Thursday, April 19, 2012

70+ year old Del Oro Cowboy Stencil Guitar in Missoula Montana for $150

I have always resisted collecting these cowboy guitars because they are not all that playable but the prices seem to have come down on them lately so now my be a good time to buy some if you like the way they look. Del Oro is a very old maker name - pre-WWII USA guitars. Check this one out: ********************************
Vintage Cowboy Guitar - $150 (HAMILTON) Date: 2012-04-10, 5:56PM MDT Reply to: qrcxx-2951337889@sale.craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] Collectors item or ready to play. In Good condition DEL ORO COWBOY GUITAR (c.1940) GC, 13-1/4" birch body, mahogany neck, painted on binding on top and sound hole, rosewood fretboard, dot markers, 18 frets, trapeze tailpiece, wooden bridge, 3-on-a-plate tuners, cool moonlight campfire cowboy scene on top. $150 send an email if interested
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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 28, 2012 at 7:15 PM

    Hello... I need help (well, most of us do anyways, ha ha).. I have a vintage Pablo Camille Video Guitar. I am just looking for some information on it or maybe if someone could point me in the right direction. It is solid wood, has "aged/discolored) white-ish knobs at the top and it is stenciled with a coyboy sitting on a horse with his head bowed down, his hat in his hand and even the horses head is bent down. ALso, has a fence stenciled on it next to the horse. It also has a silver metal piece that looks like an hour glass on the front (the strings latch on there). I can send you a photo. But if you know anything about this, I would greatly appreciate the help. I cant find much at all about this brand of guitars. My email is: grassgirl422@gmail.com... Thank you, Tonya

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  2. Jim ChristopherJune 29, 2012 at 7:51 AM

    Tonya: I found one reference to the Pablo Camile Video guitar on a Japanese auction site - but that one does not have a stencil. The guitar in that post appears to be a Chicago built student model from either the 1940's or the 1950's (which was the height of the "Cowboy guitar" craze.) That hourglass shape tailpiece usually came on Valco made guitars but it was a very common stock piece on many department store and mail order catalog guitars.

    Here is a link to the listing: http://beta.www.jmxpic.com/y-my-auction/2010/0301-pablo-camille-video-parlor-flattop-acoustic-guitar/#START

    There is another Pablo Camille Guitar on the web - that one is all Mahogany and appears to have been made by Gibson and relabled. Back in the 1940's big Music stores would contract with guitar manufacturers and put their own names on the headstocks and labels inside the guitars - it is likely that is what Pablo Camille did. there is a NYC reference on the one listing so they could have been a New york store.

    An interesting side note is that the term Video" was only invented in the late 1930's so this would have been a very early reference to that technology - Gretsch also made a guitar called the VideoCaster so this may have been the store's attempt to capitalize on the popularity of that term.

    With an item of this rarity you'll have a hard time determining value, but I'd put it at about the same value as any other Chicago built cowboy guitar of that period. A rabid cowboy stencil guitar collector might jump on it based on the rarity, but it's one of those "so rare that no one collects them" type items. hope this helps you a little. Enjoy the guitar. - JC

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  3. Jim ChristopherJune 29, 2012 at 8:04 AM

    Cowboy guitars are popular collectibles - most are not great players but they look great on the wall. Here is a link to a page with lost of photos.

    http://www.jedistar.com/cowboy_guitars.htm

    There is also an entire book devoted to collecting them called "Cowboy Guitars" and the following website helps to identify many of the stencils (check out the "Red Foley" stencil - that may be the one on your guitar.

    http://www.cowboyguitars.net/

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  4. AnonymousJune 30, 2012 at 1:34 PM

    Hey I actually have two guitars that I inherited but know very little about. They are both from the 1920's or 30's (I believe or I wouldn't be here) one is a del oro with what looks like hand painted Mexican like designs on it, the other is a glee club tenor (I think). I was hoping I could get a rough idea on value or even be pointed in the right direction. Thank you very much

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  5. Jim ChristopherJuly 1, 2012 at 1:52 PM

    I don't offer valuations for people's guitars. There are plenty of vintage guitar shops that will do that for a fee. IMO the best way to value any guitar is to put it on eBay for a 10 day listing and let the bidding start at 99 cents - whatever price it ends up selling for will represent the current market value for that instrument. If it has sentimental or personal value then that is something different. Remember stocks and bonds go up and down in value as much as 505 or more in any given year as well - so none of these things - guitars included - should be considered "liquid assets." Good luck. - JC

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  6. UnknownMay 27, 2015 at 7:28 PM

    I have old Del oro guitar not sure how old but it has hand painted Mexican dancing across it an would like to no how old it is

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I appreciate your comments but please no commercial links or non guitar related conversations. Thank you. - JC

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