Aelita 1

3.0 (2)

1 Review

Newer option

Aelita 2

3.5 (3)

2 wishlisted

5 saved

Page last updated Feb 25, 2026

Pricing and availability

Store

Reviews

Price

^* Product prices and availability are updated by Equipboard every 24hrs and are subject to change. Equipboard may receive compensation for purchases made at participating retailers linked on this site. This compensation does not affect what products or prices are displayed, or the order of prices listed. For more information, please refer to our affiliate disclosure.

Description

Edit description

The Aelita-1 is an electric guitar manufactured and sold under the iron-curtain of the USSR during the mid-'70s and mid-'80s. It is entirely made of Beachwood, and has a thick black paint coating over the body and neck.

The design of the Aelita is based on the Japanese-made Teisco Tulip (ET-110 / ET-200). It has been rumoured that a physical Tulip was not available to model from, and instead photos were used.

The tremolo-bridge used for the Aelita is a completely custom and oddly robust design, however is reminiscent of a Bigsby tremolo.

The body contains three single-coil pickups, that have a bright sound to them. On each side of the body there are three buttons or rocker switches – depending on the factory it was produced in and the parts available – that control which pickups are turned on and the tone for each pickup. At the bottom of the body there are four potentiometers, three of which control the individual volume of their respective pickup, and one that controls the master volume. Oddly enough, however, it has been seen that factories at the time never wired – or properly wired – the switches, so it is possible that an Aelita may have the incorrect layout.

Videos

Add video

Linas Pečiūra

Aelita

Linas Pečiūra

Reviews

Add review

3.0 out of 5

Based on 1 Review and 2 Ratings

5 star

4 star

3 star

2 star

1 star

gilbert_junior

252

over 10 years ago

Aelita 1

his guitar was called the AELITA 1 made at the Rostov-on-don factory in Russia, it was an accordion factory which is why the scratchplate and buttons look like they came off an accordian ! The Aelita guitar was named after Alexi Tolstoi’s famous science fiction heroine. She was the Queen of Mars in his novel which was made into a 1928 silent film. The Aelita 1 was manufactured from around 1978-9 and was still in production up to 1985. You may notice on this guitars headstock that its got the wording Aeluma ? ..Why ? Well, the Aeluma was made at its sister factory in the Belorussian Borisov factory of musical instruments. Some guitars did not even have a name on the headstock, they had a few different production methods and produced other models too, but the Rostov on Don was considered the better model. Unfortunately the quality though is very poor when compared to USA guitars – especially the fingerboard which needs a lot of work just to get it playable. The electrics though are a revelation and the tone variety is remarkable.

Roles:

Guitarist

Genres:

Rock Pop Alternative rock