The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Q&A, discussion, and information for the labels covered by The Guitar Gallery (Specifically and exclusively guitars made by Matsumoku up to 1987)
It is currently Thu 28 Mar 2024 08:18 AM

All times are UTC - 5 hours




Post new topic Reply to topic
 [ 49 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5  Next
Author Message
 Post subject: Avenger.....
PostPosted: Tue 10 Apr 2012 12:56 AM 
Offline
Virtuoso
User avatar

Joined: Wed 05 Jul 2006 03:40 PM
Posts: 2608
Location: Mount Hunter, NSW, Australia.
OK, fellas.... I've wrested a guitar off Don - this makes twice I've met him, and twice I've bought guitars from him; he's an expensive bastid to know!! - and have immediately torn it down.... As you do!

Now this is the 315 in the 84 catalogue, so is a little bit of an unknown so let's crack on, shall we....

Image

Headstock; I believe that red swoopy line to be hand finished, and here's why I believe that....

Image

.... That blob at the end is aged, like the rest so is original, or as close to original as makes no odds.

Image

...or perhaps the machine cocked it up?

Image

I further believe that the fingerboard is stained/ tinted... These gouges are around the cowboy chords only...

Image

... Serial starts with a letter

Image

Image

Image

... Does anyone recognise that logo?

Image

...no MMK markings.

Image

Image

...Gotoh marked machine heads, which all feel OK.

Image

Image

... Bridge is an odd one, but seems OK, too. Westone 6mm bar fits it.

Image

... Which is the original knob? I'm almost certain the notched one, but I think I'll pop Westone tapered knobs on!

Image

... And lastly, someone's had a crack at the pickup wiring!

The body is in good nick with minimal buckle rash etc., but the colour is either badly faded, or matte black from the start: anyone care to hazard a guess?! The back of the neck is gloss black, but that just might be many sweaty hands.... :D


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Avenger.....
PostPosted: Tue 10 Apr 2012 02:53 AM 
Offline
Virtuoso
User avatar

Joined: Tue 13 May 2008 11:30 PM
Posts: 1003
Location: Roma, Queensland, Australia
Ya broked it ya great doof :D
On the up side I now know what it looks like on the inside :o
I think that it is a matt black finish (matt get it) :lol:

_________________
You can never have too many guitars


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Avenger.....
PostPosted: Tue 10 Apr 2012 06:07 AM 
Offline
Virtuoso
User avatar

Joined: Sun 27 Feb 2011 08:40 PM
Posts: 250
No clue on the pup cover logo John. Seems to be a stylilized version of the ohms character.

Bridge seemss good for it's age and amount of playing, post recess edges not bad at all. Looks to be a definite improvement over the Tekglide I have on my x189.

_________________
....right. They always crack in the end.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Avenger.....
PostPosted: Tue 10 Apr 2012 08:04 AM 
Offline
Virtuoso
User avatar

Joined: Wed 29 Apr 2009 12:32 PM
Posts: 3938
Location: St. Catharines, Ontario Canada
Iceman wrote:
...Seems to be a stylilized version of the ohms character..
+1 My thought as well. Makes sense, sort of, in a geeky kinda way. :roll:
I'd venture to go a bit further and suggest that solid red triangle above the Ohm symbol is meant to represent "Delta" for "Change". So, putting it together could mean a "change in the standard Ohms reading" found in a normal Avenger (MMK45). Lower? Higher? But the humbucker has definitely been diddled with on top of any possible factory spec change; a very sloppy re-assembly.

The question though is, what was done to it? And how she sound now?

I'm guessing the original finish is a Mats matt. The pick guard seems to support that too.

_________________
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Avenger.....
PostPosted: Tue 10 Apr 2012 08:26 AM 
Offline
Virtuoso
User avatar

Joined: Wed 05 Jul 2006 03:40 PM
Posts: 2608
Location: Mount Hunter, NSW, Australia.
Good on you, guys; keep it coming! My thoughts on the logo was that it was the Greek letter Omega, and given that Matsumoku had a guitar called the Omega - by Electra - sort-of thought along those lines..... :roll:

I've been giving the old Google a fair hammering to see if I can find something but no luck yet... I reckon it is an in-house design by perhaps Maxon or,indeed, Matsumoku itself.

I'd love to know how the bridge came about given that Matsumoku had access to all kinds of trem bridges, their own designs; the Bendmasters from Westone and the APII ACT series amongst others, and the likes of the used on the PEs....


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Avenger.....
PostPosted: Tue 10 Apr 2012 08:43 AM 
Offline
Virtuoso
User avatar

Joined: Sat 08 Nov 2008 01:35 PM
Posts: 2480
Location: Rock City Canada
I started calling those pups the Omega's also... all my later Vantage have them...I beleive them to be suped up Gotoh pups for the new matt Graphite series that came out end of '84 to become the main series for 85-86.. They sound good :up:

Thanks for the detailed pics... Can you give us some of the body ?...

It seems that Vantage was doing its own hardware... even the headless bass has a different bridge then the Westone one... For so little models using this type of bridge, one would think they would use the same one... :toopid:

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


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Avenger.....
PostPosted: Tue 10 Apr 2012 02:49 PM 
Offline
Virtuoso
User avatar

Joined: Wed 29 Apr 2009 12:32 PM
Posts: 3938
Location: St. Catharines, Ontario Canada
Nope. I prefer my interpretation. Image

From Wikipedia, the source of all the world's knowledge: :roll:
Δ the difference or change in a given variable
Ω the SI unit measure of electric resistance, the ohm

_________________
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Avenger.....
PostPosted: Tue 10 Apr 2012 04:14 PM 
Offline
Virtuoso
User avatar

Joined: Wed 05 Jul 2006 03:40 PM
Posts: 2608
Location: Mount Hunter, NSW, Australia.
I was all over the Gotoh site last night and spotted nothing, but shall contact them to see what they say... Unless you've already gone down that road, Pierre?!

Yeah, gotta say, Barry, that's a pretty god interpretation! :up:

I'll post some pix of the carcass shortly...


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Avenger.....
PostPosted: Tue 10 Apr 2012 10:26 PM 
Offline
Virtuoso
User avatar

Joined: Sat 08 Nov 2008 01:35 PM
Posts: 2480
Location: Rock City Canada
Corsair wrote:
I was all over the Gotoh site last night and spotted nothing, but shall contact them to see what they say... Unless you've already gone down that road, Pierre?!


I had a look before also... Never contacted them for info have to say.... Kind of got discouraged after sending about 10 emails to Jam Industries here for Vantage info without 1 reply :x they are 5 minutes away from me, should just go over. :evil: Kick the door down and....

That's another story... :P

No, my logic for the Gotoh pups is since I beleive the Quest line was an extension of Vantage... and all those models appeared late 83 to 85 and sported Gotoh pups.... why not the same for Vantage. :blush:

Like I said, that is my reasoning so far and like I mentioned, the Vantage line used different hardware on the line compared to other Mats...so... these could very well be made by Jesper for all we know... :P

:loon:

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


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Avenger.....
PostPosted: Wed 11 Apr 2012 04:56 AM 
Offline
Virtuoso

Joined: Tue 09 Sep 2008 02:07 PM
Posts: 145
If this is one of those models built for Vantage by Chushin I wouldn't expect to find MMK pickups. That MIGHT explain the Delta-Omega (DOH!) pickups and the mysterious letter-prefix serial number. Now I'm wondering if these pups were used on other guitars (e.g. Charvel) made by Chushin.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 49 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5  Next

All times are UTC - 5 hours


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group