A while back I stumbled upon OnlyBass.com, the French equivalent of TalkBass. Someone had linked to a thread where the members displayed pictures of their collections. The collections were not unlike those of most Americans - full of Fenders, MusicMen (Mans?) with sprinkles of Hofner, G&L, Yamaha, Ibanez, etc.

But one bass in particular caught my attention:

Luckily the owner noted that it was a “Perlgold” from the 60’s. Perlgold was a new one to me, so off to Google I went.

Turns out Perlgold instruments were manufactured in Germany, starting in the 50’s. For a little bit of history, check Jazzgitarren’s post of images from a 1954 Perlgold catalog. Unfortunately, the trail ran cold for historical info on the company.

But I did stumble upon another site with a number of Perlgold models pictured, three of which are hollowbody basses:

This is the same model found on OnlyBass, with a darker sunburst and tortoiseshell pickguard & control plate.

This one has a definite Hofner/Framus vibe going on.

But the crown jewel - the one you’ve been waiting your whole life to see - is up next.

Wait for it…………….

Wait for it…………..

Check THAT out. You might not have noticed it, but the soundhole is located under the strings, between the two pickups. Next to the Yamaha SA-17, this would be a crowning piece in any hollowbody kitsch collection.

The search begins………

Here’s the page where I found the previous three images.

Here’s another page with a guitar similar to the first bass above.