Valiant 47

[hummingway]

Very nice. Obviously one of the 60's models when they had the sharp cutaway. An expensive guitar.

[bob perry]

Hummer:
I hope you are sitting down.
In 1964 or 65 I paid $850 for the Super 400, new, with case.
I loved that axe.
But as my friends kept telling me, "You have the Florentine cutaway" that was not considered "cool". The round cutaway was the cool model but it had beeen discontinued.

So I kept my uncool Super 400 until I made the transition to bass and I traded it in on a thin, hollow body Gibson bass ( awful guitar) and a fabulous Guild D 50 that I still own and play today. I never saw the Super 400 again.

But Gibson, in their wisdom, went back to the rounded cutaway for future Super 400's. So guess which one is the preferred collector's model today? Right. The Florentine cutaway. Even if I did find my old Super 400 it would take around $20,000 to buy it back. It's not going to happen. I'd have to settole for a lousy old L-5 for $10,000.

But hell, I'm a bass player now and I have a gaggle of great axes but I'd love to at least see my old 400 again.

[hummingway]

L-5's aren't bad. I've got quite a few guitars but most from the "collection" I now see as future boat repairs. Nothing as nice as the Super 400, though I do have an ES-300 from 1941 that was sweet in its day and a '57 Gretsch Country Club that I do still play (and won't ever get sold). The Country Club never did increase in value like some other models.

[bob perry]

Hummer:
I'd love an L-5, preferably an accoustic one.
I have a custom made PRS semi-hollow body made for me by Paul R. Smith, a couple of Eric Clapton Strats a Martin Deadnought and a Martin OM-28, their "parlor size" Martin that became the Eric Clapton model Martin. That's the axe I play most of the time. It sounds great, it fits in my lap nice and it has great action. I almost never play my electric guitars. I have basses to but it's not much fun to sit around by yourself and play the bass. The PRS is really beautiful and has my name engraved on the back of the head stock so while I don't play it I like to look at it.

I'd love to see a pic of your Gretsch.

[hummingway]

There's a picture of it on the front page of my website:
Greg Martin - Home on the Range

I'm just releasing a new CD and am going to have to redo the site. In the last year all I've played, and all that's on the CD are nylon string guitars so I guess this picture will go

[bob perry]

Nice looking axe. I've never owned a Gretsch but always wanted too.
A pal gave me Chet Atkin's autobiography for Christmas. It's a must have for any guitar player. He really gets into the technical side of all his favorite guitars.

[hummingway]

I'll look for it. He certainly could make them sound great.

[BahamasMama]

Anybody with more than a passing knowledge of Valiants will know that not all Uniflite boats were afflicted with the "pox"; this goes for both Valiant 40s and 47s. The blister problem is associated only with boats built during a limited number of years, which are documented elsewhere; the hull numbers with blisters are available. Our Valiant 47 does not have, nor is there evidence now or previously, of, any blisters.

[bob perry]

Mama:
My Valiant 40 had no blisters at all. I hear you. Mine was one of the last if not the last that Uniflyte built. Maybe the last. At the time it was not important.

( Is that how you spell Uni-flight"?)

[captqrunch]

For the record, the Texas-built Valiants were not produced in Kemah (south of Houston), but at Gordonville (north of Dallas). Production ended in 2010.

[byrsch]

Originally Posted by Ciabi

General Info- We've looked at this boat. Blisters are back and it needs to be done again. That is the only problem with this Valiant- Otherwise, it is absolutely beautiful inside, and wonderfully rigged. This is a single owner boat in one of San Francisco's most exclusive yacht club harbors- translation- it has been well looked after. I have a colleague considering putting in an offer- but be advised that this is a project and not for the faint of heart.

Chuck

How much would it cost to have the blisters removed and everything refinished? Is there a way to do it to prevent their returning?

[s/v Beth]

Originally Posted by byrsch

How much would it cost to have the blisters removed and everything refinished? Is there a way to do it to prevent their returning?

There are two lines of thought on this among "Valianteers":
1. Live with the blisters. They don't seem to cause any problems structurally, and alot of people have picked up a much cheaper Valiant that way.
2. Buy a non blister boat. Mine was the 19th made (V-40) and has no blisters on her over 37 years later. To show you how great this boat really is, I usually sell my boats every few years because I want something different. I whine and complain about their faults a lot- I just generally grow in a different direction (sound familiar??) But I can't seem to find a better boat than Beth- sailing solo, as a group or just hanging out at the harbor, she is the best boat I can imagine for my sailing experience.
Now how Mr. Perry looked into his crystal ball 37 years in the future and did that I will never know, but I think I'm in love...

[Ziggy]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

There are two lines of thought on this among "Valianteers":
1. Live with the blisters. They don't seem to cause any problems structurally, and alot of people have picked up a much cheaper Valiant that way.
2. Buy a non blister boat. ...

Here's an article supporting the first line of thought: Gelcoat Blisters
(I'm not necessarily endorsing it!)

[bobconnie]

Theres a bunch of uniflight Hulls down the bayou that are still being used that have dozens of Blisters! the folks who own them just smile when ya ask em about the blisters! the yard who has pulled my boat for bottom paint told me that after a while they seem to just stop being blisters ?? they drain em and let em weep till they quit,then squirt some 5200 in em and bottom paint em! don't know about all this cus Ive never done this but if he's not kiddin me it may work ?? what ya think??

[Jd1]

The problem is that the bromine is throughout the hull. Sure, one blister will (possibly) clear out a small area around it from the nasties but there will be blisters forming right next to it. Eventually you end up with one giant patch (the entire boat). I can't help but to think that the structural integrity will be compromised. It might not be from the occasional blister but every blister weakens the structure a bit and eventually you are left with something considerably weaker than what it started out with. Since the Valiants are built extra strong, you might be ok in most situations but I would not be able to trust a blister boat .... period ... even after stripping the top layers and re-glassing. It is always a compromise.