The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

I would really appreciate any help the experts on the board can provide to identify this unusual Aria guitar and when it was built. It has close to L*P* double cutaways; L*P* inlays; flying V headstock; a set neck; and a belly cut on the body. Unloaded the guitar weighs about 8 lb and has nice balance and a great neck like the 1960 L*P* (before slim taper). The neck is 3-piece maple with rosewood board; the top appears to be a mahogany veneer; and the body is a two-piece sandwich of mahogany or alder, not sure. There are multiple bindings on the body and neck of high quality. The Aria inlay on the headstock is abalone.

Unfortunately, with the exception of the tuners, the guitar had been stripped of its parts before I got it, so no clues there. It appears to have three main controls (2 vol, 1 tone?), a PU selector switch, plus holes for a mini switch of some description and an output jack .

More pics to follow.

Here's a shot of the back showing the control cavities and belly cut:

Here's a shot of the PU cavities showing Japanese script (reads color violin, I think), the long neck tenon, and the multiple binding.

Hello outaphase. Welcome to the boards.

I don't have anywhere near the MAT expertise that the top posters on this board have. I've never seen another Aria like it. It reminds me of some of the guitars Hamer made in the late 70s to mid 80s--to me, they looked kind of like a cross between an LP double-cutaway (or maybe a MelodyMaker) & Brian May's Red Special (& nearly all of them had an HSS pickup configuration).

Sorry I couldn't be of any help (but I REALLY like the look of that guitar).

Have you been able to do anything with it to see what it plays & sounds like?

Hi outaphase, welcome to the board...

I have no idea on the make or year but all I can say is that it has a stricking resemblance to the Vantage Entertainer... apart from the headstock, it's a dead ringer.... Have a look at the Vantage section for Entertainer's... ( VE-550, VE-570, VE-545, VE-565...)

That headstock is intriguing... we have seen a couple like that in the recent past.... Could they be recent models?.... Have you looked at Aria USA site? Someone mentioned that they updated the catalogue section...

P.

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MAA Member since June 29th 2009, taking one baby step at a time..... and failing miserably!

Hello slo-hand:

Thanks for the comments. Yes, I agree, it does looks very late 70's to early 80's with a lot of resemblance to the double cut LP modifications that Strings and Things of Memphis were doing in the mid-70's for Ace Frehley and Greg Palmer (see below). Also, the cutaways are similar to the Gretsch Duo-Jet. I am continuing to search the net for another one, but nothing as of yet.

I am working on setting the guitar up with parts I have gathering dust in the parts drawer and will post some pictures soon. As expected, the bushings for the bridge and tp have metric threads but the width is standard for Gotoh parts. My early impression is that playability is great with much better access to the upper frets than an LP. The neck feels just right in the hands with good width (a shade over 1-11/16" at the nut), probably a 12" radius, and nicely rolled edges to the board. I'll report back on the sounds when I decide on PUs and how to wire it up. I think I will be going with 2 volumes and a master tone, plus coil cut and maybe phase reverse (gotta do that for the Peter Green thing). The switch backplate is standard LP size but I will have to make a plate for the control cavity.

Hi Frenchy:

Wow, you are right! It really is a dead ringer for the Vantage Entertainers. Does this mean that Matsumoku were the master designer rather than Aria? One other detail I forgot in the earlier description is that the width of the body is slightly larger than an LP (bottom bout 13-3/4"; top bout 10-3/8"). Is that the same on the Entertainers possibly?

I was really attracted to the Flying V headstock which I think looks strangely right with the LP neck inlays and double cutaways. I haven't been able to find the guitar in the catalogues, or anywhere else for that matter, but will keep looking. It really has the look of something from the late 70's-early 80's -- a real natural relic with honest wear marks in the right places. Interesting that it is doesn't have a neck volute as did many of the Gibsons and Japanese copies from about 1970 to 1981. That might make it early 1980's.

Hi outaphase,

Happy to be able to help out a little bit... I will take a look at the width of my VE-570 to compare to yours... Mine is a 1983... What is the serial # on yours? that might help determine the year yours was made....

I really enjoyed those adds that you posted... Happy to see that my Modified LP is a rare design...

P.

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MAA Member since June 29th 2009, taking one baby step at a time..... and failing miserably!

Could you post close ups of the headstock also...?

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MAA Member since June 29th 2009, taking one baby step at a time..... and failing miserably!

Hi Frenchy:

I am afraid there is no sign of a serial # anywhere. I thought (hoped more like) that the script in the PU cavity would help out with the identification. But alas it simply refers to the finish (violin) on the guitar, as best I can tell from an informed source on Japanese. Where is the serial # on your Vantage?

I'll post some detailed pics when I get everything set up, hopefully this weekend. In the meantime, here is a shot of the front of the headstock with the original tuners (which are pretty shot and need to be replaced). The black finish is actually quite shiny and the inlay is nice abalone. Also, the neck inlays appear to be MOP rather than celluloid as on LPs.