Has anyone played a BOZO guitar?

[Larry Pattis]

I'll mention that I consider a Bozo to be the Ferrari or Maserati of the guitar world.

It's best to know what you're doing when you get behind the wheel of a car like that, and it's the same with a handcrafted Bozo Podunavac guitar.

[billydon]

It was 1971. At that time, Bozo's shop was on Lincoln Avenue in Chicago (not too far from the Old Town School of Folk Music.)
Since I had been out of school for 3 years already and didn't know what else to do with the few extra bucks I saved, I went down to Bozo's to see what it would cost to have him custom make a 12 string for me.
He was just about to start work on two other 12 strings and would be happy to make a third. The only problem was ... he wanted to know if I were anyone special. Because the first guitar was for Leo Kotke, the second was for Bob Gibson, and he MIGHT make a third one for me for only $1,200.
Well, because I was a young advertising agency copywriter, and occasionally worked with musicians when we wrote jingles, I convinced him that I was "sort of in the business." So he agreed.

At the time, I was playing a 1960 Martin 00-18. So I sold that for $200 (shows you what a great businessman I was) and now I only had to scrape up an additional grand.

Jump ahead now about 10 years. I was taking banjo lessons at the Old Town School and my teacher asked if I would bring the Bozo to our next lesson because he'd like to see it. So I did.

Afterwards, there was an informal hootenanny going on with Ray Tate (the school's director) at the microphone, leading about 50 or so people strumming their instruments and singing long.

I sat in the back row and took out the Bozo.

After the first song, Ray looked out at the crowd as if he were searching for something. Upon seeing my guitar, he said to the crowd, "Before any of you leave here tonight, you might want to take a look at the guitar that young man in the back row is playing. That's a Bozo. And it's the Rolls Royce of 12 strings."

When the singing was over, he came up to me and asked if he could try it. He then told me that in spite of all the other instruments that were playing, he could hear every single note that came out of my guitar. (Personally, the way I play .... I considered that a curse.)

Anyway, I never forgot that quote. (And it's why I don't go to hootenannies any more.)

[Bozo]

Hello,
I googled myself into this forum in search of information
for my old Bozo. Over 25 years ago I traded my Ampeg VT40
amp for a Bozo B-35. Made in Japan and priced about $ 600,-

In the years to follow I directed my main focus from music to
raising kids. The old Bozo collected a thick layer of dust and
stood silent aside. Few years ago I started making music again
and picked up the guitar that sounded as good as ever.

Fact is I treated the guitar badly. I use a plastic bag to transport
it on my bike in the rain. (I live in the Netherlands) Few years
ago I left the guitar in my car in the blazing sun in France. So
the bridge came off totally. (I glued it back on) Last summer
I decided to saw off the 'ugly' top from the head. (it had a 'ugly'
curly like extension I disliked from the start). I must say that
the instrument, for me, is like a tool. In a way I can see beauty
in wear and tear.

I recently decided to buy a new guitar to replace the Bozo. Because
I take the instrument on hiking trips and -in general- I need it to be
rugged, I was searching for a new guitar priced in range €1000.
To my amazement, I did not find a guitar that sounded as good as
the ol' Bozo. So that made me curious and I wanted to see if there
is any information about the brand.

I notice that some guitars have been built by Bozo in America.
My guitar is built in Japan and has besides B-35 no serial displayed.
The sound is rich and warm. Besides that, the guitar feels very sturdy.
(we have a summerhouse and the guitar is always somewhere 'outside')
It lived through a car accident and fell on the floor more than once
shattering several tuning key's. And yes, I start to feel very bad as
I'm writing this.

So.

No new guitar but straight to a builder who can give it a overall
check up and repair what needs to be done (not restoring the 'ugly' head)
Replacing the original Hohner tuning key's for Grover. Maybe some
re-fretting need to be done.

It would be nice to have some more information about the Japanese
Bozo line.

thanks for bringing up this topic about about these amazing guitars.

cheers

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Bozo

It would be nice to have some more information about the Japanese Bozo line.

Well, what I've been told is that the Japanese factory-made Bozo guitars were built in the Morris Guitar Factory. Morris is one of the few surviving Japanese guitar companies still building instruments in Japan, and they've always been one of the better quality firms over there.

From what I can recall, the Japanese-made Bozos didn't last for very long on the market: perhaps two or three years. Of course, I was seeing this from the North American perspective, and maybe they lasted longer in Europe, I don't know. But they weren't a market success in the United States, I know that for sure. I've only ever seen a handful of the Japanese-made Bozos, and that includes music store stock when they were still current.

Anyway, from a quality standpoint, I thought that the Japanese-made Bozos were remarkably faithful to the handmade originals, not only in terms of design and aesthetics, but also in terms of their tonal qualities.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Larry Pattis]

I hope you can have it repaired and refurbished...it's a nice-quality production line instrument, with it's own voice and it's own unique history.

IMO it's a shame that you chopped up the original headstock...to each their own, I suppose.

I will disagree with Wade in that tonally the many (a dozen or more, perhaps) Japanese Bozos that I've played were nowhere near the magnificence that Bozo's own handmade guitars demostrate.

Again, nice instruments, worth saving.

[jseth]

In southern California, where I was raised (we watched "Bozo the Clown", too!!! LOL!) - Bozo (pronounced "Bo'- jho",IIRC) had a shop in Escondido (inland and just north of San Diego) in the early 70's, I think... in any case, mostly through Leo Kottke's endorsement and playing, Bozo's guitars were legendary. I always wanted to play one.

I had heard that Bozo's were being made in Japan, and I got the opportunity to play one of the Japan guitars... unfortunately, it was NOT GOOD! Really thick plastic-y finish, nice inlay, but so strongly (thickly?) built that the sound just couldn't get out.

I'm happy to say that EVERYTHING I've heard about the guitars that the man, himself, builds has been extremely positive...

[GBS]

Funny - I sold my Bozo B-80S 12 string just a few months ago. Got almost enough to buy my LKSM-12. I bought the Japanese Bozo new back in the Podiums hey-day, around 76-77. Many of the mass produced ones were plywood, or some-other-wood and venner. Mine was the more expensive solid Rosewood (spruce top). Back in the late 70's, Peter Lang compared that specific guitar very favorably to his hand-made Bozo's. Those, of course, can each now finance many LKSM's.....
It had a very wide and deep neck. String spacing was pretty close together. Volume was fantastic, but it was not a delicate fingerpicker - individual notes were not its forte. But Oh My! Vaseline Machine Gun just roared from it!
It was cursed for almost its entire life with poor intonation. A nut adjustment by Marty at the Podium last year, and a new, fully compensated bone saddle (yes, it had to be 1/4" wide to make it so) brought it into submission.
It weighed close to twice what the LKSM-12 does. Built like a tank. Just the ticket for all the early Kottke stuff, but it lacked when doing the later, more nuanced pieces.
It was a old, dear friend...but I just didn't have the drive that it takes to power that kind of instrument anymore.....(which says something, because I love the LKSM!)

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Larry Pattis

I hope you can have it repaired and refurbished...it's a nice-quality production line instrument, with it's own voice and it's own unique history.

IMO it's a shame that you chopped up the original headstock...to each their own, I suppose.

I agree with you on that.

But after I wrote:

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Anyway, from a quality standpoint, I thought that the Japanese-made Bozos were remarkably faithful to the handmade originals, not only in terms of design and aesthetics, but also in terms of their tonal qualities.

Larry wrote:

Originally Posted by Larry Pattis

I will disagree with Wade in that tonally the many (a dozen or more, perhaps) Japanese Bozos that I've played were nowhere near the magnificence that Bozo's own handmade guitars demostrate.

Well, I think there are two factors at work here: the first is that I was painting with an overly broad brush by so casually equating the Japanese production models with the handbuilt originals.

But the second is that I think I've played more of Bozo's early guitars than you might have, and I have no doubt that you've played quite a few more of his more recent efforts.

When I was living and playing music for a living in Chicago from 1979 through 1982, I ran into and played quite a few Bozo guitars, either at the Old Town School of Folk Music where I was teaching, or at various open mic nights and music parties around the area.

And most of those Bozo guitars I encountered back then were early examples owned by local gigging musicians, acquired when Bozo had his shop, which I think was Wooden Music.

Wooden Music was still in business when I arrived in Chicago, but I think Bozo had sold it to someone else and moved on. I know I never met him back then, even though I wandered into Wooden Music from time to time to see what they had in stock.

In any event, most of the handmade Bozos I played were from the mid-70's, or earlier, I guess.

And they weren't all consistently great guitars. Some were terrific, some were good, some left me underwhelmed. But they all had a certain characteristic high end sound to them, even the six strings, that I do feel that the Japanese-made production models managed to capture. It's not a sound I've really heard from any other style of guitar, really.

Anyway, I ran into Bozo at one of the big guitar shows a number of years back - I think it might have been one of the Healdsburg Festivals - and I played one or two of his recent guitars then.

And they were both powerful and unique. Very fine guitars, and complete originals in every sense. And, yes, you're right, they surpass the factory-built Bozos by a considerable margin.

But what I was referring to was that chime-like high end response. Bozo guitars have that, and even the five or six factory-built Bozos I've tried had that, too. There's a woman up here in Southcentral Alaska who's got one, and it sounds like a Bozo.

Hope that makes more sense, and that I explained what I was trying to describe a little better.


Wade Hampton Miller

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by mdunn

Well, since I started the thread som 3 !/2 years ago I might as well chime in.

Hi sir…
Glad you chimed in and checked in!

Good to see you...

[Larry Pattis]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

<<snip>>
But the second is that I think I've played more of Bozo's early guitars than you might have, and I have no doubt that you've played quite a few more of his more recent efforts.
<<snip>>

Sorry, incorrect assumption about my experiences, Wade.

The first Bozo I owned was in 1975...and I played quite a few of that vintage. It was built in '74, or perhaps a year earlier. Truly an exceptional guitar. I was a kid (read as: stupid), and I sold it after a few years...shouldn't have.

I also owned a Brazilian '67 quite a while back that was in rough cosmetic shape, had it refurbished...a magnificent sounding guitar.

Anyway, your assumption, as I said, is wrong. I spent plenty of time at Wooden Music (on Lincoln Ave.) when Bozo was in the back room, played a bunch of his guitars from *before* the era you mention (late '70's), and IMO there was/is simply *no* comparison between those guitars and the Japanese built production Bozos.

I also owned a guitar built by one of Bozo's Chicago "apprentices" (or cohort: one Steven Ivanovich), which copied Bozo's headstock, but was more of a 00/classical body. I also purchased that at Wooden Music...off the wall. That guitar was stolen when I was visiting Boston in 1979...right around the time that you were first experiencing Bozo's instruments.

[Bozo]

Thank you all for the replies. I might add some things.
When I bought the guitar, I very much liked the idea
of a 'limited, small company, handmade' background.
The guitar sounded nice and I just bought it. Later on
I noticed small irregularities in the instrument. The inlay
work was not well done, at some parts they filled gaps
with what seems white plastic wood. There was a crack
in the fingerboard near the head. And the overall finish
was at some parts very thick. This might contribute to
the tank-like feel that the guitar has. Someone noticed
that the sound seems to be captured inside the body and
it should be 'opened' up to free the sound. That is indeed
a very helpful view. I remember bringing the Bozo to a
workshop for inspection. And after a few weeks the guy
told me 'it was a hopeless case'.

But.

I managed to see some youtubes were people play
on a Bozo. And instantly I recognize the sound as 'Bozo'
The guitar has indeed 'power', lacks individual notes but
is brilliant for playing rhythm.

And here's a different quality I think the instrument has.
It managed to stay with me all these years and whenever
I picked it up it performed nicely. It withstood all kinds
of weather and serious abuse, the darn thing just wont
let you down. No wonder I stopped transporting it in a
hardcase or even guitarbag...I wrap it in a plastic garbage
bag.

Thank's for pointing out the 'sound being captured'. Recently
I saw some pictures of Mr. Bozo. He seems to live in Belgrad
now and still builds guitars. So much love and dedication needs
to be respected I feel.

cheers

[Larry Pattis]

Originally Posted by Bozo

<<snip>>
Recently
I saw some pictures of Mr. Bozo. He seems to live in Belgrad
now and still builds guitars. So much love and dedication needs
to be respected I feel.

cheers

Bozo was living on the Gulf coast of Florida for many years, but now may have returned to the Chicago area. He continues to build, although at a highly reduced rate due to his advancing years.

Many folks don't know that he was shot in the right shoulder as a young man, and has somewhat limited use of his right arm.

Those of us that truly know and understand his work understand his worth.

[ticonderoga100]

I had the opportunity to play a Bozo Bell Western 12-string some years ago. Being primarily a 12-string player, I was thoroughly amazed with the guitar. The sound was so balanced and pronounced. The bass was strong without being boomy, and the trebles were amazingly crisp. It played like butter. This guitar wasn't as ornate as some Bozos I have seen, but it was all sound. What a great guitar.

[Tone Gopher]

Originally Posted by Larry Pattis

I also owned a guitar built by one of Bozo's Chicago "apprentices" (or cohort: one Steven Ivanovich), which copied Bozo's headstock, but was more of a 00/classical body.

<I'm having a senior moment...>

Who is/was the Illinois-area rmmga builder that made Bozo-influenced designs?

[Larry Pattis]

Originally Posted by Tone Gopher

<I'm having a senior moment...>

Who is/was the Illinois-area rmmga builder that made Bozo-influenced designs?

Jim Chelsvig....