Mercury Guitars

[ItsaBass]

Hi,

Does anyone remember Mercury Guitars? They were northern California based, and claimed to use environmentally friendly construction methods. They didn't last long.

My dad had one because a local shop blew it out for a couple hundred bucks when the shop went out of business. When he died, I gave it to his student Tim, who always really liked the guitar.

(Gee, this is a depressing story so far, huh? One failed guitar company, one failed local guitar shop, and one dead dad!)

Now I am wondering about the company. How long were they around, what models did they make, etc. Info on the Internet is kind of scarce, so I was hoping that someone who remembers them could pipe in.

Thanks.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Mercury Guitars

sounds interesting - electrics, acoustics, both? what was their vibe (strat variant, their spin on an LP shape, etc.)?

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Mercury Guitars

They were electrics. The vibe was kind of low-end '50's to 60's-style guitars. Lots of pastel colors, kind of small bodies. The one I had was seafoam back and sides with a transparent brownish lavendar top. Bolt on maple neck, rosewoob board. Kind of Mosrite-like head. Two point vibrato, two Strat pickup. Kind of small body with tiny horns.

 

[verbotenco]

Re: Mercury Guitars

Isn't it ironic to name an environmentally friendly guitar 'Mercury'? No wonder they didn't last long. It's like that OK soda of the 90s, it's just okay, not good.

 

[dcx]

Re: Mercury Guitars

Yes I met Doug (Pederson I thiink?) who was the owner of the company when he posted an ad last year on craigslist blowing out some of his left over guitar making materials from Mercury Guitars. They were kind of shooting for the wrong market which was high quality bootique made low budget guitars. Not a very realistic scenario. They were also a licensed Parsons String Bender installation facility. He sold me one of his higher end prototypes which has a B bender and a G bender installed. Its a set neck, Tele shaped 3 pickup tone monster with a bound top and a 3 way capacitor tone switch. I'm thinking of selling it but have no idea what its worth. I got it in a package deal with a lot of raw materials for guitar building. Here's a link to some photos of the guitar http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/19344226/1/Mercury Guitar?h=163ae6

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Mercury Guitars

Wow, thanks for replying to my dead thread. That thing you have is ugly as sin, but kind of cool!

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: Mercury Guitars

That headstock reminds me of a buzzard.

 

[Mbaroz]

Re: Mercury Guitars

Hey! I was the owner of the shop that had the Mercury guitars! We were talking about guitars we wish we still had and I remembered the Mercury. It was a great guitar but yeah I agree it was odd to have a sort of danelectro vibe but want les Paul money. Sorry to hear about your dad. I wish I could remember him buying the guitar. Crazy...

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Mercury Guitars

Interesting. What shop was that?

 

[Thaddeus]

Re: Mercury Guitars

They were electrics. The vibe was kind of low-end '50's to 60's-style guitars. Lots of pastel colors, kind of small bodies. The one I had was seafoam back and sides with a transparent brownish lavendar top. Bolt on maple neck, rosewoob board. Kind of Mosrite-like head. Two point vibrato, two Strat pickup. Kind of small body with tiny horns.

I think you are talking about me. I built and designed Mercury guitars for a number of years. Only sold a handful, but I really didn't want to build en masse. I wanted to keep it small, but soon, lost interest. We were based out of North Hollywood, CA.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Mercury Guitars

I googled "Mercury Guitars" and it came up with some Rickenbacker-esque guitars with lots of pastels, and some weird looking pickups. The pups looked a little rounder than the traditional strat pups. They looked like an indie band's dream. jangly pups, and environmentally conscious building materials.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Mercury Guitars

I think you are talking about me. I built and designed Mercury guitars for a number of years. Only sold a handful, but I really didn't want to build en masse. I wanted to keep it small, but soon, lost interest. We were based out of North Hollywood, CA.

Interesting. Thanks for answering. For some reason, I heard you were based in the bay area. The guitar I had was purchased at DeKarr Music in Pasadena. I recently found a used one in a local used shop as well.

Also, I mistakenly said that the guitar had a bolt-on neck, but I remember now that it was a set neck.

Do you know how many you actually built?

 

[Thaddeus]

Re: Mercury Guitars

Interesting. Thanks for answering. For some reason, I heard you were based in the bay area. The guitar I had was purchased at DeKarr Music in Pasadena. I recently found a used one in a local used shop as well.

Also, I mistakenly said that the guitar had a bolt-on neck, but I remember now that it was a set neck.

Do you know how many you actually built?

I think there are/were two separate companies. Mine was called NoHo Guitars, and our guitar model was named "Mercury." My guitars have bolt on necks.

As for the other reply, those guitars you saw had lipstick tubes... those are my guitars. Also, if you Google image "Mercury Guitar," you'll see a pic of two Daphne Blue Mercs...one a 6-string, the other a 12-string. That 12 is hanging proudly in my living room.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Mercury Guitars

I think there are/were two separate companies. Mine was called NoHo Guitars, and our guitar model was named "Mercury." My guitars have bolt on necks.

As for the other reply, those guitars you saw had lipstick tubes... those are my guitars. Also, if you Google image "Mercury Guitar," you'll see a pic of two Daphne Blue Mercs...one a 6-string, the other a 12-string. That 12 is hanging proudly in my living room.

Ah. It's not your guitars that I am talking about, then.