Antoria guitars
Derek Smith
Strat but, after owning it for only 20 years or so I've finally done some
work on it and it has a really nice vintage tone and the strings sing.
Back in the 1970's Antoria were one of the first good Japanese copy makers,
before the likes of Tokai and Ibanez (before they got their own designs).
I have heard people say that all Japanese guitars of that era were made in
the same factory.
Does anyone out there have a more definitive view?
Are there any books or web sites covering the subject?
Derek.
Brian Reid
antoria have been making instruments for years
if you have the money put some goooood
quality pickups on the thing
tokai are now becoming collectors items
ive played some that beat the shit out of
70s 80s90s strats
--
Brian
Derek Smith <derek...@olcs.net> wrote in message
news:7ojkbk$2ai$1...@black.news.nacamar.net...
JNugent
>I have an Antoria Strat copy from 1978ish. It's heavier than an American
>Strat but, after owning it for only 20 years or so I've finally done some
>work on it and it has a really nice vintage tone and the strings sing.
>Back in the 1970's Antoria were one of the first good Japanese copy makers,
>before the likes of Tokai and Ibanez (before they got their own designs).
The mid-seventies Antoria copy of the Gibson ES355TDC (the upgraded version
of the Gibson ES345TD Stereo in cherry and with an ebony fretboard and a
Vibrola) was breathtakingly good.
>I have heard people say that all Japanese guitars of that era were made in
>the same factory.
>Does anyone out there have a more definitive view?
Yes - 1970s (and perhaps earlier) Antorias were made by Ibanez, for a start.
Stan Barr
>I have an Antoria Strat copy from 1978ish. It's heavier than an American
>Strat but, after owning it for only 20 years or so I've finally done some
>work on it and it has a really nice vintage tone and the strings sing.
>
I have a 1975 Antoria SG Junior copy (now much modified) which is made
the same way as the Gibson original, and every bit as good. I've owned
it from new.....
>Back in the 1970's Antoria were one of the first good Japanese copy makers,
>before the likes of Tokai and Ibanez (before they got their own designs).
>
Tokai were around in the 60's, not sure when the Ibanez and Antoria names
appeared.
>I have heard people say that all Japanese guitars of that era were made in
>the same factory.
>
The Japanese have been making guitars for most, if not all, of this century,
but they only really started making electrics in the mid-50s. There have
always been several manufacturers, but most of the guitars exported to the
West seem to have come originally from the same couple of factories. I don't
think they were all made in the _same_ factory though! Guyatone were in the
business from 1933, Ibanez were made by Fuji Gen-Gakki in Matsumoto, Tokai
were made in Hamamatsu and Yamaha, of course, have been around for more then
100 years.
--
Cheers,
Stan Barr st...@dial.pipex.com
The future was never like this!
Brian Reid
the mention of cherry red antoria sg brings back fond memories
the guy my in band in 1970 showed up one night with his new axe
looked great but we held back when we saw the name Antoria
but after a few nights we soon changed our minds it had a better
action and a more comfortable neck than a gibson only the pickups
let it down (just) played through vox amp with back boost.
I believe ALLAN KING (STAGE NAME) now runs an agency
in Southampton for pro. bands if anyone knows him tell him
Brian Reid was asking for him .he could tell you some good stories
about the time we played together
cheers
Brian
re...@engineering93.freeserve.co.uk
www.engineering93.freeserve.co.uk
--
Brian
Stan Barr <st...@localhost.localdomain> wrote in message
news:slrn7qta2e...@localhost.localdomain...
JNugent
>On Sun, 8 Aug 1999 10:58:41 +0100, Derek Smith <derek...@olcs.net>
wrote:
>>I have an Antoria Strat copy from 1978ish. It's heavier than an American
>>Strat but, after owning it for only 20 years or so I've finally done some
>>work on it and it has a really nice vintage tone and the strings sing.
>>Back in the 1970's Antoria were one of the first good Japanese copy
makers,
>>before the likes of Tokai and Ibanez (before they got their own designs).
>Tokai were around in the 60's, not sure when the Ibanez and Antoria names
>appeared.
Antoria guitars (some models also sold under the "Guyatone" brand) have been
around in the UK since the 50s. Hank Marvin's first "Drifters" recordings
(early 1959) were made with an Antoria.
I first remember Ibanez guitars from around 1969/1970.
Jonathon Green
JNugent wrote in message <7okr7s$j7v$1...@news8.svr.pol.co.uk>...
>The mid-seventies Antoria copy of the Gibson ES355TDC (the upgraded version
>of the Gibson ES345TD Stereo in cherry and with an ebony fretboard and a
>Vibrola) was breathtakingly good.
>
>
>>I have heard people say that all Japanese guitars of that era were made in
>>the same factory.
>
>>Does anyone out there have a more definitive view?
>
>Yes - 1970s (and perhaps earlier) Antorias were made by Ibanez, for a
start.
If you were ever sad enough (I was very young at the time, OK?) to collect
catalogues and brochures from music shops it's interesting to look at the
ranges offered by certain brands, and certain distinctive models appear
under numerous names.
I cite as an example a Black "Les Paul Custom" I've owned since 1975. It has
a *very* distinctive and elaborate floral inlay in the fingerboard, an
equally elaborate "vase of flowers" on the headstock facing, and is
generally pretty distinctive.My guitar says CSL (for Charles Summerfield
Limited I think...) on the headstock, but an identical guitar appears in an
old Antoria catalogue, and I once met someone with an identical guitar
carrying the Ibanez logo :-)
Oh, and it's a bloody good guitar too. Every time I open the case I cringe
inwardly and wonder what on earth possessed me (at the age of 16 you do
these things...) to take a chisel to it and add a third pickup and a couple
of extra switches. It's _still_ a nice guitar in spite of the butchery, and
the extra pickup (which is connected via on/off and reverse polarity
switches to the bridge pickup tone/volume circuitry) does give it some
interesting and useful extra voices, but I can't help thinking that it would
have been better left unmolested...
Melvyn Hiscock
different names on the headstocks were made in one of three or four big
factories (as I remember). I think the Ants and Ibanii were made by a
company called Matsumoka. They made some Squiers for a while I believe
too. As for the companys ordering these, they just used to go to the
factory doing the best deal so it was not unusual to see the range
change!
I hav eplayed a lot of those guitars and my only criticism is that they
were sometimes (and only sometimes) let down by their pickups but more
often suffered from that square section Jap truss rod which can pull
some of the tone from the guitar. In about 1975 Gibson's patent ran out
on the Humbucker and Ibanez/Antoria/Matsuwhatsit produced the Super 70
which was the first really good Japanese pick up. They were great AND
cheap and I used a lot in early guitars. Apart from the Ibanez on
thelabel on the bottom they were virtually indistinguishable.
Melvyn Hiscock
Mike Whitaker
>appeared.
Tokai hit the big time in around 1980 - I bought (and still have) a Les Paul
Custom made by them in early '81. (model LC60CS - as an aside, is this worth
anything much now? it still has the 'fake Gibson' Tokai logo). Their Strat's
were pretty decent - got rave reviews at the time, and I seem to rememebr legal
action from Fender about that logo. I'm also surprised some of the press ads
got past the ASA - if they didn't know that a Strat's cutaway's were
asymmetrical... *grin*
Whatever happened to Hondo?
--
Mike Whitaker | Work: +44 1733 766619 | Work: mi...@cricket.org
Technical Manager | Fax: +44 1733 348287 | Home: mi...@altrion.org
CricInfo Ltd | GSM: +44 7971 977375 | Web: http://www.cricket.org/
JNugent
>>Tokai were around in the 60's, not sure when the Ibanez and Antoria names
>>appeared.
>Tokai hit the big time in around 1980 - I bought (and still have) a Les
Paul
>Custom made by them in early '81. (model LC60CS - as an aside, is this
worth
>anything much now? it still has the 'fake Gibson' Tokai logo). Their
Strat's
>were pretty decent - got rave reviews at the time, and I seem to rememebr
legal
>action from Fender about that logo.
>Whatever happened to Hondo?
I'm sure "Hondo" was just John Hornby Skewes' badge-engineering name (a bit
like "Matsui" is for Dixons'). What brand are JHS pushing these days?
Paul Fret
hondo? i hope the factory got burned down!!!
--
Paul
Ross Edwards
dabbled with "Jim Harley" stuff - great looking guitars, crap quality &
sound...
--
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