Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

At The Back => The Dressing Room => Topic started by: headtheball on March 02, 2009, 10:42:44 PM

Title: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: headtheball on March 02, 2009, 10:42:44 PM
Anyone know of a good website for help identifying a junky looking old guitar of uncertain provenance?

A load of thumbnail pictures of odd-bods is what I'm after, really.
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: Ian Price on March 03, 2009, 09:39:38 AM
Post some pics of it here and this may be the website you need! (unless you are looking for a particular guitar rather than trying to identify one you have)
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: headtheball on March 03, 2009, 03:28:57 PM
Fairy nuff. this is she...

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3546/3325256665_dae3c5034a.jpg?v=0)

A mate has just restored/madea  proper job of it. It's mid eighties, Oriental, but other than that, I know nothing.
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: PhilKing on March 03, 2009, 06:10:47 PM
Is is a westone? http://www.westone.info/thunder1.html (http://www.westone.info/thunder1.html)
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: maverickf1jockey on March 03, 2009, 06:14:51 PM
Looks like Ed Winn, of Ozric Tentacles', guitar...
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: headtheball on March 03, 2009, 06:17:23 PM
My first thought too, Phil. I had a thunder 1A bass many moons ago. It's not that, though.
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: Ratrod on March 03, 2009, 06:19:23 PM
What does it say on the headstock?
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: PhilKing on March 03, 2009, 06:25:17 PM
I think it is Artist
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: WezV on March 03, 2009, 06:30:39 PM
my first thought was westone but i couldnt back it up with any pics
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: AndyR on March 03, 2009, 06:37:03 PM
Is is a westone? http://www.westone.info/thunder1.html (http://www.westone.info/thunder1.html)
What's the guitar in the pic you posted Phil? The stuff in the link are definitely Westones, but I don't recognise the westone1.jpg at all.

HTB's is no westone though.

I was a big Westone fan. I had a Thunder IA with the brass saddles, passed up on a second-hand Thunder IIIA with the through neck. A couple of bassists I worked with had Thunders as well. I also had a Rainbow (335-a-like), possibly one of the first in the UK, mine didn't have a number, they were later Rainbow I etc. My Thunder was my first serious guitar, the Rainbow was the first guitar I bought myself (rather than relatives buying them!)

I was coming very close to getting their strat-type, Concord I think it was(?), and I was also looking at the Paduak(?) The Concord sounded pretty good but wasn't a strat :(, and then my JV Squier appeared in the shop "unused" from a part xchange deal - they did it at ridiculous price for me and I never looked back :D
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: WezV on March 03, 2009, 06:40:42 PM
i am not so sure andy. the bridge looks just like a westone one - look at the two screws on the front edge of the bridge, not seen many hardtails with those but a lot of th earlier westones on that website have them

the construction and wiring layout is also very similar, if that aint a westone i would say its very closely related - the headstock is only slightly different

we really need a back pic
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: AndyR on March 03, 2009, 07:03:40 PM
Wow! what a stunning site - been all over it now. And yes, Phil, I see where you got that pic from now "... is probably a Matsumoku model, and seems to be a precursor of the Thunder series".

I still don't think HTBs is a "westone" though Wez, it just looks more "round" than most of their solid body leanings.

And by the way, now I've seen a picture of the Concord II that I nearly bought... What was I thinking?!!! I do remember my band were far from keen, but I wanted that sound and couldn't afford a strat :lol:
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: gwEm on March 03, 2009, 07:42:21 PM
some sort of hondo?

they made vs and pauls with that construction method, no idea about that shape
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: headtheball on March 03, 2009, 10:44:38 PM
A back pic? No bother...

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3359/3326210387_e104bc8d94.jpg?v=0)

And here it is, post restoration/complete redesign.

(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3606/3327048154_0f9fd4b50b.jpg?v=0)

My spider-sense is indicating it's maybe one of these (http://www.matsumoku.org/models/vantage/vp/vp-700/pics.html), is a slightly different guise, but that's kinda how these factories worked, eh?

Just to clear up, It's not mine, and I didn't do the work, mores the pity. It's right up my alley in most ways.
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: WezV on March 03, 2009, 11:10:23 PM
thats definately it - few small changes but definately the same guitar design

and from the same factory as the westones... as well as aria pro's which are the other make i was thinking of... and it looks like they made epiphone crestwoods which is the shape i was thinking of.

Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: Philly Q on March 03, 2009, 11:29:48 PM
They also remind me of the old Washburn Wing series and Daion guitars:

http://www.matsumoku.org/models/washburn/wing/wing.html (http://www.matsumoku.org/models/washburn/wing/wing.html)

http://home.att.net/~daion/electrics.html (http://home.att.net/~daion/electrics.html)
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: AndyR on March 04, 2009, 09:33:17 AM
thats definately it - few small changes but definately the same guitar design

and from the same factory as the westones... as well as aria pro's which are the other make i was thinking of... and it looks like they made epiphone crestwoods which is the shape i was thinking of.



Yep, that's the one isn't it :D

I was wondering Aria as well yesterday evening but couldn't think what to search for or find any pics to back me up.

I do remember the scrolly Vantage writing now, and I also remember them looking "like" our westones, but not as sleek and sexy. What I didn't know was they were from the same place! :lol:
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: gingataff on March 04, 2009, 01:21:05 PM
Looks like Ed Winn, of Ozric Tentacles', guitar...
His is an Ibanez.
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: maverickf1jockey on March 04, 2009, 03:55:22 PM
And it has a carved top; I was going off of the silhouette alone.
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: Johnny Mac on March 12, 2009, 07:47:39 AM
They also remind me of the old Washburn Wing series and Daion guitars:

http://www.matsumoku.org/models/washburn/wing/wing.html (http://www.matsumoku.org/models/washburn/wing/wing.html)

http://home.att.net/~daion/electrics.html (http://home.att.net/~daion/electrics.html)



A mate of mine has one of these. He can't play it too good but wants to keep it. How much would you say its worth?
It has brass hardware and sustains for ever! Not good on upper fret access though. Made in the early 80's.
Title: Re: Identifying weird guitars
Post by: Philly Q on March 12, 2009, 09:21:22 AM
A mate of mine has one of these. He can't play it too good but wants to keep it. How much would you say its worth?
It has brass hardware and sustains for ever! Not good on upper fret access though. Made in the early 80's.

I've no real idea of the value, and I'm not very good at telling which model is which, but the neck-through ones always seem to go for £400+ on eBay. 

I'm always quite tempted to buy one, because they take me back to the days when I was a student looking in shop windows at guitars I couldn't afford to buy.  But I know they all weigh a ton - those were the days when they thought:

secret of tone = heavy wood + chunky brass hardware.