The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began, and yonder now the road has gone, and in the middle of it sits Making Music's Guitar Guru, oh yes. He awaits, loins girded, and swathed in Germoline, to pronounce upon your rare, historical and peculiar instruments.

Only the best and most interesting queries will be published, and you stand a much better chance of getting into print if you supply us with a decent picture. Still and all, everyone will receive enlightening details of their guitar's identity on a specially printed form PROVIDING you do these two things.

Thing one: include a STAMPED ADDRESSED ENVELOPE. No SAE, no reply.

Thing two: include a DETAILED DESCRIPTION, Make it as accurate and revealing as you can, and remember it's electrics only, no acoustic guitars. Supply a clear, colour pic if at all poss, or failing that a sketch can be handy.

You should write to: GUITAR GURU, Making Music, (Contact Details).

Greetings earth people. Now then, Peter J Watkiss, of Hitchin, Herts, says: "I have a Selmer semi-acoustic axe, double cutaway, two humbuckers, three-way switch and fantail bridge, the label inside says 'Selmer London, Quality Guitar model, Emperor SS26/05, serial number 465, distributed by Selmer London, Foreign'. It has an unbelievable sustain, far better than a 335, and the pickups are powerful. Any info?"

Selmer branded electrics are quite rare as they were only available for about 12 months — so I can say with certainty that your Emperor dates from 1967. It was an unusual decision by Selmer to launch their own range as they were already long-standing importers of Hofner instruments. These Hofner-made Selmers were very similar both in design and pricing, and created a conflict of interest. Other guitars in the range included the Astra, Diplomat and Triumph, all electric-acoustics. Original retail price of the Emperor was £70, and current value has to be around £150 as the Selmer name isn't as trendy as Hofner at the moment.

Mr R Whitehead gave no address, but he says: "I own a G&L F100 guitar, series II (without pre-amp), serial 92631, and I paid about £400 six years ago for it. I fancy a change now, but every time I mention it to a dealer they don't seem to know anything about them or what they're worth, any ideas?"

The F100 is the earliest G&L design, launched in 1980, but it has never achieved any large scale success in this country — partly due, I'm sure, to poor promotion and distribution by the original importers. Also, perhaps it wasn't Fenderish enough for a guitar originating from the man himself, Leo Fender, in a similar way to the other post-Fender guitars designed by Leo Fender, Music Man. Original retail price of the F100 was around £500, but current value is only £200, an indication of its lack of popularity. So be prepared for a loss, or hang on to it (though I doubt if such early G&Ls will ever be a collectable proposition, unless I'm joined by a few thousand other enthusiasts).

Mr A Hodson of Lancaster asks if I can give any more info on his Vox VG6. "It's a semi with painted f-holes, inlaid pearly letters on the headstock, yellow and red sunbursts, a three-position knob, two toggle tones, and a volume/tone/on-off control set-up. Plays really well, amazing sound."

You have one of the first Japanese-made Vox models, of 1969 vintage, which were successors to the Italian-made Eko instruments. Later the Vox name appeared on the inevitable Les Paul copy. The VG range comprised six- and 12-string semis plus a matching bass, and all were basically Gretsch copies in styling with features such as painted f-holes, thumbnail fingerboard inlays, and similar control layout.

The original retail price of the VG6 reflected its budget origin: at £38 it was about half that of the equivalent Italian-made Vox semi. Current value is around £95 — unrealistically high due to the popularity of real Gretsch instruments, meaning that copies are also in demand. Until recently a fair price would have been £50 for a nice example; these aren't the sought after Vox models, although one in original green with gold plated hardware does look quite pretty.

Now we have Doctor Kill from Faversham, Kent. "I am the proud owner of, according to the gold transfer on the lower bout, a 'Solid 7 by Rosetti (foreign)'. I presume this means Japanese. It has two sharp cutaways and is finished in a turquoise fogged with black at the sides. Unfortunately the lack of soundholes and electrical hardware on it make it a silent guitar. Any ideas?"

Japanese indeed! Not everything originated in the orient back then, you know. Other countries managed to get a look in during those far off days of the early 1960s. Rosetti instruments of this time were made by the Egmond company in Holland, and the Solid 7 would be from 1961. The Rosetti concern imported a wide variety of Egmond models during the next decade, and the United States too proved another popular export market for the brand. The Solid 7 was also available in red/black sunburst and featured Egmond's standard Royal floating two-pickup unit with two volume and two tone controls. This model was your Guru's first real electric back in 1961, and the memories have come flooding back, all confirming my good judgement back then in replacing it with a better (?) Guyatone — which was Japanese. Original retail of the Solid 7 was £19 and current value isn't much improved at around £25. I only wish I could find one — the nostalgia bug bites hard.

Ken McClurg in Sedbergh, Cumbria has a weird Tele. "It's a Deluxe serial 710444," he writes, "with twin humbuckers and a Strat type bridge/tremolo. I read somewhere that only around 70 were made — the dealer I bought it from said it came from a trade stand in London."

You do have quite a rare bird in your hands. I'm not sure of actual numbers made but it certainly was a limited production item. The concept proved unpopular — most players just don't want Teles and Strats mixed up, preferring the two models kept separate as nature and Leo intended.

None of the Tele variants has ever achieved the success of the original design, and vibrato-equipped versions have proved to be dead ducks. Perhaps the Fender concern played safe with this one and only put out a comparative handful to test reaction — its Bigsby-equipped predecessor in the late 1960s didn't exactly set the world on fire. I'd be inclined to believe your dealer as examples are very few and far between, especially in Britain.

Yours is or will be quite a collectable instrument, I'm sure. Teles are on the way back and all USA Fenders are rising fast in value. Yours is a '76 model which retailed at around £500; value at present has to be about the same. This variant although rare was considered to be pretty undesirable until recently, deemed a failure in commercial terms and more of an abortive Fender experiment from their 'bad' years. I'm sure time is proving otherwise and that this ugly duckling will prove to be a winner for one reason or another.

Hugh O'Donnell from Allestree, Derby says, "I have a Watkins Rapier guitar which I bought for £60. It has original parts, though the lacquer on the back is cracked, and serial 0281. Please tell me when it was made and how much it is worth."

Your Watkins is a third generation Rapier 33, circa 1965. It has Fenderish body styling, unlike the first version, and has a bolt-on neck, unlike the second. However yours does have the earlier style pickups. There was a matching Rapier 22 with two pickups and a 44 with (guess) four. The brand name of this UK maker was later amended to WEM (Watkins Electric Music) and then to Wilson, all instruments continuing under this name until the early 1980s. The 33 originally sold for £30, being a popular budget-priced beginners' instrument. Current values can vary dramatically if various dealer prices are to be believed. But a realistic value should be no more than £50. They're still pretty common and age is no reason to jack up prices to silly levels. Don't forget, a good guide when dealing with such cheapos should be price then = price now.

See you in '88.