Wandré, Roby Gold, 1963

Tabs

Specifications
Builder: 
Wandré
Model: 
Roby Gold
Year: 
1963
The Story Behind

According to "the illustrated encyclopaedia of electric guitars" they are "the most eccentric European guitars of any period in guitar history”

Wandré guitars were the brainchild of a flamboyant Italian conceptual artist named Wandré Pioli (1926-2004). Pioli had been an anti-fascist partisan fighter during World War II, and afterward he studied engineering. In the mid-1950s he became interested in guitars. In 1959 he built a revolutionary round factory in his native town of Cavriago and started production. Virtually all Wandré guitars had aluminum necks, most outside the body like this, though there were some with internal necks and some with bolt-ons. Many were hollowbodies, but some were solid. There were a ton of cool Wandré models, including the famous Bikini with a built-in amp and the BB, a tribute to French sexpot Brigit Bardot. However, almost no two Wandré guitars are the same. He liked to use other odd materials, including vinyl piping and fabric soundhole covers. The backs of his necks are given shape with moulded polystyrene plastic. This guitar appears to be built of a composite material similar to masonite and is coated rather than painted.

Wandré was attracted early on to aluminum and it’s structural material. He was a motorcycle enthusiast and restored motorcycles. He was often seen riding the Italian countryside. His interest in motorcycles was reflected in the design and workmanship of his guitar vibrato system. The same could be said of motorcycle enthusiast Paul Bigsby, who in the United States invented his famous version of the guitar vibrato made by using a motorcycle spring. However on some of Wandré’s vibrato was either a triangular or diamond-shaped affair was attached to the aluminum core and faced outward with a cast metal “W”… it looked very much like a motorcycle medallion of the day.

A common occurrence in many guitars of this era was neck warpage. Wandré solved that with an aluminum neck that featured and adjustment that allows for placing the neck at a suitable angle for your playing style - maybe 6 degrees each way parallel of the top. It also has a neck-through-tailpiece design and the headstock is also wood framed with aluminium.

The intonation and string height adjustments are made with an overhead suspension type looking like an upside-down tune-o-matic which you can rest your palm on it smoothly. As were many guitars of the day, the neck is very narrow but kind of like half a baseball bat. The necks were straight as an arrow, .006 of an inch off over its length. 
 
His guitars featured a neat pushbutton pickup selector switch system that looks like the old Chrysler automatic transmission pushbuttons of the 60's. He sold his guitars under the names - Jennings UK, noble USA, Dallas UK, wander ITALY, Krandall, Avalon, Orpheum - Krandall may have been the parent company of the Davoli pickup company.

Wandré guitars were exported throughout Europe and the Americas. Concentrations of specimens can be seen in the Netherlands and Argentina. In England and was released by Dallas in the U.S. with Don E. First with Maurice Noble Lipsky and his trademark Orpheum, later. In France, the main distributor was Doris.

The collaboration with Davoli lasted until 1970 when Pioli sold his guitar factory to start a leather clothing business. Wandré guitars production shows around 70,000 instruments being produced and sold around the world. Pioli passed away in 2004.

Ok, these make groovy art, but are they good guitars? Actually, Wandré’s like this guitar can be remarkably good. The pickups are nice, loud, clear single-coils, and the necks allow for a swell set-up. If there’s a down side, the guitars can feel a little delicate. Maybe it’s the thin plastic on the neck. Or the fact that the vinyl starts to shrink over time and is easily loosened. Probably not the guitar you’d pick to play while jumping off your amp stack.

This Wandré Roby Gold from 1963 is quite a stunning-looking piece of vintage Italiana. The plastic control module set into the lower bout of the body is a particularly eccentric touch. Wandrè’ss are known for their peculiarities of design such as metal necks with bolted on headstocks and unusual body materials such as fibreglass. This example is quite conservative compared to some models.

However, it hasn't gone un-noticed that artists like Buddy Miller and T-Bone Burnett were playing Wandré guitars and getting an amazing sound, and the price of these instruments has sky-rocketed.

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