The 1361 and 1363 were
a couple of odd birds that Sears offered for only one catalog, Spring/Summer
1954. Dano soon provided their first electrics in Fall/Winter '54, and Sears was happy to
offer up the Silvertone
1375 & 1377.
Needless to say, these are exceedingly rare, especially the 2-pickup 1363.
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The 1361 and 1363 guitars are a bit of a mystery.
The catalog illustration looks like
a Harmony H44. The actual guitar examples that I've seen, however, look
very much like a Kay-made guitar, something like a K-141/142. Mystery aside, they were some of the very first true solidbody
guitars offered by anyone, anywhere. These were some of the first attempts
at production solidbody guitars, and show an amazing degree of sophistication, both in the very
Les Paul™like body shape, and the
single piece neck and body, with the sides added on much like Les' original
'Log' prototype electric guitar.
Introduced/Retired:
Spring/Summer 1954 as the 57H1361/1363 at $39.99/$59.98
