On loan to The Met The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Coral Sitar, Model 3S19
Danelectro Company
Steve Miller
Not on view
The sitar became a popular sound in the late 1960s, especially after it was used by George Harrison on the Beatles’ "Norwegian Wood" and by Brian Jones on the Rolling Stones’ "Paint It, Black." Working for Danelectro’s Coral line, New York studio musician Vincent Bell developed a guitar with an elongated bridge that creates a buzzy, sitarlike tone without requiring guitarists to learn another instrument.
Steve Miller has used this example in recordings and live performances of his song "Wild Mountain Honey" since the 1970s.
Technical Description:
Mahogany body and neck, rosewood fingerboard; 25½ in. scale; "textured Bombay red" crackle finish; bolt-on neck with pearloid dot inlays; raised plastic Coral logo and “Sitar” silkscreened on headstock; six playing strings with two single coil pickups, two volume and two tone controls, Sitarmatic buzz bridge; thirteen drone strings on separate bridge with single coil pickup, volume and tone controls; metal tailpiece, clear plastic pickguard reading “Vincent Bell Signature Design Electric Sitar,” chrome lipstick tube pickup housings, nickel tuners
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