1958 Stratosphere Six-String

Well, this is an obscure one. The Stratosphere Guitar Company was started in the mid-1950s in Springfield, Missouri by brothers Russell and Claude Deaver. They made three models, the six-string pictured here, a twelve-string and a double-neck with both six and twelve string necks. At the time the Deaver’s were making these guitars there was no ready source of parts like pickups or bridges so they just made their own from scratch. The Deavers made fewer than 200 guitars during their brief time in business but somehow Jimmy Bryant got his hands on one. Bryant was one of the finest country guitar pickers of all time and he fell in love with their double-neck guitar. Russell Deaver, who developed the Stratosphere line, had the clever idea of tuning the paired strings of the twelve-string neck in thirds rather than in octaves or in unison, which meant a single guitarist could play harmony lead lines with himself. Bryant like the harmonized sound so much he composed “Stratosphere Boogie” in honor of the guitar.

A few other guitar players like Chet Atkins experimented with Stratosphere guitars, but they didn’t catch on and by 1959 or 1960 the company went out of business. I’ve never had my hands on a Stratosphere so I really don’t know how they play. I have seen a fair number of photos of guitarists playing them, though, and in just about every case they are playing the double-neck version. I suspect that was their most popular model, which makes this six-string version extra rare. Judging from the rotten buttons on the tuning machines, this guitar hasn’t been played in a long time. This guitar is scheduled to be auctioned by Heritage Auctions on February 15, 2014 and it has an opening bid of $1000.

You can see the auction listing here. UPDATE: This guitar sold for $2125 on February 15, 2014.

Luthier T.K. Smith writes about finding a Stratosphere double-neck at flea market here. The post includes lots of photos of the guitar as well as pages from the Stratosphere catalog, which has to be even rarer than the guitars.

UPDATE: Scroll down to the bottom for new photos and an update from a reader who got to hold the guitar. Sadly, because of the rotten tuning machine buttons he didn’t really get to play it.

UPDATE: Earl Beadle, one of our readers, happened to stop by the auction preview and played this guitar and shoot a few photos. Here is his report: “The Stratosphere six-string felt homemade, but cool. Skinny neck, and the fretboard was a bit raw but playable. One ‘dead’ pickup in the bridge position or maybe at least it had some bad wiring. The cut foil ‘logo’ on the headstock was crazy, but typical for Stratospheres.”