I just saw Man Or Astroman and the rhythm guitarist was playing one of these swept wing things!

 

http://www.hallmarkguitars.com/guitars/swept-vintage.htm

 

What do you think of these?

I picked up a Hallmark 59 Custom back in the spring and could not be more satisfied. Mr. Causey and Browning from Man or Astro-man? picked them up a few years ago and after speaking to both of them for some time. I cannot say that it was not money well spent. The guitar is flawless and, compared to the Mosrites that my friends own, I find it to be a superior guitar in every way.

 

As far as the Eastwood Sidejack that was mentioned earlier, I have one of these as well and have been satisfied. Of course it is not the quality of a Hallmark. It also cost half the price. So, what would you expect. It has a great tone, holds tuning and the pickups are hot. I keep it out on the road as my backup and have used it on many recordings, as it has a different tone from my Hallmark to work with. I would highly suggest them to anyone looking for a Mosriteish guitar on an entry-level budget.

 My Old Band, The Hexxers had a Hallmark Sponsorship. I still have the bass pictured on the right, but I changed the pickguard to a tortoise shell guard.

Whoa, those are cool.

DD:

 

I usually use 12's or 13's with a wound G. I love the feel and sound of flatwound strings for more jazzy and smooth stuff but I'm a treble pickup twang guy first and foremost so round-wound does that best. I've got 12's on the Hallmark right now and haven't had any trouble, although I think I might need a wider set of rollers for the bridge- I've definitely knocked strings off a couple of times. 

 

In the end, it's all about what you like and what you're looking for, and cool factor just doesn't matter if it doesn't play and perform well for you. I can vouch for the Hallmarks. I don't really have experience with the other models you listed above so I won't talk about of my ass about them. Let us know what your findings are.

 

Cheers,

 

Slim

DammitDave said:

Slim - It's beautiful.  Good information, too.  I've been entertaining the idea of a twangy type guitar;

 

Bison 62
http://www.burnsguitars.com/bison62.php

Shadow
http://www.burnsguitars.com/shadow.php
 
Shadow Special
http://www.burnsguitars.com/shadowspecial.php
 
I'm curious about a couple of the features that are different.  The Shadow and Shadow Special both have Knife Edge tremelo like the Cobra and the Bison 62 has the Burns deluxe tremelo unit.  I wonder what's the dif?  I'm concerned about knocking the thing out of tune constantly if I get all Hank Marvin with it.
 
I'm comparing these with a Fender Classic Player Jaguar Special and the sunburst would match my Fender Bass VI perfectly. 
 
http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0141700309
 
Musician's Friend has these for $799.00.

 

DiPinto has a couple that have my attention; Galaxie 4 and MachIV (with added twang bar option).

 

http://www.dipintoguitars.com/category.php?id=1

 

What size strings do you use?  Flats or roundwounds?

Oh, yeah, Dipinto guitars are totally cool, I forgot to mention them as a possible company to look into for groovy retro stylings.

 

Here's another: Italia Guitars http://www.italiaguitars.com/new/main.html

 

If you are looking for good-yet-dirt-cheap guitars, check out Rondo Music or Guitar Fetish. There are some really cool instruments there that they sell for peanuts (sure, you may need to spend a few bucks to get tweak it to high standards, but it is worth it).

Slim - It's beautiful.  Good information, too.  I've been entertaining the idea of a twangy type guitar;

 

Bison 62
http://www.burnsguitars.com/bison62.php

Shadow
http://www.burnsguitars.com/shadow.php
 
Shadow Special
http://www.burnsguitars.com/shadowspecial.php
 
I'm curious about a couple of the features that are different.  The Shadow and Shadow Special both have Knife Edge tremelo like the Cobra and the Bison 62 has the Burns deluxe tremelo unit.  I wonder what's the dif?  I'm concerned about knocking the thing out of tune constantly if I get all Hank Marvin with it.
 
I'm comparing these with a Fender Classic Player Jaguar Special and the sunburst would match my Fender Bass VI perfectly. 
 
http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0141700309
 
Musician's Friend has these for $799.00.

 

DiPinto has a couple that have my attention; Galaxie 4 and MachIV (with added twang bar option).

 

http://www.dipintoguitars.com/category.php?id=1

 

What size strings do you use?  Flats or roundwounds?

After spending years looking for something approximating a Mosrite, and trying everything I could find, from $10k vintage Mosrites to crappy Eastwood "Sidejack" rip-offs, my friend Dan Moses (of The Dynotones and The Finksville 5) turned me on to Hallmark. I play in an east coast surf/punk band called Motopipe, and I ordered a '60 custom in sunset sparkle. This guitar has shocked me with its quality. For about $1000 I have a guitar that is honestly easier to play and more reliable than the real thing is and I don't have to worry about damaging a guitar that costs more than my car. I don't have any others yet, but I'll be adding a swept-wing as soon as I can afford one. The custom-wound pickups are HOT! Intonation and setup was excellent right out of the case. The only two complaints I've had are 1) I ordered mine in March and didn't get it until August (my color choice was backordered- they offered me a '59 Custom at the same price as the '60 but I really wanted this color so I waited) and one of the string slots in the trem needed a little filing- it broke 2 high-E strings before I figured it out. Unfortunately one of those strings broke during the first gig I played with it. Played it out again last Friday night and had no issues. I've also moved up to heavier strings, which are my own preference. Over the years of using spring-tension trems (bigsbys mostly but now with this one as well) I've found that a heavier spring and heavier strings means better string life and the guitar is more likely to stay in tune longer. The downside is that you can't get as much out of a bend, but I think it's worth it if you like a little more tension and heavier feel as I do. I could see that if you played with really light strings- 9's or 10's, tuning might become an issue but that is inherent to a trem system like that. The Eastwood felt like a cheap piece of crap just picking it up. This guitar feels as solid and well-made as any of my much more expensive US-made guitars, and Bob Shade at Hallmark is just an email away anytime you need to talk to him. Can't beat that sort of direct access to the man at the top. He stands behind his product. P.S. the case is really rad too!

What do I think? I love Hallmark guitars. How much does this one cost out on the market?

This is another example of modern companies reproducing those cool/sought-after/hard-to-find guitars from the way back. But they tend to play a lot better (and/or may be in better shape) than the originals.

Eastwood is another example of this kind of company.  

Cool stuff!