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Last weekend, our family was visiting local college campuses for my daughter, and I have to tell you all that I am truly entering a strange new chapter of my life. I can vividly remember my wife and I taking birthing classes and feeling my daughter’s little feet kicking from inside the womb. And now, here I am on the precipice of my girl possibly leaving home—wow. It occurred to me while I was pondering life that I’m going to miss her so much! She’s like the female version of me and we have a blast together.
While we were touring campuses, we had to check out the record store scene of each town. In fact, that became the litmus test for how cool each college seemed. We did visit my alma mater, which has a legendary record store that’s been around since the early ’90s. Even though the store has changed locations a few times, it remains an epic source for vinyl, CDs, and all sorts of various ephemera. It’s easy to drop $100 there, and since I can’t say no to my girl, we ended up with some cool treasures. She found some Ty Segall stuff and I copped a rare Wu-Tang record! Love the Wu!
As I was paying for our things, I noticed a few guitars hanging behind the counter. In the true tradition of a good record store, there were an assortment of guitar strings, drumsticks, and picks. I started to remember the early connection of guitars and record stores from way back in the day. Brands like Decca and RCA were hallmarks of the time, as is this month’s guitar.
This Nivico Balladeer is a rare example of a guitar styled specifically for display. Made in 1965, this model was the little brother to the RCA Victor SG-18, which I wrote about a while back. Normally, this model was called an RCA SG-12, commonly featuring the words “Music Messenger” written across the front of the body. My example doesn’t have those words, but it does have a hand-painted “Balladeer” label that is super rare. I think I’ve seen two or three of these in my years of searching.
“I think I’ve seen two or three of these in my years of searching.”
These hand-painted examples were meant for record-store display, and I guess the “Balladeer” term was probably chosen through some album or artist connection. This guitar has “NIVICO” stamped on the vibrato plate, a word that’s a mashup of the first letters of the name “Nippon Victor Company.” Nivico was also a brand name used for electronics equipment sold back then.
The wooden parts of this guitar were made at the legendary Matsumoku factory, and RCA Victor harnessed its wizardry to produce the electronics. Folks, these pickups are just incredible and sound like nothing else I’ve ever heard. They are loud, clear, and powerful. This guitar was intended to be high-end and the company used very good quality parts. The huge chrome pickguard could certainly glare out an audience, although this would be a tough guitar to play live since the bridge isn’t adjustable and the tremolo puts this guitar into tuning nightmares. But wow, do they sound good. Kind of a shame really, but then again, when a guitar fights with you, it can make you into a better player by sheer willpower. Not quite the willpower it takes to see your daughter off to college, but close!
So yes, past and future dads out there: Be sure to steel yourself for the impending departure of your kids. Spoil them with love and records and whatever else you enjoy doing together, and remember to choose colleges based on record stores!
