The Guitar Gallery Forums - The Guitar Legacy of Matsumoku

At least i think it's a 2.

Seems to be in decent shape, some knicks but not bad, trem arm included, they're not sure if it's original. Mmk 45 in the neck, replacement seymore duncan in the bridge. No case mentioned.

They offered me $265 but i bet they'd take $250 or lower.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/175776254080

Very nice to see a seller who has not only cleaned the guitar up and made her presentable, but who has also included a large number of pix! Wins points from me just on that alone.

I've seen the odd one locally but I have never been tempted to get it, mainly because I'm not a fan of that long upper horn, or the head stock design either.

That said, looking at the guitar from the rear I was suddenly struck by the fact that it resembles the Westone Spectrum in all but the above mentioned aspects. (I love my seven Spectrums )

Does anyone know how the two stack up dimensionally?
Inquiring minds want to know.

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"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com

The AP2 beats the Westone ANY day...

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Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday

I was thinking more of the body shape and dimensions.

The Spectrums up until '85 came with '45's and decent single coil pups and are just fine. But they replaced them with wimpy "UBC's" which wouldn't even wake you up in the morning! I've had to replace a lot of 'em.

So on that basis I would expect the Inazuma to triumph. As for playability, the Spectrum necks are fantastic, and the body shape and light weight fits like a comfy pair of slippers. YMMV

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com

I've had a number of Spectrums and a number of the RS Second Run series. I didn't like the pickups in any of them including the Knight Warrior (they were NOT blade pickups but slug pickups with chrome steel covers). However, the pickups in the Esprit were a creature all their own (active) and had a very unique voice. I never should have sold that one.

The one thing that really turned me off about the Spectrums is the heel. I don't particularly like Fendorks primarily for that reason. Some people call it "snappy" but all I ever noticed was many with a Fendork-ish heel had stress cracks in the neck pocket finish. Some of the AP2s have that heel as well and I don't have a single one any more. Fenderp has tried to improve it but I hate to tell them shaving a tiny corner off that heel is hardly an improvement. If they made one with a bolt-in neck like the Cardinals (and moved that darn volume knob AWAY from the pickup) I'd might even own one.a

If any of you do like the AP2 single coils from the RS series I have two sets, one from a Bobcat-V and a Bobcat-IV. Yours for shipping. Just send me a PM. Includes all necessary hardware.

I loaded both with Wilkinson Ceramic Hot single coils. I still have the BC-IV and the BC-V I gave to a childhood friend I've jammed with since then and he loves the pickups (so do I) and my signature tone mod. On mine I also added a bridge always on push-pull.

Having been the singer in the band and primarily the rhythm player I seldom ventured past the 12th fret so I can't feel your pain on that issue.

Big fan of Wilkinson gear and pups. No direct experience with SC's but have a few HB's which replaced the cr@ppy UBC's in the Spectrums, as well as 3 solid body Vintage guitars each with different Wilkinson HB's and SC's. All great sounding.

_________________
"A little song, a little dance. A little seltzer down your pants." -Chuckles the Clown
Guitars: https://legend.barryeames.com
Music/Pix/Videos: https://getback.barryeames.com

Never had a bad Wilkie. I've used their trems, pickups, bridges and Jinho tuners (makers of Wilkinson tuners). Liked them all.

I know, I was just yankin your chain. . .

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Quality service since 3:00 last Tuesday