The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

I've had this guitar for about 15 years. I bought from an individual who I believe bought it new in the early 1980s. I think it may be a VP 820 but I don't know due to the light. I recently had the unfortunate experience of dealing with my insurance company over a break in. That led me to try to get more concrete information on the guitar. Any help is appreciated.

*edit* To clarify...the guitar wasn't stolen but trying to get the insurance company to agree to fair price on other items prompted me to try to get a better idea of the guitar's price.

Hi guitar76,
this is a VANTAGE Artist 900 (VA 900) - the top of the line Vantage guitar.
She is from 1980.
I'll have a look at the original price...must be somewhere here in a thread....

....EDIT:
here it is:
http://www.matsumoku.org/ggboard/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6168&hilit=original+prices

There was a VA900 guitar review in the 6/1981 edition of the "International Musician"
This magazine has been available on both sides of the atlantic!

Here in Europe the original price for this guitar was 1550.- German DM. This is 795.- Euro in today's European currency or around 1050.- USD! (without regarding money inflation)

If you wanna have this model again you'll have to be patient! They're pretty rare. From time to time a VA900 is popping up. Prices depending on condition. I'd say "AROUND" 600.- USD (case included).

Hope this helps. Furthermore I hope they'll find the bastard and you can get your guitar back!
BTW: Dweezil Zappa is currently promoting a website for the registration of (stolen) guitars (pics, serial numbers...). Don't have a link, you'll have to google...

Johann

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All vantage-branded guitars were lower-priced instruments aimed at the beginner-to-intermediate market. It has no interest to collectors and very little demand among players! (www.allexperts.com)

What is the best way to get clean/polish everything? The knobs and bridge have some discoloration and the wood could use some attention also. Any thoughts?

To start I would just use a slightly damp rag and some elbow grease. Guitar polish also works well. Be careful about using non-guitar polishes as many have silicon compounds that can get into the wood making future repairs difficult. Any metal polish should work on the hardware, just remove it from the guitar before using it.