The Electra Forums

Hello,

Great forums. Kudos those providing the sweeat equity.

I've inherited an Electra X810. The S/N is 22762. It has gold plated everything, dual pickups, four 1 inch round dials, one smaller five position dial, two toggle style switches, the tree of life inlay, modules 1, 5, 6 and 12. It's been played about three times for a total of less than an hour. I also have an original Electra case that is in great condition except the guitar doesn't fit into the case. Of course the only problem is that the guitar is too long and too wide. Otherwise the case is a perfect fit. My father won a Steel Guitar at a charity event and traded it for this and a nice amp back in the day. But it was all so much heavier than his acoustic stuff that he never drug it out from the back of the house to the family room. So it sat under the stairs for 20+ years. I'll never part with it because it was my father's but I would like to learn more about it and play it (with care). It's in the same condition it was in new with a very small laquer imperfection and nothing more. The clear pick guard with the gold plated hardware isn't even scratched. The gold stuff isn't really my style and it wasn't my father's either but hey... I think I remember he got this one to match his fathers original 1959 Gibson ES-335, (also inherited.) I'd like to get the remaining modules over time as they show up reasonably priced. I'll upload some photos as soon as I get some help with the upload process for these forums. I'll sell the Electra case but keep everything else. Does anyone have any idea about the year of this guitar. The more I look at it the more I like it. Except for that gold! This thing would look so sano with brushed nickel metal hardware. Finally, what do you folks play these Electras through? And were there any celebrity endorsements of the X810? Any other related observations?

Thanks again for the great site!

Pat

Hello and welcome X810 Player
You have a very desirable pro quality Electra in the tradition of the ES-335.
These were produced from 1977 to 1979.

What a great dad to leave you with 2 great guitars. What style did he play?

I think there were 12 MPC modules made for these guitars so you only have
8 more to go What color/finish does it have?

We would like to see pics. This link will show you how to post them.
http://www.therathole.org/guitars/picsu ... ?mode=form

Here is a fine example of an Electra X810 (Brown Sunburst).
http://www.therathole.org/guitars/electra/x810.html

Thanks for the great information jbyear1.

Seems the guitar is better than I!

My Dad played country & western. He was pretty good. He really enjoyed singing too and was good at that as well. He played on the radio some when he was young.
His father learned in about 1905 from an African American man who used to walk past their farm everyday. My grandpa also played for the silent films on piano and guitar. Though he was full-time at the farm and running the Chevy garage in their little town.
Dad and Mom used to go to most of the country dance and live music places in LA. They met at one that's no longer there. When I was little they'd go the this place in Monrovia or Temple City and Carlos Santana was the house band. My brother and I were clueless then because we were only interested in cars and boats and motorcycles but looking back on it now I was really fortunate to see folks like Johnny Cash live and in their prime.
I've been trying to learn for a little while and got more focused on it a few years back. I was visiting my father in Oklahoma and noticed the guitar he played to my brother and I when we were young had been given away several times by my stepfamily. It was a wreck, and a cheap guitar, but he took it everywhere so I had memories of him playing it from Baja to Canada and all points inbetween. On the bed of our cabover camper there was my brother and I and that guitar for thousands of miles. For some reason it saddened me to see that guitar tossed out like everything else from the previous marriage. So I asked for it and some guys in San Diego spent two years fixing it. It still needs more work but I wouldn't take a million dollars for it. Though I'm sure my Dad would have!

In the last few months I've really ramped up the effort. Everynight practice is what it will take I've decided. So I've rearranged my life to include it. Plus I've spent hours on the Web looking for other styles of playing I might like. I called some friends back in LA and asked about some names of great guitarists (we have since moved to Napa) and one of my friends said look at anybody connected with Jackson Browne. His guitarist since 1994 is a guy named Mark Goldenberg. I've seen him play in person few times and spoken with him too. Nice guy and I haven't found any one else who's doing what he's doing. His style is what interests me most. I'm aslo looking forward to attending the Healdsburg Guitar Festival this Summer.

I was taking some lessons locally but the appoinments were difficult to make every week and I wasn't satisified with the learning so I've bought several DVDs and books by some folks like Ted Greene and Mark Hanson. Man is it impressive what the great ones can do. Mark Goldenberg does shows up in Nor Cal every couple of months (his wife is from Sonoma) and every month in LA when he's not on the road. The guy's resume is incredible. I bet he gets plenty of mail box money. He's also got a degree in Piano and Composition from the Chicago Conservatory of Music so a big treat in his shows are his interpretations of classics like Jimmy Webb's Wichita Lineman and the Beach Boys' God Only Knows. He also will do a hilarious take of Green Sleeves in two keys. He does it with a straight face like he's mastering the crowd at the Vienna Philharmonic.

The problem I'm having posting is figuring out how to reduce the size of the photos to fit this forum's parameters. Gulp, I'll have to ask the wife to enlighten me again... I'm out of town till next Tuesday and will put some photos up next week.

Thanks again for your friendly reply. I really appreciate it.

Best regards

welcome to the forums, great to hear your story!

check your private messages, i can help with the resizing.