Please help me identify this guitar

[Orren]

Does anyone have any idea what the guitar in the picture below could be?

The guitarist is a very young Robert Smith, here playing with Siouxsie and the Banshees at Royal Albert Hall in 1983 (this is from the Nocturne show).

Unfortunately, I can't find any site that talks about Smith that mentions this guitar, since for the majority of his career, he used Nationals, Fenders, Gretches, or his current Schecter Signature guitar.

Thanks for any assistance! :)

http://www.mertonfolio.com/SmithGeetar.jpg


Orren

[ZenFly06]

It is a Ovation I mean BreadwinnerI believe. From about 1974-6.

[brad347]

couldn't it be an ovation deacon or breadwinner? Def. an ovation though.

[billyguitar]

No bout adoubt it, Ovation

[fatherjacques]

It is an ovation for sure. One of my friend bought one very similar if not identical a couple of months ago.

[7String Thing]

you can tell by the headstock its an ovation, but i wonder where klein and steinberger got thier ideas huh?

[scottlr]

I remember seeing that Ovation model, My older Vintage Guitar Price guide doesn't have a picture, but the description of the Breadwinner certainly fits it.

[Old Tele man]

...it's either an Ovation Model 1251 "Breadwinner" (notice "round" fret markers), which was made 1972-1979:

http://www.baronaudio.com/collection/models/breadwinner.jpg

...or, it's an Ovation Model 1252 "Deacon" (notice "diamond" fret markers) which was made 1972-1980:

http://www.baronaudio.com/collection/models/deacon.jpg

[cmatthes]

It IS a Breadwinner. Model # 1251 Six string. I've seen a couple 12 strings, but that's the only time I've seen Robert with one of those! The Deacon was the "upgraded" one (diamond inlays instead of dots, etc.).

[Jimi D]

It's a Breadwinner. The Breadwinner was my first electric guitar and I've owned two of them in my life time. The were also the first production electric guitar with active electronics (required two 9-volt batteries in a compartment in the back). The Deacon was of the same design but was finished in transparent finishes (sunburst, brown) and had fingerboard binding and fancier inlays. The Breadwinner is finished in a thick, "stippled" type of finish except for the neck which is the same color but smooth. It's a bolt on design and was available originally with large proprietary single coils that were as big as a normal humbucker, and later with small humbuckers like the ones pictured here, that weren't much bigger than a Gibson mini-humbucker pickup. The necks were a sharp "V" shape, the fingerboard narrow and the frets small and thin. Both of mine were pretty mediocre guitars, but they do look pretty cool...

[Orren]

You all nailed it! I did a Google Search for the Ovation Breadwinner, and there it was--a decade old interview with Robert Smith revealing that it was the Breadwinner he used with the Banshees in the early 80s (and he admitted he chose it just for the looks!)

Not something I'm going to run out and get—even if I wanted one, I'm sure they never made a lefty, ovation is particularly bad about not producing many lefties—but I do love the shape, and there may be a custom guitar in my future with something similar. :)

You guys rock!! :dude

Thanks again,
Orren

[jhczar]

Wasn't that Keith Partridge's main axe in the later years?

[stratzrus]

I had a Breadwinner during the seventies as well. By coincidence I just responded to a thread regarding the L6-S and mentioned that I bought (and sold) the Breadwinner just before buying the L6-S.

Neither one were keepers.

stratzrus

[dieselJosh]

An interesting detail about these guitars; they were bolt on AND glued in; ovation did both. Why? I don't know!

Gotta wonder how they compare to Kleins for ergonomics!

[scanlory]

I'm fairly sure that I once saw a picture of Ace Frehley playing a breadwinner in the early KISS years. Don't remember where I saw it though...

[jeffhef]

Yep. Ace played one. First time I saw one Glen Campbell was playing it. A local music store here carried them when they came out. I remember playing one in the store years ago. Here's a little site you might be interested in:

http://www.doremi.co.uk/breadwinner/

It's a tribute page with an interview of the designer. Also, pix - including Ace playing one.

jeffhef

[little cyress]

Why do some people seem to like these and others no? Is it the active electronics? It's a solid mahogany bolt on (think stratocaster) with a huge cutaway up to 24 frets...
If you close your eyes and throw in your favorite pickups?
Anyone have this experiment? I just picked one up for a nominal sum and am curious... hasn't arrived just yet... It needs to be a player cuz it's a multimedia piece of artwork already