Hallmark 6-String Hollowbody

Hallmark was a company based in Arvin, CA, USA, comprised of some guys that broke off from Mosrite. I think this guitar is a '67 since I think that is the only year Hallmark made guitars. It's a hollowbody 6-string with 22-frets on a rosewood fretboard, two tortoise-shell single-coil pickups, one volume control, one tone control, a transparent red-to-black sunburst finish, and one f-hole.

If you've seen one or a picture of one, you know the great crazy body shape. If not, it is a sort of an upside-down flying V shape but offset, not quite so wide, and with a squarish "point." Or like a stratocaster with no "hips." It has the slanted neck pickup like Mosrites. The bridge is also the same as a Mosrite with roller saddles to presumably to accomodate a tremelo which this model does not have.

The neck is thin in both directions with I like a lot. Although, this does make it easier to bang on chords than pick individual strings. I tend to mostly play rhythm and don't mind hitting a muted string when solo-ing.

The original tuners were stamped metal, which were squeaky and didn't stay in tune well. I replaced them with Schallers, which I've found to be without a doubt more tunable and dependable. I don't know what happened to originals. Disappeared in some house move. I suppose it would be worth more with the original tuners, crappy as they were but at the time, nobody had heard of Hallmark. Now, it is some sort of rare cult collectible worth a heck of a lot more than the $25 I paid for it in '77.

This guitar suits my style pretty good. I like to play raunchy 60's style garage and 70's punk type rock. Although, at louder volumes it does feedback too easily. The pickups are not real high-gain either (which keeps it from feeding back actually). I do like their sound though. Not real tinny like a strat pickup but fairly beefy for single-coils. The tone control changes the sound quite a bit too. With it turned all the way down, it sounds almost like a bass.. It's not very noisy considering it's and old single-coil and hollow-body It would probably make a good jazz guitar except that it's probably not nice enough for most jazz players.

I got this used and it had been sitting in an attic, it had a few good scars on it already and I've given it a few more. The sunburst finish was well done and still looks cool considering the surface scratches. Everything seems decently made and fits well except the bridge. Some of the mechanical design I would have to take issue with. That being the pickups and tuners mentioned elsewhere.

The hardware is not super solid. The bridge can rock forward and back but not unless you actually push it one way or the other. I leave it pushed back since that is the only way it can be in tune.

The pickups are a bit odd. The coils and magnets are set in styrofoam that appears to have been injected between that and the pickup cover. The styrofoam was then glued to a bar with tapped holes on either end for mounting and adjusting on the body. I've had to reglue this styrofoam a couple of times. The last time which was probably more than 10 years ago seems to have lasted. I don't even recall what it was that I used. I think I had tried Super Glue, and Elmer's wood glue. Probably wound up with Duco lasting. The main problem is that the styrofoam disintegrates or at least deteriorates. I also soldered nuts on to the back of the pickup mounting bars since a couple of the holes had become stripped.

The finish has not been the sturdiest but it was at least 10 years old when I got it and now it's 26. It has chipped off here and there. It is also cracking but it is an older guitar.

As mentioned earlier, I replaced the squeaky, shaky pressed-metal tuners with some solider cast-iron Schallers.

Another beef--there is also a lot of string between the bridge and tailpiece which makes it easier to go out of tune.

I seem to have finally secured the volume and tone for good. The knobs are solid.

The strap button screws I had to replace with bigger screws.

I have played it live but not without a backup.

If this ever did exist, it doesn't any more. Before my time.

I've been playing for 25 years not really professionally although I've been in various trashy rock bands that play out and make a little money sometimes. I have some other cheap guitars that are better for some things. Just recently purchased a new Squire Jagmaster that is my current favorite due to it's louder pickups and slightly better sound.

The main reason I bought this guitar was because I wanted an electric and my friend's brother wanted to get rid of it. I've always loved the crazy shape. I've kinda gone up and down with its dependability and tuning issues.

If it was stolen, I would be sad and might well try and make a solid-body copy. If I could find another one for $25, I would surely buy it. I'd probably even go up to $150 on it, since I'm a cheap bastard. On the other hand, if someone offered me $2000 for it, I probably wouldn't take it. I do like having such an oddball guitar and I've composed a lot of stuff on it. Mostly just practicing with it acoustically.