[robredo.mattila]

Nice guitar! I believe Bunny made some of the Commodores in Taihape for a while. Not a guitar you see everyday, a friend of mine has a weird looking Commodore electric mandolin (or it could be a Ukulele, I will have to ask him) but it's the only one I've ever seen and I don't know if any others exist. There was an interesting Commodore 12 string electric guitar on Trademe a few months ago did you see that one?

[rod]

HI Robredo, no I haven't seen any other guitars made by commodore or any other guitars made by buddy. I've found some info on the steel guitar forum, a nice piece by someone who worked with Bunny and wrote a fairly detailed potted history, including that he made some semis later on in his career, but stopped due to the prohibitive cost of production of such hand crafted instruments , combined with the lifting of import restrictions and the subsequent arrival of cheaper Japanese imports. I searched 'Royal guitars bunny milne' on google and found the thread in steel guitar forum, posted by a guy named Ron I think! I'm gonna try to get in touch with him to find out more.

[rod]

HI Robredo, no I haven't seen any other guitars made by commodore or any other guitars made by buddy. I've found some info on the steel guitar forum, a nice piece by someone who worked with Bunny and wrote a fairly detailed potted history, including that he made some semis later on in his career, but stopped due to the prohibitive cost of production of such hand crafted instruments , combined with the lifting of import restrictions and the subsequent arrival of cheaper Japanese imports. I searched 'Royal guitars bunny milne' on google and found the thread in steel guitar forum, posted by a guy named Ron I think! I'm gonna try to get in touch with him to find out more.

Sorry , the thread in steel guitar forum with the Bunny Milne information was posted by Mac McKenzie, in REPLY to a guy named Ron!

[robredo.mattila]

Interesting. Yes I remember the import restrictions having a part to play in all that. I know a local guy who knows a bit about the lap steel history, the Commodore lap steels do turn up every once in a while. Interesting instruments!

[robredo.mattila]

Here's a Commodore lap steel video you might have seen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz8LOXaCkTU

Commodore doubleneck, the 6 string neck doesn't look original http://www.flickr.com/photos/psopho/369 ... 989371085/

Old Commodore 6 string: http://axewar.com/axedetails.php5?pid=1,029

[rod]

HI Robredo,

wow, commodore looks amazing! I know what you mean about the double neck, 6 string doesn't look right at all. That one leaning up in th tree is amazing though, I'd love to hear it! Thanks very much for posting, and keep your ears out for any more, any more ludwigs. If you are interested in mmore on Buddy Milne, ten check out "The steel guitar forum" Look under a thread entitled "what is this 8 string" and you will find a piece by Mac McKenzie all about Buddy! Makes a good read. He's not by any chance the guy you know who's into his lap steels is he? That WOULD be a coincidence...

[rod]

HI Robredo,

wow, commodore looks amazing! I know what you mean about the double neck, 6 string doesn't look right at all. That one leaning up in th tree is amazing though, I'd love to hear it! Thanks very much for posting, and keep your ears out for any more, any more ludwigs. If you are interested in mmore on Buddy Milne, ten check out "The steel guitar forum" Look under a thread entitled "what is this 8 string" and you will find a piece by Mac McKenzie all about Buddy! Makes a good read. He's not by any chance the guy you know who's into his lap steels is he? That WOULD be a coincidence...

I have just got in touch with Mac, so I will ask him fro permission to duplicate his words on here...

[Artvanderlay]

Bought this last year off trademe. I'm pretty keen to revamp it but not sure what I can and can't touch to keep it's value.


fixed

[antisymmetric]

Bought this last year off trademe. I'm pretty keen to revamp it but not sure what I can and can't touch to keep it's value.

Pic didn't come through (although you've probably noticed anyway). fixed
Welcome to the forum btw!

[Artvanderlay]

That's weird it's showing for me. Try this link http://s13.postimage.org/wqiso1hgl/commodore.jpg

[kdawg2a]

Hi there everyone. I made it to this forum! This is pretty much a shout out to Antisymetrical but i'm very glad to be here nontheless and i'm looking forward to spouting off about guitars with you all!

[antisymmetric]

The man who sold me my first Commodore (which has received a lot of love here ) and who happens to own a Jazzmaster. You'll like it here. Officially the best guitar forum ever.

[kdawg2a]

Thank you very much! I'll have to put some photos up of the current crop. Are there a few kiwi's on this forum?

[antisymmetric]

Dave Berry sometimes posts to show his Starcaster-based builds, and I see posts sometimes from a guy from Wellington, but I think that's about it.