SOLD

Jerry Jones Electric Master Sitar in Red “Gator-style” finish is cool and fun psychedelic instrument! Jerry Jones reissued these improving on the original Coral Electric Sitar.

The Coral Electric Sitar was original invented by Vincent Bell a studio guitarist that worked with Daniel Nathan at Danelectro in the 1960s. Original Coral Sitars still command a pretty high price in the vintage market mostly due to collectability and its importance in musical history.

Jerry Jones was born in Jackson, Mississippi and was building quality guitars in Music City, Nashville, Tennessee since the 1980s. After a customer brought in a Danelectro guitar for repair, he had a change of direction. Jerry started thinking that the Danelectro guitar was what he would build for himself relishing the unpretentious simplicity of the Nathan Daniel’s Danelectro instruments. From that point Jerry began building high quality reproductions of the original Danelectro designs. In 1991, Jerry Jones even visited Nathan Daniel who was living in Hawaii at the time.

The Jerry Jones instruments are a step above the Danelectro instruments in quality and are now quite collectable as well. As of April 2011, Jerry Jones retired and the Nashville factory was closed. The earlier Jerry Jones Electric Sitar were closer in appearance to the original Vincent Bell Coral Sitars. Almost a “dead” ringer. The later Jerry Jones Master Sitars had a few slight changes. The headstock had a different shape, the lipstick pickups were mounted without chrome ring, the knobs and the access panel on the back were different. Also the pickguard had no writing on the earlier ones. The later ones had “electric SITAR” written on it. Both generally shipped with a G&G hard case and harp tuning wrench. See Jerry Jones Electric Sitars for details.

Vinnie Bell in the studio with his invention the Coral Sitar

Modeled after the original ’60s Vincent Bell Coral Sitar built by Danelectro, the Jerry Jones Master Sitar is constructed like most of the Jerry Jones’ guitars (and original Danelectro) with a poplar wood frame sandwiched between two pieces of Masonite, leaving a hollow chamber. It has a 25-inch scale, maple neck with a pretty flat 14 1/2-inch radius, Indian rosewood fingerboard, six-on-a-side Gotoh tuners, 21 medium jumbo frets, and an intonated “buzz bridge.”

Vincent Bell was a New York session guitarist and pioneer of electronic effects in pop music. He played in nightclubs around New York City in the late 1950s. By 1962, Bell was working as a studio musician both in New York and Los Angeles, leaving an indelible mark on hundreds of hit pop recordings. Vinnie also played on Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York.”

Working mostly with Nathan Daniel he invented a number of electric guitar models, including the first electric 12-string guitar, and the electric sitar, using it on such hits as “Cry Like a Baby” by The Box Tops, “Green Tambourine” by The Lemon Pipers, “Band of Gold” by Freda Payne, and “She’s a Heartbreaker” by Gene Pitney and the main theme from the 1970 film, Airport. The latter sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. It also won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition in 1971.

Vincent Bell did R&D with Nathan Daniel on his ideas and cross-marketed the electric Coral Sitar innovations. Bell’s cover album, Pop Goes the Electric Sitar, one of his few solo recordings.

Late ’60s Coral Electric Sitar

In 1966, MCA (Music Corporation of America) decided to expand into musical instruments by acquiring Danelectro that was founded by Nathan Daniel in 1947. The Coral Sitar was introduced to the public in 1967. The name Coral was the former sister label for Decca Records which was re-purposed by MCA for producing musical instruments. The produces several models of guitars and that were pretty nice instruments.

Late ’60s Coral Electric Sitar

Nathan Daniel moved to Hawaii to pursue his passion for building sailboats after selling Danelectro.

Jerry Jones uses his own lipstick pickups for the Master Sitar – two for the main sitar (6 strings), one for the 13-string sympathetic harp that can be tuned to any key or scale – each with its own volume and tone control. The finish is a very cool red “gator” crackle, along with the etched plexiglass pickguard and tailpiece cover, complete the instrument’s very psychedelic look. The smooth satin-finished neck and low action make it a breeze to play. Like all of the Jerry Jones’ instruments it is notches above the vintage ones. Probably the best quality electric Sitar you can buy.

Jerry Jones made two other model electric Sitars besides the Master Sitar.

Jerry Jones Baby Sitar

The Baby Sitar (Danelectro recently reissued an inexpensive imported version) which is a small solid body with only one lipstick pickup and no sympathetic strings. This one is far cheaper, but not as versatile. It will allow you to add those famous riffs and add a lot to your recordings.

Danelectro Baby Sitar guitar demo – by RJ Ronquillo

The Jerry Jones Supreme Sitar features replaces the 13 sympathetic strings of the Master Sitar with a short, non-fretted neck with 6 drone strings. This short neck has its own tuning keys and “Buzz-Bridge” as well. Now, both necks produce the familiar whirring sound.

Jerry Jones Supreme Sitar

The Coral type, Jerry Jones Master Sitar has a hollow body, therefore has a percussive tone when the strings are picked. The Baby sitar is a solid body instrument and has an enhanced whirring sound after a string is picked.

Rob Mastrianni is quite talented. Watch what he can do with Jerry Jones Master Sitar in these videos. I found these on his YouTube channel.

Justin Johnson can play anything with strings and make it sound great, even a shovel (no kidding)!

Picture I took of Justin Johnson playing a shovel with strings at NAMM

The real acoustic Sitar is an extemely complex instrument, developed in 18th century India, generally features 20 strings—7 main strings and 13 sympathetic strings that resonate with the primary strings. The sitar is quite difficult to play or tune, it’s even hard to hold, needing to be carefully balanced between the left foot and right knee of a player sitting cross-legged.

The sitar is associated with Northern India, is a member of the lute family. For thousands of years, the sitar was used to charm audiences. It wasn’t until the 18th and 19th Centuries that the sitar was accepted as a solo classical instrument. History was made, and this instrument has become a part of the world musical scene. Today, the sitar has become a popular feature in the entertainment world, especially in India (or “Bollywood,” as it’s commonly referred to). With its light, delicate sound, the sitar is used to accompany dancing and other happy scenes. Learning to play an actual Sitar is not a simply undertaking.

George Harrison with his Sitar

In the 1950s and ’60s, Indian musician Ravi Shankar brought the sitar to a wider audience when he toured the world performing his own compositions and Indian classical music. The sitar then found its way onto popular recordings of the ’60s after The Beatles’ George Harrison embraced the instrument and studied under Shankar and Shambhu Das.

George Harrison and Ravi Shankar

The Beatles really started the “raga-rock” for the general public to hear. In April 1965, George Harrison stumbled upon a sitar on the set of the Beatles’ movie Help! and was inspired to buy one for himself from an Oxford Street music shop. It wasn’t until November of that year that Harrison played the sitar in the studio, when he set out to embellish the new John Lennon song, Norwegian Wood.

Listening and early take one of Norwegian Wood on the Beatles Anthology 2 album, you can hear Harrison sitar playing sounds fairly clumsy as he struggled with this instrument. Early indication that even a quite accomplished guitarist would find the sitar quite difficult to play.

Over successive takes, George refined the now famous sitar part. The final version of “Norwegian Wood” released on Rubber Soul broke new ground and introduced the sitar to many westerners.

Brian Jones

In May 1966, The Rolling Stones became the first group to score a number one hit with a song that showcased the sitar, Paint It, Black. The sitar was played by Brian Jones, an sometimes overlooked musician. Jones was astonishingly versatile multi-instrumentalist who played harmonica on Not Fade Away, marimba on Under My Thumb, dulcimer on I Am Waiting, recorder on Ruby Tuesday, oboe on Dandelion, and Mellotron on 2000 Light Years From Home.

The sitar in Paint It Black played an arguably more of a lead role that the Beatles Norwegian Wood. Once the Beatles and the Stones introduced millions of listeners to the sitar, scores of other groups quickly adopted the instrument.

May 1967 came the release of Paper Sun, the debut single by the British group Traffic. Cool sitar riffs and drones were quite skillfully played by guitarist Dave Mason, and Traffic quickly followed up with another tune featuring the sitar, Hole in My Shoe.

Next was the innovation of Vincent Bell and Nathan Daniel of Danelectro with the electric Coral Sitar making sitar sounds readily available without years of study.

The Coral Sitar was quite a innovation. The Beatles recordings with George Harrison was a big influence in using a Sitar in western popular music. The Coral electric sitar was marketed as an easy and affordable way for guitar players to get a great new sound reminiscent of the difficult to master Indian sitar. The sound popularized by Ravi Shankar, George Harrison, and others in the ’60s. The Coral Sitar since it is tuned standard like any guitar does not require one to go to India and take lessons from master Ravi Shankar to get Sitar sounds. The Rolling Stones also used the Sitar quite effectively on early 1960s recordings. Many studios to this day have an electric Sitar in their arsenal to add that special something.

Steve Howe – Coral Electric Sitar

British psychedelic group Tomorrow has an early an great electric sitar performance on 1968 album track, Real Life Permanent Dream. The short-lived band’s guitarist was Steve Howe (future member of Yes) who expertly played the electric sitar.

In 1968, the Box Tops, scored a #2 hit with the sitar-infused Cry Like a Baby with a young Alex Chilton on lead vocals. The electric sitar lines were played by Reggie Young, a session musician who played guitar on hits such as J.J. Cale’s Cocaine, Dobie Gray’s Drift Away, and Willie Nelson’s Always on My Mind. On “Cry Like a Baby.”

Richie Havens with his Sitar

Donavan with Sitar

Many famous riffs have been played on a real Sitar and the electric Coral Sitar (or Jerry Jones or another reissue) in popular music which include:
B.J. Thomas – Hooked On A Feelin’
Steely Dan – Do It Again
The Beatles – Love You To
Richie Havens – 1968 instrumental, Something Else Again (acoustic REAL Sitar)
Rolling Stones (Brian Jones) – Mother’s Little Helper
George Harrison – When We Was Fab
Ricky Nelson – Marshmallow Skies
John Fred and His Playboy Band – Judy in Disguise
Redbone – Come and Get Your Love
Joe South – Games People Play
Stevie Wonder – I Was Made to Love Her (played by Eddie Willis) and Signed, Sealed, Delivered
The Spinners – It’s a Shame
Elton John – Holiday Inn
The Lemon Pipers – Green Tambourine
The Yardbirds – Heart Full Of Soul
Scott McKenzie – San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)
Freda Payne – Band of Gold
Yes – Close to the Edge
Moody Blues – Sun Is Still Shining
Animals – Monterey
Donovan – Hurdy Gurdy Man
The Kinks – Fancy
The Cyrkle – Turn-Down Day
Steve Miller Band – Wild Mountain Honey
Strawberry Alarm Clock – An Angry Young Man
Tom Petty – Don’t Come Around Here No More
Some sides by The Stylistics, The Delfonics and even Spinal Tap’s Listen To The Flower People

The Coral Sitar and later reissues by Jerry Jones have been played in the studio and onstage by Buddy Guy, Duane Allman, Aerosmith, Yardbirds, Traffic, Steve Hackett, Rory Gallagher, Steve Howe, Metallica, Green Day, Steve Miller, Pearl Jam, The Clash, and Pat Metheny. In the late 1970s, Eddie Van Halen used one for his solo on “Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love” from Van Halen’s debut album. The Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart played in the 1985 video for “Don’t Come Around Here No More” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. In 1991, Metallica used it for the intro to “Wherever I May Roam” and in recent years, MGMT guitarist Andrew VanWyngarden used one on “Congratulations.” There was even a Coral Sitar built left-handed for Jimi Hendrix!

2000 Jerry Joneds Master Sitar

Early Jerry Jones Master Sitar

Master Electric Sitar
The Coral Sitar® was such a defining sound of the 60s and with the Jerry Jones refinements you will feel like you have returned to those days. Jerry Jones precision made sitar Buzz bridge produces that now familiar whirring sound and provides for accurate string intonation. The 13 sympathetic strings can be tuned in a variety of ways and can be played as accompaniment. Sizzling tone great for stage or studio with hard shell case.

Tuning recommendations from Jerry Jones
Light strings on the sitar to increase the sitar buzz sound. The gauges of the sympathetic strings are all .010. and a harp wrench is used for the tuning process. The longest and lowest string is tuned an octave above the high E of a standard tuned guitar. From there the strings are tuned in half steps. This is just a starting point and experimentation can yield some great sounds. More recently we have tuned the instrument with a “drop D” tuning and the sympathetic strings to a D7sus chord which is as follows – longest string to shortest string.

  • D – same note as 1st string of the guitar neck fretted at the 10th fret
  • F# – ascending
  • G – ascending
  • A – ascending
  • C – ascending
  • A – descending
  • G – descending
  • F# – descending
  • G – ascending
  • A – ascending
  • C – ascending
  • D – ascending
  • D – ascending

Features:

  • Dark Red “crackle” gator-style finish
  • 3 x lipstick pickups
  • 1 11/16″ nut width
  • 25″ scale length
  • 21 fret neck
  • Indian rosewood fingerboard with 14.5″ radius
  • Trussrod adjustment accessible at the heel
  • Enclosed Gotoh® tuning keys
  • Intonated sitar Buzz-Bridge
  • .009-.042 string gauges
  • 13 sympathetic strings (all .010)
  • G&G hardshell case
  • Weighs 7-lbs

It should be pointed out that electric sitars are not an actual sitar. It is simply a standard 6-string guitar with a innovative buzz bridge (plus some have sympathetic strings like a harp guitar). It is not tuned the same as a real acoustic sitar, it’s not intoned the same, it doesn’t feel, play or sound the same as an Indian sitar. It does allow musicians that are comfortable playing the standard “spanish-style” guitar to get those buzzy “trippy” 60’s sounds.

The electric sitar is mostly a one trick pony, but does have a sound that is hard to emulate. Most all of the so-called sitar effect pedals, don’t sound much like a real sitar or even an electric sitar. So the electric sitar is quite unique and can add some cool sonic textures.

The buzz bridge is what makes the interesting effect, but the electric sitar is a pain to tune and can makes intonation pretty hard. The electric sitar is mostly for playing lead lines as chording is a nightmare. It is an acquired taste for sure, not an exact instrument in any way. Still quite fun to add to your collection.

Tuning the sympathetic strings is a bit hard and changing them can be a nightmare. Thank goodness these strings do not really need to be changed very often. The Coral electric sitar and the Jerry Jones copy (like most electric sitars) use a harp or Autoharp style wrench. What you will find however is the tuning pegs work in the opposite direction as most Autoharps.

With most Autoharps when changing strings, you start with the tuning pegs raised up when changing strings and wrap the strings around the peg with a “Sheppards hook” and wind the string. When tuning them to pitch the pegs are lowered toward the body tightening the string wrap.

Due to the design of the original Coral sitar (and the copies that followed) the string wrap is in the opposite direction with the peg being raised to tighten the strings to pitch. Basically, you start with the tuning pegs lowered. Tuning of the sympathetic strings is quite touchy. I spent a lot of time and several broken strings learning the best way to string and tune this instrument.

The sympathetic strings on the Coral sitar and the Jerry Jones Master sitar are cool, but they generally do not have enough energy against the main strings to make that much different. Some talented players use the sympathetic strings more like a harp guitar as strumming them makes for a nice glissando effect. The baby sitar models are cheaper, simpler and you can get the same basic effect.

Popular Songs Featuring Sitar