1960 Wandre Blue Jeans Vintage Aluminum Neck Hollowbody Guitar Black w/ Davoli Pickup, Case

Up for sale, a circa 1960 Wandré Blue Jeans in excellent condition and in perfect working order, complete with a hardshell case. Wandré guitars were the brainchild of self-described “artist of life” Antoni Vandré Pioli: The son of an Italian violin luthier, Pioli (also known himself as Wandré) produced his utterly unique instruments in Cavriago, Reggio Emilia, Italy, from roughly 1958-69. Among the Wandré models, the Blue Jeans is among the less surreal, with several touches and an overall design more familiar to general audiences, still plenty outlandish and very much emblematic of mid-century Italian guitar design in its own right.

Pioli himself cuts just as fascinating a figure as his guitars; he fought in the resistance during World War II, later becoming an engineer and building a round factory in his hometown of Cavriago where he began to produce instruments. His guitars featured wonderfully weird, eye-catching shapes and finishes, and utilized pioneering construction techniques. Perhaps most notable of all Pioli’s innovations was his usage of aluminum necks, which predated the introduction of the Travis Bean by more than a decade. The electronics were designed with and produced by Pioli’s friend, fellow engineer Athos Davoli, who had his own line of amplifiers, PA systems, and microphones; this particular Blue Jeans dates to the brief era wherein Wandré’s pickguards were branded with “Krundaal,” the name of Davoli’s company.

It’s rumored that the choice to use an aluminum neck was inspired by Pioli’s love of motorcycles (another parallel to the inspiration behind the original Travis Bean guitars), and naturally, the aluminum provides a great deal of stability, also significantly increasing sustain. The slender, hollow “Tri-Lam” laminate wood body delivers a distinct resonance, and this guitar has a warm acoustic bark. The Davoli-built single coil pickup is mounted to the Krundaal pickguard assembly floating above the body, yielding a complex, round midrange character with a detailed treble range, and notable fullness and lower-midrange heft. Featherweight at 4lbs 5oz, this Wandré has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action, and accurate intonation.

Neck Specs:

-Material: Aluminum (poly wrap at spine for comfort)
-Shape: Round stock with fretboard overhang, measuring .905” deep
-Fretboard: Rosewood, large dot inlay
-Frets: Slender, leveled/crowned, no wear
-Scale Length: 25”
-Nut: 1 3/4”, aluminum, zero fret
-Tuners: Open-gear strip

Body Specs:

-Wood: Tri-Lam (three-piece laminate)
-Pickups: Davoli single coil x1
-Controls: None, ¼” cable hard-wired to floating pickguard assembly
-Hardware: Davoli-stamped pickup cover, early ‘60s-style aluminum trapeze tailpiece
-Plastics: Krundaal pickguard with built-in bridge

There are two small star stickers on top adjacent to the treble-side F hole, and the gloss Black finish is framed by black binding, with cream binding at the F holes. There is sparse checking central to the top and back, and cosmetic wear includes faint buckle rash on the back central to the lower bout and various minor scuffs and dings.

A non-original maroon hardshell case is included.