Tosca Thunderstick
1959 Tosca
In my last post I wrote about the National Newport 88. A Res-o-glass bodied, electric guitar made by Valco in the mid-sixties. The Newport was one of Valco’s top of the line professional electrics. The guitar featured here is on the opposite end of the Valco spectrum, but is equally as cool. It’s the 1959 Tosca Thunderstick.
The Thunderstick was Valco’s student model, 3/4 sized, 22” scale solid body electric. Valco made these from 1958 until 1967. The model went through a number of changes during that time. You guitar you see here was the first version made from 1958 until 1961.
Thundersticks were often sold under department store brand names like Supro and Airline. The Tosca brand was used by retail music stores like Zeigler Music Co. based in Chicago. Later models included a case with built in amplifier similar to the Silvertone 1448’s.
“Say hello to my little friend”! The first thing that enters your mind when you pick this guitar up is WOW this thing is small. You can’t help but smile when you play it. The total guitar length is 33 inches. The width is about 12 inches and body depth is only 1 1/2 inches thick. Hey what do you expect, it was made for kids. That said this baby packs a serious punch. It’s no wonder why they called it the Thunderstick. Large in part because of the growl that the Vista Tone pickup produces. It is the same Ralph Keller designed single coil pickup that Valco used in the Newport. The Thunderstick body is just a plank of solid wood with a single cutaway, similar in style to a late 50’s Les Paul Junior. The bolt on neck is round and fat. It has a thick Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays and small, vintage nickel frets. The pickup is in the neck position. Some of the later models featured the single pickup in the bridge position. It has one volume, one tone control and a 2 way tone switch that takes it from an open, brighter sound to a warm low-fi jazzy tone. The guitar has a killer metallic copper finish, black pickguard, gold hardware and 3 on a side vintage tuners.
Thundersticks are fantastic guitars for electric blues and playing slide. Their small size makes them a perfect travel guitar for those looking to play a vintage electric on the road as an alternative to a parlor guitar or other small scale acoustic.
All you need is a battery powered amplifier like a Pig Nose and you’re all set to bring the blues with you wherever you go!