tiger roach
Urban Bovine Knievel
Wurlitzer Gemini 1966
I’m selling my 1966 Wurlitzer Gemini. Only a few hundred of these were produced, all at the Holman-Woodall factory in Neodosha, KS as part of Wurlitzer’s “Wild Ones” series. In my opinion, the red Gemini is the coolest of the bunch.
The story I’ve heard is that Wurlitzer wanted to sell guitars in the mid 60s so they contracted Holman to produce them. The Gemini, the Cougar and the Wildcat were all pretty avant-garde designs and didn’t sell very well at the time. They had an issue where the paint would flake off so people started returning them. They also had really low output pickups which weren’t as good at driving 60s amplifiers (this is before most dirt pedals came about) and, therefore, went unloved by the guitar buying public of the day. By 1967, Wurlitzer had decided to get out of the guitar selling business and liquidated their stock back to Holman.
This guitar is a modern refin so there are no issues with the paint flaking or peeling off. It was done before I bought the guitar and I think it’s close to the original color. To my eyes, it looks like a pro quality job. The serial # sticker is gone, most likely removed when it was refinished. The rest of the guitar is stock - the bridge, tailpiece, tuners, knobs and pickups.
I had it rewired so that it plays in mono with no need to use a stereo Y-cable in order to hear it. The blender knob is now a master volume (like on a Gretsch). It can easily be returned to the original stereo wiring if you like.
Condition: this Gemini is nicer and in better shape than any Wurlitzer guitar I’ve seen for sale in years! The neck is straight and it plays really nicely. The action is low and it’s got those small, vintage style frets that are slim and fast. The pickups, as you’d expect, are low output and it’s great as a clean, twangy guitar. It plays really nicely with fuzz pedals; where humbuckers seem to overpower a fuzz pedal, you really get all the nuances the pedal has to offer when you play it with a set of really low power pickups. I’d say they’re most similar to gold foils (but different) if I had to compare them. The body doesn’t have any major dings or nicks in it and it resonates really well acoustically. The vibrato bar has a very nice, satisfying feel to it.
https://reverb.com/item/50804142-wurlitzer-gemini-1966?show_sold=true
