Audition Surf Special

Audition (Woolworths) Also badged as Decca and Heit Deluxe


Poss Made In Japan more likely Taiwan late 60's/early 70's

Also sold as Decca and Heit Deluxe

Kind of Fender crossed with Rick shaped ,very like the Squire Venus but with a very cool curvy cut out at the rear of the (ply) body
2 single coil chrome cased pups ,Bolt on 21 medium frets /w zero fret 25 1/2 " scale very fat & flat bound neck, 6 strip tuners on an oversized fender shaped head
Fitted with crude tremelo and basic " roller bridge " 2 switches on lower horn for pup selection single volume and tone controls.

Original arched profile pups have full middly sound which breaks up on higher amp settings (these are the same pups as fitted to many other budget japanese guitars of the time esp teisco]
The bridge pup was dead so I replaced it with a teisco goldfoil (Ry Cooder) pickup and later replaced neck with a cheap ceramic lipsick (danelectro style) pickup
I love the clear jangle of the lipstick neck pup combined with the gritty goldfoil
Very responsive to picking dynamics ..hard picking will overdive amp settings that would normally be considerd "clean" .
Played with lots of overdrive it becomes a punk rock monster though it can't cope with really heavy distortion and starts to squeal like a pig.

The neck on this guitar is very flat and quite thick fitted with 21 medium frets.
The action was about a mile high but after a half a turn of the trussrod and adjusting the bridge, is very playable and ideal for slide though not at all suited to the stock pickups which are arched to match approx 9" radius neck.

Crackly volume and tone pots replaced
Cheapo strip tuners were bent & worn out as was the zero fret . I replaced these and now plays and stays in tune just fine

The Body was finished in standard cheapo thin sunburst but I've resprayed it in a kind of Antigua (yellow/green Fender) burst which really shows off its "sexy "curves and contrasts nicely with black scratchplate and headstock

Everything about this guitar is cheap and quite nasty .I would definately gig with it though and sneer at any guitar snobs who dare laugh at it.
The strap buttons are solid and IMHO that I would only need a backup in case of string breakage (the tremelo /tailpiece string attachment is a bastard)
i'd use another of my cheap monstosities (the zen on is now fitted with a fender neck and finished in green glitter) but that's another review

I shop at woolworths a lot... very heplful.. with faulty goods they always offer to exchange or if pressed give a refund..though it would have been interesting if I tried to get any support regarding this guitar-I'm sure it came with a 12 month warranty though ...and also that they took a lot back (probably in exchange for Scalextric or Johnny 7 machine guns shortlyafter xmas)

However the bastard who sold me this on e-bay didn't mention that
one of the pickups was dead or that 2 of the tuners were so bent that they would'nt turn or that they were worn out .He listed it as being ideal for a begginer and wasn't too pleasant when I pointed out the faults.He wouldn't take it back or offer even a partial refund to part cover cost of fixing it up.. I left very negative feedback

Been Playing 25 years

I bought this guitar because as a kid i always wanted one as they looked cool ( I asked my parents for one every birthday
& christmas untill I was 16 when I gave up and bought myself a hohner blues harp - I'm sure my Dad thought that playing electric guitar was the first step along the road to Hell)

The guitar still looks as if it would fall apart just by giving it a dirty look and I have seen lots of photo's of smashed up ones posted on bands websites (it's not big or clever but it is fun)
I'm sure many of these saw the same fate shortly after their owners had mastered a couple of barre chords and the intro's to paranoid and smoke on the water ..
Thus convincing their tortured parents that they were serious about learning to play guitar ensuring the arrival of a nice Antoria Strat or LP copy (from the Bells instrument catalogue) Early 70's

Fave feature the cool shape

Lost or stolen- I'd be gutted but only because I customised it

I play it a lot more than I should considering I also have the othe stuff listed below .. untill my next junker project anyeway

other gear ,'78 USA strat, Dearmond M75T Maya Marauder copy (2) Austin Hatchet travel deluxe, Hofner Colorama, Zen -On tradition &Tokai Precision Bass Guitars through Ni Guitar Rig and seriously loud hi fi and Bass through Ohm Graphic amp 200W full range cab