What I Know So Far

 J.B. Player was founded in 1981 by Dana Zacuto (d. 2004) in Los Angeles, CA. The company made custom electric guitars and basses with contemporary styling for the Los Angeles rock scene. This was the age of the superstrat and the pointy guitar, and J.B. Player delivered--from hot-rodded S-types to Explorers, and even a few B. C. Rich shapes to be found. Dana was the brother of Randy Zacuto, who founded the guitar parts company Mighty Mite. The latter company supplied parts for several other builders in the area, including Kramer and Charvel. Of all the makers that Mighty Mite supplied, it was perhaps J.B. Player that pushed the envelope furthest. As recalled by former associate Eric Lamb in a forum post:

"The owner at that time, Dana, was not only an incredibly crazy man, he was driven to try and make a great playing instrument for a fair price. Many of his guitars I still have were quite innovative... a strat with a built in wireless system in the guitar so you didn't need to have a transmitter on your belt... another one that he called 'The Buick', that had just one triple coil pickup that was wired to play any of the three coils independently, in or out of phase or all at the same time!"

While the built-in wireless system would take some time to be developed into a marketable product, the exotic Buick model was good to go from the start. In 1982, J.B. Player launched its "New Wave" line of electric guitars and basses. The Buick, whose body shape was appropriately radical and zany for the time, appeared in both guitar and bass form, and was accompanied by the Mercury, a model which was more conservative in comparison to its sibling, but striking and unmistakable nonetheless. The triple coil pickup--the legendary Mighty Mite Motherbucker, with Brian May-style switching for ultimate versatility, came stock on these instruments, which in 1983 ran for $599.

These models would find their ways into the hands of Martha Davis of the Motels, Gayle Erickson and Jan Kuehnemund of Vixen, Bob Mothersbaugh of Devo, and Steve Bartek of Oingo Boingo. Contemporary advertising featured the latter three extensively. Bob used a Buick in music videos, onstage with Devo, and was featured in flyers. Jan also found herself on early flyers, with an Explorer-style guitar and a Mercury with two rail humbuckers and a Kahler tremolo system--which if you look closely you may catch glimpses of in the 1984 film Hardbodies. Steve was the face of the catalog and brochures, his face contorted into any one of his signature grimaces as he posed with Buick and Mercury examples alike. At US Festival in 1983, he played a Mercury with three singlecoils and a Kahler tremolo system for the middle third of the set. This guitar went on the road with him while Oingo Boingo toured in support of their album Good for Your Soul.

By 1985, J.B. Player was purchased by MBT International. Guitars were manufactured in South Korea and set up at home base in Westlake Village, CA. The zaniness and boundless creativity of the USA days was gone, replaced by cookie-cutter superstrats, with or without Accutune tremolo systems--which were knockoffs of Kahler's design and didn't function nearly as well. The Buick, Mercury, and possibly others were all but forgotten by everyone, save for those who had actually built and used them.

Of course, until the internet arrived.