Weird guitar brands of the 80s

[Ranbat]

I really dig weird knock-offs and cheap guitars like Teisco and Harmony. Does anybody remember some of the brands that just seemed to pop up in the 80s to make knock-off shredder guitars? So far I can think of:

Hondo
Series 10
Lotus
Aria
Harmony

I know there were others. Charvel and BC Rich made some pretty cheap stuff, as did Kramer. What else you got?

[bass sic]

Westone?

[Chovie D]

not so much a weird brand but I rmember that two of my friends had this cheapo grestch back in the 80's.
I had a hondo II les paul.

[Hemisaurus]

My first bass was a Hondo II Ric

[Ranbat]

I have never stumbled upon, nor do I remember ever seeing a Gretsch like that. I want one now 

[VOLVO)))]

I've got two Westone Dimension IV's, and my main bass is a Westone Thunder 1A.

[The Shocker]

Bet that Gretsch ain't cheap now.

[Mr. Foxen]

Jedson. Utter shit.

[Lumpy]

Hamer?

Bet that Gretsch ain't cheap now.

Is that a Beast? The Gretsch fans are purists and hate anything non-traditional, so you could probably buy one of those relatively cheap for an old Gretsch.

[Pissy]

This is a beast (BST 1000) and I nearly bought one a few years ago at a guitar show but the dealer was a dick.



How about a Hyundai?  I had one.  Strat copy.



GTX
Memphis
Fame
Univox

I've owned all of these.  A buddy of mine still has a Harmony Explorer copy, and we've never seen any others.  The V's yes, but the explorers.

[VOLVO)))]

I mean, Guild was a weird one, IMO.

I love my/lordfinesse's Guild.

[johnny problem]

That Gretsch can go for a lot of money.  At least that's what a local shop decides to sell it for.  $950.

[justinhedrick]

my first guitar is a harmony copy body with new everything else replaced. i'd actually never sell it and it sounds really good.

[zachoff]

Yamaha had some cool ones aside from the SG & SBG... SC, MSG, SHB

Not to mention my favorite sounding P-bass ever... My BB-800

[neighbor664]

[Ranbat]

The Westone stuff is exactly what I'm talking about. They kinda came about at the dawn of the 80s and were gone at the end. I think Series 10 hung in abit longer.

Memphis is the rebranded import Harmony stuff. I think there were a couple of other brands too that were the same guitars as the Harmonys with different brand names. I have seen a few of those Harmony Explorers over the years, but they are usually trashed. The one I'd love to have was the one with all the push button built in effects.

[chille01]

My first electric guitar was an el Degas strat knockoff. 

[spookstrickland]

not so much a weird brand but I rmember that two of my friends had this cheapo grestch back in the 80's.
I had a hondo II les paul.

I so want that, very cool!

[RAGER]

I had a Pan Les Paul in the 80's but it was prolly from the 70's.  My buddy had a Hurricane that I thought was the shit.  I think it was made by Aria Pro II

[hayseed]

Ahh Series 10..... I remember my local shop carried these and my friends would drool over them. They had a neon yellow one that was hideous looking but at the time(mid 80's) thats what you got. All the rich kids parents bought them BC Rich Warlocks (usually hot pink). I was the odd ball. My first one was an Ibanez EX series (very early EX series BTW) in purple. I still have it but she needs work. I would love to get it fixed up.

Other than Series 10 , i can only remember Carvin, Hamer, Kramer(sp?), and BC Rich being top names, but there were always some weird off brands floating around.

Oh the  Peavey Falcon (if i remember right ) was a pretty decent guitar. Strat style.

[Hemisaurus]

[fallen]

Ahh Series 10..... I remember my local shop carried these and my friends would drool over them. They had a neon yellow one that was hideous looking but at the time(mid 80's) thats what you got. All the rich kids parents bought them BC Rich Warlocks (usually hot pink). I was the odd ball. My first one was an Ibanez EX series (very early EX series BTW) in purple. I still have it but she needs work. I would love to get it fixed up.

Other than Series 10 , i can only remember Carvin, Hamer, Kramer(sp?), and BC Rich being top names, but there were always some weird off brands floating around.

Oh the  Peavey Falcon (if i remember right ) was a pretty decent guitar. Strat style.

My guitarist had a white Series 10 with a Dimarzio Super Distortion pickup that I learned to play guitar on. Then I bought a sparkle black BC Rich "platinum" super strat with a Khaler trem. Those '80s guitars always had that crazy thick plasticy car paint on them. Super durable.

[cat shepard]

Aria Pro II

Yes Aria ProII ruled my 80's and
VANTAGE WHITE STRAT W BLACK PICKGUARD WAS HEAVY AND AWESOME GOT STOLED

[BrianDamage]

My first guitar was a Harmony explorer. I thought was awesome. I am sure it was crap. My favorite guitar I owned in the 80's was a 1983 BC Rich warlock. It has the 3x3 headstock and sounds awesome. Heavier than a Les Paul. I got it in 1987 and I still have it.

[Dave J]

My first guitar was a Hondo strat copy.  I also had a "shredder" type guitar with a locking nut, I think the brand was "Starforce."  I kid you not.