All That Glitters

It's not gold, but the finish on this 1967 Tele-Star guitar sparkles from its headstock all the way to its electronics cavity.

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SPARKLE FINISHES ARE

rather commonplace on guitars today, but they were less so in the 1960s, seen mostly on some models from Danelectro, Gretsch and EKO. To that group we can add Tele-Star, which offered guitars in a range of sparkly finishes, from gold to teal. Whatever the overall color scheme, their sparkles were always multicolored, and as such glimmered like one of Liza Minelli's dresses in Cabaret! While Tele-Star was an independent Japanese manufacturer in the mid '60s, later models were made by the highly respected Japanese guitar maker Kawai and played better as a result. The 1967-to-1970 sparkle-finished 5000 series guitars, like the two-pickup model shown here, are the ones the collectors chase.

WEIRDO FACTOR