The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

Im looking into purchasing a Univox Les Paul but I can`t seem to confirm if this is a Matsumoku or even if its MIJ, the person selling it has it locked away and is unable to find a serial number and does not know if it says Made in Japan on the neck plate. Most Univox logo's I have seen are not in Italics like the one on this. Any help would be appreciated. Here are some pictures.

I've got a well-worn Univox here that's similar to your pics. These pics show it next to an Aspen, which I think is actually more likely to be Mat than my Univox is.


je

_________________
...doing bad things to good Vantages since 1985...

1981 AV-320
1981 AV-320
1981 AV-325
1982 AV-320
1982 VS-695-12
1982 VSH-445
1983 AV-330
1995 VST 33 CE TBK

Your Aspen looks very 'Maya' to me Squid. Aluminium block inlays?
Here's a 'Rokkomann DeLuxe', made at Maya Kobe. These were exported under numerous brands.
Late 70ies, bolt-on neck with just 'Japan' stamped into the neck plate:

_________________
http://www.GuitarDir.com has been hacked by some mindless fool, destroying years
of gathering info on guitars by non-commercial guitar lovers. Why?

Late 70s is very likely, "Made In Japan" on the gold neck plate. Never noticed the block inlays, but yeah, they appear to be aluminum! Thanks for the info!

je

_________________
...doing bad things to good Vantages since 1985...

1981 AV-320
1981 AV-320
1981 AV-325
1982 AV-320
1982 VS-695-12
1982 VSH-445
1983 AV-330
1995 VST 33 CE TBK

Well I got this guitar home last night. No sign of it being a Mat, just a blank neck plate, no MIJ markings anywhere. Not even a serial number. Any Idea where the serial normally is on these old Univox's?

The serial has to be within view. If not, it don't have one.
They don't try to make it hard to find.

Normally stamped on back of the Head or etched on the Neck Plate.

Neck plate on mine.

je

_________________
...doing bad things to good Vantages since 1985...

1981 AV-320
1981 AV-320
1981 AV-325
1982 AV-320
1982 VS-695-12
1982 VSH-445
1983 AV-330
1995 VST 33 CE TBK

The original guitar looks like a Deluxe. It has the trapezoidal inlays and the script on the headstock looks more like a Deluxe, except the Deluxe wasn't supposed to be available in black. Some Deluxes also had the more common logo like on squid heads guitar (which I believe is a Univox Mother) or the later one with the large block letters set lengthwise.

(Image is too tall to display)

http://www.univox.org/pics/guitars/deluxe_sunburst2.jpg

See the headstock logo? The script looks like yours.

http://www.univox.org/guitars/deluxe.html

Does yours look like it's been refinished at all? Since they are bolt necks, it is also possible you have a parts guitar there with a neck from one and body from another.

Not sure if this was addressing me or not, but both guitars in my pics were one-owner guitars, and have not been re-finished.

je

_________________
...doing bad things to good Vantages since 1985...

1981 AV-320
1981 AV-320
1981 AV-325
1982 AV-320
1982 VS-695-12
1982 VSH-445
1983 AV-330
1995 VST 33 CE TBK

I ended up picking this guitar up, and put some pots, p'ups, bridge/tail piece, and knobs on it. Starting to come back to its former glory.