When Sears Guitars Ruled The World

Baxter and Jonathan talk Sears and Roebuck guitars and how that was Sweetwater before Sweetwater was a thing! When you didn't have a mom and pop shop close by you had to order from that catalogue!

[@pastorofmuppets1968]

Christmas. The Sears, JC Penny and Montgomery Wards Christmas catalogs. Man, takes me back. You can actually find these on Google and page through them. Incredibly nostalgic!

[@jogmas12]

I never got a guitar for Christmas, never.

[@MrKbeaumont]

My first electric guitar and amp. My parents got it from a pawn shop for Christmas 1972. They forgot to take off the tag, $50! It was playable stayed reasonably in tune and I learned a lot on that guitar! I 'm still playing gigs to this day.

[@drippinglass]

That’s kool! 😎👍

[@pulaski1]

I am _so old_ that I remember when a manufacturer "dropped" a product, that meant that it was discontinued and no longer available.

[@scottkidwellmusic9175]

My first bass was a Silvertone. I still have it forty years later. Bought it from a friend in high school in the early 80s. Also have my dad's mid-50s Stella Sundale. Learned to play on it in high school. Teacher told me if I could make it sound good, I could make anything sound good. So here we are... The collection of guitars has grown and changed over the years. Still not a fan of buying guitars online. Gotta get my hands on them before I buy... Thanks, y'all 🙏🏻 Be good to you 🤍💛

[@Cfolger]

I miss my musicians friend catalogs, best bathroom reading material ever

[@flapjack413]

Facts. My bathroom used to be loaded with Musician's Friend, Sam Ash, and Thoroughbred Music catalogs in the late 90's lol.

[@csnide6702]

I use a "Rogue" 100 watt amp to this day

[@MayorMcCheese2000]

I was starting to go through withdrawal, glad you guys are back!

[@rnarrington1]

i missed you guys!!

[@anthonypanneton923]

My first electric guitar and amp was bought for me by my parents for my 12th birthday in 1966 at Korvettes, which was an early K-Mart type store before K-Mart existed. It was a "guitar+amp" special "Presidents Day Sale" item. $39.99 for both. the guitar was a single pickup Teisco sunburst w/cardboard case. and the amp was a 4W, two vacuum tube amp with a 6" speaker. both were made in Japan, which in the mid-'60s was where "the cheap stuff" came from. Within a year I was playing gigs for $$ with my first band.

[@T.R.M]

Still have my 1965 Silvertone 615, the three inch catalogs were epic 😉

[@darlacurrey-colter3844]

i have alot of guitars in my collection. martins, gretschs, national, but the most soul satisfaction is my harmonys and silvertones, espec bigsby equiped ones. even th most jaded fender and gibson guys get misty eyed remembering christmas time in th 60s and the quality and tone of those higher end sears guitars. i spent many an hour on the toilet with a sears catalog and i guess they all did too. and im not darla, im her hubby fer 44 years, wade. i love u guys and yer utubes! bless u!

[@andrewhess2978]

Sears Roebuck was a juggernaut when mail order was the way to reach rural America. As interstates and suburbs gave greater and greater access, Sears was able compete in the crowded department store world for a good while, but could not adapt to the discount store dominance of Walmart and Target and died in the internet retail era. In a similar fashion, Guitar Center dominated for a time as a one stop shop for everything guitar that small shops couldn't compete with, but lost to Sweetwater in online sales; probably in part because Sweetwater was not encumbered with storefront overhead.

[@mikes9759]

Man that was one of the high spots of the year!! The new catalogs coming out!! The Hot Rod and motorcycle catalogs and don't forget hunting and fishing!! I guess some of these are off base but it was fun looking through the wish book!!

[@porpoiserecords]

You guys are fantastic. I have learned and laughed so much. Thank you.

[@paristhalheimer]

The Sivertone and amp in case was my dad's first electric guitar.

[@IndigoJo]

I grew up in the 80s in the UK and my mum got the Freemans catalogue (as did a lot of women back then); she mostly bought clothes from it, but it sold household goods, toys and musical instruments as I recall as well, and the guitars were Encore knock-offs of Fenders and Gibsons. No Silvertones or other eccentric looking guitars from the pre lawsuit era by then. The company still exists (it has a big warehouse outside Coventry) but it's part of a big conglomerate and has gone online now.

[@GoodmanRecordingsTokyo]

"A lot of the times we say words that come out of our mouths that are stupid." This really hits home!

[@jeremynebraska]

I have my grandfather's Silvertone Kentucky Blue acoustic guitar. I love the guitar, still sounds so good.

[@blainehankins]

My first guitar was a Silvertone model 1448 that was purchased for Christmas from the Sears Catalog. It came with a single lipstick pickup, was made by Danelectro and came in a case that was also a tube amp. Pretty awesome for $67.95! I currently own a 1969 Silvertone model 1445 which was a Mosrite Ventures knockoff. I believe it was made by Teisco in Japan. Back then, Sears catalog was like the Amazon. If your couldn't buy it at Sears, it likely didn't exist!

[@jogmas12]

I never got a guitar 🎸 for Christmas 🎄

[@MrJosephSeely]

I bought my first electric (1968 Norma) second hand, but it was originally from our local Montgomery Wards store.

[@seanbrooks2583]

I still got a kenmore washer and dryer.

[@holstorrsceadus1990]

Those things are immortal. It'll be here well after we're gone.

[@harryebbeson]

Guitar player magazine taught me music and maintenance. I still have my Guitar Player Maintenance Guide. Still relevant today.

[@DoctorEnigma01]

I learned to play on Sears guitars I had three of them, a Les Paul, Les Paul recorder and an explorer, loved those guitars

[@rogertinker1813]

That's so cool I bought my first bass from the Sears catalog in 1974 . it was a copy of what I know now is a 74 fender j bass , natural with maple fret board and black block neck inlays

[@jeffsguitars3976]

I am old, remember lusting after guitars in the Sears catalog. Now I have many guitars, my favorite is a 1960 Kay from the JCP catalog.

[@TripleThreat2405]

Circa mid-60s, our local Sears had a wall of guitars on display. The expensive semi-hollows at the top, cheap solid bodies within my pre-pubescent, “Toughskin” clad grasp. Lady clerks in the electronics department came unglued when a kid pulled one down.

[@stevenumbers4027]

I had a 6 10s with the head in the cabinet. Man I thought I had it made. Many hours looking at the sears catalog since guitar stores where not available. This was the mid 60s.

[@davidsummerville351]

Never forget getting those catalogs. A Christmas wish list!

[@briancroft5601]

I have a Silvertone guitar I got from my grandfather, it's a 1967 Tiesco ET-460 K4L in tobacco sunburst.

[@jeffryallred2174]

In 1975 I bought a Univox Stero Bass (Rick 4001 Lawsuit clone) because it was 300.00 and a real Rick was 770.00. That Univox is still my #1 bass for recording and playing. It is mostly connection, I've owned many Expensive basses over the years and that 300.00 Univox is still the best buy I every made!

[@allisonholmesmusic97]

My first guitar came from the Sears catalog. A Les Paul copy with no name on the headstock, just a diamond. It’s almost as though they thought “how close can we make it look like a Gibson without getting sued?” It wasn’t a bad guitar. I got it back a couple of years ago after it sat under a bed at my mother’s house for 25 years. It’s not a bad guitar. It’s a bit staticky, one of these days I’ll get it to a repair shop to get it sorted out

[@1sostatic]

In that advert was a Silvertone head+ cab ... I have just serviced that very model for a customer.

[@jayhill5982]

Never paid much attention to everything people said,my first electric guitar was a candy apple red Japanese strat copy that I bought for 25 bucks and it was a great guitar,wish I still had it ! My second guitar was a Greco 335 knockoff,another great guitar ! Now I'm older and wiser and I have Gibson and Fender guitars and I've come to the conclusion that speding thousands on a guitar gets you the name on the headstock,nothing else !

[@Steve.Cutler]

My first guitar was a black, kinda Les Paul studio/Jr, Harmony, from a Sears catalog in 1981 for Christmas! Pos but I wish I still had it.

[@michaeljoyce3286]

I’ve been interested in DPRSDGTSE model since that came out and I’ve been so apprehensive about pulling the trigger but every review I have seen people are blown away

[@tomfinn8076]

I dont car how much you rag on the old sears guitars. I have a 65 harmony bobkat and i friggin love it.

[@marh415]

When I was a kid I would drool over the guitars in that magazine every year when the Christmas catalog came out. Needless to say they never showed up under the tree. Unfortunately, I was in my 30's when I finally bought my 1st one. 🤦🏼‍♂️

[@joekujawa65]

I remember when the "Pearly Gates" was released alot of talk about 8.8 lb Lester's was the perfect weight...

[@alexwoolridge94aw]

I'm all about amps and guitars now. But I'm only doing about 1 purchase a year now. I've been done settling and feeling I need one of everything. Now days I bring one of two Magnatones I own, along with one of two Les Pauls. Tuner, an overdrive and a boost. My younger self would think I'm nuts even though most pedals cost more than my first rig. First Act guitar and amp, 150 bucks back in January of 2007.

[@RodCalidge]

Used to wait for the yearly catalogue, (I think it came out before Christmas), just to see the guitars and amps Sears offered. (And maybe a quick peek at the bra section, lol )

[@PooNinja]

I’ve said forever if they had been more forward thinking Sears could have been bigger than Amazon.

[@jcm78]

My first guitar was a Harmony h804 with a pointy headstock. Got it for Christmas in 1988. My parents got it from Brendle’s.

[@jogmas12]

I never got a guitar 🎸 for Christmas 🎄

[@leovanhorn9577]

Watching these two guys makes me feel like I need to take a bath

[@aaronmcnair1829]

I played a lot of 60's and 70's guitars as a middle schooler and teenager that were just old guitars back then. I remember Silvertone. But they haven't kept up with the prices of say a Kalamazoo branded guitar. The Gibsons and fenders I borrowed, played and sold back then make my heart hurt

[@kevint911]

My 1st guitar was a Sears guitar. It looked like a Charvel or Jackson. HSS, inline 6 tuner, Sharktooth inlay, 3 way toggle and a trem. It was a HEAVY chunk.!!!

[@travthedad305]

Man this is funny me and my buddy just talked about this over the weekend and how back in the day we long for years to get the cream harmony Stratocaster from the Sears Roebuck catalog for Christmas

[@Dram1984]

I have a 1965 Airline Bobkat. It’s super cruddy but in a sort of endearing way.

[@larryzink8978]

I'm here for the smiles

[@harryebbeson]

I played two Sears Silvertone Guitars as a teen. I wish I still had the electric. I learned how to work on guitars because if I couldn't fix it, I couldn't play it!

[@bryanbentley5448]

The tobacco brown Les Paul Deluxe hanging behind you... I have a 1975 model (purchased new... yes, I'm old) that could be it's twin!

[@glenbateman5960]

My first Guitar (1975) was a Sears&Roebuck "Country & Western" acoustic with double pick guards and a neck so warped you were knuckle-deep in strings by the 7th fret.😂

[@jimdiaz9968]

Amazon is the new Sears. You can buy guitars there too.

[@homegrownson]

Used to Think a Martin or Gretsch Acoustic were absolute Best , but by time I finally got to play one, The DY51 Yairi Alvarez 6 string Slayed it, it wasnt the best Martin Model and I love the late 70's Gretsch Guitars, But I still have that Yairi

[@Bfordandafter]

I have an early 60s Silvertone U1 in brown with some gold fleck in it.... fun guitar but I'm going to go ahead and move it on to a new home as I just don't really play it and it would be cool for someone to use in a studio or as a cool little slide guitar.

[@oracleofdelphi8411]

Hey Baxter and Jonathon, is that a tan Fender Coronado 2 on the wall behind the boxing glove over Baxter's right shoulder ? If so, how much $ is it ? Cheers, love the content.

[@leftwrite]

It's been over a week fellas...I was just slightly freaking out.

[@bobbydill6388]

I still own the Silvertone Jupitar that my parents bought me in 1961. Cool guitar.

[@goodun2974]

The "Dave's World of Fun Stuff" channel recently posted a 2 part video on straightening a badly warped Jupiter neck.

[@bobbydill6388]

@@goodun2974 My guitar has the original bound neck with block inlays and adjustable truss rod, not that cheap junk Rocket neck with no truss rod adjustment. Someone really took that guy for his money. That was a total shame.

[@fredtirbo4411]

Nice jacket Johnny, looking sharp.

[@altonT]

Dad and mom bought my first guitar from Sears in the early sixties. Same one Richie on Happy Days used. Blueish and cheap. Wish I still had it

[@BillAltman]

quick tip, get the white strat w tort guard in the coner of Casino, quite the piece!

[@billwestcott5688]

Bought my first electric guitar and amp at Sears and Roebuck Silvertone brand . Think the guitar was $80.00 amp maybe the same all the Silvertone amps were tube amps. Great sound for the money.

[@motojojo253]

See in Tacoma, our Ross and Micheals has a Guitar Center right next door...

[@DavidHBurkart]

Sears Silvertone Acoustic was my first guitar, followed up with a MIJ St. George electric & off-brand MIJ solid state amp, complete with a telephone-style input cord. I wish I still had that combo, but I think I traded out of it for things that weren't even guitar related... might have even been a pawn-shop swap as a teen These I keep searching for that cool little yellow-bodied guitar to no avail. They are as scarce as hens teeth.

[@mikebrison1838]

I saved up to buy the silvertone twin twelve tube amp. It rivaled the fender. Loaned it to a friend. He painted it black. Loaned it to a cousin. It was stolen from him. If you own a black twin twelve, it’s mine.

[@mylerism]

My first electric was a Sears Effector. What a pig. Explorer body style with scratchy humbuckers. Half of the effect buttons - yes, buttons - actually worked. Man, I miss that guitar

[@BillAltman]

my first amp was from JC Penny

[@sysop007]

The only interaction with them back in the day that I really recall is getting a C64 computer from sears for Xmas when I was a kid... 👀

[@TheFeelButton]

You do need a Duesenberg Jonathan! Cheers Casino!!

[@andrewhess2978]

I had the same experience with Duesenberg as Jonny Rob. Wanted one until I actually played one. Good guitar, just wasn't for me, no matter how cool they look.

[@ASM881]

I just bought a Danelectro 63 online!!!!!! It’s a super fun guitar!!!

[@curtvona4891]

Sweet!

[@eyemduckk]

1448s command a TON of money now...wish I still had mine from when I started learning in the 60's

[@stevetierney8347]

Got me a Silvertone with the amp in the case!

[@brianpartridge5654]

I remember when there was one mall in my area (well there basically still os one) and it was called "SearsTown Mall") wasnt sears a mail-order only thing 1st and they told'em it would never work and they needed brick and mortar stores (amazon...hold my beer)

[@allisonholmesmusic97]

I am totally guilty of being influenced by KZbin. I saw a video from Alamo Music the other day about the new Gretsch Jet Two 90. As soon as I was finished with the video I checked Sweetwater and saw it came in purple. A solid body Gretsch wasn’t even close to being on my radar but it is purple so I ordered it. Not sure how long it will take to get it, Sweetwater says “a few weeks”

[@richardfeldkamp1707]

My first guitar in 1965 was from either Eaton's or Simpson-Sears (in Ontario). I can't remember the brand but it was a Strat knock off with 2 Zen-On pickups (Japanese made). on the upper horn there were 3 sliding switches (off-on for each pickup and a rhythm-lead switch) and in the regular Strat space a volume control and a barely functional tone control. The neck was flat and chunky and the nut had the strings about 4mm above the neck. The bridge was plastic and had a triangular mountain for each string, each mountain was a different height. Even my instructor found the instrument almost impossible to play. I did get the neck slots filed down but the differing string heights still made picking difficult. Maybe that's why I still prefer finger picking. My next guitar was a Rickenbacker knock off from Aria. Beautiful guitar but haven't been able to find out anything about it. I think it might have been one of the infamous lawsuit models.

[@wewin03]

I thought trapeze bridges looked so cool until I played one. And I realized I had no place to rest my palm.

[@bbrotherton6345]

As i recall, I hade a 6-10 Sivertone amp in1965. 6L6 power. I got rid of it because of peer ridicule. I wish I still had it. It had the sound of a 59 Bassman.

[@stevelang3109]

Had a Sears Silvertone guitar and amp back in 68... my fingers still hurt from the lousy action on that warped neck... but hey, gotta start somewhere... still have the amp though :

[@mikemiller6628]

I used to look through my moms Sears and Wards catalogs for guitars and amps.

[@matthewlapczynski5012]

I wish I still had my first electric guitar. Weirdly I can't remember how I acquired it! But the action was terrible, I struggled with it and tried fixing the action by lowering the bridge, cutting into the nut, and other things. I think it was a Sears kind of guitar. It maybe was a Silvertone (probably) or maybe a Danalectro type, but I know it had strange lipstick type pickup(s). It was back around 1966 or so. I eventually junked it because I didn't know how to make it play better (decently). I wish I still had it. I think I know how to "fix" it today.

[@titanuranus]

I must disagree with your profound assertion (at 0:04 ) that Casino sells the "wrong" guitar. Based on my experience, Jonathan took his time with me and when I left your shop, it was with the fundamentally perfect guitar.

[@SlimRhyno]

I have never heard of this "wrong guitar" about which you speak. The individual words I know, but I'm pretty sure you just made up that phrase in order to mess with me. Well, you got me 😅

[@bks252]

My first guitar was a True Tone from Western Auto

[@ericsmith7287]

For the longest time my Sweetwater rep would call and my phone would say that it was the Tesla charging station and I would tell him about it. Finally he asked, if I wanted to buy a Tesla. Sweetwater has more than just Sweetwater Sound. There's also Sweetwater Cars, which I thought was Auto until this last weekend when we saw a license plate holder, and Sweetwater Aviation. Yes, you can buy an airplane from Chuck. I was going to stop and look at Martin's this last weekend, mine is the 000-15 and I just can't do that narrow neck anymore, but hey it was our Easter with our daughter and she comes first.

[@travthedad305]

I still want to find one in decent shape just for nostalgia

[@therealandrecorbin4050]

The catalog, always around my house...as a kid I was after the military uniforms, early '70.

[@30smsuperstrat]

My dad's was, "Do you need overhauled?"That guy needs an overhaulin".

[@patm5086]

Great Danelectro /Silvertone put out great amps and guitars.

[@patm5086]

Lipstick pickups sound real good

[@cmet8280]

As someone who started learning guitar in the early sixties I can say from experience that those Silvertone guitars were crap!

[@goodun2974]

​​@@patm5086 , there are plenty of KZbin videos of David Lindley playing a two-pickup Danelectro/Silvertone onstage with his mutant reggae-rock jam-band ElRayo-X. They have a bell-like chime, and a gruunty distortion into a good amp, that sounds distinctly different from any other guitar, and really cuts through a mix (and then there was his Supro lap steel being played through a Dumble amp, which is a whole 'nother thing entirely). Lindley literally toured the world with that Sears guitar (as well as several Teisco's, Supro's, and Nationals). Of course, Lindley could play *anything* with strings ---- violin, mandolin, lap steel, banjo, Oud, Saz, Bouzouki, Chumbus..... ---- and he knew how to do his own setups and repairs. I was fortunate to see him play a number of times, both solo and with a full band. Check out some of the German full El RayoX shows on KZbin, such as those from Rockpalast, Loreley and Metropol Berlin, as well as the Reggae on the River recording of "Quarter of a Man". He was unique, an iconoclast, a 1 of 1, and we shall never see his like again. May he Rest In Peace!

[@AmericanVetMusic]

I sure hope everything you dreamed of is coming true, y’all.

[@MichaelBethke-ni6zb]

I got my first guitar from Speakgale

[@JimGraham-x1w]

I’ll pay money if someone can tell me the name of the guitar shop in Orlando they mention now and again. I’m over in Ormond Beach and am always looking for new places.

[@csnide6702]

In mid 1970s i had a "Global" from Sears. It was a decent guitar until the bridge broke.

[@mikedr1549]

Uncle Larry didn't even give the Bluesbreaker a chance. A couple tweaks and he may have liked it.

[@rickmiller7884]

The Wish Book. I can still smell it. Smells like Christmas.

[@davidtomkins4242]

You can’t buy a house through sweetwater but you can buy a load of pedals and use them as brincks to build a house to live in

[@georgehoggatt3759]

Don't say that, someone will do it

[@motojojo253]

And I do own an original Silvertone/Danelectro .

[@xxGriff]

I still have a hard time with buying an instrument w/o playing it 1st. with the exception of SW, I dont find CS with the big box a reassurance should things go south. I dont recall Sears and their contemps having dread factor I find should CS/return be needed with GC or MF. the gear catalogs... guitar pron u put ontop of Vic's secrets... or so I heard, once.

[@PapajamaJoe]

They say perception is the only reality. Really love the point about how you can trick and convince yourself that hey, maybe that was a good guitar or amp or pedal, even if it isn’t! Look at the Bad Monkey debacle. :) I can relate with being suckered by the internet to get a guitar - the strat. For decades, it never appealed to me, so I got one because everyone says you have to have one. And yes, it’s great - I love the tone, but it’s not as playable for me, compared to a telecaster. Thankfully, my young daughter loves the strat and so it wasn’t a waste - she’s claimed it, and that’s how she’s learning, because it’s an easier guitar to learn the ropes, I think. I’ve learned to trust my ears and hands and instincts more, instead of what other folks say. And that’s why Jonathan is helping me with my forever tele (that my daughter also claimed for herself already)

[@jeffberg8015]

Back long long ago, when I was first learning to play guitar on my $35 department store plywood acoustic, (1,3,5, 1,3,6,5) I used to lust after the crappy electric guitars in the Sears catalog.

[@randaldavis8976]

I agree about pedals being a gateway drug.

[@Jaloja]

Lets do some alternate history... Its `1965 and Sears just bought Gibson! What could have happened to that? Probably not a survival story.

[@chucklee347]

I really really hate to admit this. But the truth is truth. I had a 1984 strat style guitar had made by samick silvertone. On the headstock. To this day I had it 24 years. I've not found as smooth and strait and nice feeling neck on anything I've put my hands on. There's necks I like I have. But nonthing as good as the samick. I compare every guitar I touch to that neck. It was perfect for me. And of course i sold it. I was a young guitarist and thought there's a lot of necks out there like this. BOY WAS I WRONG.