Extremely rare and cool! Electric mandos were catalogued for years, and priced about the same as an Esquire. I've only seen a couple live since the Fifties, and never had one in hand. They were originally offered in Desert Sand/anodized/maple neck but went to sunburst, probably when the company went to rosewood. RE: Custom colors... Right around the time surf instros became popular, Fender started doing what were previously special-order colors in regular production, and IIRC for the same price as sunburst. I sold a lot of Daphne Blue Mustangs to my students in '66-'67. From the factory, Sonic Blue was considerably lighter than Daphne Blue, although after all this time both have ambered out to about the same shade.
@@charlesbolton8471 You are right. They did not make these mandolins in Desert Sand, certainly not routinely. You can never be 100% sure of anything with Fender and there may be a few in Desert Sand, but if there are there aren't many. If you ever decide to sell your mando please let me know how to contact you.
nah, the chorus effect is too bluegrass. if you are interested in that you should check out the mando 12 from dusenberg. I had one and it was top notch
If I remember correctly, music historians said that Alex Chilton used Electric Mandolin in the recording of September Gurls. Cool stuff!!
Extremely rare and cool! Electric mandos were catalogued for years, and priced about the same as an Esquire. I've only seen a couple live since the Fifties, and never had one in hand. They were originally offered in Desert Sand/anodized/maple neck but went to sunburst, probably when the company went to rosewood.
RE: Custom colors... Right around the time surf instros became popular, Fender started doing what were previously special-order colors in regular production, and IIRC for the same price as sunburst. I sold a lot of Daphne Blue Mustangs to my students in '66-'67. From the factory, Sonic Blue was considerably lighter than Daphne Blue, although after all this time both have ambered out to about the same shade.
I own a first generation Fender Electric Mandolin from early 1957. They aren’t Desert Sand. They are Blonde.
@@charlesbolton8471 The ones I saw back in the day were. Congrats on a rare piece of history. Wish I could see pics!
@@charlesbolton8471 You are right. They did not make these mandolins in Desert Sand, certainly not routinely. You can never be 100% sure of anything with Fender and there may be a few in Desert Sand, but if there are there aren't many. If you ever decide to sell your mando please let me know how to contact you.
These were pretty neat. But they should have made them double stringed.
nah, the chorus effect is too bluegrass. if you are interested in that you should check out the mando 12 from dusenberg. I had one and it was top notch
Play some Maestro Alex Gregory!