Maude

There's signature models and signature models though. In that some are just a standardish instruments with a different pickup and paint job and others are completely different instruments from the ground up than are otherwise available. Being from the bass side (apologies) this is bass related, but I bought an Epiphone Jack Casady, a Yamaha Billy Sheehan Attitude Ltd2 and a Yamaha Peter Hook BB last year. All three have had extensive input from the artist, especially the Attitude and the JC, both being completely original basses in their own right and nothing like anything else available. I'm not even very familiar with Sheehan or Casady's music but to ignore the basses purely because they are signature models would have had me missing out on a couple of excellent basses. The PH is because I'm a huge fan but again, if it wasn't unlike anything else in their current line up I wouldn't have bought it. Where as something like the Nate Mendel Precision is basically a standard Precision with a Quarter Pound pickup.

Definitely not a one off. I had a Mania VTB-4BS neck thru bass which was really very good. It won bass of the year under £500 in one of the big guitar mags when in production. Here's an ad for a bass with a bit of info about quality and origin, I'd be willing to bet the guitars are built in the same factory to the same standard.

I play doublebass as well, so guitar flats are a drop in the ocean.

Completely agree on all points there @EdwardMarlowe. Since the original post I've stripped it down and given it a good clean and polish, it was clean enough but I always do this with any new (to me) guitar or bass, and it really is just too clean to be anything like 50 years old. From this (https://www.fetishguitars.com/castelfidardo-recanati/melody/) we can deduce it's likely built between 72 (when Eko withdrew from Melody) and 88 (when Melody folded), as you say probably 80s. Even so it's still in very good condition, very few knocks and the white plastics haven't really yellowed at all so I reckon it's been tucked away in a case or cupboard most of its life. I've dressed the fret ends and polished the frets, cleaned and lemon oiled the fretboard, machine polished the sound board and scrubbed the back with an alcohol based degreaser to lift any dirt out, new strings and a set up and it's lovely. I've fitted a set of nickel 10s (don't like bronze) and as you said, it's quite bright so I'm thinking I might try a set of flatwound strings. Being predominantly a bass player I'd prefer the higher tension and they should help mellow the tone a touch, maybe less volume but I'm not worried about that as its just for garden strumming. If it implodes under the tension then I've lost the £69 it cost, but should be fine.

Well it's home . It plays really well with a nice low action and no buzzes anywhere. It's not massively loud but that's to be expected with its small body and f holes (and three little soundhole under the strings) but I don't want a lot of volume anyway. Electrics work and sound quite nice, it has a piezo saddle with passive tone and volume controls. I'm not convinced at the moment that it's 60s as it's just in too good a condition. From a bit of digging Melody were bought by Eko in the mid 60s and badged as Eko's from then on, bar a few oddballs, until Eko folded in the 80s when Melody carried on under their own name again. Maybe this is why the previous owner was told 60s as they were Eko's after that, but it could be the 80s resurgence. Melody and Eko were Italian so it could possibly be Italian, or one of the Far East factories if Melody subbed out the work. I'll get some photos when I strip it for a good clean and polish. But for now it's great.

I'll report back when I've had a little play . It's less money than a framed, full size picture of the guitar would be, so if it's terrible then a wall hanging it is. I read a post on Mandolin Café where a chap had converted one to a mando-cello and said that before the conversion it played and sounded far better than it had any right to, given it's credentials, so fingers crossed.

Hello all, I may have just bought a piece of cool junk! I fancied a little acoustic to play in the garden and this just popped up on facebook six miles away. It's a Harmony arch top which I've narrowed down to being a F01 /E2. The seller says its 1960s but I've no idea about that, all I do know is that it was a very cheap, far east guitar when sold new. As I like quirky cheap instruments this should be right up my ally. I love the look of it, even the headstock! I'm picking it up tomorrow morning so we'll see then how bad it is, but in fairness it's just had new strings fitted and had a set up by a local tech and the action in the pictures looks quite good. In the meantime, if anyone has any info on these it would appreciated.