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  #1  
Old 11-21-2015, 01:22 PM
AgentKooper AgentKooper is offline
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Default Can anyone identify this guitar?

What guitar is Martin O'Malley playing here? I can't quite make out the logo:







He's the former governor of Maryland and current Democratic primary candidate -- photo is from a profile in the current Rolling Stone. Love the look of that guitar. Is that maple side and fingerboard?
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Last edited by AgentKooper; 11-21-2015 at 01:28 PM.
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Old 11-21-2015, 01:27 PM
fumei fumei is offline
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It may be Ponce.
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Old 11-21-2015, 01:37 PM
AgentKooper AgentKooper is offline
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Ponce? The only Ponce I'm aware of is the musician. Is there a maker by that name too? The google and a forum search reveal nothing . . .
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Old 11-21-2015, 02:00 PM
guitargarden guitargarden is offline
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Believe it's a Penco.
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Old 11-21-2015, 02:28 PM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by guitargarden View Post
Believe it's a Penco.
I agree. Here's a picture of one that looks very similar to the one Mr. O'Malley is playing:


Here's a capsule description from the VintageGuitarPro.Com page on Penco:

Quote:
The Penco brand is really no different from the Ibanez (Hoshino). They were made in the same factory as the Ibanez, along with the Elger and Univox brands, manufactured in Japan, and distributed by the Philadelphia Music Exchange.

Penco made Martin and Gibson style acoustics with laminate woods rather than solid, bolt neck copies of Les Pauls, Rickenbacker 4001 basses, Strat/Tele copies, and the odd mandolin and banjo. The Penco brand was made circa 1974 to about 1978, relatively high quality, and part of the "copy guitar/lawsuit guitar" craze of the 70's. The Penco brand may often be mistaken for the real thing, especially by drunks who hang out at bars.

What is fun about the Penco brand is that even though it may be hard to find parts for the guitars, the parts that they were copied after may fit perfectly. As for replacing the spring on the whammy for your electric, a Harley Davidson motorcycle spring works just fine, plus it makes your guitar "cool" and different from everyone else's unless they've read this article, in which case they would be cool, too.
For what it's worth, the gentleman kneeling beside the candidate is playing a Trinity College octave mandolin. Trinity College mandolin family instruments were developed to serve the Celtic music market by Saga, the same company that makes Kentucky mandolins and Blueridge guitars.



˚˚˚

Judging from the guitar's excellent, evidently mint condition and Mr. O'Malley's apparent age, my guess is that he bought this guitar while in high school or college, learned a few chords, then put it in the closet at his parents' house while he went out and embarked on his career. .

Not that it matters- that's just a guess. But the guitar does not appear to have ever been "rode hard and put away wet," as we ol' cowpokes like to say.


Wade Hampton Miller
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Old 11-21-2015, 02:41 PM
MHC MHC is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Wade Hampton View Post

Judging from the guitar's excellent, evidently mint condition and Mr. O'Malley's apparent age, my guess is that he bought this guitar while in high school or college, learned a few chords, then put it in the closet at his parents' house while he went out and embarked on his career. .

Not that it matters- that's just a guess. But the guitar does not appear to have ever been "rode hard and put away wet," as we ol' cowpokes like to say.

Wade Hampton Miller
Hmmm, I'm not sure we can assume that the Penco is even his guitar - let alone create a narrative about when he bought it and how much he played. He could have been campaigning and stopped at a Celtic jam of some sort -- picked up a guitar that was at the gig -- and strummed a few chords.

If you Google "O'Malley, Guitar" you'll find lots of photos of him playing a black Taylor. Like this.



BTW - Guitargarden - the Penco identification was amazing. Folks on this forum sure know their guitars.

Last edited by MHC; 11-21-2015 at 02:52 PM.
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Old 11-21-2015, 02:59 PM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MHC View Post
Hmmm, I'm not sure we can assume that the Penco is even his guitar - let alone create a narrative about when he bought it and how much he played. He could have been campaigning and stopped at a Celtic jam of some sort -- picked up a guitar that was at the gig -- and strummed a few chords.

If you Google "O'Malley, Guitar" you'll find lots of photos of him playing a black Taylor.
Okay, excellent point. Somebody ELSE might have kept that guitar in excellent condition, not necessarily the candidate.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MHC View Post
BTW - Guitargarden - the Penco identification was amazing. Folks on this forum sure know their guitars.
The collective wisdom I can find here is certainly what keeps me coming back.


whm
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  #8  
Old 11-21-2015, 03:03 PM
guitargarden guitargarden is offline
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Can't take credit for knowing about Penco (beyond what I just found out during a quick Google search). Always like the challenge of identifying a guitar, that's all. So, I copied the image posted above, then increased its size until I could see the logo on the headstock better. Since it has five letters, starts with "P" and ends with "o", has what looks like "n" as the fourth letter, and there's not a guitar brand named "Ponce", that left either an "a" or "e" or "u" for the vowel and the win! As a first choice, Penco had more appeal than Panco or Punco!
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Last edited by guitargarden; 11-21-2015 at 03:08 PM.
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  #9  
Old 11-21-2015, 03:07 PM
MHC MHC is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by guitargarden View Post
Can't take credit for knowing about Penco (beyond what I just found out during a quick Google search). Always like the challenge of identifying a guitar, that's all. So, I copied the image posted above, then increased its size until I could see the logo on the headstock. Since it has five letters, starts with "P" and ends with "o", has what looks like "n" as the fourth letter, and there's not a guitar brand named "Ponce", that left either an "a" or "e" for the vowel and the win!
I'll bet you kick butt at Hangman.

Last edited by CoolerKing; 11-21-2015 at 03:24 PM.
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  #10  
Old 11-21-2015, 05:37 PM
AgentKooper AgentKooper is offline
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Penco for the win! Well done! Based on the article that photo accompanied, it seems O'Malley and his wife are both experienced guitar players. His band even opened for the Pogues. Now that's what I'm looking for in a President!
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